How To Play Old Minecraft Versions
With all the attention of Minecraft’s newest version, maybe you don’t realise you can play the old ones too! In this guide, we will show you how to access previous versions of Minecraft and which ones to play…
What you need
Sorry Bedrock players – the ability to roll back to older versions is a Java Edition feature only. To follow the instructions in this post, you need to be playing the latest version of Minecraft Java Edition with the latest version of launcher. Other than that, you just need enough hard drive space to re-download the older builds and a little bit of patience to set it up. Don’t worry, though, it is a lot easier than installing mods!
Important information
Before you start, please be aware that playing older versions of Minecraft can cause trouble if you try to do things like load worlds from a newer version. It is also possible that it will screw up your configuration settings, so you might have to reconfigure your keyboard controls (if you are not using the default controls) and things like graphics/audio settings when you go back to the current version.
As long as you don’t load a newer world in an older version, you have nothing to worry about. If in doubt, make sure you create a backup version of your existing worlds before you get started, and always select a new directory to play the game in.
Why play old versions? You might want to access old versions of Minecraft for a couple of reasons. The first, of course, is to check out what the game used to be like – maybe before you even played it! You might also want to visit some of the more interesting builds from the past, such as the April Fool’s builds which have separate minigames in them. Or it is possible you have got a specific mod or download that only works with an older version of Minecraft. Whatever your reason, it is time to get started…
How to roll back Minecraft
Start by loading the launcher. At the top of the launcher, you will see four tabs – “play” lets you launch the game, but to the right of that you will see “installations”. Click on this tab.
Now click on “new installation”. Give it a name that reminds you what you are playing – including the version number is normally a good idea – then select the version you want to switch to from the “version” dropdown.
This lists every version, from the newest at the top to the oldest down at the bottom. Once you have selected a version, you can select a game directory. If you want to insulate your existing world and settings completely, hit “browse” to create a new directory, for example, .minecraft_old, then play that game in that.
You won’t be able to play your old worlds or see worlds made in this version when you switch back, but it does protect your existing installation. You can leave the resolution on auto. Now click “create”.
Back on the launcher screen, click the dropdown, find your new installation in the list and click “play”. Congratulations – you are now playing an old version of Minecraft!
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Keywords: Minecraft, Java Edition, Builds, Gaming, Tips.
