With Mojang making the move in the recent Minecraft 1.17 snapshots to finally bump the version of Java that Minecraft is built against from Java 8 to Java 16 any newer snapshots, 1.17 and all future releases of Minecraft will require Java 16 to work - they will not work at all with Java 8.
**This has now been bumped again in the 1.18 Pre-Releases to require Java 17 for 18 Pre-Release 2 and newer. Up until now Java 8 has been the only version of Java we have provided, as that is what every version of Minecraft up to now has been built against and is the supported Java version for all Minecraft releases up to 1.16.5 - some softwares/server versions have supported other versions of Java, but Java 8 has remained the main supported version. With the changes Mojang have made we now provide Java 8, Java 16 and Java 17 on all of our systems. Java 11 is also provided due to a few niche softwares requiring this over Java 8, but not supporting Java 16/17, but for the most part you should not need this.
All jar list options running on Minecraft 1.16.5 and older are using Java 8 as they always have been (as older Minecraft versions prior to the update to Java 8 in 1.12 all work with Java 8) - any jar list options running on Minecraft 1.17/1.17.1 run on Java 16 and any options running 1.18 or newer will run on Java 17. We now also have separate Custom Server JAR options available for use - for Java 8, 11, 16 and 17 - so you can choose which one you need or prefer for your setup. To use these options select the one you want on the list and rename your server jar accordingly:
- Java 8: custom_server.jar
As per the example if you are using the PaperSpigot 1.16.5 option right now, which is using Java 8, and wish to use it with Java 16 you would go into your server files and rename the paper_spigot_1.16.5.jar file in the jar folder to custom_server_j16.jar, then select the Custom Server JAR option on the jar list for Java 16 and when the page refreshes restart your server. PaperSpigot 1.16.5 will load the same as always, but using Java 16 instead (this can be done with any setup, just make sure it is compatible with Java 16 and that you rename the correct server jar).
Please note however -
In general it is very poor practice for server softwares - whether that be server jars, mods or plugins - to drop support for the Java version that that version of Minecraft is built around. Minecraft 1.16.5 and older use Java 8 and all software for those Minecraft versions should continue to support Java 8 - only softwares for Minecraft 1.17 and newer should be dropping Java 8 support, in favour of Java 16 for Minecraft 1.17/1.17.1 and Java 17 for Minecraft 1.18+.
- Java 11: custom_server_j11.jar
- Java 16: custom_server_j16.jar
- Java 17: custom_server_j17.jar This also means that you can now use, as an example, Java 16 on 1.16.5 and older options if you would prefer for any reason.
Last edited: Nov 17, 2021
Java 17 is also now available - OP updated regarding this.
At this time anything running on Minecraft 1.16.5 or older should use Java 8, Minecraft 1.17/1.17.1 uses Java 16 (and the 1.18 snapshots and first pre-release) and 1.18 (and pre-releases 2 onwards) use Java 17.
Unless you specifically require something else this is what should be used for any custom installations (Java 11 being used only for some niche softwares) - using a different Java version to the one the server software was built around may cause issues, whether it "supports" it or not (this being why we do not recommend using plugins that require newer Java versions, as updating the Java version so you can use that plugin has the potential to trigger issues in the server software and/or plugins that otherwise would not be there, and some plugins may not work with the newer Java version at all).
Home/Minecraft Mods Pack/Download Java (java) for minecraft, JRE 8, JDK 16 [1.17.1] [1.16.5] [1.15.2] [1.14.4] [1.12.2] [1.7.10]
In this news, you can download Java (java) for the game Minecraft (Minecraft), if you do not start Minecraft, or have any problems with the game, try reinstalling Java to the most current one. In the news, I will post all the necessary Java versions for both the client (player) and the server.
Minecraft (executed by the Java edition, of course, not Bedrock) is written in the Java programming language and runs on java.exe, so to run the game you need to have an up-to-date version of Java, the correct version, if your version is very outdated and has not been updated for a long time, the game can do not start, or after installing some mods the game will crash (crash), the game can also crash when shaders are started, slow down, lag, show low FPS with shaders, even if you have a powerful PC and a good video card.
