Tutorial: Playing Minecraft on Linux

Minecraft can be played on many different platforms and devices, including various flavors and distributions of Linux systems. This tutorial will show you how to run several editions of Minecraft on Linux systems.

Since Minecraft: Java Edition is made in Java, which is designed to run on many systems as possible, the game can easily be ported over Linux and is supported officially by the Minecraft Launcher.

The Minecraft Launcher is available directly from the official Minecraft website, but in Linux systems, it's recommended that you install the launcher from your Linux distribution's provided package manager or app store; this is because package managers simplify the installation process by getting the right package designed specifically for your distribution, they also provide other benefits, like automatic update for the launcher and reduced app size with the program's managed dependencies.

Package managers are tools designed to install and manage packages for a Linux distribution. The Minecraft Launcher is available on many package managers. For Arch Linux systems, the Arch User Repository (AUR) version of the launcher is recommended by the official website. If the package is not available on your distro's package manager, you may want use Flatpak, which is supported on most Linux distributions, or other such alternatives.

The Minecraft Launcher can be installed using Flatpak from Flathub, which is the de facto app store for Flatpak applications that runs on most Linux distributions. Usually, your Linux distribution have Flatpak pre-installed by default in your system. If not, you can install Flatpak from your package manager and read this Flatpak article to get it set up. After setting it up, you can use Flatpak by using flatpak command-line interface (CLI) or one of the GUI front ends made for it.

Linux distributions may provide a GUI front end for Flatpak: for KDE-based systems, this may be the "Discover" app; for GNOME-based systems, this may be the "GNOME Software" app (or just "Software"). You can search the Minecraft Launcher in the app and install the launcher from there. Flatpak GUI front ends can be installed using your package manager manually, for that, you can read more on your distro's manual, wiki, or other resources.

The launcher can also be installed through flatpak CLI in the terminal app. Simply, you can install the Minecraft Launcher by executing this command:

flatpak install com.mojang.Minecraft

After installing the Minecraft Launcher by either methods, you can launch the launcher in your distro's application list (usually by searching the app's name, i.e., "Minecraft Launcher"), or run them in CLI by using flatpak run com.mojang.Minecraft.

Minecraft: Bedrock Edition is not officially supported on Linux, but there are two main ways to play through a compatibility layer.

mcpelauncher lets you play the Android version of Minecraft: Bedrock Edition natively in Linux systems through a compatibility layer. This is similar to Wine, which lets you run Windows applications on Linux, but "much more lightweight and simple that doesn't impact performance in significant way". ^[1] For most Linux distributions, you can download and install mcpelauncher from your distro's package manager. The package is also available on Flathub, which can be installed with Flatpak.

Since mcpelauncher uses the Android version of the game, it downloads the game from the Google Play Store, thus it is required to purchase the game's license with a Google account in the store specifically. If you have purchased a version from the Microsoft Store previously, that purchase is separate and will not transfer to the Google Play Store version of the game.

WineGDK is a fork of the Wine project made by Weather-OS that enables GDK-based games to run on Linux systems, including Minecraft: Bedrock Edition. It does this by porting Windows-specific libraries required to run the game, including Microsoft GDK components and some of the WinRT components. This results being able to play Bedrock Edition natively on Linux systems with similar or even better performance than on Windows.

WineGDK partially supports some online functionality of the game, features such as playing LAN-based multiplayer games and accessing Marketplace are possible. It does not support Microsoft online account services,^[2] meaning features that require a signed Microsoft account, such as playing online multiplayer games or Realms, purchasing or using Marketplace items, are not supported. The mcpelauncher version supports full online functionality, but Windows-specific features, like ray tracing^[3] and Bedrock Editor, are only available on WineGDK version. Additionally, you may encounter keyboard and mouse issue due to how the game's version is designed for Android.

Any features that require opening a file picker will crash the game on WineGDK, this means importing a world and using a custom skin are not possible,^[4] however, there are workarounds: for importing a world, you can generally extract .mcworld files (as they are technically ZIP files) to the com.mojang/minecraftWorlds directory; using a custom skin may be possible by modifying the options.txt file and setting up the configuration manually (either by copying existing game data, or other methods).

