Reason: Newer languages, specifically Shakespearean English, need to be added - see Talk:Language#Ido and possibly newer languages
The choice of languages is a feature that allows changing languages for people who are not familiar with English. The language menu is accessible via a button in the main menu to the left of the options button, and from the options menu.
Previously, language packs were needed in order to change the in game language. Language packs are obsolete, due to the official implementation of other languages.
Each language also has a font, although most languages share the same font.[1]
Available languages
There are 116 languages, which are, in the order they appear in the menu:
| # (JE) | # (BE) | Name | Language | Locale Code | Official language in | Added in | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JE | BE |
Nibba |
– | Afrikaans | Afrikaans | af_za | South Africa | 12w01a (1.1) | – |
| 2 | – | اللغة العربية | Arabic | ar_sa | North Africa + Middle East | 12w01a (1.1) | – | ||
| 3 | – | Asturianu | Asturian | ast_es | Asturias (Spanish Autonomous Community) | 1.7.4 | – | ||
| 4 | – | Azərbaycanca | Azerbaijani | az_az | Azerbaijan, Dagestan | 1.7.10 | – | ||
| 5 | – | Беларуская | Belarusian | be_by | Belarus | 1.9 | – | ||
| 6 | 23 | Български | Bulgarian | bg_bg | Bulgaria | 11w49a (1.1) | 1.1 (build 1) | ||
| 7 | – | Brezhoneg | Breton | br_fr | France | 1.9 | – | ||
| 8 | – | Braobans | Brabantian | brb | Netherlands | 1.13.1-pre1 (1.13.1) | – | ||
| 9 | – | Bosanski | Bosnian | bs_BA | Bosnia and Herzegovina | [more information needed] | – | ||
| 10 | – | Català | Catalan | ca_es | Spain (Catalonia) & Andorra | 12w01a (1.1) | – | ||
| 11 | 21 | Čeština | Czech | cs_cz | Czech Republic | 11w49a (1.1) | 1.1 (build 1) | ||
| 12 | – | Cymraeg | Welsh | cy_gb | Wales | 11w49a (1.1) | – | ||
| 13 | 2 | Dansk | Danish | da_dk | Denmark, Faroe Islands | 11w49a (1.1) | 1.1 (build 1) | ||
| 14 | – | Österreichisches Deitsch | Austrian German | de_at | Austria | 1.10 | – | ||
| 15 | – | Schwiizerdutsch | Swiss German | de_ch | Switzerland | [more information needed] | – | ||
| 16 | 3 | Deutsch | German | de_de | Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Belgium | 11w49a (1.1) | Alpha 0.11.0 (build 1) | ||
| 17 | 22 | Ελληνικά | Greek | el_gr | Greece, Cyprus. | 12w01a (1.1) | 1.1 (build 1) | ||
| 18 | – | English (Australia) | Australian English | en_au | Australia | 12w21b (1.3.1) | – | ||
| 19 | – | Canadian English | Canadian English | en_ca | Canada | 11w49a (1.1) | – | ||
| 20 | 4 | English (UK) | British English | en_gb | Great Britain, India, Singapore, Ireland... | 11w49a (1.1) | ? | ||
| 21 | – | New Zealand English | New Zealand English | en_nz | New Zealand | 1.9 | – | ||
| 22 | – | Pirate Speak | Pirate English | en_7s | The Seven Seas (Web language) | 12w01a (1.1) | – | ||
| 23 | – | ɥsᴉꞁᵷuƎ (ɯopᵷuᴉꞰ pǝʇᴉuՈ) | British English (upside down) | en_ud | Britain | 1.9.2 | – | ||
| 24 | 5 | English (US) | American English | en_us | USA | Pre 0.0.0 | Pre-release | ||
| 25 | – | Anglish | English puristic | enp | None | [more information needed] | – | ||
| 26 | – | Shakespearean English | Early Modern English (Wikipedia) | en_ws | None | [more information needed] | – | ||
| 27 | – | Esperanto | Esperanto | eo_uy | Constructed language (International) | 12w05a (1.2) | – | ||
| 28 | – | Español (Argentina) | Argentinian Spanish | es_ar | Argentina | 11w49a (1.1) | – | ||
