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.
Available languages
List of languages in the order they appear in the menu:
| # (JE) | # (BE) | Name | Language | Locale Code | Official language in | Added in | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JE | BE | ||||||
| 1 | – | 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 | – | Башҡортса | Bashkir | ba_ru | Bashkortostan (Russia), Russia | 1.14.3-pre3 (1.14.3) | – |
| 6 | – | Boarisch | Bavarian | bar | Bavaria | [more information needed] | – |
| 7 | – | Беларуская | Belarusian | be_by | Belarus | 1.9 | – |
| 8 | 23 | Български | Bulgarian | bg_bg | Bulgaria | 11w49a (1.1) | 1.1 (build 1) |
| 9 | – | Brezhoneg | Breton | br_fr | France | 1.9 | – |
| 10 | – | Brabants | Brabantian | brb | Netherlands | 1.13.1-pre1 (1.13.1) | – |
| 11 | – | Bosanski | Bosnian | bs_ba | Bosnia and Herzegovina | [more information needed] | – |
| 12 | – | Català | Catalan | ca_es | Spain (Catalonia) & Andorra | 12w01a (1.1) | – |
| 13 | 21 | Čeština | Czech | cs_cz | Czech Republic | 11w49a (1.1) | 1.1 (build 1) |
| 14 | – | Cymraeg | Welsh | cy_gb | Wales | 11w49a (1.1) | – |
| 15 | 2 | Dansk | Danish | da_dk | Denmark, Faroe Islands | 11w49a (1.1) | 1.1 (build 1) |
| 16 | – | Österreichisches Deitsch | Austrian German | de_at | Austria | 1.10 | – |
| 17 | – | Schwiizerdutsch | Swiss German | de_ch | Switzerland | [more information needed] | – |
| 18 | 3 | Deutsch | German | de_de | Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Belgium | 11w49a (1.1) | Alpha 0.11.0 (build 1) |
| 19 | 22 | Ελληνικά | Greek | el_gr | Greece, Cyprus. | 12w01a (1.1) | 1.1 (build 1) |
| 20 | – | English (Australia) | Australian English | en_au | Australia | 12w21b (1.3.1) | – |
| 21 | – | English (Canada) | Canadian English | en_ca | Canada | 11w49a (1.1) | – |
| 22 | 4 | English (United Kingdom) | British English | en_gb | Great Britain, India, Singapore, Ireland... | 11w49a (1.1) | ? |
| 23 | – | English (New Zealand) | New Zealand English | en_nz | New Zealand | 1.9 | – |
| 24 | – | Pirate Speak | Pirate English | en_pt | The Seven Seas (Web language) | 12w01a (1.1) | – |
| 25 | – | ɥsᴉꞁᵷuƎ (ɯopᵷuᴉꞰ pǝʇᴉuՈ) | British English (upside down) | en_ud | Britain | 1.9.2 | – |
| 26 | 5 | English (US) | American English | en_us | USA | Java Edition Classic 0.0.9a or earlier | Pre-release |
| 27 | – | Anglish | English puristic | enp | None | [more information needed] | – |
| 28 | – | Shakespearean English | Early Modern English (Wikipedia) | enws | None | [more information needed] | – |
| 29 | – | Esperanto | Esperanto | eo_uy | Constructed language (International) | 12w05a (1.2) | – |
| 30 | – | Español (Argentina) | Argentinian Spanish | es_ar | Argentina | 11w49a (1.1) | – |
| 31 | – | Español (Chile) | Chilean Spanish | es_cl | Chile | [more information needed] | – |
| 32 | 6 | Español (España) | Spanish | es_es | Spain | 11w49a (1.1) | Alpha 0.11.0 (build 1) |
| 33 | 7 | Español (México) | Mexican Spanish | es_mx | Mexico | 1.1 | ? |