Note that older versions of Bedrock Edition might not work with WineGDK as they are likely the UWP versions,^[5] which are different from the GDK versions released since Bedrock Edition 1.21.120. You can use mcpelauncher which may support older versions of the game. For older versions of Minecraft: Pocket Edition, see § Pocket Edition.

In this tutorial, we will setup Minecraft: Bedrock Edition using Lutris, an open-source Linux game manager, and GDK-Proton, a protonified version of WineGDK.

WineGDK requires the game's executable to run, and as well as the game's installation files. They must be obtained from a Windows system that have the game installed from Xbox app or Microsoft Store. You can either run Windows in a virtual machine or dual-boot to continue.

The game's installation directory contains the files needed to run Minecraft: Bedrock Edition game, including Minecraft.Windows.exe, which is the main executable of the game. The directory may be located inside C:\XboxGames\Minecraft for Windows\Content, or another driver depending on your Xbox games installation directory set in the Xbox app. You will need to take note of this as the entire directory is needed by WineGDK to run the game.

The game's executable, Minecraft.Windows.exe, is encrypted by default in the installation, which makes it unable to be ran by WineGDK normally. In order to retrieve unencrypted file, there are few methods you can do in Windows:

• You can copy the executable in the desktop package via Windows PowerShell, see [1].
  • The PowerShell command adapted from the GitHub thread:

    Invoke-CommandInDesktopPackage -PackageFamilyName "Microsoft.MinecraftUWP_8wekyb3d8bbwe" -app Game -Command "powershell.exe" -Args "-Command Copy-Item '<game-directory>\Content\Minecraft.Windows.exe' .\decrypted.exe"
    

    Note there is <game-directory> placeholder in the command, replace it with the path to the game's installation directory.
• You can "unlock" the Minecraft.Windows.exe executable owned by "Gaming Services", see [2].

After obtaining the unencrypted executable, you'll need to create the game's installation directory for WineGDK following this structure:

Finally after creating the installation directory, you'll need to transfer them into your Linux system to be used by GDK-Proton. Transferring files between operating systems can usually be done by mounting your Windows disk partition into your Linux system, and copying the directory into your home directory (or any other directory for that matter), but methods may vary, especially if using a virtual machine, you'll need to research them on the Internet (see also [3][4][5]).

There are two versions of WineGDK: the original WineGDK, and the GDK-Proton, which is a custom GE-Proton version built with WineGDK and several extra components. Although the online functionality has been implemented for WineGDK^[6][7], you'll need the GDK-Proton version in order to get it working.

The original WineGDK needs to be compiled per the instructions from the project page. For the purpose of this tutorial, we will use the GDK-Proton version, which we can easily obtain the pre-built binaries from the GitHub releases as an archive file named GDK-ProtonXX-YY.tar.gz (XX and YY are the latest version numbers).

After downloading the archive file, you will need to extract the file into the ~/.steam/root/compatibilitytools.d/^{[note 1]} directory, so later in the tutorial, it can be used with Lutris as one of the Wine runner. If the directory does not exist, you may wish to create it so.

Lutris is an open-source game manager for Linux systems. It manages different types of games, including Windows games that require any Wine-based compatibility layer to run on Linux. Lutris is also available on Flathub, which you can easily download with Flatpak.

In this tutorial, we will use Lutris specifically to select WineGDK as the runner and play Minecraft: Bedrock Edition:

1. Click the + button on the top left of the menu, and select "Add locally installed game" menu.
2. Upon selecting, a window will pop up. Insert the required "Name" column with the game's name, i.e., Minecraft: Bedrock Edition. Select the "Runner" column to "Wine (Runs Windows games)".
3. Go to the "Game options" tab (beside the "Game info"), select the "Wine prefix" for the game. Select your Wine prefix in a new directory, usually in ~/Games/<game-name>.
   • Wine prefix is basically the storage/directory for Wine's whole Windows environment for the game, including "Program Files", "Windows", user's "AppData", and other files very similar to Windows. It does not contain actual Windows installation, as that's managed by Wine, and it's only there to preserve the game's compatibility with your Linux system.
   • Additionally, Bedrock Edition's game save data are stored within the Wine prefix, and with the same location as com.mojang on Windows.
4. Insert the "Executable" column with the path to the game's main executable, specifically the unencrypted executable previously created in the installation directory (i.e., <game installation directory for WineGDK>/Content/Minecraft.Windows.exe).
5. Go to the "Runner options" tab, and select the "Wine version" to "GDK-Proton-XX-YY". This is the GDK-Proton you've downloaded and placed previously in the ~/.steam/root/compatibilitytools.d/^{[note 1]} directory.
   • Using tools like Protonplus can help manage multiple Proton/Wine versions usually installed in the same ../compatibilitytools.d/ directory, and can be selected by Lutris.
   • If your system has dual GPU configuration, you can set which GPU to launch with in the "System options" → "Display" → "GPU" column.
6. After the configuration, click the "Save" button, and the game will appear on the library.
   • If the game's name is specified to Minecraft: Bedrock Edition, Lutris will automatically fetch the game's information and thumbnail banner for you on the library screen.
7. Select the game, and click the "Play" button. The game should be able to run on your Linux system.

