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[Sko]

Introduction

This guide collects the knowledge I gained about Minecraft for Mac while being active in the support forum for the last four months. As it turned out, most problems are similar to identical and instead of repeating the solutions over and over again, I'd like to be able to point to this topic and a post # in the future.

Feel free to ask questions, name errors, correct spelling or discuss general Mac and Minecraft related topics. I will expand and correct this guide as needed.

Before I forget, I assume you ran Software Update and repaired permissions.

A. post #2 - Launcher
B. post #3 - Minecraft Folder
C. post #4 - Modding and Texture Packs
D. post #5 - Known Problems (upd. 23. April, multiple display setup)
E. post #6 - Mods and Tools
F. post #7 - Further Support

[Sko]

A. Launcher

There are three launchers available for download: .exe .app and .jar.
While .exe is for Windows obviously, both of the remaining will work on Mac OS X.

1. Minecraft.app

This is the standard launcher for Mac. Note that the .app extension is hidden by default.

The launcher was updated alongside Minecraft 1.2 on 01. March '12 and substantially improves Java support on Mac OS, so make sure to use the most recent one. It's Intel-only. If you're on PPC, download the Linux launcher (see section 4).

The only problem with it is that for some users it loses the permission to run when downloaded. As a result, Minecraft will refuse to launch, the icon will just bounce in the Dock for some time (or infinite, or never). To fix it, move the Minecraft.app to the desktop. Open Terminal, copy/paste the following line to the Terminal window and hit enter:

chmod +x ~/Desktop/Minecraft.app/Contents/MacOS/JavaApplicationStub

This will set the execute flag and you should be able to run it.

2. More RAM

While the standard RAM setting of 512 MB initial (-Xms) and 1024 MB maximum (-Xmx) is sufficient for most users, a high resolution texture pack or installing lots of mods may demand more.

To allocate more memory to Minecraft, right click Minecraft.app and select 'Show package contents'. Within the Contents folder open Info.plist. It will open in Xcode, Property List Editor or TextEdit depending on the installed software. In either way you'll want to find the 'VMOptions' key and change it to your needs. This is how your edited Info.plist should look like in Property List Editor (Xcode) or TextEdit:

Spoiler

3. Latest Java

Make sure to use the latest Java:
Java for OS X Lion 2012-003 (Java 1.6.0_31, updated 12. April)
Java for Mac OS X 10.6 Update 8 (Java 1.6.0_31, updated 12. April)
Java for Mac OS X 10.5 Update 10 (Java 1.6.0_26 on Core 2 Duo, Java 1.5.0_30 last release for PPC)
Java for Mac OS X 10.4, Release 9 (only supports Java 1.5.0_19)

Hairyscreech started a thread on how to install Java 6 on PPC Macs with Tiger. May work on Core Solo / Core Duo, too.

Open Java Preferences and check which versions of Java are installed and what the preferred run order is. Sort it so that Java 6 64bit is on top, then Java 6 32bit, Java 5 64bit, Java 5 32bit etc.

4. Linux launcher

If for any reason Minecraft.app will not work for you, use the Linux launcher as a last resort. It is the same file as in Minecraft.app/Contents/Resources/Java/ with just another name, you might grab it from there as well. Double clicking will leave you with no sound at best or a out-of-memory-crash standard. Start it in Terminal with

java -jar -Xms512M -Xmx1024M <PathTo>/minecraft.jar

To automate this, open your text editor, put that little line above (with the right path, of course) in a text document and save it as Launcher.command on the desktop. Give it execute permission in Terminal with

chmod +x ~/Desktop/Launcher.command

5. Minecraft Mobile (original hint by Keybounce)

To relocate the Minecraft working directory (see next post) to e.g. a thumb drive, add an entry 'user.home' with the value './' to the 'Properties' section of 'Java' in Info.plist. This will tell Minecraft to generate a '/Library/Application Support/minecraft' structure right next to Minecraft.app. Place Minecraft.app on a thumb drive, run it to download the files, place your worlds in the saves folder and you're good to go.

Spoiler

Every other valid path will work as well.

I've described another way to hold multiple Minecraft installs in this post.

[Sko]

B. Minecraft Folder

This is the heart of Minecraft. Everything important is in here.

The in game links to find minecraft and texture packs folders don't work. Spotlight will not find the folder as it does not look in Library folders. Try one of these ways instead.

