The effects of different passivation methods applied to the same planar high-purity germanium gamma radiation detector have been studied. By means of the scanning with a low-energy collimated gamma source, it has been found that the surface passivation gives rise to a dead layer below the intrinsic Ge surface, whose thickness and distribution are strongly dependent on the passivation type. Measured bulk detector properties like the peak-to-Compton ratio and efficiency have shown a dependence on the passivation and an influence of the passivation type on the depletion voltage, whilst the optimal energy resolution has been the same for all the passivations.