| 29 | – | Español | Chilean Spanish | es_CL | Chile | [more information needed] | – | ||
| 30 | 6 | Español (España) | Spanish | es_es | Spain | 11w49a (1.1) | Alpha 0.11.0 (build 1) | ||
| 31 | 7 | Español (México) | Mexican Spanish | es_mx | Mexico | 1.1 | ? | ||
| 32 | – | Español (Uruguay) | Uruguayan Spanish | es_uy | Uruguay | 1.1 | Added: Alpha 0.11.0 (build 1) Removed: ? | ||
| 33 | – | Español (Venezuela) | Venezuelan Spanish | es_ve | Venezuela | 12w01a (1.1) | – | ||
| 34 | – | Eesti | Estonian | et_ee | Estonia | 11w49a (1.1) | – | ||
| 35 | – | Euskara | Basque | eu_es | Basque Country | 12w01a (1.1) | – | ||
| 36 | – | فارسی | Persian | fa_ir | Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan | 1.7.2 | – | ||
| 37 | 18 | Suomi | Finnish | fi_fi | Finland | 11w49a (1.1) | 1.1 (build 1) | ||
| 38 | – | Filipino | Filipino | fil_ph | Philippines | 1.7.2 | – | ||
| 39 | – | Føroyskt | Faroese | fo_fo | Faroe Islands | 1.9 | – | ||
| 40 | 8 | Français québécois | Canadian French | fr_ca | Canada | 11w49a (1.1) | Alpha 0.11.0 (build 1) | ||
| 41 | 9 | Français | French | fr_fr | France, Belgium, Monaco, Switzerland, .... | 11w49a (1.1) | Alpha 0.11.0 (build 1) | ||
| 42 | – | Frysk | Frisian | fy_nl | The Netherlands | 1.9 | – | ||
| 43 | – | Gaeilge | Irish | ga_ie | Ireland | 12w21b (1.3.1) | – | ||
| 44 | – | Gàidhlig | Scottish Gaelic | gd_gb | Scotland | 1.9.2 | – | ||
| 45 | – | Galego | Galician | gl_es | Galicia (Spain) | 1.1 | – | ||
| 46 | – | Gaelg | Manx | gv_im | Isle of Man | 1.7.4 | – | ||
| 47 | – | ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi | Hawaiian | haw | Hawaii | 1.10 | – | ||
| 48 | – | עברית | Hebrew | he_il | Israel | 11w49a (1.1) | – | ||
| 49 | – | हिन्दी | Hindi | hi_in | India, Fiji | 1.1 | – | ||
| 50 | – | Hrvatski | Croatian | hr_hr | Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina | 11w49a (1.1) | – | ||
| 51 | 11 | Magyar | Hungarian | hu_hu | Hungary | 11w49a (1.1) | 1.1 (build 1) | ||
| 52 | – | Հայերեն | Armenian | hy_am | Armenia | 13w38c (1.7) | – | ||
| 53 | 1 | Bahasa Indonesia | Indonesian | id_id | Indonesia | 12w21b (1.3.1) | 1.1 (build 1) | ||
| 54 | – | Igbo | Igbo | ig_ng | Nigeria | [more information needed] | – | ||
| 55 | – | Ido | Ido | io_en | Constructed language | ? (1.11) | – | ||
| 56 | – | Íslenska | Icelandic | is_is | Iceland | 11w49a (1.1) | – | ||
| 57 | 10 | Italiano | Italian | it_it | Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City State. | 11w49a (1.1) | Alpha 0.11.0 (build 1) | ||
| 58 | 26 | 日本語 | Japanese | ja_jp | Japan | 11w49a (1.1) | Alpha 0.11.0 (build 1) | ||
| 59 | – | la .lojban. | Lojban | jbo | Constructed language | 1.9 | – | ||
| 60 | – | ქართული | Georgian | ka_ge | Georgia | 12w01a (1.1) | – | ||
| 61 | – | Taqbaylit | Kabyle | kab_dz | Algeria | [more information needed] | – | ||
| 62 | – | ಕನ್ನಡ | Kannada | kn_in | India | [more information needed] | – | ||
| 63 | 29 | 한국어 | Korean | ko_kr | South Korea and North Korea | 11w49a (1.1) | Alpha 0.11.0 (build 1) | ||
| 64 | – | Kölsch/Ripoarisch | Kölsch/Ripuarian | ksh_de | Germany (Rhineland), Belgium, Netherlands | 1.9 | – | ||
| 65 | – | Kernewek | Cornish | kw_gb | Cornwall | 13w02a (1.5) | – | ||
| 66 | – | Latina | Latin | la_va | Vatican (no native speakers, was the language of Roman Empire during Antiquity) | 13w38c (1.7) | – | ||
| 67 | – | Lëtzebuergesch | Luxembourgish | lb_lu | Luxembourg, Germany, France, Belgium | 13w38c (1.7) | – | ||