The complete path to the folder 'minecraft' is
<Startvolume>/Users/<You>/Library/Application Support/minecraft
This is often abbreviated as

~/Library/Application Support/minecraft

Note: every 'minus' in front of /Library is in fact a tilde ~ (⌥N) and refers to your home folder.

If you have trouble finding the folder, use Finder's 'Go to folder...' command (⇧⌘G) and copy / paste the line above. You may as well use Finder's 'Go' menu, there's an entry 'Library'. On Lion you have to press option ('alt', ⌥) for the entry to appear. There's also an entry 'Home' (⇧⌘H) that takes you to your user's folder (~).

Apple chose to hide the user's Library in Lion, to unhide it type in Terminal

chflags nohidden ~/Library

To make things worse, the home folder is not in the sidebar by default, you can change this in 'Finder > Finder Preferences > Sidebar > Favorites'. While you're at it, you may wish to add your start volume also ('Finder > Finder Preferences > Sidebar > Devices > Hard disks').

1. bin

The most important thing in it is minecraft.jar. We'll come to this later in C. Modding, but important now is that Minecraft will get stuck at 'Done loading' if this is missing, corrupt, not the right format or what ever. Only deleting the 'bin' folder resolves this.

Deleting the 'bin' folder resolves most issues, being not able to download or update Minecraft, white screen, black screen or get stuck at one point or the other, while preserving your saves, settings and texture packs (see paragraph 2). Minecraft will download 'bin' if it is missing, providing you with a fresh copy. Just move the 'bin' folder to trash, then empty trash. Or do it in Terminal, copy / paste

rm -d -r ~/Library/Application\ Support/minecraft/bin

Pressing 'Force update!' button in the launcher's Options screen is basically the same thing, but sometimes it refuses to overwrite files and you get stuck.

When deleting the 'bin' does not resolve issues with Minecraft not starting, trashing the whole 'minecraft' folder may help. It will be re-downloaded on next start. Back up your saves first (paragraph 4)

rm -d -r ~/Library/Application\ Support/minecraft

In 'bin' there is also the Lightweight Java Game Library (LWJGL), consisting of three files (jinput.jar, lwjgl_util.jar, lwjgl.jar) and the folder 'natives' (libjinput-osx.jnilib, liblwjgl.jnilib, openal.dylib). If you have trouble with sound or input devices, try to replace these six files with more recent ones, see Wiki for more info.

Spoiler

2. options.txt

This is where Minecraft stores most of its settings, including key bindings and chosen texture pack. If you have a black screen because you forgot to switch to the default textures before updating or re-downloading Minecraft, delete this file or open it and delete the entry behind 'skin:'.

In case you messed up your key bindings, here are the standard ones:

Spoiler

key_key.attack:-100
key_key.use:-99
key_key.forward:17
key_key.left:30
key_key.back:31
key_key.right:32
key_key.jump:57
key_key.sneak:42
key_key.drop:16
key_key.inventory:18
key_key.chat:20
key_key.playerlist:15
key_key.pickItem:-98

3. resources

This is the storage of all sounds Minecraft uses. Delete this folder if sounds do not fit to the action. It will be re-downloaded on next start. WARNING: downloading will take some time. Give it half an hour, maybe more.

4. saves

Obvious. Back up this folder regularly and always before you do anything inside minecraft folder. The mighty voordal is here to help you revive corrupted saves.

5. texturepacks

We'll come to this in the next chapter.

[Sko]

C. Modding and Texture Packs

1. Patching

Patching is mostly done with MCPatcher to allow for HD textures and fonts. Always apply to a 'vanilla' minecraft.jar in 'bin'. MCPatcher will provide an unaltered copy named 'minecraft-x.y.z.jar' so if anything goes wrong, delete minecraft.jar, rename minecraft-x.y.z.jar and start over.

After patching you may proceed to modding.

2. Modding

Modding means replacing or adding .class files in the minecraft.jar in contrast to patching, where some program does some voodoo.

a. The easiest way to do this is to append .zip to the name (minecraft.jar.zip) and double click. It will be expanded to a folder 'minecraft.jar'. This folder will be accepted by Minecraft to be a valid .jar. There's no need to re-compress it. Just put the files of the mod in this folder. After you replaced or added class files according to the installation instructions of the mod, go to the 'META-INF' folder and delete both 'MOJANG_' files ('CODEDESIGN' in newer builds).

b. If you want to end up with a proper .jar file, the Millénaire Installer for example does not work with a folder, rename minecraft.jar to minecraft.zip and double-click. You'll get a folder 'minecraft'. After your modding with this folder is done and you took care of the 'MOJANG_'/'CODEDESIGN' files, select everything in this folder and choose 'Compress x items' in Edit or context menu. Move the resulting Archive.zip one level up to the 'bin' folder and rename it to minecraft.jar.

