The choice of languages is a feature that was introduced in weekly snapshot 11w49a and officially released in Minecraft 1.1. The language menu is accessible via a new button in the main menu to the left of the options button, and from the options menu.
History
Here is a table that summarizes the modifications of languages through the updates :
| Version | Added | Removed | Total | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11w49a | 36 | - | 36 | |
| 12w01a | 18 | 4 | 50 | |
| 1.1 | 6 | - | 56 |
Available languages
As of version 1.1, there are 56 languages, which are, in the order they appear in in the menu :
| # | Name | Language | Official language in | Added in |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Afrikaans | Afrikaans | South Africa | 12w01a (1.1) |
| 2 | اللغة العربية | Arabic | North Africa + Near and Middle East | 12w01a (1.1) |
| 3 | Български | Bulgarian | Bulgaria | 12w01a (1.1) |
| 4 | Català | Catalan | Andorra & Catalonia | 12w01a (1.1) |
| 5 | Čeština | Czech | Czech Republic | 11w49a (1.1) |
| 6 | Cymraeg | Welsh | Wales | 11w49a (1.1) |
| 7 | Dansk | Danish | Denmark, Faroe Islands, Greenland. | 11w49a (1.1) |
| 8 | Deutsch | German | Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Belgium. | 11w49a (1.1) |
| 9 | Ελληνικά | Greek | Greece, Cyprus. | 12w01a (1.1) |
| 10 | English (UK) | British English | Great Britain | 11w49a (1.1) |
| 11 | English (Ca) | Canadian English | Canada | 11w49a (1.1) |
| 12 | Pirate Speak | Pirate English | None (Web language) | 12w01a (1.1) |
| 13 | English (US) | American English | USA | 11w49a (1.1) |
| 14 | Español (Ar) | Argentinian Spanish | Argentina | 11w49a (1.1) |
| 15 | Español (Es) | Spanish | Spain | 11w49a (1.1) |
| 16 | Español (Me) | Mexican Spanish | Mexico | 1.1 |
| 17 | Español (Ur) | Uruguayan Spanish | Uruguay | 1.1 |
| 18 | Español (Ve) | Venezuelan Spanish | Venezuela | 12w01a (1.1) |
| 19 | Eesti | Estonian | Estonia | 11w49a (1.1) |
| 20 | Euskara | Basque | France and Spain (Basque Country) | 12w01a (1.1) |
| 21 | Suomi | Finnish | Finland | 11w49a (1.1) |
| 22 | Français (Ca) | Canadian French | Canada | 11w49a (1.1) |
| 23 | Français (Fr) | French | France, Belgium, Monaco, Switzerland, .... | 11w49a (1.1) |
| 24 | Galego | Galician | Galicia (Spain) | 1.1 |
| 25 | עברית | Hebrew | Israel | 11w49a (1.1) |
| 26 | Hrvatski | Croatian | Croatia | 11w49a (1.1) |
| 27 | български | Bulgarian | Bulgaria | 11w49a (1.1) |
| 28 | Íslenska | Icelandic | Iceland | 11w49a (1.1) |
| 29 | Italiano | Italian | Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City State. | 11w49a (1.1) |
| 30 | 日本語 | Japanese | Japan | 11w49a (1.1) |
| 31 | ქართული | Georgian | Georgia | 12w01a (1.1) |
| 32 | 한국어 | Korean | South Korea | 11w49a (1.1) |
| 33 | हिन्दी | Hindi | India | 1.1 |
| 34 | Lietuvių | Lithuanian | Lithuania | 11w49a (1.1) |
| 35 | Latviešu | Latvian | Latvia | 12w01a (1.1) |
| 36 | Bahasa Melayu | Malay | Malaysia, Singapore | 12w01a (1.1) |
| 37 | Norsk Bokmål | Norwegian | Norway | 11w49a (1.1) |
| 38 | Nederlands | Dutch | The Netherlands, Belgium, Aruba, Curaçao, Sint Maarten, Suriname. | 11w49a (1.1) |
| 39 | Norsk Nynorsk | Norwegian | Norway | 11w49a (1.1) |
| 40 | Polski | Polish | Poland | 11w49a (1.1) |
| 41 | Português (Br) | Brazilian Portuguese | Brazil | 11w49a (1.1) |
| 42 | Portuguese (Po) | Portuguese | Portugal, Angola, Mozambique, .... | 11w49a (1.1) |
| 43 | Quenya | Quenya (High Elvish) | Fictive (Lord of the Rings : Valinor, Lindon and Rivendell) | 1.1 |