| 68 | – | Limburgs | Limburgish | li_li | The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany | 1.9 | – | ||
| 69 | – | LOLCAT | LOLCAT | lol_aa | The Kingdom of Cats (Web language) | 1.9 | – | ||
| 70 | – | Lietuvių | Lithuanian | lt_lt | Lithuania | 11w49a (1.1) | – | ||
| 71 | – | Latviešu | Latvian | lv_lv | Latvia | 12w01a (1.1) | – | ||
| 72 | – | Te Reo Māori | Māori | mi_nz | New Zealand | 1.7.10 | – | ||
| 73 | – | Македонски | Macedonian | mk_mk | Macedonia | 1.9 | – | ||
| 74 | – | Монгол | Mongolian | mn_mn | Mongolia | 1.10 | – | ||
| 75 | – | Kanien’kéha | Mohawk | moh_us | Canada, United States | 1.13.1 | – | ||
| 76 | – | Bahasa Melayu | Malay | ms_my | Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei | 12w01a (1.1) | – | ||
| 77 | – | Malti | Maltese | mt_mt | Malta | 12w07a (1.2)[2] | – | ||
| 78 | – | Platdüütsk | Low German | nds_de | Germany, The Netherlands | 1.7.4 | – | ||
| 79 | – | Vlaams | Dutch, Flemish | nl_be | Belgium, The Netherlands | [more information needed] | – | ||
| 80 | 12 | Nederlands | Dutch | nl_nl | The Netherlands, Belgium, Aruba, Curaçao, Sint Maarten, Suriname. | 11w49a (1.1) | 1.0.3 (build 1) | ||
| 81 | – | Norsk Nynorsk | Norwegian Nynorsk | nn_no | Norway | 11w49a (1.1) | – | ||
| – | – | Norsk Bokmål | Norwegian | no_no | Norway | 11w49a (1.1)[3] | – | ||
| 82 | 13 | Norsk Bokmål | Norwegian Bokmål | nb_no | Norway | Added: 11w49a (1.1) Removed: 13w02a (1.5) |
1.1 (build 1) | ||
| 83 | – | Nuučaan̓uł | Nuu-chah-nulth | nuk | Pacific Northwest Coast (Canada) | 1.13.1-pre2 (1.13.1) | – | ||
| 84 | – | Occitan | Occitan | oc_fr | Occitania (Val d'Aran in Spain, southern tier of France, several alpine valleys of Piedmont) | 13w38c (1.7) | – | ||
| 85 | – | Ojibwemowin | Ojibwe | oj_ca | Canada: Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Colombia
United States: Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana |
[more information needed] | – | ||
| 86 | – | Övdalsk | Elfdalian | ovd_se | Älvdalen (Sweden) | [more information needed] | – | ||
| 87 | 14 | Polski | Polish | pl_pl | Poland | 11w49a (1.1) | 1.1 (build 1) | ||
| 88 | 15 | Português (Brasil) | Brazilian Portuguese | pt_br | Brazil | 11w49a (1.1) | Alpha 0.11.0 (build 1) | ||
| 89 | 16 | Português (Portugal) | Portuguese | pt_pt | Portugal, Angola, Mozambique, ... | 11w49a (1.1) | Alpha 0.11.0 (build 1) | ||
| 90 | – | Quenya | Quenya (Form of Elvish from LOTR) | qya_aa | Constructed language (Lord of the Rings: Aman) | 1.1 | – | ||
| 91 | – | Română | Romanian | ro_ro | Romania, Moldova, Transnistria | 12w01a (1.1) | – | ||
| 92 | 24 | Русский | Russian | ru_ru | Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, .... | 11w49a (1.1) | Alpha 0.11.0 (build 1) | ||
| 93 | – | Davvisámegiella | Northern Sami | sme | Norway, Sweden, Finland | 1.8 | – | ||
| 94 | 17 | Slovenčina | Slovak | sk_sk | Slovakia | 12w01a (1.1) | 1.1 (build 1) | ||
| 95 | – | Slovenščina | Slovenian | sl_si | Slovenia | 11w49a (1.1) | – | ||
| 96 | – | Af-Soomaali | Somali | so_so | Somalia | 1.9 | – | ||
| 97 | – | Shqip | Albanian | sq_al | Albania | 1.9 | – | ||
| 98 | – | Српски | Serbian | sr_sp | Serbia (Kosovo), Montenegro | 12w01a (1.1) | – | ||
| 99 | 19 | Svenska | Swedish | sv_se | Sweden, Finland | 11w49a (1.1) | 1.1 (build 1) | ||
| 100 | – | Oschdallgaierisch | Allgovian German | swg | Germany | 1.10 | – | ||
| 101 | – | Säggs'sch | Upper Saxon German | sxu | Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia | [more information needed] | – | ||
