Hello all, just need a bit of help getting the game up and running again.
It's been about 3 and a half years since I last played the game, so when I started up the launcher I was extremely confused.
Needless to say the launcher has changed a lot and I don't recognise how it works.
To make it worse, it's been so long that last time I played the game, there was only one major version of the game, none of this Java/bedrock nonsense.
Now last time I was playing, I was playing on version 1.7.10 with forge and a lot of mods installed, and since it's been such a long time, there aren't any up to date tutorials for this version of the game.
I have a previous .minecraft folder and have attempted to put the new launcher on to using that, but it isn't working. For whatever reason, it's using some other place as a root directory and I have no idea where that even is, it's not recognising the location I've given it for my root that I have. So it's booting up vanilla even when I've given it a forge game file.
So if anyone could walk me through what's going on and help me get my stuff all back up and running?
Appreciate it! Thanks!
Java and Bedrock being separate versions goes back a whole lot further than three years ago. You were just apparently unaware of it.
Based on some of the things you're saying, such as choosing/playing a very old version, it sounds like you're trying to play Java since Bedrock is basically forced to the latest version.
Java can be played either through the legacy launcher or through the Microsoft store launcher, whereas Bedrock can only be played through the Microsoft store launcher. It's up to you which launcher you use if you're playing Java and don't care to play Bedrock.
Setting up 1.7.10 should be pretty straightforward. You simply choose that as your version in the profile. Setting it up with mods would depend on what steps the mods themselves need done. In any case, I would highly recommend creating dedicated folders for each version of the game (perhaps unless you know you will only ever play one version of the game and never any others), so instead of letting the game put everything in the default Minecraft folder, create, say, a 1-7-10 (that's just how I do it) folder for your 1.7 version.
The launcher has always used the same default folder since forever (C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\.minecraft, or the OS-specific equivalent); for it to be any different suggests you had previously changed it and/or the game directory that the game uses when running (in the latter case Forge won't be able to find the mods folder, thus no mods will be loaded but you'll still see that it is using Forge on the main menu):
Also, if you do play any other versions it is mandatory to have each one use its own directory; I went so far as to make my own modded versions unable to see vanilla worlds and use their own options.txt and statistics files to minimize conflicts but vanilla doesn't do this (1.7 did make stats per-world so that is no longer an issue); 1.7 in particular will crash if you set the render distance to higher than 16 in 1.8+, then play 1.7 (perhaps unless Optifine is used, which uses its own configuration file to avoid this issue), 1.5 and earlier versions similarly crash due to bad coding not being able to see "en_us" as the same as "en_US" (I don't understand Mojang's obsession with case-sensitivity in newer versions, just use "String.toLowerCase()" like I do when parsing arguments). In any case many options may be reset, or cause the game to glitch out (again little or no handling of whether settings are within their intended ranges, e.g. the permanent Night Vision exploit by setting gamma to 100, which was only fixed very recently), and opening a world in the wrong version will ruin it (opening a modded world in vanilla is basically like downgrading, otherwise upgrading is a one-way street). This also makes it possible to have multiple modded instances with their own sets of mods.
I've got the minecraft launcher, the same one from 3 and a half years ago and I'm trying to launch java edition and uhhh... just realised I made a mistake.
It's not Java and Bedrock that I have to choose between
It's "Minecraft: Java edition" or "Minecraft for Windows"
Wut?
Anyway, I was trying to boot up Java edition and no matter what I do, it will not use the root directory I've set for it. It seems to be pulling its game files straight from the ether.
If you launch the game and go into the resource packs menu and click "open resource pack folder" what does it open? This folder should be located in the same directory that the game is using.
I've been able to get it to load into the correct root directory but I have another problem.
I have Minecraft forge installed into this directory, but I can't load it up. The launcher doesn't recognise it.
How do I make this new launcher load with forge?
I've tried selecting the "Version" folder and the forge version inside that as the root directory and for whatever reason the game tries loading from the resource packs folder (Which is empty)
Therefore, "Minecraft for Windows" would be Bedrock on Windows, since Bedrock is just called "Minecraft" and is on many devices now.
