.minecraft

 .minecraft (or simply  minecraft on macOS) is the directory Minecraft: Java Edition creates to run from. This directory includes the JAR files, sound, music, resource packs, personal options, worlds, etc.

Locating

Below is a table showing the default path of  .minecraft.

OS	Location
Windows	%APPDATA%\.minecraft
macOS	~/Library/Application Support/minecraft
Linux	~/.minecraft

Locating the  .minecraft directory can be vital for installing a resource pack or locating any made screenshots.

The path in the table above is just the default case. Launchers can place  .minecraft at any path.

If you're a Windows user and are unfamiliar with how to find your  %APPDATA% directory, follow these steps:

1. Click Start → Run. If you don't see "Run", press Windows + R.
2. Type %APPDATA%\.minecraft and click "OK".

If you're a Mac user, you can open the directory through Spotlight:

1. Open Finder and press Shift + Command + G or open the Spotlight popup through the magnifying glass icon on the right of the Menu Bar.
2. Type ~/Library/Application Support/minecraft and hit Enter.

On Linux or macOS, the ~ in the path refers to the home directory. Files starting with . are hidden by default. In most file managers, pressing Ctrl + H toggles viewing hidden files. In macOS specifically, since version 10.12 (Sierra), pressing Command + Shift + . toggles viewing hidden files.

If you want to change the path of the .minecraft directory, see Tutorials/Custom Minecraft directory.

Directory structure

•  .minecraft
  •  assets
    •  indexes
      •  version.json
    •  log_configs
      •  client-version.xml
    •  objects
    •  skinpacks
    •  virtual
  •  bin
    •  jinput.jar
    •  lwjgl.jar
    •  lwjgl_util.jar
    •  minecraft.jar (it is the client.jar for 1.5.2. The game doesn't use it after the launcher update, though; it uses the "versions" directory instead.)
    •  natives
      • (native libraries)
    •  random ID
      • (native libraries)
  •  debug
    •  year-month-day_hour.minute.second.zip
      •  deviations
        •  <tick_number>@year-month-day_hour.minute.second.txt
      •  metrics
        •  eventloops.csv
        •  frame_times_ms_.csv
        •  jvm.csv
        •  mailboxes.csv
        •  rendering_chunk_dispatching.csv
        •  rendering_chunk_stats.csv
        •  task_total_duration_ms.csv
      •  profiling.txt
  •  libraries: Contains various libraries packaged per Maven convention (without POM files)
  •  logs
    •  year-month-day-sessionNumber.log.gz
    •  latest.log
  •  resourcepacks
  •  saves
    •  worldName
      •  advancements
        •  uuid.json
      •  data
        •  chunks.dat
        •  command_storage_namespace.dat
        •  idcounts.dat
        •  map_id.dat
        •  raids.dat
        •  random_sequences.dat
        •  scoreboard.dat
      •  datapacks
      •  DIM1
        •  data
          •  raids_end.dat
        •  poi
          •  r.x.z.mca
        •  region
          •  r.x.z.mca
      •  DIM-1
        •  data
          •  raids_nether.dat
        •  poi
          •  r.x.z.mca
        •  region
          •  r.x.z.mca
      •  generated
        •  namespace
          •  structures
            •  name.nbt
      •  playerdata
        •  uuid.dat
      •  poi
        •  r.x.z.mca
      •  region
        •  r.x.z.mca
      •  stats
        •  uuid.json
      •  icon.png
      •  level.dat
      •  level.dat_mcr
      •  level.dat_old
      •  special_level.dat
      •  special_level.dat_old
      •  resources.zip
      •  session.lock
  •  screenshots
    •  year-month-day_hour.minute.second.png (or, ...second_instance.png)
  •  stats
    •  stats_player_unsent.dat
    •  stats_player_unsent.old
  •  texturepacks
  •  texturepacks-mp-cache
  •  versions
    •  version
      •  version.jar
      •  version.json
  •  webcache
    •  Cache
      •  data_0
      •  data_1
      •  data_2
      •  data_3
      •  f_<hexa>
    •  Cookies
    •  Cookies-journal
    •  GPUCache
      •  data_0
      •  data_1
      •  data_2
      •  data_3
      •  index
    •  Visited Links
  •  command_history.txt
  •  debug.stitched_items.png
  •  debug.stitched_terrain.png
  •  hotbar.nbt
  •  launcher_cef_log.txt
  •  launcher_entitlements.json
  •  launcher_gamer_pics.json
  •  launcher_msa_credentials.json
  •  launcher_profiles.json
  •  launcher_quick_play.json
  •  launcher_settings.json
  •  launcher_skins.json
  •  launcher_ui_state.json
  •  nativelog.txt (macOS only)
  •  nativeUpdaterLog.txt (macOS only)
  •  options.txt
  •  output-client.log
  •  output-server.log
  •  realms_persistence.json
  •  servers.dat
  •  textures_0.png
  •  textures_1.png
  •  textures_2.png
  •  textures_3.png
  •  textures_4.png
  •  usercache.json

Use of a resource pack can be forced by renaming its ZIP file to resources.zip and placing it in the root directory of the world save. This feature is single-player only; however, there is another way for servers to ask or force clients to use the server resource pack.

For Windows and Linux, the contents of  nativelog.txt and  nativeUpdaterLog.txt can be found within  launcher_log.txt when applicable (i.e. the contents of  nativeUpdaterLog.txt is present only in  latest_log.txt after the launcher is updated or launched for the first time).

History

[hide]Java Edition Infdev
20100629							Added  level.dat_old
[hide]Java Edition Alpha
v1.0.11							Added  session.lock
[hide]Java Edition
1.6							Removed  lastlogin
1.13			17w43a				Removed structure data.
							Added datapacks directory.
1.14			18w47a				Added  raids.dat
			19w13a				Removed  villages.dat and added  poi region files.
1.20.2			23w31a				Added  command_history.txt to persist command history between worlds.