Warning :
The biggest mistake and the biggest problem with Java is that in Russia most of the players are pirates, and they use pirate launchers. The licensed launcher itself downloads and installs the correct versions of Java, but pirate launchers often install outdated versions.
Manual reinstallation may not help, since the launcher simply continues to use its own, outdated version. After installing the updated version, you need to make sure that the game is using it, if this is not the case, then specify the path to the new version in the launcher settings.
Required Java versions:
- Minecraft 1.5.2-1.16.5 runs on JRE 8
- Minecraft 1.17 and newer runs on JDK 16
- Minecraft server 1.5.2-1.16.5 runs on JDK 8
- Minecraft server 1.17 and newer runs on JDK 16
You can download all versions at the bottom of the news.
Difficulties and frequently asked questions:
- There are 32bit and 64bit versions in the download, which one should I install?
You need to see the bitness of your operating system, it will be 32bit or 64bit, you can google this question, or watch a 2-minute video, respectively download the same one. - I cannot allocate more than 1Gb of RAM to the game, I have 32bit windows, what should I do?
Alas, there is no solution, no, just reinstalling Windows to the 64bit version, the 1Gb limit is due to the 32bit bit depth. - Can I install the 32bit version of Java on 64bit Windows?
Yes, but in this case, you will not be able to allocate more than 1024 megabytes of RAM to the game. - Can I install 64bit Java on 32bit Windows?
No, as I said, just reinstalling the system. - I have installed the JRE or JDK, where is the java.exe that needs to be specified in the launcher or used to start the server?
The path may differ depending on the version and the company that created the implementation of a specific Java, the folder should be searched for in C: \ Program Files
Several examples of the location of different versions of Java
JRE 8 version 301 – C: \ Program Files \ Java \ jre1.8.0_301 \ bin \ java.exe
JDK 8 version 262.10 – C: \ Program Files \ OpenJDK \ jdk-8.0.262.10-hotspot \ bin \ java.exe
JDK 16 version 0.2 – C: \ Program Files \ Java \ jdk-16.0.2 \ bin \ java.exe - My pirate launcher cannot download and use the correct version of Java, what should I do?
The client (player) needed JRE 8 for many years, but starting from version 1.17, the game began to require JDK 16. Many pirate launchers were not ready for this, they do not have functionality, and perhaps they do not plan to create it. Therefore, either you change the launcher, for example, to launcher, or you must specify the required Java version to the launcher yourself, while you have to constantly switch the Java version to run different versions. - Where can I see which version of Java is used by Minecraft?
Start the game, go to the world, press F3, on the top right you will find the information you need. - I installed the correct version, but the game runs on the old version.
As I said several times, most launchers have now learned how to download and use the required version of Java on their own, while most use non-outdated versions. You should find the Java settings in the launcher and specify the path to the java.exe version you need, but note that in this case, the launcher may stop automatically changing the required version when starting 1.16.5 and 1.17.1 for example. - What is legacy Java?
It is difficult to answer this question, formally minecraft should work even on the oldest implementation, but there are exceptions when certain mods, sometimes shaders work slowly or do not work at all. As an example, JRE 8 version 1.8.0_45 (~ 2014) can cause problems, but the difference between 1.8.0_292 and 1.8.0_301 is minimal. - How much RAM do you need to allocate for Minecraft?
A standard vanilla minecraft without high-resolution mods and textures needs less than 1 Gb of memory, and mods may require 4, 6 and even 8Gb, with high-quality shaders and textures, memory consumption can reach 30gb and there is no limit here.
You need to download the installation file below, run it and click on Install, proceed to the end of the installation.
MacOs X: 64bit: Download from website (85Mb)
Linux 32bit: Download from website (90Mb)
Linux 64bit: Download from website (90Mb)
Windows 32bit: Download from website (71Mb)
Windows 64bit: Download from website (81Mb)
JDK 16
MacOs X: 64bit: Download from website (202Mb)
linux 64bit: Download from website (158Mb)
windows 32bit: Download from website (158Mb)
windows 64bit: Download from website (154Mb)