Spoiler

Whichever method you choose, you'll always have an unaltered copy, minecraft.jar.zip or minecraft.zip.

Mods may also be injected with MCPatcher, Magic Launcher (broken for now) or ModLoader. See respective threads for details.

3. Texture Packs

Place the .zip file in the 'texturepacks' folder (see post above 'Minecraft Folder'). HD textures need Minecraft to be patched by MCPatcher or modded by OptiFine HD.

In case your browser unpacks the file after downloading, uncheck 'open secure files' in preferences.

If a texture pack appears greyed out in the Select Texture Pack screen, it's most likely that the .zip has not the right format. As with altering the minecraft.jar, you have to compress the content of a folder holding the texture pack (not the folder itself), leaving you with an Archive.zip. Rename the Archive.zip and place it in 'texturepacks'.

Spoiler

(I used Misa's Realistic with permission for demo)

[Sko]

D. Known Problems

1. minecraft folder is not in Application Support

• Try again.

2. Minecraft crashes when accessing inventory, chat or menu

• Minecraft is not on main screen in multiple display setup. Open Minecraft on main screen, open inventory, close inventory, move Minecraft to different display.

3. On a MacBook frame rate goes up and down

• You're probably on a machine with dual graphics. Go to 'Energy Saver' in 'System Preferences' and uncheck 'Automatic graphics switching' (original hint by Squishey).

4. In Minecraft.app selecting 'Quit Minecraft' (⌘Q) does nothing, only closing the window quits Minecraft.

• Yes. If that bothers you as hell, use Linux launcher (A.4.) Minecraft 1.0.0 adds a 'Quit' button which actually works.

5. Night is day-bright

• You're using Java 5 on PPC. Hairyscreech started a thread on how to install Java 6 on PPC Macs with Tiger.

6. The link in Options before login and the 'Open texturepack folder' button don't work

• That's correct.

7. I can't play in browser.

• It's a bug in Apple's Java plugin, but there's a work around: A moment after you clicked one of the links to play in browser, press and hold shift and command (⇧⌘), with your mouse within the region you expect the black Java frame to appear. Make sure your mouse pointer is not in region of the security alert. The Java region will get a titlebar after a moment, even if the alert is in front. Grab that titlebar and drag it a bit, still holding shift and command. Release the keys and respond to the alerts. Once you get visual output in the Java window you may close the browser window.

Vintage

Spoiler

• In Minecraft 1.7.3, I see lines between blocks, clouds look funny and snow, too. On far objects the clipping seems broken. - Minecraft 1.7.3 does not initialize with a correct Z-Buffer, a fix is available. Fixed in 1.8.
  
• I get a stutter every other second.- The L.S.O.D. Lag Spike Of Death, a fix is provided by sp614x The Great in his OptiFine thread, scroll down the first post a bit to find a stand alone version. Fixed in 1.9.
  
• Minecraft 1.8.1 won't run on Mac OS X 10.5.8 with Intel graphics. - Minecraft 1.8.1 uses OpenGL 1.3 which is not supported on Intel graphics with 10.5.8, a fix is available. Forcing Java 6 may be needed additionally. Minecraft 1.9 is OpenGL 1.2 again.
  
• On Macs with Intel GMA950, quitting Minecraft freezes the computer. - Use Linux launcher (A.4.) Seems to be fixed with 10.7.2. Still crashes, but doesn't freeze anymore. Minecraft 1.0.0 adds a 'Quit' button which actually works.

[Sko]

E. Mods and Tools

1. OptiFine - mod

A must have mod for weak machines or for the demanding player. It does not only improve frame rates, it also makes Minecraft look nicer and your machine work even harder by introducing multithreading. Adds support for HD textures, fonts and Better Grass.

2. MCPatcher - tool

Enables HD textures and fonts. Adds Better Grass, Custom Coulors, Random Mobs and much more.

3. MCMap Live - tool

Shows a nice map of your world. Can find blocks, too. Voikya provides a preview for 'Anvil' and an updated block list is also available.

4. Game Mode Switcher, Gamemode Changer - tools

Switching SSP between Creative, Survival and Hardcore.

5. MCNostalgia - tool

Reverts Minecraft to older versions.

