tl;dr: MC Requirements have been updated, if your game works it will continue to work

Hello /r/Minecraft! I'm tyteen4a03 from #minecrafthelp and I'm here to tell you about the recent requirements change of Minecraft (Java Edition).

1. Who are you? Why are you forcing updates on my system? Are you evil?

I'm tyteen4a03, op on #minecrafthelp. We have been offering volunteer technical support to thousands of people since 2010. Besides helping people out, we advise Mojang's support team on technical issues and suggests updates to their support articles. Some of us also maintain Minecraft Hopper and Mojira. We have seen computers in all shapes and sizes over the years, so we can use that knowledge to work out what kind of systems can Minecraft run on; we then give Mojang suggestions what the requirements should look like.

As the game and the technology surrounding it changes, so does the performance requirements. The last update to the requirements was 4 years ago; Minecraft has changed a lot since then. We think with the introduction of map-breaking changes in 1.13, it is the best time to bring the requirements to 2017 standards.

2. Wouldn't this mean I have to buy <latest computer parts> when my game already works perfectly?

No. If your game works on 1.12, it will most likely continue to work on 1.13 and beyond. The requirements is only a guideline – Minecraft does not actively check your specs against the requirements and refuse to run if the requirements are not met. The only hardline requirement is for your GPU to support OpenGL 1.3 – something all graphics cards in the last 15 years support.

If you notice that some components in your computer is behind the requirements, don't panic – Minecraft will likely to continue running without issues. However if you notice that all the components in your computer is behind the requirements (or MC is unplayable without OptiFine), it may be a good indicator that an upgrade is necessary. (99% of the time those people will also experience severe lag when attempting to play MC)

3. Okay, what exactly are the changes then?

Here's the new requirements in all its glory: (Or check out the Mojang Support website, if that's your thing)

Minimum Requirements:

CPU: Intel Core i3-3210 3.2 GHz / AMD A8-7600 APU 3.1 GHz or equivalent

RAM: 2GB

GPU (Integrated): Intel HD Graphics 4000 (Ivy Bridge) or AMD Radeon R5 series (Kaveri line) with OpenGL 4.4*

GPU (Discrete): Nvidia GeForce 400 Series or AMD Radeon HD 7000 series with OpenGL 4.4

HDD: At least 1GB for game core, maps and other files

OS:

• Windows: Windows 7 and up
• macOS: OS X 10.9 Maverick
• Linux: Any modern distributions from 2014 onwards

Internet connectivity is required for downloading Minecraft files, afterwards offline play is possible.

*Current minimum OpenGL requirements is 1.3, but modern GPUs often ship with newer versions of OpenGL

Recommended Requirements:

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690 3.5GHz / AMD A10-7800 APU 3.5 GHz or equivalent

RAM: 4GB

GPU: GeForce 700 Series or AMD Radeon Rx 200 Series (excluding integrated chipsets) with OpenGL 4.5

HDD: 4GB (SSD is recommended)

OS (recommended 64-bit): – Windows: Windows 10 – macOS: macOS 10.12 Sierra – Linux: Any modern distributions from 2014 onwards

Software Requirements:

• Minecraft Release 1.12 or newer[1]. Older versions will need to be updated to current versions.
• Minecraft ships with its own version of Java by default, however if the built-in Java isn’t working, you can try the latest version of Java 8 from the Java website. Oracle Java is recommended but OpenJDK will also work.
• Please note that some users experience issues playing Minecraft while using a mismatched version of Java for their operating system (32 or 64 bit), or while multiple versions of Java are installed.

4. I need a breakdown!

In short, all requirements have been bumped to 2017 standards. The CPU, GPU and HDD requirements have been bumped, however the RAM requirement did not change (this is because the launcher doesn't allocate more than 2GB of RAM by default). Additionally, OS requirements has been added.

OpenGL requirements is staying at 1.3; while Mojang does plan to bump it to 2.1 we have not been notified of any firm date/version when this is happening. All GPUs in the last decade support OpenGL 2.1 anyway so you have nothing to worry about[2].

5. Why is the minimum requirements <X>? <Y> works fine!

We used a 5-year cutoff when deciding the minimum requirements so it will stand the test of time (so to speak). This means any hardware released from 2012 should work with Minecraft.

The main reason the requirements might look more recent than it needs to be is that we want to future-proof it as much as possible. It might be another 4 years before an opportunity to change the requirement comes up again. Additionally, Mojang prints the requirements on all prepaid cards so it's not feasible to bump the requirements often.

6. Does this apply to the Windows 10 Edition?

Yes and no. There are no official requirements for Windows 10 because we don't have enough data to construct one, however since DirectX support on GPUs is usually more complete than OpenGL support, you might be able to get away with older computer hardware.

Obviously, as the title suggests, Windows 10 is required to play Minecraft: Windows 10 edition.

6. So what's the takeaway from all this?

1. If your game works now, it will most likely continue to work in 1.13 and beyond.
2. If you need a new PC, it might be worth checking out the recommended requirements.
3. If you are unsure whether your computer can play Minecraft, continue to use the demo.

7. Ocelot?

Meow.

If you have any questions regarding this change, please leave a comment below. I will not provide technical support in this thread; use #minecrafthelp for that.

Thanks for reading, and happy Minecrafting!

[1] Mojang does not officially have a support policy for older versions, but at #minecrafthelp we only support the current release.

[2] Okay, I lied – Intel ships broken OpenGL support to older models of their GPUs, meaning that those PCs cannot play Minecraft 1.7.4 or above. Fortunately we're talking about chips released a decade ago; recent Intel HD Graphics are fine.