The original game was Java, so what used to be called just "Minecraft" was Java, and every other device had their own version with an "Edition" suffix. Mojang/Microsoft didn't want to make many multiple editions, so they started a new version from the ground up to be the catch all for all devices. They used the old PE, or "Pocket Edition" foundation to make this, and it became known as Bedrock. This happened with the "Better Together" update that happened seven years ago.
In any case, what you want is Java is you're looking to play 1.7.10 and/or modded.
...And look down a bit and choose "Download Windows Legacy launcher" if you don't care about playing Bedrock. If you think you'll also want to play Bedrock, you'll have to choose larger "Download Launcher for Windows 10/11" at the top, which will have you download the Microsoft Store version.
The Microsoft Store launcher can can Bedrock and Java (and is also needed for some other Mojang games, like Minecraft Legends).
The legacy launcher can only play Java.
If it's still asking you to choose a version, it sounds like you may not be signed in. There was a change from Mojang accounts to Microsoft accounts a while back. Did you do that?
Alright, I'm getting somewhere now.
I've been able to get it to load into the correct root directory but I have another problem.
I have Minecraft forge installed into this directory, but I can't load it up. The launcher doesn't recognise it.
Sorry for the double post, but your reply wasn't there when I posted, and I don't know if you'll catch an edit at this point.
Unfortunately, I've had issues with the launcher recognizing installed Forge versions until... an undetermined amount of time passes. Something like a launcher update or just enough passing of time occurs and then eventually it will recognize it. It's like something causes the launcher to not recognize some versions in the profile selector list, even though they will exist in the directory.
Maybe Caver knows more about what causes this one and what to do to solve it. I never solved it. It always "fixed itself" for me after the passing of enough time, by which point I didn't care to get it working.
For clarity though, by "Forge is installed in this directory", it exists in the "versions" subfolder, right? Maybe just try reinstalling it.
Maybe an alternative launcher is worth trying too.
Maybe Caver knows more about what causes this one and what to do to solve it. I never solved it. It always "fixed itself" for me after the passing of enough time, by which point I didn't care to get it working.
I've never had this issue, although I've seen people attempting to install my mods and they don't show up, the only thing I could think of, aside from user error, is that they didn't close the launcher (hence I make particular note of this in the instructions, it makes sense if the launcher only compiles the version list on startup, but it otherwise should / shouldn't recognize a custom version, not after some random amount of time / multiple launches. The launcher has a file named "version_manifest_v2.json" in the versions folder but it doesn't include any of my custom versions so I'd assume it does so by scanning the folders on startup).
I also do still use the "legacy" launcher (it shows Bedrock and other games in it though, a recent screenshot), not sure if this matters, other than I'd seen reports of various issues with the Microsoft Store launcher and have a very strong "if it ain't broke don't fix (or update) it" mentality (my refusal to play on newer versions is only part of this, I also think automated software updates are the worst idea anybody ever came up with).
I tried installing a Forge version, it said is successfully installed, the "versions" directory had it listed, but within the launcher, the profile selector did not include it in the versions.
The launcher was not open while I did this, and there's no other "user error" I can think of in a pretty straight-forward process I've done many, many, many times before. It just didn't recognize it. Any other time I've installed a version (usually OptiFine), it picks it up every time. But this one time, it didn't.
I tried reinstalling it a few times, I tried a few other Forge versions, and restarted my PC. I waited some days. None of it changed anything. It just... didn't... recognize it. I gave up on it.
It was by chance that I was checking it probably some months later, and now all of a sudden, there it was. I'm pretty sure the launcher itself had an update (or few) in that time, and that was probably related to what did it.
The last time I tried installing Forge, this did not happen and it was identified right away. But I've definitely experienced the launcher just refusing to identify an installed version. I just don't know what could cause it.
And yeah, this is all in the legacy launcher, not the one in the Microsoft Store.
I'd also like to say that I've attempted to install forge fresh on the default root directory and been thwarted but what I can only assume is my operating system.
I have the installer, and I'm trying to use it but there is no "Open with Java SE Binary" option as the video tutorials tell me.
Wat do?
I'd also like to say that I've attempted to install forge fresh on the default root directory and been thwarted but what I can only assume is my operating system.
I have the installer, and I'm trying to use it but there is no "Open with Java SE Binary" option as the video tutorials tell me.
Wat do?