Since WineGDK does not support signing a Microsoft account, the "Servers" tab of the Select World screen is completely unusable, preventing you from adding and joining external or featured servers. However, there is a workaround by using Kas-tle's ProxyPass software to proxy an external server as a LAN-based servers accessible under the "Worlds" tab, essentially bypassing the in-game Microsoft account requirement for unsigned players; however, when joining such server, you'll still need to authenticate in the ProxyPass software itself.

Since ProxyPass is a JAR-based software, you'll need setup a standalone Java runtime to use it, see Tutorial:Update Java for the instructions.

Note the port must be set to 19132 (the default IPv4 port of Bedrock Edition server) in order to be detected by the game.

Additionally, if hosting a GeyserMC server locally, it will also broadcast itself as a LAN-based server on the "Worlds" tab.

For unknown reason, the WineGDK version of Minecraft: Bedrock Edition loads resource pack and behavior pack from the game's installation directory instead of the usual com.mojang path.

In order to load a custom resource pack or behavior pack, you'd need to place the pack inside <game installation directory>/Content/resource_packs or <game installation directory>/Content/behavior_packs. The development_resource_packs and development_behavior_packs may also be generated on the directory.

The following structure may be generated in the game's installation directory:

The WineGDK version of Minecraft: Bedrock Edition supports running the Bedrock Editor, which is a secondary mode of the game that adds advanced and robust tools designed for creators to edit worlds and create player structures through projects.

The main way to launch the Bedrock Editor on Windows is by running a special minecraft editor URI string (e.g., minecraft://creator/?Editor=true) through the browser or other means. Luckily, for our case, we can pass the URI string directly to the game's executable, which in turn, achieve the same result to launch the Bedrock Editor in the Wine environment.

In practice, there are two ways to do this through Wine console or Lutris GUI:

REM Change directory to the game's installation directory
REM Note that you need to replace the "<game-directory>" placeholder
cd "<game-directory>\Content"

REM Launch Minecraft Bedrock executable with the editor URI scheme
.\Minecraft.Windows.exe "minecraft://creator/?Editor=true"

Minecraft: Pocket Edition is a legacy version of Bedrock Edition that was made exclusively for Android and mobile systems. If you have hunch for nostalgia, you can play these versions on Linux natively or through an Android container, such as Ninecraft or Waydroid respectively.

Ninecraft is a compatibility layer/game launcher made by MCPI-Revival community that lets you play (specific versions of) Minecraft: Pocket Edition natively on Linux and Windows.

Ninecraft requires the APK package of the game in order to be ran, and with the right architecture for your system (if you're running on x86 Linux system, you will need x86 version of the APK, vice versa for ARM). You can retrieve the full APK package of Minecraft: Pocket Edition from Omniarchive or the wiki's individual version pages (under "Downloads" column).

While Ninecraft claims to run Minecraft: Pocket Edition from v0.1.0 alpha to v0.11.1 alpha, there are several versions that may not work correctly or unsupported (as printed from the software itself).

Feature-wise, when running v0.11.1 alpha version,^{[note 2]} the game runs smoothly without noticeable bugs or glitches. The game's audio does not work initially, and requires additional software (see § Audio software). Unlike WineGDK, the file picker is supported, in which you can use custom skin in the game itself. The LAN multiplayer functionality is also supported, so you can play the game with your friends, who may run the game on Linux, Windows, or the original game from Android.

