Java Edition has been in constant development from May 10, 2009. What is now known as Pre-classic refers to the early unreleased versions of Minecraft during the week from May 10 to May 16, 2009. The next phase, what was later called Classic, lasted from May 17 to November 10, 2009. Indev, short for "in development", lasted from December 23, 2009, to February 23, 2010. Infdev, short for "infinite development", lasted from February 27 to June 30, 2010. Alpha lasted from June 30 to December 3, 2010, and Beta lasted from December 20, 2010, all the way through to November 11, 2011. The official release of Minecraft (Java Edition) came on November 18, 2011, at MINECON 2011, and further updates have been released ever since, the most recent being 1.16.3.

Full Release [ edit ]

The full release stage of Minecraft: Java Edition's development started on November 18, 2011, and has continued until the present day. At this point of development, the game was considered "complete", having both an "ending" and being ready for ratings and reviews. The game's price also increased from what it was in Beta, but users who previously bought the game were not charged extra.





Update Version Development release Full release Nether Update

(Guide) 1.16.3 September 7, 2020 September 10, 2020 1.16.2 July 1, 2020 August 11, 2020 1.16.1 – June 24, 2020 1.16 February 5, 2020 June 23, 2020

Update Version Development release Full release Buzzy Bees

(Guide) 1.15.2 January 14, 2020 January 21, 2020 1.15.1 December 12, 2019 December 17, 2019 1.15 August 22, 2019 December 10, 2019

Update Version Development release Full release Village & Pillage

(Guide) 1.14.4 July 3, 2019 July 19, 2019 1.14.3 June 3, 2019 June 24, 2019 1.14.2 May 16, 2019 May 27, 2019 1.14.1 May 7, 2019 May 13, 2019 1.14 October 24, 2018 April 23, 2019

Update Version Development release Full release Update Aquatic

(Guide) 1.13.2 October 16, 2018 October 22, 2018 1.13.1 July 25, 2018 August 22, 2018 1.13 October 25, 2017 July 18, 2018

Update Version Development release Full release World of Color Update

(Guide) 1.12.2 September 13, 2017 September 18, 2017 1.12.1 August 1, 2017 August 3, 2017 1.12 February 8, 2017 June 7, 2017

Update Version Development release Full release Exploration Update

(Guide) 1.11.2 – December 21, 2016 1.11.1 December 15, 2016 December 20, 2016 1.11 August 10, 2016 November 14, 2016

Update Version Development release Full release Frostburn Update

(Guide) 1.10.2 – June 23, 2016 1.10.1 June 22, 2016 1.10 May 18, 2016 June 8, 2016

Update Version Development release Full release Combat Update

(Guide) 1.9.4 – May 10, 2016 1.9.3 April 7, 2016 1.9.2 – March 30, 2016 1.9.1 March 9, 2016 1.9 July 29, 2015 February 29, 2016

Update Version Development release Full release Bountiful Update

(Guide) 1.8.9 – December 9, 2015 1.8.8 July 27, 2015 July 27, 2015 1.8.7 – June 5, 2015 1.8.6 May 25, 2015 1.8.5 May 22, 2015 1.8.4 April 17, 2015 1.8.3 February 20, 2015 1.8.2 December 18, 2014 February 19, 2015 1.8.1 October 15, 2014 November 24, 2014 1.8 June 9, 2014 September 2, 2014

Update Version Development release Full release Horse Update

(Guide) 1.6.4 September 13, 2013 September 19, 2013 1.6.2 – July 8, 2013 1.6.1 April 18, 2013 July 1, 2013

Update Version Development release Full release Redstone Update

(Guide) 1.5.2 – May 2, 2013 1.5.1 March 14, 2013 March 21, 2013 1.5 January 3, 2013 March 13, 2013

Update Version Development release Full release Pretty Scary Update

(Guide) 1.4.7 December 28, 2012 January 9, 2013 1.4.6 December 7, 2012 December 20, 2012 1.4.5 November 16, 2012 November 20, 2012 1.4.4 November 1, 2012 November 14, 2012 1.4.2 August 9, 2012 October 25, 2012

Update Version Development release Full release 1.3

(Guide) 1.3.2 – August 16, 2012 1.3.1 April 12, 2012 August 1, 2012

Update Version Development release Full release 1.2

(Guide) 1.2.5 March 30, 2012 April 4, 2012 1.2.4 – March 22, 2012 1.2.3 March 2, 2012 1.2.2 March 1, 2012 1.2.1 January 19, 2012

Update Version Development release Full release 1.1

(Guide) 1.1 November 24, 2011 January 12, 2012

Update Version Development release Full release Adventure Update

(Guide) 1.0.1

(Server only) – November 24, 2011 1.0.0 September 22, 2011 November 18, 2011

Beta [ edit ]

Key Available in the launcher. Unavailable in the launcher, but archived elsewhere. No direct proof exists.

