Minecraft: Java Edition
Minecraft is a sandbox construction game, inspired by Infiniminer, Dwarf Fortress and Dungeon Keeper. It was created by Markus Persson, founder of Mojang AB. The game's core mechanic revolves around the placement or removal of blocks from a three-dimensional environment. This mechanic allows players to form elaborate structures and utilise their creativity skills.
Minecraft development showcased the true potential in alpha funding - the ability to pre-order a game and receive the ability to play an early developmental build which is constantly updated. The game's success made its founder a multimillionaire long before its official release. Development started on May 10th 2009, with pre-orders being accepted from June 13th 2009. Minecraft was officially released almost two and a half years later, on November 18th 2011.
The game is currently still under development by Jeb(Jens Bergensten). He is now the head Minecraft developer with slight intervention from Notch.
Version Differences
Minecraft
The official, updated client for Minecraft is priced at €19.95 (~£17.21/~$26.90 and priced at 50% off in Alpha and 25% off in Beta.). When purchased, it can be played in the user's web browser or through an executable client. Minecraft offers fully-featured singleplayer and multiplayer options. Multiplayer is achieved through dedicated servers, the files to which are freely available purchase-free.
The official client features three modes: Creative focuses on building and creativity - players are given immunity to damage, the ability to fly and the ability to destroy and create any block type instantly [1]; Survival focuses on versatile gameplay featuring resource gathering, crafting, combat and exploration [2]; Hardcore is a variant of Survival featuring a higher difficulty scale, in-which the world file is deleted upon the character's death. [3]
Minecraft Classic
Minecraft Classic is a free-to-play, outdated alternative to Minecraft. It is similar to Minecraft's Creative mode.
Hosting a Multiplayer Server
Most Minecraft servers run on dedicated Linux servers. It is recommended to run modified versions of Minecraft's server code such as Bukkit, since they offer expanded features such as plugin support. Plugins for Bukkit can be found on Dev Bukkit.
For a guide on setting up a Bukkit server, see "Setting up a server" on the BukkitWiki.
Alternatively if you want to host a server on your PC You can download the server exe. Which is easier to use then Bukkit. By using Hamachi you won't need to port forward. But if you want to port forward, the port is 25565.
Issues and Fixes
Fixing General Issues
If you are unable to find a specific fix for a problem you're experiencing, you may want to reinstall the game. Navigate to the game's folder and make a copy of it. After creating the backup, delete the entire ".minecraft" folder and use the game's launcher to redownload its files. Any issues that persist after re-installation should not be attributed to Minecraft.
New texture pack has broken textures
The likely cause of this is due to the texture pack not being compatible with the version of Minecraft you are running. It is a good idea to use MCpatcher as it can be used to stop a lot of texture packs from breaking.
Big square holes in the world leading to bedrock
This is a chunk error which happens to everyone ever so often. It can be fixed by exiting Minecraft and then loading it back up. If this issue happens on a SMP server it may be necessary to restart the server.
Error 'Cannot connect to Minecraft.net'
This can be caused when the servers are down for Minecraft.net due to maintenance and can be fixed by trying again at a later time. Another cause of this is Minecraft being blocked in the firewall by either windows or anti-virus software. If Minecraft.net is down for longer than a few hours it is recommended to see if anyone else is having the issue and making an exception in your firewalls.
Game crashes during loading screen after updating to snapshot/pre-release
To fix this issue rename the .Jar you downloaded and saved to the Minecraft bin file to 'minecraft'. If it it saved under minecraft(1) or any other name it can cause crashes during load up.
Game Crashes on a 32-bit Operating System
To fix crashing on a 32-bit OS, set the "Render Distance" option to "Normal" or lower in the game's options.
Black Screen on Startup
Black Screens will occur if the user installs a mod that has not been updated for Minecraft's current revision, or installs a mod incorrectly. Try uninstalling any recently added mods or texture packs.
Performance Improvements
Enable 64-bit Mode and Allocate More Memory (Macintosh)
Enabling 64-bit Java will improve the overall performance of Minecraft and allow it to access more RAM. Make sure that you have the latest version of Java installed for your version of Mac OS X, and that it is enabled in Java Preferences (/Applications/Utilities).