For this tutorial, we will show you how to setup and run Ninecraft by compiling the sources from the project's GitHub, to running Ninecraft and Minecraft: Pocket Edition with the APK file.

Before compiling Ninecraft, we will need to setup dependencies required for the software. The following dependencies are needed:

From the project's README file, most of these dependencies can largely be downloaded and installed via your distribution's package manager:

# Update the system and all packages
sudo pacman -Syu
# Install 32-bit and build dependencies
sudo pacman -S git make cmake gcc gcc-multilib lib32-openal lib32-libx11 lib32-libxrandr lib32-libxinerama lib32-libxcursor lib32-libxi lib32-libglvnd zenity unzip python-jinja

# Add 32-bit architecture
sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386
# Update the system and all packages
sudo apt update
# Install 32-bit and build dependencies
sudo apt install git make cmake gcc g++ gcc-multilib g++-multilib libopenal-dev:i386 libx11-dev:i386 libxrandr-dev:i386 libxinerama-dev:i386 libxcursor-dev:i386 libxi-dev:i386 libgl-dev:i386 zenity unzip python3-jinja2

# Update the system and all packages
dnf update
# Install 32-bit and build dependencies
dnf install git make cmake gcc g++ glibc-devel.i686 libstdc++-devel.i686 openal-soft-devel.i686 libX11-devel.i686 libXrandr-devel.i686 libXinerama-devel.i686 libXcursor-devel.i686 libXi-devel.i686 libglvnd-devel.i686 zenity unzip python3-jinja2

In order to compile Ninecraft, you will need to retrieve the sources from the project's GitHub via git, run the following command:

git clone --recursive http://github.com/MCPI-Revival/Ninecraft.git

After that, change directory (cd) into the Ninecraft's repository, and run this command to compile for x86:

make build-i686

Compiling the software may take few minutes in order to be complete, so while it's running on the background, you may take your time to do other stuff.

After compiling Ninecraft, you will need the game's APK and extract it for Ninecraft to run, simply run the following command (while in Ninecraft's repository):

./tools/extract.sh <path-to-apk-file>

Specify the <path-to-apk-file> to the game's APK file path, whether that'd be in the downloads directory, or others.

After extracting, you are set and ready to run Ninecraft and Minecraft: Pocket Edition game:

./build-i686/ninecraft/ninecraft

The game's audio may be mute/does not work initially. In order to get it working, you would need an additional software called OSSP. For most Linux systems, this software is available on the following distributions:

# Install OSSP from AUR using "paru" AUR helper
paru -S osspd

# Install OSSP using apt
sudo apt install osspd

git clone --recursive https://github.com/OpenMandrivaSoftware/ossp

cmake -G Ninja -B build -Dalsa=ON -Dtest=ON -DCMAKE_POLICY_VERSION_MINIMUM=3.5

ninja -C build

After installing it, the OSSP service must be manually started before starting Ninecraft. You can start it via systemctl:

sudo systemctl start osspd.service

If the game is running, relaunch the game again, and you should start to hear the audio working.

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Waydroid is an Android container that lets you run Android applications and games. It can be used for playing older versions through pre-0.8.0 or so, but tend to be buggy.

When Waydroid is installed, the Android system runs is based on the host systme architecture, so for example, when the host system is 64 bit, the Android also runs 64 bit version of the system. This makes it unable to run ARM-based applications, which are most Pocket Edition game versions made on, however, a translation layer can be used with Waydroid to workaround this problem.^[8]

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Instructions: expand on how to run legacy console version through emulation or a compatibility layer

Some of the Legacy Console editions of Minecraft, including PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One editions, can be played in Linux systems through emulation. Emulation software such as RPCS3 for PS3 and shadPS4 for PS4 (at least partially, as PS4 emulation is very early in development^[9]). There have been some closed-development of Xbox One compatibility layer (which is different from an emulator, similar to Wine) specifically made for Linux, called XWine1, that can successfully run Minecraft: Xbox One Edition,^[10] but no working binaries or source code for it have been released yet.

It is entirely possible to run the disc version of Minecraft: PlayStation 3 Edition without modifying a PS3 console (or using one at all, for that matter) while staying within the law, however other physical hardware costs must be factored in.