| 34 | – | Español (Uruguay) | Uruguayan Spanish | es_uy | Uruguay | 1.1 | Added: Alpha 0.11.0 (build 1) Removed: ? |
| 35 | – | Español (Venezuela) | Venezuelan Spanish | es_ve | Venezuela | 12w01a (1.1) | – |
| 36 | – | Andalûh | Andalusian | esan | Andalusia, Ceuta, Melilla, Gibraltar | ? (1.16) | – |
| 37 | – | Eesti | Estonian | et_ee | Estonia | 11w49a (1.1) | – |
| 38 | – | Euskara | Basque | eu_es | Basque Country | 12w01a (1.1) | – |
| 39 | – | فارسی | Persian | fa_ir | Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan | 1.7.2 | – |
| 40 | 18 | Suomi | Finnish | fi_fi | Finland | 11w49a (1.1) | 1.1 (build 1) |
| 41 | – | Filipino | Filipino | fil_ph | Philippines | 1.7.2 | – |
| 42 | – | Føroyskt | Faroese | fo_fo | Faroe Islands | 1.9 | – |
| 43 | 8 | Français québécois | Canadian French | fr_ca | Canada | 11w49a (1.1) | Alpha 0.11.0 (build 1) |
| 44 | 9 | Français | French | fr_fr | France, Belgium, Monaco, Switzerland, .... | 11w49a (1.1) | Alpha 0.11.0 (build 1) |
| 45 | – | Frängisch | East Franconian | fra_de | Germany (Franconia) | 1.13.1 | – |
| 46 | – | Frysk | Frisian | fy_nl | The Netherlands | 1.9 | – |
| 47 | – | Gaeilge | Irish | ga_ie | Ireland | 12w21b (1.3.1) | – |
| 48 | – | Gàidhlig | Scottish Gaelic | gd_gb | Scotland, Canada | 1.9.2 | – |
| 49 | – | Galego | Galician | gl_es | Galicia (Spain) | 1.1 | – |
| 50 | – | Gutrazda | Gothic | got_de | Oium, Dacia, Pannonia, Dalmatia, Italy, Gallia Narbonensis, Gallia Aquitania, Hispania, Crimea, North Caucasus (no native speakers; language used by Goths). | 1.14.3-pre3 (1.14.3) | – |
| 51 | – | Gaelg | Manx | gv_im | Isle of Man | 1.7.4 | – |
| 52 | – | ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi | Hawaiian | haw_us | Hawaii | 1.10 | – |
| 53 | – | עברית | Hebrew | he_il | Israel | 11w49a (1.1) | – |
| 54 | – | हिन्दी | Hindi | hi_in | India, Fiji | 1.1 | – |
| 55 | – | Hrvatski | Croatian | hr_hr | Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina | 11w49a (1.1) | – |
| 56 | 11 | Magyar | Hungarian | hu_hu | Hungary | 11w49a (1.1) | 1.1 (build 1) |
| 57 | – | Հայերեն | Armenian | hy_am | Armenia | 13w38c (1.7) | – |
| 58 | 1 | Bahasa Indonesia | Indonesian | id_id | Indonesia | 12w21b (1.3.1) | 1.1 (build 1) |
| 59 | – | Igbo | Igbo | ig_ng | Nigeria | [more information needed] | – |
| 60 | – | Ido | Ido | io_en | Constructed language | ? (1.11) | – |
| 61 | – | Íslenska | Icelandic | is_is | Iceland | 11w49a (1.1) | – |
| 62 | – | Medžuslovjansky | Interslavic | isv | Constructed language (Slavic countries) | ? (1.16) | – |
| 63 | 10 | Italiano | Italian | it_it | Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City State. | 11w49a (1.1) | Alpha 0.11.0 (build 1) |
| 64 | 26 | 日本語 | Japanese | ja_jp | Japan | 11w49a (1.1) | Alpha 0.11.0 (build 1) |
| 65 | – | la .lojban. | Lojban | jbo_en | Constructed language | 1.9 | – |
| 66 | – | ქართული | Georgian | ka_ge | Georgia | 12w01a (1.1) | – |
| 67 | – | Taqbaylit | Kabyle | kab_kab | Algeria | [more information needed] | – |
