Minecraft:Java account migration

File:Java Migration thumb.png

The pop-up notifying users that they can migrate.

The Java account migration<ref name="announcement">Template:Ytl</ref>Template:Note was the process of moving ownership of Template:JE from Minecraft:Mojang accounts, including legacy Minecraft accounts, to Minecraft:Microsoft accounts. It took place from June 2021 to September 19, 2023.

History of events

Announcement

The Java account migration was announced on October 21, 2020 with a YouTube video, a Minecraft:Minecraft.net article, and an official FAQ.<ref name="announcement"/><ref name="movinghouse">Template:Mcnet</ref><ref>Template:Citation</ref> The migration was described as a way to increase security through the addition of Template:W, connect all Mojang games to the same account, improve parental controls, and add features such as chat and invitation blocking. It was stated to take place early 2021 and to be mandatory in order to continue being able to log in and play the game. Additionally, it was announced that players who completed the migration would receive a Minecraft:cape as a reward.

The official FAQ stated that the migration would roll out gradually, with each phase including only a limited number of eligible players that would be notified on their Minecraft.net profile pages as well as through the Minecraft:Minecraft Launcher.

Introduction of Microsoft accounts

On November 27, 2020, the launcher was updated to version 2.2.74, introducing support for Microsoft accounts.

On December 1, 2020, the creation of new Mojang accounts was discontinued, and all new copies of Template:JE from that date onward required a Microsoft account.<ref>Template:Tweet</ref>

On February 28, 2021, the FAQ was edited to confirm that third-party launchers can now support Microsoft accounts.<ref>Template:Citation</ref>

Pre-migration

On December 2020, the minecraft.net/mojang-account-move page and its redirect minecraft.net/move were created.<ref>Template:Citation</ref>

On February 19, 2021, a new YouTube video promoting the migration process was released. The video was initially unlisted and only included on Minecraft.net.<ref>Template:Citation</ref> The video was made public on November 24, 2021.<ref>Template:Ytl</ref>

Migration

Starting June 24, 2021, players were able to migrate. Players eligible for migration received a notification on the Minecraft Launcher leading to their Minecraft.net profile page. Once on their Minecraft.net profile page, players had to:

1. Click on "Move my account"
2. Verify their email used by their Mojang account
3. Create or connect to a Microsoft account
4. Click on "Complete the move"

• A pop-up notifying a user that they can migrate
  A pop-up notifying a user that they can migrate
• A Minecraft.net profile page before migrating
  A Minecraft.net profile page before migrating
• The pop-up to verify the email
  The pop-up to verify the email
• The window to enter the code
  The window to enter the code
• The window to confirm the migration
  The window to confirm the migration
• A Minecraft.net profile page after migrating
  A Minecraft.net profile page after migrating

As initially announced, the migration was rolled out gradually, with each phase including only a limited number of eligible players. The following table lists all known phases.

All known migration phases

Date	Template:Tooltip	Note
Mojang accounts (closed migration)
April 2021	<ref name="internalmigration">Template:Tweet</ref>	This phase was an internal test.
May 2021	<ref>Template:Tweet</ref><ref>Template:Tweet</ref>	This phase was an early migration test.
Mojang accounts
June 24, 2021	<ref>Template:Tweet</ref>
June 29, 2021	<ref>Template:Tweet</ref>
August 3, 2021	<ref>Template:Tweet</ref>	This phase included about half a million accounts.
August 10, 2021	<ref>Template:Tweet</ref>	This phase allegedly included about a million accounts.
August 17, 2021	<ref>Template:Tweet</ref>
August 24, 2021	<ref>Template:Tweet</ref>	This phase doubled the number of eligible accounts.
September 1, 2021	<ref>Template:Tweet</ref>
September 2, 2021	<ref>Template:Tweet</ref>
September 8, 2021	<ref>Template:Tweet</ref>
October 12, 2021	<ref>Template:Tweet</ref>
October 20, 2021	<ref>Template:Tweet</ref>	This phase included all remaining Mojang accounts.
Legacy Minecraft accounts
November 23, 2021	<ref>Template:Tweet</ref>	This phase only included "a small batch" of legacy Minecraft accounts.
November 24, 2021	<ref>Template:Tweet</ref>	This phase included all remaining legacy Minecraft accounts.

On February 4, 2022, it was announced that players who did not migrate would be unable to play Template:JE starting March 10, 2022.<ref>Template:Mcnet</ref> Mojang accounts were blocked gradually, with only 1% of remaining Mojang accounts being restricted on March 10.<ref>Template:Tweet</ref>

On May 8, 2023, it was announced that the migration deadline would be September 19, 2023. After this date, unmigrated accounts would no longer be able to sign in to Minecraft.net or the Minecraft Launcher, therefore making migration impossible. Additionally, it was stated that beginning September 5, 2023, Mojang's support would no longer assist with migration-related issues.<ref>Template:Mcnet</ref>

The migration period ended on September 19, 2023, as announced.

Post-migration

On September 19, 2023, a post-migration period was opened. This gave players who did not migrate one last chance to retain access to the game by going through a post-migration process. However, this process did not actually involve migrating accounts; instead, it simply granted players who had missed the deadline the chance to obtain an entirely new account free of charge. Apart from being free, these new accounts were identical to new ones purchased normally; they did not retain the Java profile name, capes, or server progress of the original accounts. In addition, as these accounts were never actually migrated, they were not eligible for the Minecraft:migrator cape.<ref>Template:Citation</ref> The post-migration period ended on December 18, 2023, as announced.<ref>Template:Citation</ref>

On March 10, 2024, Mojang deleted some unmigrated accounts.<ref>Template:Ytl</ref> Originally, the FAQ page mentioned that the usernames of deleted accounts would be released at some point.<ref>Template:Citation</ref> However, this was later changed to say that such usernames "may or may not be available".<ref>https://help.minecraft.net/hc/en-us/articles/19633473939981-Information-about-Mojang-Accounts-and-Microsoft-Account-Migration</ref> This remains on the current version of the page, leaving it unknown if any more usernames will be released.

Community discoveries

Alternative migration timelines

On January 29, 2021, a file named accountMigration.json was discovered on Mojang's website. Its contents was speculated to be a detailed migration timeline:<ref>Template:Citation</ref>

<syntaxhighlight lang="JSON"> {"version":1,"data":{"migrationStarts":"2021-04-12T00:00:00.000Z","forcedMigrationStarts":"2022-05-12T00:00:00.000Z","forcedMigrationEnds":"2022-07-05T00:00:00.000Z","id":"lucwxMX4cMboBEK4MWu9S"}} </syntaxhighlight>

According to the file, migration would begin on April 12, 2021, become mandatory for playing Minecraft starting May 12, 2022, and conclude on July 5, 2022.

However, on February 1, 2021, the file was updated with placeholder dates:<ref>Template:Citation</ref>

<syntaxhighlight lang="JSON"> {"version":1,"data":{"migrationStarts":"2099-01-01T00:00:00.000Z","forcedMigrationStarts":"2099-01-01T00:00:00.000Z","forcedMigrationEnds":"2099-01-01T00:00:00.000Z","id":"lucwxMX4cMboBEK4MWu9S"}} </syntaxhighlight>

Mojang did not comment on the discovery until April 12, 2022 to confirm that the migration would not begin that day.<ref>Template:Tweet</ref> An internal migration however did happen on the week of April 12.<ref name="internalmigration"/>

Somewhere between April and May, the migrationStarts value was changed to May 23, 2021.<ref>Template:Citation</ref> Then, somewhere between January and December, the forcedMigrationStarts value was changed to February 24, 2022.<ref>Template:Citation</ref>

<syntaxhighlight lang="JSON"> {"version":1,"data":{"migrationStarts":"2021-05-23T00:00:00.000Z","forcedMigrationStarts":"2022-02-24T00:00:00.000Z","forcedMigrationEnds":"2099-01-01T00:00:00.000Z","id":"lucwxMX4cMboBEK4MWu9S"}} </syntaxhighlight>

None of these timelines matched the one that actually happened.

Comparison of the different timelines

<timeline> ImageSize = width:1600 height:auto barincrement:25 PlotArea = left:100 right:20 top:20 bottom:85 Legend = left:20 top:40 orientation:vertical AlignBars = late

DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/01/2020 till:01/01/2025

Colors =

id:migration   value:green   legend:Migration
id:forced      value:orange  legend:Forced_migration
id:post        value:red     legend:Post-migration

id:grid1   value:gray(0.6)
id:grid2   value:gray(0.85)
id:canvas  value:gray(0.95)

ScaleMajor = grid:grid1 unit:year increment:1 start:2020 ScaleMinor = grid:grid2 unit:month increment:1 start:01/01/2020 BackgroundColors = canvas:canvas TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy

BarData =

bar:First     text:First_timeline
bar:Third     text:Third_timeline
bar:Effective text:Effective_timeline

PlotData=

align:center textcolor:black fontsize:XS width:15 shift:(0,-5)

bar:First
from: 12/04/2021 till: 12/05/2022   color:migration
from: 12/05/2022 till: 05/07/2022   color:forced

bar:Third
from: 23/05/2021 till: 24/02/2022   color:migration
from: 24/02/2022 till: 01/01/2025   color:forced

bar:Effective
from: 24/06/2021 till: 10/03/2022   color:migration
from: 10/03/2022 till: 19/09/2023   color:forced
from: 19/09/2023 till: 18/12/2023   color:post

</timeline>

Veteran capes

File:Veteran cape screenshot.png

The screenshot used in the "Migration Eligibility Email" help page.

File:Veteran cape Dinnerbone's clip.mp4

The clip of Dinnerbone being asked about veteran capes.

On October 21, 2020, when the migration was first announced, the Minecraft:Minecraft.net article alluded to the possibility of multiple capes being given out:<ref name="movinghouse"/>

On December 2, 2020,<ref>Template:Cite Discord</ref> after the launcher was updated to version 2.2.74, the following string was found in the API:<ref>Template:Citation</ref>

On June 9, 2021, this text appeared in a screenshot used in the "Migration Eligibility Email" help page.<ref>Template:Citation</ref> The same text appeared on player's profile pages on Minecraft.net for a short time after being removed.Template:Cn

On September 2021, while streaming on Twitch, Minecraft:Dinnerbone was asked about veteran capes:<ref>Template:Reddit</ref><ref>Template:Tweet</ref>

On February 25, 2022, Ined, a Mojang employee working on Mojang accounts and their migration, acknowledged the discovery while stating that veteran capes were "a lie":<ref>Template:Tweet</ref>

On May 18, 2025, Minecraft:Marc Watson explained that veteran capes were scrapped due to Mojang being unable to make it "fair and accurate for every player across platforms".<ref>Template:Bluesky</ref>

Official page revisions

These tables show the different revisions of the official migration pages. Some revisions may be missing from these tables if they were not archived on the Template:W.

Minecraft Help Center

Minecraft: Java Edition Account Migration FAQ

Archive date	Update date	Link	Difference with previous revision
2020-10-21	2020-10-21 20:07:44 UTC	Link	-
2020-10-23	2020-10-23 06:37:22 UTC	Link	Various rewordings
2020-10-31	2020-10-31 04:15:24 UTC	Link	Various rewordings Added a line about picking an Xbox gamertag Added a line about third party launchers
2020-11-06	2020-11-06 18:06:37 UTC	Link	Various rewordings Added a warning stating migration had not begun Added a line about the migration being mandatory Added a line about Template:JE not being discontinued Added a line about migration not allowing Java and Bedrock players playing together Added a line about username, worlds, content, and capes being transferred Added a line about reports being "carefully reviewed and considered appropriately" by Mojang's team Added a line about players only playing single player or on a local network Added a line about data collected by Microsoft Added a line about transferring an account's ownership being prohibited by Mojang's Terms of Service
2020-11-08	2020-11-08 00:01:37 UTC	Link	Fixing typos
2020-11-17	2020-11-17 17:18:37 UTC	Link	Fixing typos
2020-12-02	2020-12-02 16:08:21 UTC	Link	Various rewordings Added a line about Legacy Minecraft accounts not being able to migrate yet
2021-02-28	2021-02-28 18:27:58 UTC	Link	Changed from saying "you'll need to move your account or risk having it closed" to "you'll need to move your account or risk not being able to play the game" Changed from saying Mojang is working on a solution for third-party launchers to a state that they now support MSA authentication but must be used "at your own risk"
2021-05-12	2021-05-12 12:43:40 UTC	Link	Added a line linking to the minecraft.net/mojang-account-move page for more information
2021-06-24	2021-06-24 10:06:23 UTC	Link	Added a warning stating migration had begun for some players Removed the instructions on how to migrate
2021-08-04	2021-08-04 02:22:25 UTC	Link	Various rewordings Added a line about the Minecraft:migrator cape being initially slowly rolled out starting mid-July but soon being delivered instantly after migrating
2021-12-04	2021-12-04 04:16:57 UTC	Link	Added a line about the Legacy Minecraft accounts now being able to migrate
2022-02-08	2022-02-28 19:07:57 UTC	Link	Fixing typos Removed the notice about migration being limited to a certain amount of players
2022-04-21	2022-04-21 01:39:14 UTC	Link	Added a line stating players who do not migrate won't be able to access the game until they migrate Added a line stating migration will roll out to players in waves starting on March 10, 2022Template:Note
2022-10-06	2022-10-05 18:32:34 UTC	Link	Fixing typos Added a table of contents Added a line stating that, as of June 28, 2022, Template:JE Realms subscription have been canceled for players who did not migrate
2023-05-16	N/A	Link	Removed the update date Added a notice about September 19th, 2023 being the migration deadline Added a notice about Mojang's support no longer assisting with migration-related issues beginning September 5, 2023 Added a notice stating that unmigrated accounts will be deleted at a future date Added a line about the migrator cape taking a few days to appear
2023-05-16	N/A	Link	Removed the notice about Mojang's support no longer assisting with migration-related issues beginning September 5, 2023 Renamed every instances of "username" to "Java profile name"
2023-09-18	N/A	Link	Added a line about having to create a Microsoft outside of the migration process first in case of troubles
2023-09-18	N/A	Link	Added a notice about the migration having ended and linking to the "Post-Migration Process FAQ" article. The notice also states the article would be deleted on October 19, 2023
2023-09-20	N/A	Link	Removed every mentions of capes
2023-12-12	N/A	Link	The page now redirects to an error 404 page
N/A	N/A	N/A	The page now redirects to the "Information about Mojang Accounts and Microsoft Account Migration" article.

Last Call for Mojang Account Migration

Archive date	Update date	Link	Difference with previous revision
2023-09-18	N/A	Link	-
2023-09-20	N/A	Link	Added a notice stating migration has ended. The notice also states the article would be deleted on October 19, 2023
2024-10-05	N/A	Link	The page now redirects to an error 404 page

Trivia

• Most emails sent by Mojang began with "Hello there" in reference to Template:W's first words in Template:W.<ref>Template:Tweet</ref>

Gallery

• An artwork depicting a modded player
  An artwork depicting a modded player
• An artwork of Dinnerbone's security guard wearing the Minecraft:Migrator Cape
  An artwork of Dinnerbone's security guard wearing the Minecraft:Migrator Cape
• The crowd from A Fun Announcement by Dinnerbone
  The crowd from A Fun Announcement by Dinnerbone

• A header used on Minecraft.net
  A header used on Minecraft.net
• Ditto
  Ditto