LEGO® Minifigure Part Numbers: The Reference Table

≈8 min read · Updated August 2026

Here is a fact that explains roughly half the confusion in this hobby: for the seven parts that make up a classic minifigure, BrickLink is the only catalog in the world that uses its own numbers. LEGO®, Rebrickable, Brickset, and the LDraw standard all use LEGO®'s design numbers, which for the original 1978 body parts run in one tidy block: 3814 through 3820. BrickLink splits those same seven parts across two unrelated ranges it invented decades ago: 970 through 973, and 981 through 983.

Neither side is wrong. But if you have ever searched a number from one system in the other and found nothing, or found the wrong thing entirely... it was not you. This page is the translation table I wanted on day one, plus the code grammar (what pb, c, and d actually mean) and the traps where the systems collide.

One scope note so the table stays honest: this covers standard minifigures. Friends and DOTS mini-dolls are a different part family entirely, big figures (your Hulks and trolls) live outside these molds, and baby and toddler bodies are their own family too (one verified row for those below). Different rabbit holes.

The core seven (the 1978 originals)

Three things in this little table repay a careful look:

The handedness gotcha. Within BrickLink's numbering, legs run right-then-left (971, 972) but arms run left-then-right (981, 982). And against LEGO®'s numbers, the legs map in parallel (971 right pairs with 3816 right) while the arms map INVERTED (BrickLink's 981 left is LEGO®'s 3819, BrickLink's 982 right is LEGO®'s 3818). If you have ever ordered arms by number and received the wrong side, this is why. Triple-checked across BrickLink's own cross-references, BrickOwl, and LEGO®'s element names.

The head is the exception. BrickLink adopted LEGO®'s 3626 for heads instead of coining its own, which is why heads feel “easy” and everything else does not. (In early 2024 BrickLink also merged its old head stud-variant entries, 3626b and c and the modern 28621, back into plain 3626... so if you see those numbers in old listings or lists, they all mean “head” now.)

Where the numbers live physically. LEGO®'s own help says design numbers are “molded on the inside of the piece” and that you may need to rotate the part under bright light. On minifigure-scale parts, I will be straight with you: I have been told the numbers exist and I have never been able to see one myself. Do not build your workflow on squinting at tiny plastic. Build it on this table and the catalogs... that is what they are for. (The full anatomy of every piece, with the three numbering systems explained side by side, is in the minifigure parts guide.)

The legs family (where the codes start doing work)

Legs mostly trade as assemblies (hips plus both legs together), and the assembly codes carry real information:

Everything else on the figure

For every part type beyond the core seven, BrickLink stopped inventing numbers and simply adopted each mold's first LEGO® design number. So hair, helmets, capes, and accessories have ONE number family, and the only wrinkle is that re-tooled molds accumulate alternate design numbers over the years:

The code grammar: pb, c, and d decoded

Every decorated minifigure part you will ever look up follows one grammar, and one worked example teaches the whole thing:

• 973pb2750 = a torso with print number 2750. The pb means “pattern,” and the code was assigned by BrickLink's catalogers... it is a filing number, not something printed on the part.
• 973pb2750c01 = that same printed torso assembled with specific arms and hands (in this case pearl dark gray arms, dark bluish gray hands). The c## suffix is exactly what binds an arm-and-hand combination to a print.

That c-code is quietly one of the most useful things in the whole catalog, because arm and hand color is how you tell apart figures that share a torso print. When you are checking whether a figure has the right arms, the c-entry is the ground truth. (This is the workflow behind checking mixed figures, which the identification guide walks in full.)

Two more grammar notes worth having:

• Plain torsos with colored arms get a THREE-digit c-code. 973c024 is a plain torso with blue arms and red hands: no print, so no pb, and a three-digit code instead of two. (There is no 973c00 or 973c01... a bare torso with no arms is simply 973.) The two-digit c## codes only ever ride behind a print code.
• d codes mark mismatched legs (two different colors, or a peg leg): that is 970d33 and friends above.
• A -1 at the end of a number is never a part. It is how catalogs distinguish SETS that reused the same number. If your search for a part keeps landing on a set, drop the suffix.
• A part with a sticker applied is its own catalog entry, not the plain part plus a sticker... a different decorated number entirely. Worth knowing before a stickered torso search comes up empty. (The whole sticker rabbit hole, including where replacement sheets come from, lives in the missing-parts playbook.)