| 68 | – | Қазақша | Kazakh | kk_kz | Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia, Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan | [more information needed] | – |
| 69 | – | ಕನ್ನಡ | Kannada | kn_in | India | [more information needed] | – |
| 70 | 29 | 한국어 | Korean | ko_kr | South Korea | 11w49a (1.1) | Alpha 0.11.0 (build 1) |
| 71 | – | Kölsch/Ripoarisch | Kölsch/Ripuarian | ksh | Germany (Rhineland), Belgium, Netherlands | 1.9 | – |
| 72 | – | Kernewek | Cornish | kw_gb | Cornwall | 13w02a (1.5) | – |
| 73 | – | Latina | Latin | la_va | Vatican (no native speakers, was the language of Roman Empire during Antiquity) | 13w38c (1.7) | – |
| 74 | – | Lëtzebuergesch | Luxembourgish | lb_lu | Luxembourg, Germany, France, Belgium | 13w38c (1.7) | – |
| 75 | – | Limburgs | Limburgish | li_li | The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany | 1.9 | – |
| 76 | – | LOLCAT | LOLCAT | lol_us | The Kingdom of Cats (Web language) | 1.9 | – |
| 77 | – | Lietuvių | Lithuanian | lt_lt | Lithuania | 11w49a (1.1) | – |
| 78 | – | Latviešu | Latvian | lv_lv | Latvia | 12w01a (1.1) | – |
| 79 | – | Te Reo Māori | Māori | mi_nz | New Zealand | 1.7.10 | – |
| 80 | – | Македонски | Macedonian | mk_mk | North Macedonia | 1.9 | – |
| 81 | – | Монгол | Mongolian | mn_mn | Mongolia | 1.10 | – |
| 82 | – | Kanien’kéha | Mohawk | moh_ca | Canada, United States | 1.13.1 | – |
| 83 | – | Bahasa Melayu | Malay | ms_my | Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei | 12w01a (1.1) | – |
| 84 | – | Malti | Maltese | mt_mt | Malta | 12w07a (1.2)[1] | – |
| 85 | – | Platdüütsk | Low German | nds_de | Germany, The Netherlands | 1.7.4 | – |
| 86 | – | Vlaams | Dutch, Flemish | nl_be | Belgium, The Netherlands | [more information needed] | – |
| 87 | 12 | Nederlands | Dutch | nl_nl | The Netherlands, Belgium, Aruba, Curaçao, Sint Maarten, Suriname. | 11w49a (1.1) | 1.0.3 (build 1) |
| 88 | – | Norsk nynorsk | Norwegian Nynorsk | nn_no | Norway | 11w49a (1.1) | – |
| – | 13 | Norsk Bokmål | Norwegian Bokmål | nb_no | Norway | Added: 11w49a (1.1) Removed: 13w02a (1.5) |
1.1 (build 1) |
| 90 | – | Nuučaan̓uł | Nuu-chah-nulth | nuk | Pacific Northwest Coast (Canada) | 1.13.1-pre2 (1.13.1) | – |
| 91 | – | Occitan | Occitan | oc_fr | Occitania (Val d'Aran in Spain, southern tier of France, several alpine valleys of Piedmont) | 13w38c (1.7) | – |
| 92 | – | Ojibwemowin | Ojibwe | oj_ca | Canada: Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Colombia
United States: Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana |
[more information needed] | – |
| 93 | – | Övdalsk | Elfdalian | ovd | Älvdalen (Sweden) | [more information needed] | – |
| 94 | 14 | Polski | Polish | pl_pl | Poland | 11w49a (1.1) | 1.1 (build 1) |
| 95 | 15 | Português (Brasil) | Brazilian Portuguese | pt_br | Brazil | 11w49a (1.1) | Alpha 0.11.0 (build 1) |
| 96 | 16 | Português (Portugal) | Portuguese | pt_pt | Portugal, Angola, Mozambique, ... | 11w49a (1.1) | Alpha 0.11.0 (build 1) |
