Minecraft Launcher

The Minecraft Launcher is the game downloader and launcher for Minecraft: Java Edition and for the launcher version of Minecraft Dungeons. It is available for Windows, macOS and Linux, but Minecraft Dungeons can only be played on Windows.

Features


On the initial login screen, the player must log in with a pre-existing Microsoft account, Mojang Studios account, or legacy Minecraft account, otherwise they can create a new Microsoft account by clicking the link. Subsequent logins can be done in the "Settings" tab.

Once logged in, the launcher has a "News" tab which shows the latest news from minecraft.net, a tab for each game, and the launcher "Settings" tab.

The top left corner of the launcher contains the player's currently active account's name. If the player is using a Microsoft account, this will be their Xbox Gamertag (which may be different than their Minecraft: Java Edition username), otherwise it will be their Minecraft: Java Edition username. By clicking on it, they can manage or log out of their active account, and see a "Help" page with various links to helpful resources.

In order to play the full versions of Minecraft: Java Edition or Minecraft Dungeons, the player must purchase each game respectively on the active account, otherwise they will only have access to the limited demo version of Minecraft: Java Edition.

Minecraft: Java Edition
The main "Play" section allows the player to download (if needed) and launch the game with the "Play" button, and also includes an installation selection on the left (which sorts installations by last played), the player's Java Edition username on the right, and a list of the latest news for the game from minecraft.net below.


 * The player can launch multiple instances of the game by pressing the "Play" button whilst the game is running.
 * If the players device is not connected to the internet, the game can be run in offline mode, but only if the game has been initially downloaded.
 * If the player isn't logged into an account that has purchased the game, the "Play" button will instead be a "Play demo" button which will launch the limited demo version of the game.

There is also a "Patch notes" section where one can see the patch notes for updates to the game, including snapshots (if they are enabled).

Installations
In the "Installations" section, the player can create and edit custom installations of the game. There are buttons to sort and search installations, as well as tick boxes to enable installations with "Releases", "Snapshot", and "Modded" versions of the game. Installations are stored in launcher_profiles.json in the game's directory ( .minecraft ).

By default, there are installations for the "Latest release" and for "Latest snapshot" (if snapshot are enabled), both of which the game versions cannot be changed. The player can create a new installation by clicking the "New installation" button, and can edit an existing installation by clicking on it. There is a "Play" button which launches the selected installation, as well as a folder icon that takes you to the installation's game directory. The ellipses button contains the options to edit, duplicate, or delete an installation.

On the create/edit installation page, the player can change the installation's:
 * Icon, by selecting one of the default ones or adding a custom one. Custom icons must be a .png and be 128×128 pixel in size.
 * Name, by default called " ".
 * Game version, which includes access to older releases and snapshots (if they have been enabled).
 * Game directory, the location of where the game files are saved, the default being .minecraft. The location can be typed in or selected using the "Browse" button.
 * Game resolution, which changes the game's windows size. It has a list of resolutions, or a custom one can be typed in.
 * Java executable, by default uses the bundled java runtime.
 * JVM arguments, such as heap size. The player can manually set a logging configuration (see the Debugging article on wiki.vg for more info).

The player can also download a specific game version's server jar by selection the version in the list and pressing the "Server" button next to it.

Backwards compatibility


The launcher has the ability to play most older releases of the game (and older snapshots, if they are enabled) by default, but also some older versions prior to Release 1.0. In order to see these versions in the installations section, the player must enable "Show historical versions of Minecraft: Java Edition" in the launcher settings tab. Because these versions are outdated and unsupported, they may contain bugs and errors which are not present in newer versions. It is recommended to run old versions of the game in a separate directory and backup your worlds to avoid save corruption or other problems. Once historical versions are enabled, the player can access:
 * Most beta versions.
 * Most alpha versions.
 * One infdev version.
 * Four classic versions.
 * Five pre-classic versions.

Some issues with these older versions include:
 * Some sounds are wrong; bows, doors, and explosions use their sounds from RC1, even in versions released prior to it. In versions before Alpha 1.1.2_01, sounds do not work at all.
 * Skins are missing in versions prior to 1.7, as earlier versions used a different skin server which has since been shut down. Capes may still work, however.
 * In Alpha 1.0.15 and from Alpha 1.2.0 to Alpha 1.2.6, the launcher does not set the player's name properly, resulting in everyone using default names: "Player" followed by a random 3-digit number. This makes multiplayer very difficult to play, as a player's location and inventory will be reset every time they relaunch their client.
 * In Alpha 1.2.5 and Alpha 1.2.6 specifically, players will always be named "Player524". Playing multiplayer in these versions is impossible, as joining a server will kick other players with the same name.