This means you never installed Java on your system; the launcher provides ts own runtime so you don't need one to play the game, only run other Java applications, which are rare these days (in the past it was mainly for the browser plugin but it was dropped by all major browsers years ago). You can still use the .exe instead of .jar version of the installer (for Windows only), and it is possible to hijack the runtime the launcher provides to run other Java applications (the exact location may vary but my system has the JRE located at "C:\Program Files (x86)\Minecraft\runtime\jre-x64\bin\java.exe", or "javaw.exe". I've never played newer versions so I only have the "legacy" JRE, which is an old version of Java 8, but that should be sufficient (the official Java site even still offers Java 8 as the main version, despite being on 21 or something by now). You can access it by entering the following in a command prompt or batch file, where (name of jar file) is the Forge installer:
"C:\Program Files (x86)\Minecraft\runtime\jre-x64\bin\java.exe" -jar (name of jar file)
This does not work, it can't read the folder Program Files (x86) because it has spaces in it, so it says "Program" is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file."
This does not work, it can't read the folder Program Files (x86) because it has spaces in it, so it says "Program" is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file."
You need to include the quotes so it is read a a single line:
Also, apparently Forge removed the Windows installer since I looked and can't seem to find it, even for older versions (example of what the downloads used to look like); it may be easier to simply install Java (why they would do this, I don't know, I've conversely seen e.g. requests for Optifine to have a proper installer and not just a jar file, given how many people likely never installed Java on their system, even other Java applications have increasingly bundled their own runtime, but that would be too much for an installer).
Hello all, just need a bit of help getting the game up and running again.
It's been about 3 and a half years since I last played the game, so when I started up the launcher I was extremely confused.
Needless to say the launcher has changed a lot and I don't recognise how it works.
To make it worse, it's been so long that last time I played the game, there was only one major version of the game, none of this Java/bedrock nonsense.
Now last time I was playing, I was playing on version 1.7.10 with forge and a lot of mods installed, and since it's been such a long time, there aren't any up to date tutorials for this version of the game.
I have a previous .minecraft folder and have attempted to put the new launcher on to using that, but it isn't working. For whatever reason, it's using some other place as a root directory and I have no idea where that even is, it's not recognising the location I've given it for my root that I have. So it's booting up vanilla even when I've given it a forge game file.
So if anyone could walk me through what's going on and help me get my stuff all back up and running?
Appreciate it! Thanks!
Java and Bedrock being separate versions goes back a whole lot further than three years ago. You were just apparently unaware of it.
Based on some of the things you're saying, such as choosing/playing a very old version, it sounds like you're trying to play Java since Bedrock is basically forced to the latest version.
Java can be played either through the legacy launcher or through the Microsoft store launcher, whereas Bedrock can only be played through the Microsoft store launcher. It's up to you which launcher you use if you're playing Java and don't care to play Bedrock.
Setting up 1.7.10 should be pretty straightforward. You simply choose that as your version in the profile. Setting it up with mods would depend on what steps the mods themselves need done. In any case, I would highly recommend creating dedicated folders for each version of the game (perhaps unless you know you will only ever play one version of the game and never any others), so instead of letting the game put everything in the default Minecraft folder, create, say, a 1-7-10 (that's just how I do it) folder for your 1.7 version.
The launcher has always used the same default folder since forever (C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\.minecraft, or the OS-specific equivalent); for it to be any different suggests you had previously changed it and/or the game directory that the game uses when running (in the latter case Forge won't be able to find the mods folder, thus no mods will be loaded but you'll still see that it is using Forge on the main menu):
https://minecrafthopper.net/help/guides/changing-work-directory/ (to change the the directory the launcher uses for game versions and its own files, and the default for instance-specific files)
https://minecrafthopper.net/help/guides/changing-game-directory/ (to change the directory a game instance uses for saves, resource packs, mods, etc)
Also, if you do play any other versions it is mandatory to have each one use its own directory; I went so far as to make my own modded versions unable to see vanilla worlds and use their own options.txt and statistics files to minimize conflicts but vanilla doesn't do this (1.7 did make stats per-world so that is no longer an issue); 1.7 in particular will crash if you set the render distance to higher than 16 in 1.8+, then play 1.7 (perhaps unless Optifine is used, which uses its own configuration file to avoid this issue), 1.5 and earlier versions similarly crash due to bad coding not being able to see "en_us" as the same as "en_US" (I don't understand Mojang's obsession with case-sensitivity in newer versions, just use "String.toLowerCase()" like I do when parsing arguments). In any case many options may be reset, or cause the game to glitch out (again little or no handling of whether settings are within their intended ranges, e.g. the permanent Night Vision exploit by setting gamma to 100, which was only fixed very recently), and opening a world in the wrong version will ruin it (opening a modded world in vanilla is basically like downgrading, otherwise upgrading is a one-way street). This also makes it possible to have multiple modded instances with their own sets of mods.