PlayStation 3 system firmware is required for emulating any game for the console, which can be downloaded for free from here on Sony's website intended for use for updating consoles manually (select "Update using a computer"). This file can be provided to an emulator such as RPCS3 for game playback.

You will need to acquire a physical disc copy of PlayStation 3 Edition. Used copies are often available from physical stores, for example CeX in Ireland and the United Kingdom, as well as other chains, pawn stores, markets and other such sources; other countries will likely have their own store chains from which a disc copy can be acquired (and ordering online is also an easy method). This is the source of the game data which will be run using the emulator. Software piracy laws in certain countries may require that you keep this disc even after the data has been copied to your computer.

Your PC will also need a means to read Blu-Ray optical discs. Only specific models of Blu-Ray drive are capable of reading PS3 discs, a list of which can be found near the bottom of the RPCS3 quickstart page. These will generally be less expensive and easier to set up compared to modifying a PS3 console and ripping data from it (and will not interfere with your PlayStation account standing), however such drives are often by no means cheap and it may be difficult to source one of these specific models. Other models not listed may work but also may not.

Once you have one of these drives connected to your computer, place the disc inside. The next step is to run a program that can read the data from the inserted disc and copy it to your computer in a usable format. The RPCS3 wiki has a page detailing this process; the program used for obtaining these files can be downloaded from here. The extracted files can then be loaded into RPCS3 (or whatever other emulator you use).

If you wish to play the latest update rather than the base version on the disc, the RPCS3 discord server can be consulted to provide links to the update files for the most recent game versions.

• 
  Playing Minecraft: Bedrock Edition using WineGDK with ray tracing graphics.
• 
  Playing CubeCraft on Bedrock Edition Linux with ray tracing.