The Beta development phase started on December 20, 2010 and ended on November 18, 2011. The main goals of this development stage were a larger focus on polishing gameplay, additional content, and stability.[1] The game's price also increased from what it was in Alpha, but users who previously bought the game were not charged extra.

Beta 1.8 [ edit ]

Update Version Development release Full release Adventure Update

(Guide) Beta 1.8.1 – September 15, 2011 Beta 1.8 September 9, 2011 September 14, 2011

Beta 1.7 [ edit ]

Beta 1.6 [ edit ]

Beta 1.5 [ edit ]

Beta 1.4 [ edit ]

Version Release date Beta 1.4_01 April 5, 2011 Beta 1.4 March 31, 2011

Beta 1.3 [ edit ]

Version Release date Beta 1.3_01 February 23, 2011 Beta 1.3 February 22, 2011

Beta 1.2 [ edit ]

Beta 1.1 [ edit ]

Beta 1.0 [ edit ]

Alpha [ edit ]

Key Available in the launcher. Unavailable in the launcher, but archived elsewhere. Not archived. Video/image or The Word of Notch proof exists. No direct proof exists

The Alpha development phase started on June 29, 2010, and ended on December 20, 2010. This version also limited the gamemode to Survival, but saw a re-release of multiplayer. At this time, Notch began developing the game full time, causing much more frequent updates. These were also the first versions which had to be purchased, though the price increased in later stages.

Alpha 1.2 [ edit ]

Alpha 1.1 [ edit ]

Alpha 1.0 [ edit ]

Infdev [ edit ]

Key Available in the launcher. Unavailable in the launcher, but archived elsewhere. Unavailable from launcher; no unedited version archived. Not archived. Video/image or The Word of Notch proof exists.

The Infdev development phase started on February 27, 2010 and ended on June 30, 2010. During this stage, Minecraft was only available in single-player Survival mode and versions were unnumbered under the name Minecraft Infdev. At this point, Notch rewrote the game code to allow mostly "infinite" terrain.

Indev [ edit ]

Key Unavailable in the launcher, but archived elsewhere. Not archived. Video/image or The Word of Notch proof exists.

The Indev development phase started on December 23, 2009, and ended on February 27, 2010. It was the successor to the previous Survival Test and continued expanding the survival aspects of the game, making it a lot more like the current gameplay. Versions in this stage were either unnumbered or used the same number.

Classic [ edit ]

Key Available in the launcher. Unavailable in the launcher, but archived elsewhere. Unavailable from launcher; no unedited version archived. Not archived. Video/image or The Word of Notch proof exists. Not archived. IRC chat log/changelog proof exists.

Classic was the first long development phase of the game, in which it was constantly improved and updated over several months. It occurred between May 16 and December 23, 2009. The original game mode was Creative, but on September 1, 2009 development began for Survival mode under the name Survival Test.

Late Classic Creative [ edit ]

Survival Test [ edit ]

Multiplayer Test [ edit ]

Early Classic Creative [ edit ]

Private test builds [ edit ]

Version Release date 0.0.10a May 17, 2009 0.0.9a May 16, 2009 0.0.3a 0.0.2a

Notes

↑ Reuploaded version of 0.30

↑ Not explicitly mentioned

↑ Server version 1.8.3's role here is unknown.

↑ The launcher version of 0.0.13a_03 has a 2013 compilation date. The original 2009 version has been archived, and has identical gameplay, but the files are different.

↑ The launcher version of 0.0.13a may be different from the actually released version of 0.0.13a; it is suspected the version in the launcher is an early development version of 0.0.13a, as it has extremely basic world generation, which does not match up with surrounding versions or video footage.

↑ The launcher version is different compared to the original release but appears to play the same. It is thought that the version in the launcher is actually an early preview of 0.0.12a, rather than being a version of 0.0.11a.

Key Available in the launcher. Not archived. Video/image or The Word of Notch proof exists. Not archived. IRC chat log/changelog proof exists.

Pre-Classic was the initial development phase of Minecraft, in which the very basic mechanics and elements of the game were developed, tested and improved over the period of less than a week—from May 10–16, 2009. It was not originally released to the public, but some versions are now playable via the launcher.