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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 year. 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.

Please read at least the first sections of posts A, B and D and try the suggestions there. When you're posting, include the outcome of those tries and a log as described in F.

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. Launcher
B. Minecraft Folder
C. Modding and Texture Packs
D. Known Problems
E. Mods and Tools
F. More Troubleshooting

[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.

If you see a warning on Lion and above reading
"Minecraft" is damaged and can't be opened. You should move it to the trash.
you have to set Gatekeeper to allow Minecraft as it is not yet certified as coming from a known developer. There are two ways:

• in System Preferences > Security & Privacy set 'Allow applications downloaded from:' to 'Anywhere'. You have to click the lock in the bottom left corner, the one that reads 'Click the lock to make changes.' Start Minecraft.app. Once running, you may re-set Gatekeeper to 'Mac App Store and identified developers'.
  
• right-click Minecraft.app and choose 'Open'. You'll be presented with a confirmation dialog.

You only have to do this once, you'll be able to double-click Minecraft.app on subsequent starts.

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 6:
Java for OS X 2013-003 (for Lion and later, Java 1.6.0_45, updated 16. April 2013)
Java for Mac OS X 10.6 Update 15 (Java 1.6.0_45, updated 16. April 2013)
Java for Mac OS X 10.5 Update 10 (Java 1.6.0_26 on Core 2, 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)

Minecraft launcher for Mac doesn't work with Oracle's Java 7. skriegel provides info on how to get Minecraft started in Java 7 via Terminal.

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

Open Java Preferences (if it still exists, installation of Java 7 deletes this) 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.

Vintage

Spoiler:

Force Java 6 (original hint by vordhosbn):

Use only on PPC with old launcher, on Intel use latest launcher!

Find the 'JVMVersion' key within Info.plist and change it to '1.6+'. Next step is to replace

Minecraft.app/Contents/MacOS/JavaApplicationStub

with

/System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/A/Resources/MacOS/JavaApplicationStub

Use 'Show package contents' and 'Go to folder' (⇧⌘G) to find those places.
While you're at it, you may want to add a key to 'JVMArchs' with the value 'x86_64' on top of the existing ones to run Java in 64bit if it is available.

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 Minecraft's 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 (See section 2. on how to access 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. It will be downloaded to your user's /Library/Application Support folder by the launcher on successful login.

Spotlight will not find the folder as it does not look in Libraries. The link in 'Options' screen of Minecraft.app to find minecraft folder doesn't work. 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

• Use Finder's 'Go' menu, there's an entry 'Library'. Since Lion you have to press option ('alt', ⌥) for the entry to appear.
  
• Use Finder's 'Go to folder...' command (⇧⌘G) and copy / paste the abbreviation line above.
  
• Since Snapshot 12w24a the 'Open texture pack folder' button in 'Texture Packs' screen works eventually. Navigate from there to /bin, /saves etc.
  
• Apple chose to hide the user's Library since 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 > Preferences > Sidebar > Favorites'. While you're at it, you may wish to add your startup volume, too ('Finder > Preferences > Sidebar > Devices > Hard disks').

Note: every 'minus' in front of /Library is in fact a tilde ~ (⌥N) and refers to your home folder, the entry 'Home' (⇧⌘H) in Finder's 'Go' menu takes you there.
There are other Library folders in Mac OS X, at least three (3) in total. If Minecraft works and you don't see a /minecraft in /Application Support, you're definitely looking at one of the two other Libraries. Learn more about Mac OS X's domain system - scroll down a bit to Domains and The Second Level.
For the few of you who did read this paragraph, there's a reward: a simple script (Intel only) that does some basic tasks, like opening the /minecraft folder.

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 (fatal error 4, anyone?), 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 (section 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. Do not use the 2.8.x branch, it doesn't work well on Mac OS X. Use 2.7.x instead.
On Mountain Lion, if some sounds are missing or extremely quiet, replacing only openal.dylib resolves it. You may use openal.dylib from the 2.8.x branch.(Original hint by darkphan)

Spoiler:

2. options.txt

This is where Minecraft stores most of its settings, including key bindings and chosen texture pack. If you experience weird behaviour, like having a black screen after updating or re-downloading Minecraft and deleting /bin didn't fix it, delete this file.

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 expand 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. Be aware that the launcher can't update Minecraft if minecraft.jar is a folder as it tries to delete a file (fatal error 4).

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_' 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 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.

Snapshot 12w23a enables Minecraft to recognise expanded texture pack folders. In case your browser unpacks the file after downloading and you want to retain the .zip file, 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. Mr_Munchem fixed it by updating lwjgl, you may want to try that, too.

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 to minecraft folder in Options before login doesn't work

• True.

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 (open Vintage Spoiler). 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 prettier and your machine work even harder by introducing multithreading. Adds support for HD textures, fonts and Better Grass.

2. MCPatcher - tool

The standard tool for HD textures and fonts. Adds Better Grass, Custom Coulors, Random Mobs and much more. Always cutting edge.

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.

6. NoSoundLag - mod

Fixes the sound delay that some user experience in multiplayer since 1.3x.

Vintage

Spoiler:

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

[Sko]

F. More Troubleshooting

If the suggestions in post #2 (Launcher), post #3 (Minecraft Folder) or post #5 (Known Problems) don't fix your issue, try this.

1. Basic Mac Troubleshooting

• Boot from Mac OS X Install DVD, choose Disk Utility and repair disk and permissions (on Lion and later you have to hold ⌘R on a restart to boot to Restore).
  
• Download latest Mac OS X Combo Updater for your system and install.
  
• Download latest Java for your system and install.
  
• Reset PRAM

Test Minecraft after this. If it still fails, proceed with the next steps to isolate the issue.

• Create a new user and login to that account.
  
• Create a new directory 'Applications' in ~ (Home) (in case your system language is non-English,

  touch ~/Applications/.localized

  in Terminal will, well, localise it :-).
  
• Download Minecraft and place in ~/Applications.
  
• Fire up Console and prepare to log Minecraft (see section 2).
  
• Start Minecraft from ~/Applications.

2. More Information

If you want to ask about problems 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
  
• the exact point the problem occurs (launcher, mojang logo, loading a world etc.)
  
• installed mods and texture packs if any

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?