v t e Tutorials
Introductory Basics Menu screen Java Edition Bedrock Edition Glossary Playing with a controller Newcomer survival Beginner's guide First ten minutes Second day Third day Best biomes to use Hunger management Things to do Things not to do Simple tips and tricks Shelters Best biomes for homes Best building materials Building and construction Navigation Shelters Types
General General Achievement guide Legacy Console Edition Advancement guide Minecraft Nether The End Adventure Husbandry Adventuring Best enchantments guide Breaking a fall Breaking bedrock Chunk loader Combat Complete main adventure Creating a village Dual wielding Desert survival End survival Exploring caverns Gathering resources on peaceful difficulty Getting food quickly Getting max gear Headless pistons Hitboxes Horses Indestructible End crystals Managing slimes in superflat mode Mapping Measuring distance Minecraft in education Mining Ancient debris Diamonds Fossils Nether hub Nether portals Nether survival Organization Pillar jumping Phantom-proofing Spawn-proofing Summoning jockeys Things to do when bored The Void Thunderstorm survival Time-saving tips Transportation methods Units of measure Village mechanics Trading X-ray glitches Zombie siege defense Enchanting and smelting Enchanting Anvil mechanics Automatic smelting Manual smelting
Challenges General Acquiring a conduit Archaeology Curing a zombie villager Conquering a mountain Defeating a bastion remnant Defeating an End city Defeating a monster room Defeating an ocean monument Defeating a Nether fortress Mastering the pale garden Mastering the Warped forest Defeating a pillager outpost Defeating a stronghold Defeating temples Defeating trial chambers Defeating a woodland mansion Defeating a village raid Defeating the ender dragon Defeating the wither If it escapes Exploring an ancient city Locating a stronghold Obtaining every music disc Obtaining every block Obtaining every item Non-standard survival Adventure mode survival Custom maps Hardcore mode Ultra Half hearted Surviving in a single area for a long time Infinite desert survival Island survival Manhunt Mob switch Nomadic experience Trapping every mob Skyblock survival SkyWars survival Speedrunning Starting in the Nether Starting in the End Superflat survival Flat survival Getting to the world border Village only survival Challenge maps Beating a challenge map Creating a challenge map
Constructions Constructions Adding beauty to constructions Airlock Architectural terms Building a cruise ship Building a metropolis Building a rollercoaster Building micro shelters Building safe homes Building water features Chunk ban Color palette Creating shapes Defense Elevators Endless circling pool Furniture Glazed terracotta patterns Making nice floors Pixel art Ranches Roof types Roof construction guidelines Secret door Settlement guide Underwater home Walls and buttresses Water gate Water-powered boat transportation Block breaking Blast chamber Igniting TNT underwater Wither cage
Farming Blocks and items Amethyst Armor Azalea Bamboo Basalt Bedrock Beetroot Blaze Rod Bone Meal Cactus Carrot Cat gift Chorus Fruit Clay Cobblestone Cocoa Beans Copper Dirt Dragon's breath Dripstone Egg Enchanted Golden Apple Experience Fern Fish Flower Froglight Ghast Tear Glow Berries Glow Ink Sac Glow Lichen Goat Horn Gold Hanging Roots Honey Ice Iron Kelp Lava Meat Moss Mud Mushroom Music Disc Nether growth Nether vine Nether Wart Obsidian Ominous Bottle Potato Powder Snow Pumpkin, Melon Resin Clump Rooted Dirt Sculk Turtle Scute Seagrass Sea Pickle Snow Soul Soil Sugar Cane Sweet Berries Tree Trident Vine Villager trading hall Wheat Wither Rose Wool Duplication Mobs Mob farming Mob grinding Monster spawner traps Allay Animals Axolotl Bee Blaze Breeze Cat Cave Spider Chicken Creaking Creeper Drowned Ender Dragon Enderman Fox Frog Ghast Glow squid Goat Guardian Hoglin Iron golem Magma cube Phantom Piglin bartering Pillager Raid Shulker Skeleton horse Silverfish Slime Squid Turtle Villager Wandering trader Warden Witch Wither Wither Skeleton Wolf Zombie Zombie villager Zombified piglin
Mechanisms Basics Redstone Circuits Components Mechanisms Mechanics Dust Tips Command block Crafter Hopper TNT Tripwire techniques Snow golem Minecart Daylight detector Piston Trapdoor Quasi-Connectivity Components Randomizers Observer stabilizer Block update detector Comparator update detector Redstone telegraph Piston circuits Zero-ticking Instant repeaters Morse code Decorational Redstone music Doorbell Hourly clock Transportation Train station Flying machines 360 degree ender pearl cannon Storage Item sorting Item transportation Shulker box storage Storage Storage system PVP TNT cannons Trap design Traps Logic Advanced redstone circuits Arithmetic logic Calculator Redstone computers Miscellaneous Printer Rube Goldberg machine Command stats Automatic respawn anchor recharger Combination locks
Multiplayer General Griefing prevention Hiding chests Multiplayer survival Spawn jail Playing on servers PvP Java Edition Bedrock Edition Bases Joining a LAN world with alternate accounts Server setup Setting up a Java Edition server Forge server Hamachi server Setting up a Bedrock Edition server Server maintenance Setting up a LAN world
Technical General Creating Forge mods Moving structures using structure blocks from world to world Improving frame rate Minecraft help FAQ Note Block Studio Programs and editors Running the data generator Update Java See Minecraft's code Downgrading Restoring a hardcore world Adding profiles to the new launcher Useful commands Maps Custom maps Importing and exporting worlds Command NBT tags Falling blocks Updating old terrain using MCEdit Resource packs Creating a resource pack Loading a resource pack Models Sound directory Making custom panoramas Data packs Adding a new dimension Adding custom enchantments Adding custom paintings Adding custom trims Creating a data pack Custom structures Importing a data pack Repairing a world corrupted by a data pack Creating Minecraft media Creating videos Livestreaming Hide Server IP Game installation Installing versions Installing Minecraft Preview and beta versions How to get a crash report Custom Minecraft directory Playing and saving Minecraft on a thumb drive Playing Minecraft on Linux Recover corrupted saved world data Run Minecraft through Google Drive Save game data to Dropbox (world data only) Saved data Dropbox guide Create a Mac OS X startup daemon Playing Java Edition on ChromeOS
Outdated Farming Potion farming End of light mob farms Door-based iron golem farming Villages Legacy Console village mechanics Pre-1.14 village mechanics Village chaining Glitches Duplication Far Lands Contraptions Minecart booster Repeater reboot system Instant wire Water ladder Water tram Challenges Survival with no enabled data packs Construction Man-made lake Other Custom texture packs How to get a crash report (old) Setting up a Spigot server Update LWJGL Update Minecraft Custom world generation Playing and saving Minecraft on a thumb drive with the old launcher