And one honest asymmetry: for torsos the print code comes before the assembly code (973pb2750c01), while for legs the assembly code comes first (970c00pb1182). The catalog's own documentation only describes the torso order. You just have to know.

The collision traps (why cross-catalog searches go wrong)

These three cost people real time and occasionally real money:

1. 3814 is two different things. On Rebrickable, 3814 is the plain torso (LEGO®'s design number). On BrickLink, item 3814 is... a 2025 Netherlands promotional torso assembly. Same digits, entirely different item. Search “3814” in the wrong catalog and you will be very confused.
2. The same assembly wears different letters on different catalogs. One real peg-leg assembly is 970d33 on BrickLink and 970e01 on Rebrickable. Worse, 970c01 means “hips with white legs” on one catalog and a different color combination on the other. When you cross catalogs, carry the LEGO® element or design number across, not the assembly code.
3. BrickLink's “alternate numbers” field mixes two species. It lists both retired BrickLink numbers AND LEGO® design IDs, unlabeled, side by side. Most of the design IDs in that field will 404 if you search them as BrickLink items. They are breadcrumbs, not links.

The practical rule that falls out of all three: on marketplaces, use the BrickLink number; when talking to LEGO® customer service, use the element or design number; and when moving between systems, translate through this table rather than assuming a number means the same thing everywhere. (Which number LEGO®'s own replacement service wants, and the whole three-systems story, is covered in the parts guide; what to do when the part is missing entirely is its own playbook.)

FAQ

What are the part numbers for LEGO® minifigure parts? On BrickLink: torso 973, head 3626, hips 970, right leg 971, left leg 972, left arm 981, right arm 982, hand 983. In LEGO®'s own design numbering the same seven parts are 3814 through 3820. The two systems only agree on the head.

What is the LEGO® minifigure torso part number? 973 on BrickLink (bare torso), with prints as 973pb#### and full arm-and-hand assemblies as 973pb####c##. LEGO®'s design numbers for the torso are 3814 (classic) and 76382 (modern).

What is the part number for LEGO® minifigure arms? BrickLink: 981 (left) and 982 (right). LEGO® design numbers: 3819 (left) and 3818 (right)... note the mapping inverts, so BrickLink's lower number is the left arm while LEGO®'s lower number is the right.

What is the LEGO® minifigure hand part number? 983 on BrickLink; 3820 in LEGO®'s design numbering, with minor attachment-stem variants noted in the catalog.

What does pb mean in LEGO® part numbers? “Pattern”: a BrickLink-assigned code numbering each distinct print on a base part (973pb2750 is torso print number 2750). It is a catalog filing code, not a number printed on the part itself.

What does c01 mean in a LEGO® part number? An assembly code. On a torso it binds a specific arm and hand color combination to a print (973pb2750c01); on hips it indexes the hips-versus-legs color combination (970c01). Two catalogs can use different assembly codes for the same physical part, so translate through the design number when crossing systems.

Where is the part number on a LEGO® minifigure part? LEGO® documents that design numbers are molded inside pieces, but on minifigure-scale parts they are effectively unreadable in practice. Identify minifigure parts through the catalogs (by print, mold, and color) rather than by hunting for molded numbers.

Are LEGO® part numbers the same on BrickLink and Rebrickable? Often not, for minifigure parts: Rebrickable follows LEGO®'s design numbers while BrickLink uses its own legacy numbers for the core body parts, and their assembly suffixes (c, d, e) diverge. The head (3626) is the main number both share.

Numbers above were verified directly against the BrickLink catalog, Brickset's design-number database, and LEGO®'s own part documentation in August 2026. Catalogs merge and renumber entries over time; when in doubt, the live catalog page wins.

— Matt