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I am wondering, is there a way to play old Minecraft versions such as Indev/survival test? For example, there was a mod called MCnostalgia, but I don't know if it's still available. I know, half of you are probably going to say, use the edit profile option in the new launcher, but I want to play some versions that the edit profile option does not contain. Is the mod out there? If so, where? Also, is there is any way to legally get old jar files for minecraft and put them In the versions folder? If so where from?

marked as duplicate by Virusbomb, galacticninja, Joachim, Ivo Coumans, 54D Aug 23 at 14:16


  • I reworded some of your question so it's less likely to be closed. We won't run off and find mods for you, but we will help you solve a problem (and if that's done by using a mod, so be it) – shanodin Apr 3 '14 at 4:37
  • Heh... deleted my answer, as my reading comprehension fails. – Michael Frank Apr 3 '14 at 8:04
  • Well, I really am not looking for people to run off and spend all of there time looking for resources, I am just looking to see if there is a way to get more old versions than the launcher provides, and if so, how? – DatEpicCoderGuyWhoPrograms Apr 3 '14 at 15:15

I'm not sure about using old jars and the version directory, but I do know this - there is a way to run the old Minecraft.exe in such a way that it downloads to a specific directory - this was originally designed to that one could place a valid Minecraft installation on his or her thumb drive or other removable media and run it from there. Also out there is a little Java application called Minecraft Version Changer. Using the custom-directory technique, the old launcher, and MVC, it is possible to go back as far as Indev or Classic. A tutorial on the thumb-drive technique which we will be using here can be found at http://en.kioskea.net/faq/9814-portable-minecraft-minecraft-on-your-usb-key - This will work with the new Launcher, but MVC will only work for the old one, so you'll want to get your hands on a copy of that, which can most likely be found on numerous file-sharing sites. If not, contact me personally and I will gladly be of assistance as soon as possible. Also, the MVC may be found at http://mcvc.in. The procedure for setting up MVC is the same as described for setting up a portable directory, only you must make another Batch file exclusively for the MVC so that it does not alter your system's AppData folder. moving along with that, the MVC executable itself will be placed in the same folder as the Minecraft.exe launcher. Again, if you need assistance, you are very welcome to contact me. I'll be glad to help. Have a nice day.

  • 1
    Apologies, that slipped my mind, unless you're thinking of something else. I am speaking of the older version of the Minecraft Launcher, not the game itself. [Edit:] As far as I know of, it is in no way illegal to distribute the launcher, considering one would need a paid MC account to even use it. – EnragedTanker Apr 3 '14 at 14:50
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    Oh, my apologies. I read that as distributing an older version of Minecraft. My bad. – Frank Apr 3 '14 at 14:59
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    That's alright, I'd never do such a thing like that anyways. :P – EnragedTanker Apr 3 '14 at 15:00
  • This seems like a good idea, although I was pondering the idea of if the MCnostalgia mod would still work with some messing around... I will try your methods first, since I don't want to accidentally corrupt my minecraft with an out-of-date mod. – DatEpicCoderGuyWhoPrograms Apr 3 '14 at 15:13
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    That sounds good. – EnragedTanker Apr 3 '14 at 15:16

To get to the old versions of Minecraft do this:
Step 1. Open Minecraft
Step 2. Go to Settings
Step 3. Click Add New
Step 4. Put Your Username
Step 5. Put Version By Scrolling to the version you want
Step 6. Enjoy!


You can find some versions of Minecraft using this: https://sites.google.com/site/luigi2600sgamehackingsite/minecraft-the-lost-versions

Though, if you don't have the jar file of another version you wanna play, or somebody else hasn't found the jar file, or if it does not exist anymore at all, there's no way to play that version then, just to note.

Here are the step to install the versions into Minecraft so you can play them.

Step 1: Go to your search bar

Step 2: Search "Run" and click on the "Run" program.

Step 3: Type in %appdata% and click on Ok.

Step 4: Go to the ".minecraft" folder and then to the "versions" folder.

Step 5: Open "The Hidden Versions" zip thing with either WinRAR or 7zip.

Step 6: Select any folder of the version of the game that you want to play.

Step 7: Drag that folder into the "versions" folder in ".minecraft".

Step 8: Close everything down and open up the Minecraft launcher.

Step 9: Go to launch options and make sure that you have enabled historic versions.

Step 10: Edit a profile and then change version to the version you put in.

Step 11: Launch Minecraft.

If you've followed my steps correctly, this should work. I hope you're happy with the versions that we have found and is able to be played.

Hope this article helps!
