3DF File

What are 3DF files and how to open them

Are you having problems opening a 3DF file or are you simply curious about its contents? We're here to explain the properties of these files and provide you with software that can open or handle your 3DF files.

What is a 3DF file?

A .3DF file is a 3DFX Texture Format file.

The 3DFX Texture Format (.3DF) is a texture map file format created by 3dfx Interactive Inc. It is used to store complete mipmapped textures intended for real-time 3D rendering with the Glide API. The files are produced by the TexUS (Texture Utility Software) program (part of the Glide SDK), which converts ordinary images into a .3DF file. Once created, the files are loaded by 3dfx's rendering routines (for example via gu3dfLoad()) for use in hardware‐accelerated graphics.

Each .3DF file begins with a human‐readable ASCII header that describes the version, color format of the pixels (formats include rgb565, argb1555, argb4444, palette or narrow‐channel compression types like YIQ), LOD (level of detail) range specifying smallest and largest mipmap levels, and the aspect ratio of the texture. After the header comes the binary texture data, starting from the largest mipmap down through progressively smaller ones.

An internal detail is that the first bytes are the signature "3df v%d.%d" (for example "3df v1.0"), which identifies major and minor version of the format. The header contains lines such as "color format: …", "lod range: … …", "aspect ratio: … …", and may include optional comment lines beginning with "#".

How to open 3DF files

Important: Different programs may use files with the 3DF file extension for different purposes, so unless you are sure which format your 3DF file is, you may need to try a few different programs.

While we have not verified the apps ourselves yet, our users have suggested seven different 3DF openers which you will find listed below.

Last updated: August 16, 2026

Various apps that use files with this extension

These apps are known to open certain types of 3DF files. Remember, different programs may use 3DF files for different purposes, so you may need to try out a few of them to be able to open your specific file.

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