| 97 | – | Quenya | Quenya (Form of Elvish from LOTR) | qya_aa | Constructed language (Lord of the Rings: Aman) | 1.1 | – |
| 98 | – | Română | Romanian | ro_ro | Romania, Moldova, Transnistria | 12w01a (1.1) | – |
| 99 | 24 | Русский | Russian | ru_ru | Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, .... | 11w49a (1.1) | Alpha 0.11.0 (build 1) |
| 100 | – | Sicilianu | Sicilian | scn | Sicily, Calabria | [more information needed] | – |
| 101 | – | Davvisámegiella | Northern Sami | sme | Norway, Sweden, Finland | 1.8 | – |
| 102 | 17 | Slovenčina | Slovak | sk_sk | Slovakia | 12w01a (1.1) | 1.1 (build 1) |
| 103 | – | Slovenščina | Slovenian | sl_si | Slovenia | 11w49a (1.1) | – |
| 104 | – | Af-Soomaali | Somali | so_so | Somalia | 1.9 | – |
| 105 | – | Shqip | Albanian | sq_al | Albania, North Macedonia, Kosovo | 1.9 | – |
| 106 | – | Српски | Serbian | sr_sp | Serbia (Kosovo), Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina | 12w01a (1.1) | – |
| 107 | 19 | Svenska | Swedish | sv_se | Sweden, Finland | 11w49a (1.1) | 1.1 (build 1) |
| 108 | – | Oschdallgaierisch | Allgovian German | swg | Germany | 1.10 | – |
| 109 | – | Säggs'sch | Upper Saxon German | sxu | Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia | [more information needed] | – |
| 110 | – | Ślōnskŏ | Silesian | szl | Upper Silesia (Poland) | [more information needed] | – |
| 111 | – | தமிழ் | Tamil | ta_in | Sri Lanka, India, Singapore | [more information needed] | – |
| 112 | – | ภาษาไทย | Thai | th_th | Thailand | 12w01a (1.1) | – |
| 113 | – | tlhIngan Hol | Klingon | tlh_aa | Constructed language (Star Trek: the Klingon Empire) | 12w01a (1.1) | – |
| 114 | 20 | Türkçe | Turkish | tr_tr | Turkey | 11w49a (1.1) | 1.1 (build 1) |
| 115 | – | Татарча | Tatar | tt_ru | Tatarstan (Russia) | 1.13.1 | – |
| 116 | – | Talossan | Talossan | tzl_tzl | Constructed Language | 1.9 | – |
| 117 | 25 | Українська | Ukrainian | uk_ua | Ukraine, Transnistria. | 12w01a (1.1) | 1.1 (build 1) |
| 118 | – | Català (Valencià) | Valencian | val_es | Spain | 1.7.4 | – |
| 119 | – | Vèneto | Venetian | vec_it | Italy, Slovenia, Croatia | [more information needed] | – |
| 120 | – | Tiếng Việt | Vietnamese | vi_vn | Vietnam | 1.1 | – |
| 121 | – | ייִדיש | Yiddish | yi_de | United States, Germany, Israel, various European nations. | 19w34a (1.15) | – |
| 122 | – | Yorùbá | Yoruba | yo_ng | Nigeria | [more information needed] | – |
| 123 | 27 | 简体中文 (中国) | Chinese Simplified (China) | zh_cn | China, Singapore | 11w49a (1.1) | Alpha 0.11.0 (build 1) |
| 124 | 28 | 繁體中文 (台灣) | Chinese Traditional (Taiwan) | zh_tw | Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau. | 12w01a (1.1) | Alpha 0.11.0 (build 1) |
Font
Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
! @ # $ £ % ^ & * ( ) _ - + = ~ [ ] { } | \ : ; " ' , < > . ? /
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. All ASCII characters between 32 (space) and 126 (~) are five dots wide, with the following exceptions:
| ASCII codepoint | Character | Width (dots) |
|---|---|---|
| 32 | space
|
3 |
| 33 | !