| 44 | Română | Romanian | Romania | 12w01a (1.1) |
| 45 | Pусский | Russian | Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, .... | 11w49a (1.1) |
| 46 | Slovenčina | Slovak | Slovakia | 12w01a (1.1) |
| 47 | Slovenščina | Slovenian | Slovenia | 11w49a (1.1) |
| 48 | Српски | Serbian | Serbia, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro. | 12w01a (1.1) |
| 49 | Svenska | Swedish | Sweden, Finland. | 11w49a (1.1) |
| 50 | ภาษาไทย | Thai | Thailand | 12w01a (1.1) |
| 51 | tlhIngan Hol | Klingon | Fictive (Star Trek) | 12w01a (1.1) |
| 52 | Türkçe | Turkish | Turkey, Cyprus. | 11w49a (1.1) |
| 53 | Українська | Ukrainian | Ukraine, Transnistria. | 12w01a (1.1) |
| 54 | Tiếng Việt | Vietnamese | Vietnam | 1.1 |
| 55 | 简体中文 | Chinese (Simplified) | China, Singapore. | 11w49a (1.1) |
| 56 | 繁體中文 | Chinese (Traditional) | Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau. | 12w01a (1.1) |
Upcoming languages
This is a list of all the upcoming languages that are listed on the official Minecraft translation project page :
- English (Australian)
- Hungarian
- Indonesian
- Irish
Removed languages
| Name | Language | Official language in | Added in | Removed in | Reason |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Deutsch (Ös) | Austrian German | Austria | 11w49a (1.1.0) | 12w01a (1.1.0) | Unknown (probably because Austrian German mostly equals standard German) |
| Español (La) | Latino-American Spanish | South America | 11w49a (1.1.0) | 12w01a (1.1.0) | Replaced by Argentinian, Venezuelan and Uruguayan Spanish translations. |
| Magyar | Hungarian | Hungary | 11w49a (1.1.0) | 12w01a (1.1.0) | Unknown |
| Malti | Maltese | Malta | 11w49a (1.1.0) | 12w01a (1.1.0) | Unknown (removed from the Translation Project page as well) |
Bugs & Inaccuracy
- In 12w04a, the Afrikaans singleplayer button read as "You are a N*GGER". Jeb has apologised for not reviewing the submissions since.
- Arabic is a language that is always written with connected letters, however, in Minecraft the letter do not connect (e.g "اللغة العربية" is written like "ا ل ل غ ة ا ل ع ر ب ي ة")
- In some languages, the text is too long and overfills the button it is written on.
- Splash texts are not translated and therefore will show up in English.
- In Canadian English, the "Benchmarking" achievement description is bugged. Also, Gray and Light Gray Wool spell the word "Grey", but the dye spells it "Gray".
- Power and punch enchantments on bows have the name of the similar sword enchantment when using Canadian English
- Many Turkish translations contain obscenities, which were contributed by trolls.
- There are some critical mistakes in some of the Translations, like Hebrew.
- The UK English and Canadian English use the other languages code.
- I.E: Name = Canadian English, Language code = en_GB and vice versa.
- In Pirate, the "Industrious now, aren't we?" achivement has a w on the end.
- Hebrew is titled as "אנגלית" (English). It should be "עברית" (Hebrew).
- When Bulgarian is selected the text beneath is in Hungarian, what was removed for unknown reason.
- Vietnamese is titled as "Tiếng Anh" (English). It should be "Tiếng Việt" (Vietnamese)
Trivia
- Minecraft is available in three fictive languages : Klingon (Klingon language from Star Trek), Pirate (Internet language) and Quenya (Elvish language from Lord of the Rings).
- In Pirate speak, Gold Boots are called "Buttershoes", a reference to Seananners, a well known YouTube personality that ran a Minecraft series.