 * As a side effect of the above, and as a result of old authentication servers being shut down, online mode no longer works in versions before Beta 1.8.

Skins


In the "Skins" section, the player can view and change their in-game skin. By default, the player will either have the Steve or Alex skin.

To add a new skin, the player must click on the "+ New skin" button, and click the "Browse" button to select a skin file. The file must have a .png with a resolution of 64×64 pixels, or 64x32 pixels for old-style skins. They can select whether the skin uses the "Default" or "Slim" player model, and add a cape if they have one. The player can then name it and click "Save" to add the skin to their library, or click "Save & Use" to apply it.

In the skins library, the player can apply a skin they want to use by clicking "Use" or can edit, duplicate, or delete a skin by clicking the ellipsis button. By default, the library contains the default Steve and Alex skins, which can be duplicated or applied, but not removed.

Minecraft Dungeons
The main "Play" section allows the player to download (if needed) and launch the latest version of the game with the "Play" button, and also includes images from the game and a list of the latest news articles from minecraft.net below. This section also contains a notice that reminds the player that the launcher version of the game is purchased separately from the Microsoft Store version on Windows 10.

There is a "DLC" section to view the latest DLC for the game and links to purchase them, an "FAQ" section to view frequently asked questions, and a "Patch notes" section to see the patch notes for updates to the game.

Settings


In the main "General" section, the player can: Options exclusively for Minecraft: Java Edition:
 * Change the launcher's language. There are 66 languages available, including 2 joke languages (as of February 2021).
 * Opt-in to use beta versions of the launcher, which requires restarting the launcher to start downloading if there is one available.
 * Keep the launcher open while games are running.
 * Enable animations in the launcher, which are disabled by default to avoid potential motion sickness for some users.
 * Disable hardware acceleration, which requires restarting the launcher.
 * Open the output log when the game starts.
 * Opt-in to automatically send the game's crash reports to Mojang Studios.
 * Show historical versions of the game (versions prior to Release 1.0) in the version selector in the Installations section.

In the "Accounts" section, the player can add, switch, manage, or remove their Microsoft, Mojang Studios, or Legacy Minecraft accounts.

The "About" section contains details about the launcher including its version, credits, and third-party licences, as well as a list of patch notes by clicking the "What's New?" button.

Command line usage
As of version 2.2.25xx, the launcher has these command-line options available for Minecraft: Java Edition:
 * – This option deletes the " game " and " runtime " folders, including their contents, from the working directory.
 * – This option, followed by a path (relative or absolute), changes the location (and/or name) of the .minecraft folder.
 * Can be used to create a portable installation of the game. For example,  (or  ) can be used to make the launcher use the current directory (no matter what the current folder is called).
 * – This option, followed by a path (relative or absolute), changes the location (and/or name) of the tmp folder.
 * – This option adds support for Windows 10. Since the launcher now supports Windows 10 fully, this option is unnecessary and seems to have no effect.
 * – This option, followed by a path (relative or absolute), changes the location (and/or name) of the tmp folder.
 * – This option adds support for Windows 10. Since the launcher now supports Windows 10 fully, this option is unnecessary and seems to have no effect.
 * – This option adds support for Windows 10. Since the launcher now supports Windows 10 fully, this option is unnecessary and seems to have no effect.

Trivia

 * Both Alpha and Classic versions of Minecraft: Java Edition are listed as "old_alpha", despite them not being the same.
 * The launcher doesn't store passwords locally. Instead of this, it uses a 'refresh token'.
 * The current launcher is the eighth launcher for Minecraft: Java Edition, and the third that was built to automatically update itself.
 * Game crashes are reported to Mojang Studios through Hopper.
 * If you are short on space or need to run Minecraft: Java Edition cross-platform, you can download and try using the legacy launcher here (version 1.6.93, ~4.6MB as opposed to the modern launcher's ~85MB). However, the legacy launcher is incompatible with Microsoft accounts and will be discontinued in Q2 2021 due to account migration.