TheMasterCaver's First World - possibly the most caved-out world in Minecraft history - includes world download.
TheMasterCaver's World - my own version of Minecraft largely based on my views of how the game should have evolved since 1.6.4.
Why do I still play in 1.6.4?
Yeah that's not working.
I've got the minecraft launcher, the same one from 3 and a half years ago and I'm trying to launch java edition and uhhh... just realised I made a mistake.
It's not Java and Bedrock that I have to choose between
It's "Minecraft: Java edition" or "Minecraft for Windows"
Wut?
Anyway, I was trying to boot up Java edition and no matter what I do, it will not use the root directory I've set for it. It seems to be pulling its game files straight from the ether.
If you launch the game and go into the resource packs menu and click "open resource pack folder" what does it open? This folder should be located in the same directory that the game is using.
TheMasterCaver's First World - possibly the most caved-out world in Minecraft history - includes world download.
TheMasterCaver's World - my own version of Minecraft largely based on my views of how the game should have evolved since 1.6.4.
Why do I still play in 1.6.4?
Alright, I'm getting somewhere now.
I've been able to get it to load into the correct root directory but I have another problem.
I have Minecraft forge installed into this directory, but I can't load it up. The launcher doesn't recognise it.
How do I make this new launcher load with forge?
I've tried selecting the "Version" folder and the forge version inside that as the root directory and for whatever reason the game tries loading from the resource packs folder (Which is empty)
"Minceraft for Windows" would be Bedrock.
Here's how they are now.
Just "Minecraft" is Bedrock.
"Minecraft: Java Edition" is Java.
Therefore, "Minecraft for Windows" would be Bedrock on Windows, since Bedrock is just called "Minecraft" and is on many devices now.
The original game was Java, so what used to be called just "Minecraft" was Java, and every other device had their own version with an "Edition" suffix. Mojang/Microsoft didn't want to make many multiple editions, so they started a new version from the ground up to be the catch all for all devices. They used the old PE, or "Pocket Edition" foundation to make this, and it became known as Bedrock. This happened with the "Better Together" update that happened seven years ago.
In any case, what you want is Java is you're looking to play 1.7.10 and/or modded.
Go here...
https://www.minecraft.net/en-us/download
...And look down a bit and choose "Download Windows Legacy launcher" if you don't care about playing Bedrock. If you think you'll also want to play Bedrock, you'll have to choose larger "Download Launcher for Windows 10/11" at the top, which will have you download the Microsoft Store version.
The Microsoft Store launcher can can Bedrock and Java (and is also needed for some other Mojang games, like Minecraft Legends).
The legacy launcher can only play Java.
If it's still asking you to choose a version, it sounds like you may not be signed in. There was a change from Mojang accounts to Microsoft accounts a while back. Did you do that?
Sorry for the double post, but your reply wasn't there when I posted, and I don't know if you'll catch an edit at this point.
Unfortunately, I've had issues with the launcher recognizing installed Forge versions until... an undetermined amount of time passes. Something like a launcher update or just enough passing of time occurs and then eventually it will recognize it. It's like something causes the launcher to not recognize some versions in the profile selector list, even though they will exist in the directory.
Maybe Caver knows more about what causes this one and what to do to solve it. I never solved it. It always "fixed itself" for me after the passing of enough time, by which point I didn't care to get it working.
For clarity though, by "Forge is installed in this directory", it exists in the "versions" subfolder, right? Maybe just try reinstalling it.
Maybe an alternative launcher is worth trying too.