| 102 | – | Ślōnskŏ gŏdka | Silesian | szl | Upper Silesia (Poland) | [more information needed] | – | ||
| 103 | – | தமிழ் | Tamil | ta_IN | Sri Lanka, India, Singapore | [more information needed] | – | ||
| 104 | – | ภาษาไทย | Thai | th_th | Thailand | 12w01a (1.1) | – | ||
| 105 | – | tlhIngan Hol | Klingon | tlh_aa | Constructed language (Star Trek: the Klingon Empire) | 12w01a (1.1) | – | ||
| 106 | 20 | Türkçe | Turkish | tr_tr | Turkey | 11w49a (1.1) | 1.1 (build 1) | ||
| 107 | – | Татарча | Tatar | tt_ru | Tatarstan (Russia) | 1.13.1 | – | ||
| 108 | – | Talossan | Talossan | tzl_tzl | Constructed Language | 1.9 | – | ||
| 109 | 25 | Українська | Ukrainian | uk_ua | Ukraine, Transnistria. | 12w01a (1.1) | 1.1 (build 1) | ||
| 110 | – | Catala (Valencià) | Valencian | ca-val_es | Spain | 1.7.4 | – | ||
| 111 | – | Vèneto | Venetian | vec_it | Italy, Slovenia, Croatia | [more information needed] | – | ||
| 112 | – | Tiếng Việt | Vietnamese | vi_vn | Vietnam | 1.1 | – | ||
| 113 | – | Frängisch | Franconian | vmf_de | Franconia | 1.13.1 | – | ||
| 114 | – | Yorùbá | Yoruba | yo_ng | Nigeria | [more information needed] | – | ||
| 115 | 27 | 简体中文 - 中国 | Chinese (Simplified) | zh_cn | China, Singapore | 11w49a (1.1) | Alpha 0.11.0 (build 1) | ||
| 116 | 28 | 繁體中文 - 台灣 | Chinese (Traditional) | zh_tw | Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau. | 12w01a (1.1) | Alpha 0.11.0 (build 1) | ||
Font
! @ # $ % ^ & * ( ) _ - + = ~ [ ] { } | \ : ; " ' , < > . ? /
Minecraft's default font is made up of a grid of dots. Each character supported by the font is between 1 and 6 dots wide, although most are 5. It has some of the Unicode characters. These characters are stored in ascii.png, scented.png and nonlatin_european file. If a character is typed (e.g. in chat, on a sign, in a book, etc.) that isn't either in these files, the font will change to Minecraft's "Unicode font" (stored in unicode_page_nn.png) that has thinner lines. The "Unicode font" supports the "BMP" (Basic Multilingual Plane) section of Unicode characters, from 0000 to FFFF (decimal 65535), which is also limited, because it's only a part of Unicode characters, not all of them.[Java Edition only]
History
Here is a table that summarizes the modifications of languages through the updates:
| Java Edition | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Version | Added | Removed | Total | |
| Release | Snapshot | |||
| 1.1 | 11w49a | 35 | – | 36 |
| 12w01a | 17 | 3 | 50 | |
| (1.1 release) | 6 | – | 56 | |
| 1.2.1 | 12w05a | 1 | – | 57 |
| 12w07a | 1 | – | 58 | |
| 1.3.1 | 12w21b | 3 | – | 61 |
| 1.5 | 13w02a | 2 | 1 | 62 |
| 1.7.2 | 12w38c | 4 | ? | 66 |
| Java Edition 1.7.4 | – | 3 | ? | 69 |
| Java Edition 1.7.10 | – | 1 | ? | 70 |
| Java Edition 1.8 | – | 1 | - | 71 |
| Java Edition 1.9 | – | 13 | - | 89 |
| Java Edition 1.9.2 | 25 April 2016 | 2 | – | 91 |
| Java Edition 1.10 | – | 4 | – | 95 |
| Java Edition 1.11 | – | 1 | – | 96 |
| Java Edition 1.12 | – | 2 | 1 | 97 |
| Java Edition 1.13 | – | 19 | – | 112 |
| 1.13.1 | – | 4 | – | 116 |
| Pocket Edition | ||||
| Version | Added | Removed | Total | |
| Release | Build | |||
| 0.11.0 | build 1 | 13 | – | 14 |
| ? | – | 1 | – | 15 |
| ? | – | – | 1 | 14 |
| 1.0.3 | alpha 1.0.3.0 | 1 | – | 15 |
| 1.1.0 | alpha 1.1.0.0 | 13 | – | 29 |
Upcoming languages
Upcoming and still-in-progress translations are listed on the official Minecraft translation project page.