Vintage

Spoiler

OpenGL 1.3 Fix - mod
For Minecraft 1.8.1 on Mac OS 10.5.8 with Intel graphics.

[Sko]

F. Further Support

If you have problems with Minecraft and want to ask about it here, it will be a lot easier for me if you include a log, found in Applications/Utilities/Console:

• Click 'All messages' in side bar and 'Clear display' in tool bar
  
• Open Minecraft, trigger the problem, click into the Console window and select all (⌘A), copy and paste here

and the following details:

• Mac model identifier or CPU
• graphics card
• Mac OS version
• Java version(s)
• Minecraft version

In case you're posting pictures or very long logs, please wrap it in spoiler tags.

[Neodymius]

I feel that there we could use more OSX specific support in this section, and I imagine that this will be a great help to many users that are missing out due to the lack of easy to access information. I have pinned the thread, thank you for the time that you have put into this.

[devilquak]

Yes, dear god thank you for making this. I thought us Mac users would have to shrivel up in the corner forever... obviously now that's not the case. and a rep for you.

[Tomorokoshi]

Thank you very much Sko for a fantastic post! The game runs much smoother for me now. Thanks again for your effort.

[jake0o0]

Hey I'm new to the forums and I am wondering if I should get mine craft for my Mac, I am running 10.4.11, with Tiger. I just want to know if everything will be the same since I have a old version. I will be upgrading my computer within the next few months but I am wondering if it is worth it now. More info availablie if needed And I would rather not waste my money so what should I do...

[Sko]

jake0o0,
if your machine is a PPC-based Mac, you should probably wait with the purchase as these have issues with Minecraft. I haven't found the time to reactivate my trusty PowerBook to look into it, yet.
If it is an Intel-Mac, upgrade to Snow Leopard (better graphics driver) and with the help of OptiFine it will be ok-ish.
And welcome to the forum.

[zeeenn]

Oh my god.
AWESOME
Just epicness of epicness wrote in this guide Thank you so much!

[jake0o0]

Though that was a year ago...

[jake0o0]

And could you try to see if it works please?

Thanks

[vliegenaar]

Thanks much!!!

[kklfleo56]

Game going to be fixed

[darthavery10]

im haveing a problem with my mac os x 10.5.8,every time i start minecraft it works fine but when i go to singleplayer make a new wourld and play it stops at loading chuncks and goes wight and this has happend with me on 2 other mac os x 10s

[Sko]

darthavery10, on 04 October 2011 - 05:27 AM, said:

im haveing a problem with my mac os x 10.5.8...

This sounds like the OpenGL 1.3 problem in Minecraft 1.8.1 with Intel graphics. What are your system specs (OS, Java version, CPU, GPU, RAM)?

[Arotto]

still won't run in browser.

getting this:

java.security.AccessControlException: access denied (java.util.PropertyPermission user.home read)
	at java.security.AccessControlContext.checkPermission(AccessControlContext.java:374)
	at java.security.AccessController.checkPermission(AccessController.java:546)
	at java.lang.SecurityManager.checkPermission(SecurityManager.java:532)
	at java.lang.SecurityManager.checkPropertyAccess(SecurityManager.java:1285)
	at java.lang.System.getProperty(System.java:703)
	at net.minecraft.client.Minecraft.a(SourceFile:391)
	at net.minecraft.client.Minecraft.b(SourceFile:386)
	at net.minecraft.client.Minecraft.a(SourceFile:238)
	at net.minecraft.client.Minecraft.run(SourceFile:630)
	at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:680)
Exception in thread "Minecraft main thread" java.lang.SecurityException: Unable to create temporary file
	at java.io.File.checkAndCreate(File.java:1701)
	at java.io.File.createTempFile(File.java:1792)
	at javax.imageio.stream.FileCacheImageInputStream.<init>(FileCacheImageInputStream.java:84)
	at com.sun.imageio.spi.InputStreamImageInputStreamSpi.createInputStreamInstance(InputStreamImageInputStreamSpi.java:51)
	at javax.imageio.ImageIO.createImageInputStream(ImageIO.java:331)
	at javax.imageio.ImageIO.read(ImageIO.java:1371)
	at dr.<init>(SourceFile:22)
	at rn.<init>(SourceFile:116)
	at l.a(SourceFile:39)
	at net.minecraft.client.Minecraft.b(SourceFile:152)
	at net.minecraft.client.Minecraft.run(SourceFile:633)
	at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:680)

java is clearly bitching about some write access issues. but which directory does it want to have access to?