I've never had this issue, although I've seen people attempting to install my mods and they don't show up, the only thing I could think of, aside from user error, is that they didn't close the launcher (hence I make particular note of this in the instructions, it makes sense if the launcher only compiles the version list on startup, but it otherwise should / shouldn't recognize a custom version, not after some random amount of time / multiple launches. The launcher has a file named "version_manifest_v2.json" in the versions folder but it doesn't include any of my custom versions so I'd assume it does so by scanning the folders on startup).
I also do still use the "legacy" launcher (it shows Bedrock and other games in it though, a recent screenshot), not sure if this matters, other than I'd seen reports of various issues with the Microsoft Store launcher and have a very strong "if it ain't broke don't fix (or update) it" mentality (my refusal to play on newer versions is only part of this, I also think automated software updates are the worst idea anybody ever came up with).
TheMasterCaver's First World - possibly the most caved-out world in Minecraft history - includes world download.
TheMasterCaver's World - my own version of Minecraft largely based on my views of how the game should have evolved since 1.6.4.
Why do I still play in 1.6.4?
I've encountered it, but only once.
I tried installing a Forge version, it said is successfully installed, the "versions" directory had it listed, but within the launcher, the profile selector did not include it in the versions.
The launcher was not open while I did this, and there's no other "user error" I can think of in a pretty straight-forward process I've done many, many, many times before. It just didn't recognize it. Any other time I've installed a version (usually OptiFine), it picks it up every time. But this one time, it didn't.
I tried reinstalling it a few times, I tried a few other Forge versions, and restarted my PC. I waited some days. None of it changed anything. It just... didn't... recognize it. I gave up on it.
It was by chance that I was checking it probably some months later, and now all of a sudden, there it was. I'm pretty sure the launcher itself had an update (or few) in that time, and that was probably related to what did it.
The last time I tried installing Forge, this did not happen and it was identified right away. But I've definitely experienced the launcher just refusing to identify an installed version. I just don't know what could cause it.
And yeah, this is all in the legacy launcher, not the one in the Microsoft Store.
I'd also like to say that I've attempted to install forge fresh on the default root directory and been thwarted but what I can only assume is my operating system.
I have the installer, and I'm trying to use it but there is no "Open with Java SE Binary" option as the video tutorials tell me.
Wat do?
This means you never installed Java on your system; the launcher provides ts own runtime so you don't need one to play the game, only run other Java applications, which are rare these days (in the past it was mainly for the browser plugin but it was dropped by all major browsers years ago). You can still use the .exe instead of .jar version of the installer (for Windows only), and it is possible to hijack the runtime the launcher provides to run other Java applications (the exact location may vary but my system has the JRE located at "C:\Program Files (x86)\Minecraft\runtime\jre-x64\bin\java.exe", or "javaw.exe". I've never played newer versions so I only have the "legacy" JRE, which is an old version of Java 8, but that should be sufficient (the official Java site even still offers Java 8 as the main version, despite being on 21 or something by now). You can access it by entering the following in a command prompt or batch file, where (name of jar file) is the Forge installer:
"C:\Program Files (x86)\Minecraft\runtime\jre-x64\bin\java.exe" -jar (name of jar file)
TheMasterCaver's First World - possibly the most caved-out world in Minecraft history - includes world download.
TheMasterCaver's World - my own version of Minecraft largely based on my views of how the game should have evolved since 1.6.4.
Why do I still play in 1.6.4?
This does not work, it can't read the folder Program Files (x86) because it has spaces in it, so it says "Program" is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file."
You need to include the quotes so it is read a a single line:
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/42660480/why-does-my-batch-file-give-an-error-if-it-has-spaces-in-path/42660519#42660519
Also, apparently Forge removed the Windows installer since I looked and can't seem to find it, even for older versions (example of what the downloads used to look like); it may be easier to simply install Java (why they would do this, I don't know, I've conversely seen e.g. requests for Optifine to have a proper installer and not just a jar file, given how many people likely never installed Java on their system, even other Java applications have increasingly bundled their own runtime, but that would be too much for an installer).
TheMasterCaver's First World - possibly the most caved-out world in Minecraft history - includes world download.
TheMasterCaver's World - my own version of Minecraft largely based on my views of how the game should have evolved since 1.6.4.
Why do I still play in 1.6.4?