Removed languages
Austrian German was removed from Minecraft temporarily in version 12w01a because German was too similar to Austria German. However, it has been re-included to the game again in version Java Edition 1.10.
| Java Edition | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Language | Locale Code | Official language in | Added in | Removed in | Reason |
| Español (La) | Latino-American Spanish | es_LA | South America | 11w49a (1.1) | 12w01a (1.1) | Replaced by Argentinian, Mexican, Venezuelan, Uruguayan, and Chilean Spanish translations. |
| Norsk Bokmål | Norwegian | nb_NO | Norway | 11w49a (1.1) | 13w02a (1.5) | Added 'Norsk' (no_NO) instead. |
| Filipino | Tagalog | tl_PH | The Philippines | 1.7.2 | 1.7.4? | |
| Pocket Edition | ||||||
| Name | Language | Locale Code | Official language in | Added in | Removed in | Reason |
| Español (Uruguay) | Uruguayan Spanish | es_YU | Uruguay | 0.11.0 (build 1) | ? | |
Translating
Issues
- In some languages, the text is too long and overflows the button it is written on.
- Splash texts are not translated and therefore always show up in English regardless of language setting.
- As of 1.6.1, a custom (not just translated) splash text can be used by using a resource pack.
- Minecraft's language option is only for text display. In some languages (such as Chinese, Japanese and so on) players cannot input text in their languages. This is because Minecraft doesn't support the Input method of the language. Some users can still use Mods which support it.
Trivia
- Minecraft is available in five constructed languages: Esperanto (devised as an international language now estimated to be spoken by between 100,000 and 2,000,000 people worldwide), Klingon (an alien language from Star Trek devised by linguist Marc Okrand), Quenya (one of the Elvish languages devised by J.R.R. Tolkien), Lojban (a language created by the Logical Language Group), and Anglish (A language based on modern English but with all non-Germanic lone words removed). It is also available in the joke "languages" of Pirate Speak (English written in the way a stereotypical pirate talks), LOLCAT (English written in the way a stereotypical Lolcat talks), upside down English, and Shakespearean English (English based on the literary style of William Shakespeare). Latin is not a constructed language, but it is almost unused in modern times, except in Vatican City for some documents.
- It is possible to add a custom language pack by modifying the minecraft.jar file, or, as of 13w16a, copying it to the assets/lang folder. In 1.6.1 (Java Edition 13w24a), this functionality was added to resource packs.
- Random text will only choose random characters with the same width as the original.
- Certain letters with certain accents are supported by the font, but not all of them. GNU Unifont is used for many languages like Czech or Pirate.
- The only 6-dot-wide characters are ®, ~, and @.
Gallery
Notes
- ↑ Chinese, Japanese, and Korean shares the use of Han characters. See wikipedia:CJK Unified Ideographs.
- ↑ Maltese added in 11w49a but removed in 12w01a. It's re-added in 12w07a.
- ↑ File 'no_NO.lang' is found in 11w49a, but it's not selectable from language menu. no_NO is added to language menu in 13w02a.
