Your map files never leave your computer. Everything is decoded and rendered in your browser; this page makes no network requests with your file data.
Every map you have ever crafted is saved as its own file inside your world folder under data/map_0.dat, map_1.dat and so on. Pick one, or point the folder button at the whole data folder to pull them all in.
A Minecraft map is a 128 by 128 grid of colour values saved in a file called map_#.dat. This tool reads that grid, turns each value into a real colour using the game's own map palette, and paints it onto a canvas you can download as a PNG.
When you hold a filled map, the picture you see is not a screenshot. It is 16,384 single bytes, one for every pixel in a 128 by 128 square, stored inside the map file under a compound named data in the array colors. Each byte packs two pieces of information: which base colour the pixel uses and how dark or light to shade it. The extractor unpacks both for every pixel and rebuilds the image.
Because the colours come straight from the file, the result is exactly what the map shows in game, down to the pixel. Nothing is guessed or filled in. A map of a pixel-art build comes back as the full picture; a survival exploration map comes back as the terrain you charted.
Every pixel byte is read as an unsigned value from 0 to 255. The top six bits choose one of 61 base colours; the bottom two bits choose a shade. In code that is baseId = byte >> 2 and shade = byte & 3. The final colour is the base colour with each red, green and blue channel multiplied by the shade factor and divided by 255:
Base colour 0 is empty and renders fully transparent, which is why a fresh, unexplored map comes out blank. The 61 real base colours and their values are read straight from the game files, so the rendered PNG matches Minecraft exactly rather than approximating it.
Map files sit in the world's data folder, separate from level.dat. Close Minecraft, then open the save folder for your world:
1. Open that data folder. The map files are named map_0.dat, map_1.dat and so on, one per map you have ever crafted.
2. To convert one map, drag a single .dat onto the dropzone above. To convert all of them, use the folder button and pick the whole data folder.
3. Each map shows a live preview with its dimension and zoom level. Click PNG 128px for the exact native size or PNG 1024px for a sharp upscaled copy.
4. Not sure which map is which? Their numbers match the map IDs in game, and the preview tells you the dimension and how many blocks each one covers.
Find your world's data folder and open the files named map_0.dat, map_1.dat and so on. Drop one into the tool above, or use the folder button to load all of them at once. The tool decodes the colours stored in each file and shows you the rendered map, then you download it as a PNG at 128 pixels or 1024 pixels.
Every map you craft is saved as its own file inside the world's data folder, not in level.dat. On Windows that path is %appdata%\.minecraft\saves\<world>\data, on macOS it is ~/Library/Application Support/minecraft/saves/<world>/data, and on Linux ~/.minecraft/saves/<world>/data. The files are named map_0.dat, map_1.dat and upward, one per map item.
A Minecraft map is only 128 by 128 pixels, one pixel per recorded column of blocks. That is the real resolution of the data, so the extractor renders it at exactly that size and the 1024px export scales it up with no smoothing to keep the blocky look. There is no extra detail to recover beyond 128 by 128.
Yes. Map art is built so the finished blocks paint a picture into the map item, and that picture is exactly what the .dat file stores. The extractor reads those stored colours straight from the file, so a map of a pixel-art build comes out as the full image, ready to share or use as a reference.
Your files never leave your computer. The page reads and renders every map_#.dat entirely in your browser and makes no network requests with your file data. It only reads the files; it never writes back to your world, so your save is untouched.
Yes. Use the folder button and point it at the world's data folder. The tool picks out every map_#.dat inside, decodes them in order and shows them in a gallery where you can download each one or grab them all at 1024px in a single click.
Want to plan a build instead? Browse more Minecraft tools:
