Minecraft:Legacy Console Edition

Template:Redirect Template:Redirect Template:Redirect Template:Conjecture Template:Discontinued Template:Infobox program Legacy Console Edition refers to seven discontinued, closely-related editions of Minecraft:Minecraft developed by Minecraft:4J Studios for game consoles. It includes:

• Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition
• Minecraft: Xbox One Edition (Replaced by Bedrock)
• Minecraft: PlayStation 3 Edition
• Minecraft: PlayStation 4 Edition (Replaced by Bedrock)
• Minecraft: PlayStation Vita Edition
• Minecraft: Wii U Edition
• Minecraft: Nintendo Switch Edition (Replaced by Bedrock)

Legacy Console Edition introduced new features such as a simplified Minecraft:crafting system, in-game tutorials, Minecraft:leaderboards, built-in Minecraft:mini games, split-screen Minecraft:multiplayer on home consoles, local Minecraft:Wireless Play on handhelds, as well as online multiplayer for up to 8 players (up to 4 on PS Vita, and up to 16 in mini games on Xbox One and PS4). As with all editions, updates were free of charge.

Gameplay

File:Minecraft-Xbox360.png

An in-game screenshot of Xbox 360 Edition, taken in TU9

The objective of the game remains the same as its Template:Els counterparts, where players can build virtual realities in a sandbox-like environment. There is no preset goal; the player may choose to set their own goals.

For the most part, Legacy Console Edition is almost identical to Java Edition, with minor apparent differences.<ref>Template:Tweet</ref> However, the Xbox 360 Edition was initially released with a feature set equivalent to Java Edition Beta 1.6.6, rather than the current Java Edition version at the time of release, 1.2.5. The Wii U Edition on release was equivalent to Java Edition 1.6.4, rather than the current Java Edition version at the time of release, 1.8.9. In the later updates, shortly before its discontinuation, Legacy Console Edition also received several features from Bedrock Edition, such as movable Minecraft:block entities.

Differences between editions

Feature	Template:El	Template:El	Template:El	Template:El	Template:El	Template:El	Template:El
Currently available for digital purchase	Template:Tc	Template:Tc	Template:Tc	Template:Tc	Template:Tc	Template:Tc	Template:Tc
Physical release	Template:Tc	Template:Tc	Template:Tc	Template:TcTemplate:Note	Template:Tc	Template:Tc	Template:Tc
Final version	Template:Tc	Template:Tc	Template:Tc	Template:Tc	Template:Tc	Template:Tc	Template:Tc
Online play currently available	Template:Tc	Template:Tc	Template:Tc	Template:Tc	Template:Tc	Template:TcTemplate:Note	Template:Tc
Max. players in online worlds	Template:Tc	Template:Tc	Template:Tc	Template:Tc	Template:Tc	Template:Tc	Template:Tc
Max. players in online mini games	Template:Tc	Template:Tc	Template:Tc	Template:Tc	Template:Tc	Template:Tc	Template:Tc
Splitscreen multiplayer	Template:Tc	Template:Tc	Template:Tc	Template:Tc	Template:Tc	Template:Tc	Template:Tc
Local wireless multiplayer	Template:Tc	Template:Tc	Template:Tc	Template:Tc	Template:Tc	Template:Tc	Template:Tc
Minecraft:Leaderboards	Template:Tc	Template:Tc	Template:Tc	Template:Tc	Template:Tc	Template:Tc	Template:Tc
Achievements/Trophies	Template:Tc	Template:Tc	Template:Tc	Template:Tc	Template:Tc	Template:Tc	Template:Tc
Maximum Minecraft:world size	Template:Tc	Template:Tc	Template:Tc	Template:Tc	Template:Tc	Template:Tc	Template:Tc
Minecraft:Amplified worlds	Template:Tc	Template:Tc	Template:Tc	Template:Tc	Template:Tc	Template:Tc	Template:Tc
Max. rendering resolution	Template:Tc	Template:Tc	Template:Tc	Template:Tc	Template:Tc	Template:Tc	Template:Tc
Render distanceTemplate:Note	Template:Tc	Template:Tc	Template:Tc	Template:TcTemplate:Note	Template:Tc	Template:Tc	Template:Tc

Differences from Java and Bedrock Edition

Template:Main From a technical perspective, Legacy Console Edition's features remained predominantly faithful to Template:JE, unlike Template:BE. As a result, parity between Legacy Console Edition and Java versions is far greater than parity between Legacy Console Edition and its spiritual successor, Bedrock Edition. Differences from Template:Els include:

• The game features splitscreen functionality;<ref>Template:Tweet</ref> an output resolution of at least 720p (HD) is required for splitscreen play. Up to 4 players can play splitscreen on a given console, as well as the possibility to play with 4-12 additional players online. PlayStation Vita Edition does not support splitscreen but supports up to 2-4 players online via Playstation Network or locally over an ad-hoc network.
  • Splitscreen was later carried over to the console ports of Bedrock Edition.
• Most of the user interface was redesigned to be more controller-friendly. Instead of scaling the game dynamically with the resolution, the game is tailored for the video mode determined by the console settings. If the console's video output is set to standard definition with a 4:3 aspect ratio, an alternate font and UI scale is used and different angles for items and the player's view model in first person are used. This excludes PlayStation Vita Edition, which always uses the 4:3 font and UI scale.
• The game includes an automatic Minecraft:crafting system where it is not required to manually place the blocks in the grid. There is an option to use the manual crafting grid from Java Edition and Bedrock Edition.
• Legacy Console Edition includes a version-exclusive tutorial world. This tutorial leads the player through the basics of Minecraft:breaking and placing Minecraft:blocks, Minecraft:crafting, as well as building their first house to survive the night, Minecraft:fishing, Minecraft:enchanting, Minecraft:brewing, and more.<ref>Template:Ytl</ref>
• The Minecraft:player always begins a new world with an empty map in their inventory.
  • This feature was later added as an option in Bedrock Edition.
• World size is limited.
• Unlike Bedrock Edition, which lacked the Minecraft:superflat world type at the time, Legacy Console Edition features an extensive superflat world type that allows for Minecraft:structure, Minecraft:cave, Minecraft:ore, Minecraft:water, Minecraft:lava, Minecraft:biome, and flora generation, alongside customizable world layers.
• Players can choose from three different biome scale options when generating a world.
  • The seeds for a Large world in the final versions of Legacy Console Edition are mostly identical to Java Edition 1.12.2 in terms of terrain generation, though a different algorithm is used to generate the position of Minecraft:mushroom fields. Certain structures are also set to appear more frequently in later versions of Legacy Console Edition, most notably the Minecraft:woodland mansion and the Minecraft:pillager outpost.
• Skins can be chosen only from those available as default or from downloadable content. Players cannot import their own skins for use in the game, unlike Template:JE.
  • This restriction was carried over to the console versions of Template:BE. Other versions of Bedrock Edition, like the PC and mobile versions, still allow the player to use their own skins.
• Breeding and utility mob spawning works the same as Java Edition, but the amount of mobs is limited.
• The Minecraft:villager trading UI is completely different.
• When flying, the player is restricted to 8-way digital directional movement, meaning that they cannot drift in a full circle. This was done to increase precision when building with a controller.
• The Nether dimension in a superflat world is also flat, whereas Template:In, when creating a flat worldTemplate:Only or Minecraft:superflat worldTemplate:Only, the Nether terrain generation is the same as in a regular world.
• Minecraft:Nether wart randomly generates on Minecraft:soul sand in the Nether.
• Minecraft:Wither skeletons spawn everywhere in the Nether, instead of just in Minecraft:Nether fortresses.
• Minecraft:Blazes have Minecraft:glowstone as a part of their Minecraft:loot table.
• The edge of the Nether is a wall made of Minecraft:bedrock.
• There are no public Minecraft:servers. The player's world may be hosted, similarly to a server, by enabling the option Allow Friends of Friends to join; however, there is a limit of 8 players (or 4 in the PlayStation Vita Edition) in an online game.
• Minecraft:Statistics are replaced with Minecraft:leaderboards, with the exception of Wii U and Nintendo Switch Edition, where neither of these features are present.
• A large amount of Minecraft:TNT cannon designs do not work, because the maximum amount of lit TNT entities that can exist on a world is small.
• Even when in Minecraft:Creative mode, players die when falling into the Minecraft:void in Minecraft:the End dimension — a feature carried over from Java Edition, but absent in Bedrock Edition.
• Some sound effects were retained from earlier versions, such as the Minecraft:skeleton's death sound.
• Lighting varies between editions. However, they all share similarities with one another; shadows are harsher and the color grading is more or less "softer" or/and brighter than Java Edition and Bedrock Edition.

Different modes

The different gameplay modes and settings may vary from the other platform versions.

Creative

Using Minecraft:Creative mode permanently disables achievements/trophies and Minecraft:leaderboard updates during normal gameplay on that world; however, the core mechanics of flight and infinite resources remain the same.

Adventure

Blocks can be destroyed by the proper tools and depending on the block, the quality of the tool. For example, Minecraft:wool blocks can be destroyed by using Minecraft:shears, while only an Minecraft:iron pickaxe or higher can break and gather Minecraft:gold ore blocks.

Survival

In Survival mode:

• Fists and any tool can break blocks such as Minecraft:beds.
• The quality of the tool affects the breaking speed of the block.
• Progression of the game is similar to other versions of the game; however, to travel to other islands in Minecraft:the End, the player must use Minecraft:End gateways, as there are invisible walls surrounding each island, preventing the player from travelling by other means.

World boundary

Template:Main At the edges of the world, which varies depending on the console and Minecraft:world size, there exists an invisible barrier that cannot be bypassed (not even in Creative mode) without glitches or exploits which have been patched.Template:Citation needed Below sea level, the barrier is comprised of gravel. Past this barrier, an ocean with a flat stone sea floor generates up until X/Z 2,800, in which blocks stop rendering, although the physics still exist.

In Minecraft:Xbox 360 Edition TU0 to TU4, the Minecraft:Far Lands would theoretically generate at X/Z ±12,550,824, the same as Template:JE prior to Beta 1.8, since Legacy Console Edition's code was based off Java EditionTemplate:'s code. However, due to the existence of the world boundary, the Far Lands cannot be seen in normal gameplay.

By editing the code of the leaked version it is possible to generate terrain beyond the world limit, the terrain starts to break down similar to that of Minecraft:Bedrock Edition with the Minecraft:Stripe Lands happening at the same coordinates.

Discontinuation timeline

On September 20, 2017, the Minecraft:Xbox One Edition was withdrawn from the Microsoft Store, in conjunction with Template:BE's Minecraft:Better Together Update. People who owned it were entitled to download Bedrock Edition free of charge. Worlds and DLC were intended to be transferable to Bedrock Edition; however, some DLC do not carry over. Users can also continue to play on the Xbox One Edition instead. This also happened with the Minecraft:Nintendo Switch Edition on June 21, 2018, and Minecraft:PlayStation 4 Edition on December 10, 2019;<ref>Template:Mcnet</ref><ref name="PS4Bedrock">Template:Mcnet</ref> likewise, some DLC does not transfer on these platforms.

Initially, Xbox One Edition was planned to no longer receive updates, starting with the lack of an equivalent update to TU58, but the edition later received CU50, an update adding the MINECON Earth Skin Pack, and later updates resumed entirely with CU51, an update equivalent to TU60, which also added all the features from TU58.

On May 3, 2018, Mojang officially announced that the Minecraft:Xbox 360 Edition, Minecraft:PlayStation 3 Edition, Minecraft:PlayStation Vita Edition, and Minecraft:Wii U Edition would receive the Minecraft:Update Aquatic, but would receive no further feature updates after its release. The Minecraft:Xbox One Edition and Minecraft:Nintendo Switch Edition did not get the Update Aquatic. The Minecraft:PlayStation 4 Edition would still receive feature updates until December 10, 2019 (including Update Aquatic and Minecraft:Village & Pillage), when it was replaced with Template:BE on the platform, at which point the legacy Console Edition codebase was discontinued entirely.<ref name=PS4Bedrock/><ref>Template:Mcnet</ref> Despite being discontinued, Xbox One Edition, Nintendo Switch Edition and PlayStation 4 Edition are playable on the Template:W, Template:W and Template:W respectively via backwards compatibility.<ref>https://xbox.com/games/store/-/BT6HNJH658C6</ref>

Although worlds can still be transferred from Minecraft:Xbox 360 Edition to Minecraft:Xbox One Edition, the worlds cannot be loaded due to the Minecraft:Xbox 360 Edition using a newer version of the game. As of April 15, 2020, the ability to transfer worlds from Minecraft:PlayStation 3 Edition and Minecraft:PlayStation Vita Edition to Minecraft:PlayStation 4 Edition has been terminated. Support for world transfers from Minecraft:Wii U Edition to Minecraft:Nintendo Switch Edition also ended with the shutdown of the Nintendo Network on April 8, 2024.

PlayStation 4 Edition was the last game to receive a new major update, this being Minecraft:Village & Pillage which was added in versions 1.83 through 1.91. The game was removed on December 10, 2019 when Bedrock Edition released with the Minecraft:Buzzy Bees update, rendering the Legacy Console Editions completely discontinued.

As of the shutdown of the Wii U eShop and Xbox 360 Marketplace on March 27, 2023, and July 29, 2024, respectively, it is no longer possible to digitally purchase the Minecraft:Wii U Edition or the Minecraft:Xbox 360 Edition of the game via official means, though they can still be redownloaded if the game was previously purchased and physical copies still function normally. The Minecraft:PlayStation 3 Edition and Minecraft:PlayStation Vita Edition will also become unavailable for digital purchase from August 2026 to July 2027 (depending on region) due to the closure of the PlayStation Store on these platforms.<ref>Template:Citation</ref>

Trivia

• Minecraft:4J Studios, the company that ported Minecraft to consoles, also ported several other video games, namely Minecraft:Banjo-Kazooie, Template:W, and Minecraft:Perfect Dark for Template:W as well as Template:W for PlayStation 3.
• Notch originally stated that the Template:W would be the sole console provider of Minecraft.<ref>Template:Tweet</ref> However, Template:W later announced editions for the Template:W, Template:W, and Template:W/Template:W.<ref>Template:Tweet</ref><ref>Template:Tweet</ref> Mojang also later released the Xbox One, Wii U, and Nintendo Switch editions.
• In Minecraft:Creative, entering the Minecraft:Void is not possible without external tools (except in the End, where it is easily accessible due to the large gaps between the islands), as the lowest level of bedrock remains indestructible in that mode without using glitches. When destroyed, the bedrock breaks but is not passable. When placing a block in the gap, it turns back into bedrock.
• The player can grab edge blocks with sticky pistons. However, it's impossible to push blocks into the edge.
• Spiders can climb the edge of the world, as it's classified as a block.
• The Minecraft:player cannot fly to the top. While it is theoretically 2,147,483,647 blocks tall, the world height stops the player at 511 blocks.
  • Despite this, using enough Minecraft:minecarts with TNT to launch a player in Creative mode can sometimes make the player end up above the height limit, but this prevents them from flying back down or moving.
• The Minecraft:wither performs its dash attack much more often than its Template:BE counterpart.
• Due to the limited world size, the Minecraft:woodland mansion is much easier to find, provided that there are Minecraft:dark forest biomes. Sometimes the game can spawn the player right next to one, especially in the Classic world size. Given that the option is selected, the game tries to find a seed with at least one of the most structures in its given area.
• The Template:W is backwards-compatible with the Nintendo Switch Edition; however, the game suffers from several stability issues that are not present when played on an original Nintendo Switch. For example, opening a Minecraft:map in a world transferred from a Nintendo Switch may cause the item to duplicate infinitely, resulting in graphical errors that ultimately lead to a game crash.<ref>Template:Reddit</ref>
• On February 28, 2026, several archive files containing variations of the game's Template:W were leaked on Template:W. The source code is speculated to come from December 2014, and includes many versions of the Legacy Console Edition from different platforms, notably PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 editions.<ref name="lce-leak"/> Included in the leak was the Prototype Tutorial from Minecraft:Xbox 360 Edition Build 0016, an early version of what became the TU1 tutorial world.

Gallery

• Legacy Console Edition logo
  Legacy Console Edition logo
• Image promoting Console Edition releases
  Image promoting Console Edition releases