Tutorials/Installing a snapshot

Installing snapshots gives us a preview of the upcoming Minecraft version, however a lot of people don't know how to use or install them. Read on to find out.

1.6 to present
To install a snapshot in 1.6 and onwards, download the MinecraftDev application. This can be found on the Development version history page, or on the Mojang blog.

Note that this only has to be done once, as the launcher supports multiple versions/installs. New versions will be available in the launcher as they are released.

New launcher allows you to play not only with development versions, but also with Minecraft 1.5.1 and newer releases. You can switch them by the combo box on the top-right side of the window.

To use a previous version of Minecraft (1.5 and prior), use the current launcher.

Pre-1.6
For Minecraft versions in 1.5 and prior, follow these three steps to install a snapshot:

Step 1: Navigate to the snapshot history page and download the client version on the right of the snapshot description.

Step 2: Go to your .minecraft folder: Step 3: Replace "minecraft.jar" in the "bin" folder there with the one you downloaded, and start Minecraft.
 * Windows XP/Vista/7/8:  (Simply put this in your address bar & hit enter)
 * Linux:  (this folder may be hidden in the "Home" folder)*
 * Mac OS X:  (this folder may be hidden)


 * To unhide files in the 'Home' folder, press Ctrl+H

Congratulations, you have installed a snapshot!

Warning 1: Opening existing single player worlds is not without risk: they might become broken or unloadable. If you load the map in the new snapshot & later you downgrade your version of minecraft, the map might contain items that don't exist in that version yet, thus corrupting it. A map can also become corrupt by any bugs in the new snapshot. Don't take any risks: backup your saves! (they are in \.minecraft\saves\)

Warning 2: To make a backup of your minecraft mods, make a backup of the minecraft.jar. Simply copy the file to a safe location (The file is in \.minecraft\bin)

To revert to the stable version, click "Force Update" in the launcher options.

Tutoriels/Comment installer un snapshot