|
1 |
| 34 | "
|
3 |
| 39 | '
|
1 |
| 40 | (
|
3 |
| 41 | )
|
3 |
| 42 | *
|
3 |
| 44 | ,
|
1 |
| 46 | .
|
1 |
| 58 | :
|
1 |
| 59 | ;
|
1 |
| 60 | <
|
4 |
| 62 | >
|
4 |
| 64 | @
|
6 |
| 73 | I
|
3 |
| 91 | [
|
3 |
| 93 | ]
|
3 |
| 96 | `
|
2 |
| 102 | f
|
4 |
| 105 | i
|
1 |
| 107 | k
|
4 |
| 108 | l
|
2 |
| 116 | t
|
3 |
| 123 | {
|
3 |
| 124 | |
|
1 |
| 125 | }
|
3 |
| 126 | ~
|
6 |
The space between characters is one dot wide.
It has some of the Unicode characters. These characters are stored in ascii.png, accented.png and nonlatin_european.png 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 changes 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] The font currently supports the Latin, Greek, Cyrillic and Armenian alphabets (with support for Georgian potentially upcoming), as well as the Hebrew abjad.
For a list of characters that Minecraft retextures to display in chat, please see this command. Not all lines appear, so check the logs.
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 | 13w38c | 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 | - | 84 |
| Java Edition 1.9.2 | 25 April 2016 | 2 | – | 86 |
| Java Edition 1.10 | – | 4 | – | 90 |
| Java Edition 1.11 | – | 1 | – | 91 |
| Java Edition 1.12 | – | 2 | 1 | 92 |
| Java Edition 1.13 | – | 19 | – | 111 |
| Java Edition 1.13.1 | – | 4 | – | 115 |
| Java Edition 1.14.3 | 1.14.3-pre3 | 2 | – | 117 |
| Java Edition 1.15 | 19w34a | 1 | – | 118 |
| 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 | – | 28 |
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 it was too similar to German. However, it has been re-included to the game again in version 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. |
| Norsk bokmål | Norwegian Bokmål | no_no | Norway | 11w49a (1.1) | 20w14a or before that | |
| 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.
- Minecraft doesn't support combining characters, leading to some characters displaying improperly, e.g. diacritics appear as a separate character in some languages like Hindi, Tamil, or Yiddish.
- 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 that support it.
Trivia
- Minecraft is available in seven constructed languages:
- Anglish; a language based on modern English but with all non-Germanic loan words removed,
- Esperanto; devised as an international language now estimated to be spoken by about 2,000,000 people worldwide,
- Ido; a language derived from Esperanto,
- Interslavic; a language based on Slavic languages created to facilitate communication between Slavs,
- Klingon; an alien language from Star Trek devised by linguist Marc Okrand,
- Lojban; a language created by the Logical Language Group,
- Quenya; one of the Elvish languages devised by J.R.R. Tolkien,
- Talossan; a language created for the Talossa micronation.
- It is also available in the joke "languages" of
- LOLCAT; English written in the way a stereotypical Lolcat talks,
- Pirate Speak; English written in the way a stereotypical pirate talks,
- Shakespearean English; English based on the literary style of William Shakespeare.
- Upside down English.
- According to the iOS Bedrock Edition game files, the name of the font used by the game is called "Mojangles"
- 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.
- Before, obfuscated text would choose random characters of only the same width. Now, it's no longer the case, as all supported characters are taken into account.
- Many glyphs are supported by the Minecraft font, but not all of them. GNU Unifont is used for several languages that use detailed characters, like Chinese or Tamil.
Gallery
Notes
- ↑ Maltese added in 11w49a but removed in 12w01a. It was then re-added in 12w07a.
