How to install Minecraft on Ubuntu? [SOLVED]

Minecraft is one of the most popular sandbox video games, where players can build and explore virtual worlds made up of blocks. It is available on multiple platforms, including Ubuntu Linux. In this article, we will provide a step-by-step guide on how to install Minecraft on Ubuntu, so you can start playing and building your own virtual world.

Installing Minecraft on Ubuntu is a relatively straightforward process, but there are a few prerequisites that you need to have in place before you can begin. These include having an up-to-date Ubuntu installation, ensuring that your system meets the minimum hardware requirements for running Minecraft, and having Java installed on your system. We will walk you through each of these steps in detail, so that you can be sure that your system is ready for Minecraft.

 

Pre-requisites

Check your system specifications:

To run Minecraft on Ubuntu, your system must meet certain hardware requirements. You can check your system specifications using the following command in the terminal:

$ lscpu | grep "Model name\|Architecture\|CPU MHz\|CPU(s)"
Architecture:                    x86_64
Model name:                      Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-8250U CPU @ 1.60GHz
CPU(s):                          8
CPU MHz:                         800.044

This command will output information about your system's processor and the number of CPU cores available. To run Minecraft smoothly, it is recommended that your system have at least a dual-core processor and 4GB of RAM.

Update Ubuntu:

Before installing Minecraft, it is important to ensure that your Ubuntu system is up-to-date. You can update Ubuntu using the following command:

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade

This command will update your system's package index and upgrade any outdated packages to the latest version.

Install Java:

Minecraft requires Java to be installed on your system. You can check if Java is already installed on your system using the following command:

$ java -version
Command 'java' not found, but can be installed with:
sudo apt install openjdk-11-jre-headless # version 11.0.17+8-1ubuntu2~22.04, or
sudo apt install default-jre # version 2:1.11-72build2
sudo apt install openjdk-16-jre-headless # version 16.0.1+9-1~20.04
sudo apt install openjdk-17-jre-headless # version 17.0.5+8-2ubuntu1~22.04
sudo apt install openjdk-18-jre-headless # version 18.0.2+9-2~22.04
sudo apt install openjdk-19-jre-headless # version 19.0.1+10-1ubuntu1~22.04
sudo apt install openjdk-8-jre-headless # version 8u352-ga-1~22.04
sudo apt install openjdk-13-jre-headless # version 13.0.7+5-0ubuntu1~20.04

If Java is not installed, you can install it using the following command:

sudo apt install default-jre

This command will install the default Java Runtime Environment (JRE) on your system.

Note: If you want to develop Java applications, you may also want to install the Java Development Kit (JDK) using the following command:

sudo apt install default-jdk

This will install both the JRE and JDK on your system.

 

Different methods to install Minecraft on Ubuntu

There are 2 different installation methods on the Minecraft official page. These are installation with .deb package and installation via Snap store. You can also download the .tar.gz file and install it with the help of minecraft-launcher. Now, let's explain these 3 methods in order.

 

Method-1: Install From .deb Package

Right click on the .deb package link on the Minecraft official page and copy it. Then type the link after the wget command in the terminal and start the download:

$ wget https://launcher.mojang.com/download/Minecraft.deb
--2023-03-28 18:05:30--  https://launcher.mojang.com/download/Minecraft.deb
Resolving launcher.mojang.com (launcher.mojang.com)... 13.107.237.45, 13.107.238.45, 2620:1ec:4f:1::45, ...
Connecting to launcher.mojang.com (launcher.mojang.com)|13.107.237.45|:443... connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 200 OK
Length: 500336 (489K) [application/octet-stream]
Saving to: ‘Minecraft.deb’

Minecraft.deb     100%[=============>] 488,61K  2,32MB/s    in 0,2s    

2023-03-28 18:05:30 (2,32 MB/s) - ‘Minecraft.deb’ saved [500336/500336]

Update the package list before starting the installation:

$ sudo apt update -y

Then start the installation:

$ sudo apt install ./Minecraft.deb

The Minecraft Launcher application was installed on the system with its dependencies. You can proceed to the Login Minecraft Launcher step.

 

Method-2: Install From Ubuntu Software(Snap Store)

Installation from the Snap repository can be done both with Ubuntu Software and from the terminal. For installation in the terminal, the snap package is first installed:

$ sudo apt install snap -y

Snap store has the following Minecraft launcher version:

$ sudo snap search mc-installer
Name          Version  Publisher     Notes  Summary
mc-installer  12.0     kz6fittycent  -      A simple installer for Minecraft - Java Edition

Install Minecraft launcher from Snap store

$ sudo snap install mc-installer

After installation, you can access the application from the menu.

You can do the same with Ubuntu Software. To do this, type Minecraft in Ubuntu Software, then click the Install button:

Installation takes place within a few minutes. You can proceed to the Login Minecraft Launcher step.

 

Method-3: Install From .tar.gz File

In this method, you have to download the .tar.gz file and run the installer inside. Pull the .tar.gz file with wget:

$ wget https://launcher.mojang.com/download/Minecraft.tar.gz
--2023-03-28 19:04:22--  https://launcher.mojang.com/download/Minecraft.tar.gz
Resolving launcher.mojang.com (launcher.mojang.com)... 13.107.238.45, 13.107.237.45, 2620:1ec:4e:1::45, ...
Connecting to launcher.mojang.com (launcher.mojang.com)|13.107.238.45|:443... connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 200 OK
Length: 609508 (595K) [application/x-gzip]
Saving to: ‘Minecraft.tar.gz’

Minecraft.tar.gz  100%[=============>] 595,22K  2,35MB/s    in 0,2s    

2023-03-28 19:04:22 (2,35 MB/s) - ‘Minecraft.tar.gz’ saved [609508/609508]

Extract the compressed file using tar command:

$ tar xvf Minecraft.tar.gz 
minecraft-launcher/
minecraft-launcher/minecraft-launcher

Go to the minecraft-launcher directory:

$ cd minecraft-launcher/

Then start the launcher:

$ sudo ./minecraft-launcher

You can proceed to the Login Minecraft Launcher step.

 

Launching Minecraft

Invoke the app with Activities → Minecraft Launcher. The "Downloading update files" step may take a few minutes.

Then sign in with Microsoft or Mojang. If you don't have an account, create one first.

 

Then you can continue with the active version in the Installations tab or switch to a different version installation.

 

If you choose a new installation, you will see the following screen.

 

If you click the Play button with the new installation or active version, the Minecraft installation will start for you. You can follow it from the bottom of the screen.

 

Installation completed successfully. Minecraft is in front of you.

 

Summary

In summary, installing Minecraft on Ubuntu requires several prerequisites to be met. The first prerequisite is to have Java installed on the system. The installation process can be initiated through the command line using the "apt" package manager. Once Java is installed, the user can download the Minecraft launcher from the official website and install it on the system. Alternatively, the user can also install Minecraft using the snap package manager.

After installation, the user can launch Minecraft through the command line or the system application launcher. It is recommended to allocate more memory to Minecraft for better performance. This can be done through the Minecraft launcher settings.

To customize the Minecraft installation, the user can also install various mods and resource packs. This can be done manually by downloading and extracting the desired mod or resource pack files into the Minecraft game directory, or through the use of mod loaders such as Forge or Fabric.

Feel free to comment on any problems you encounter during installation.

 

References

askubuntu.com - Trying to install Minecraft on Ubuntu 16.04