Right click on the applications from Finder and click "Show Package Contents". Open the following file with Xcode or any other text editing package:
Minecraft.app / Contents / info.plist
Find the key "JVMVersion" and change it to "1.6+". Aftwards add an addition key to "JVMArchs" with the value "x86_64". Replace "JavaApplicationStubs" in:
Minecraft.app / Contents / MacOS
With the default ones found in
System / Library / Frameworks / JavaVM.framework / Versions / A / Resources / MacOS
To increase the amount of RAM Minecraft can use, change the following in info.plist:
-Xms *** MB -Xmx ### MB
- Replace *** with the maximum amount of memory Minecraft can use in MB (1024, 2048, etc.)
- Replace ### with the minimum amount of memory Minecraft can use in MB (256, 512, 1024, etc.)
Enable 64-bit Mode and Allocate More Memory (Windows)
On a 64-bit Windows OS, you will need to install a 64-bit Java version to enable Minecraft's 64-bit mode. Minecraft will recognise the installation and use it automatically.
To allocate more memory, enter the Notepad utility (Start menu > Accessories > Notepad) and input the following text:
@Echo off java -Xmx *** -Xms ### -jar "Minecraft.exe-Location"
- Replace *** with the maximum amount of memory Minecraft can use in MB (1024, 2048, etc.)
- Replace ### with the minimum amount of memory Minecraft can use in MB (256, 512, 1024, etc.)
- Replace "Minecraft.exe-Location" with the exact address of Minecraft.exe.
- Example .exe location: D:\Minecraft\Minecraft.exe
After customising the file's contents, choose File > Save As.... Navigate to the location in-which you wish to save this custom launcher.
- In "File name:" use the format Name.bat
- In "Save as type:" choose All Files.
Save the file and use it instead of Minecraft's launcher from now on.
Allocate More Memory (Linux)
To run Minecraft with more RAM on Linux, use the following command:
java -jar -Xms###MB -Xmx***MB "Minecraft.jar-Location"
- Replace *** with the maximum amount of memory Minecraft can use in MB (1024, 2048, etc.)
- Replace ### with the minimum amount of memory Minecraft can use in MB (256, 512, 1024, etc.)
- Replace "Minecraft.jar-Location" with the exact address of Minecraft.jar.
- Example .jar location: /games/minecraft/mincreaft.jar
Install Java 1.7 (Windows)
Java version 1.7 offers significant performance improvements for Minecraft. Uninstall any previous version of Java and install version 1.7 instead.
- Users of 64-bit Windows need to install both 32-bit and 64-bit Java versions.
Game Folder Location
Minecraft installs its files by default to the current OS user's data folder. This behaviour is different to other games, that default to a folder such as "Program Files" on Windows.
Macintosh
To find the game folder's location on a computer running Mac OS, navigate to the following location:
YourUserName > Library > Application Support > minecraft
On Mac OS X Lion, the "Library" folder is not accessible by default. To allow permanent access to the folder, launch the Terminal utility and input the following command: [4]
chflags nohidden ~/Library
Windows
Finding the game's folder on a Windows operating system involves access to hidden folders.
- On Windows XP: enter the Control Panel through the Start menu and locate "Folder Options". The option may be placed inside the "Appearance and Themes" category.
- On Windows Vista: enter the Control Panel through the Start menu, choose "Classic View" from the sidebar and access "Folder Options". In the "View" tab, tick the option to "Show hidden files and folders" and click "OK".
- On Windows 7: enter the Control Panel through the Start menu, in the "View by:" selection box select "Large icons" or "Small icons". Access "Folder Options". In the "View" tab, tick the option to "Show hidden files and folders" and click "OK".
To find the game folder's location on a computer running Windows XP navigate to the following location:
Documents and Settings > YourUserName > Application Data > .minecraft
On Windows Vista and Windows 7:
Users > YourUserName > AppData > Roaming > .minecraft
Borderless Fullscreen Windowed
spidEY's custom Minecraft launcher has the ability to run Minecraft in a fullscreen, borderless window.
Mods
WARNING: Back up ALL files before installing mods as they can corrupt files.
Home of the best mods in Minecraft
Improve FPS and Integrate HD Textures Support
The mod OptiFine is known to boost FPS on most systems. It also provides more graphical options and support for high resolution textures.
All-in-One Customisation Tool
MCPatcher is a tool that allows the user to organise and enable different mods, as well as some expanded graphical options. MCPatcher is updated frequently, rapidly supporting new Minecraft updates.