Minecraft:Version formats

Each edition and development phase of Minecraft:Minecraft uses a different versioning system.

Java Edition

Pre-Classic

During Minecraft:pre-Classic, versions were not numbered, and instead have retroactively been labeled by Mojang as rd- followed by the day of month, hour, and minute the version was built. For example, rd-160052 was built on May 16 at 00:52 (Sweden time). rd-20090515 is the only build not to follow this trend, instead being labeled by the year, month, and day it was built, in that order. rd stands for Minecraft:RubyDung, being a game Minecraft:Notch previously worked on.

Classic

Initial versions of Classic were not numbered. The Minecraft Wiki refers to them using the system Mojang retroactively used for pre-Classic, but with a mc- prefix instead of rd-.

During Minecraft:mc-161648, user fartron requested that Notch add a build count,<ref>Template:Link</ref> which was added in the next version, Minecraft:0.0.2a. This was the phase of what is now called Classic, and versions were labeled using three numbers followed by the letter "a", and bug fix patches were denoted by an underscore followed by a revision number (e.g., Minecraft:0.0.18a_02 is the second bug fix patch for Minecraft:0.0.18a). The "a" stands for "alpha", which is what this development phase was originally called.<ref>Template:Link</ref> (This "0.0.xa" versioning system was also used by Notch in a few years earlier in his game Minecraft:Wurm Online.<ref>[[Minecraft::File:Wurm Online 0.0.19a.jpg]]</ref>) Notch mused simplifying the format to remove the redundant "0.0." repetition, using the example of changing "0.0.13a_03" to "0.13.3a", but did not do so.<ref>IRC logs, #minecraft.20090527.log: "(15:21:10) <@Notch> I just realized I'm abusing the version system I have", "(15:21:48) <@Notch> 0.0.13a_03 should be 0.13.3a" (May 27, 2009)</ref> During Classic version Minecraft:0.0.23a_01, Notch announced that he was going to be changing the versioning system, removing one of the zeroes as well as the "a".<ref>Changing the version system – Minecraft:The Word of Notch, July 15, 2009</ref> This coincided with the development of Minecraft:Survival Test, so versions during this time were appended with the word "SURVIVAL TEST" (which sometimes contained underscores, such as in version Minecraft:0.24_SURVIVAL_TEST). After Minecraft:0.27 SURVIVAL TEST, the survival testing phase was complete, and the version format now only had two numbers (the first of which was a zero) followed by an optional underscored bug fix patch (e.g., Minecraft:0.28_01).

Using an underscore to separate out a revision likely originated from the versioning system Java used at this time.<ref>Template:Cite</ref>

There are several unreleased development builds of Classic versions, which were labeled the same as their public release counterparts (e.g. Minecraft:0.0.14a) in-game, despite differences in code. Classic 0.24 is the only exception to this rule, as its private development versions were labeled simply "0.24" in-game, whereas the full release was labeled "Minecraft:0.24_SURVIVAL_TEST".

Indev and Infdev

During Minecraft:Indev, the version number remained at 0.31 for many versions. Midway through the development of Indev, Notch changed the version number from "0.31" to just "Minecraft Indev" ("Indev" is a portmanteau of "in development"). When Minecraft:Infdev started, the version was just changed to "Minecraft Infdev" ("Infdev" is a portmanteau of "infinite development", as Notch added infinite world generation).

Due to not having any version number visible in-game, individual Indev and Infdev versions are numbered in the Minecraft:launcher and on this wiki based on the year, month, and day of their release. (When necessary for disambiguation, this date is then followed on this wiki by the hour for multiple releases within the same day.) For example, Infdev 20100625-0922 is the unofficial name given to the Infdev version released on June 25, 2010, at 09:22 UTC.

There are several builds of Indev 0.31 20091223-0040 which were never released to the public. Most were still labeled "0.30" in-game.

Alpha

Version numbers were re-added during Alpha, starting from version v1.0.1. The version format now was primarily a "v" followed by three numbers in the order "phase", "major", "minor". Minecraft was now in somewhat of a complete state, as it had left the "development" stages of Indev and Infdev, and as such, the "phase" counter was changed to "1". An optional underscored bug fix patch was also used in this development phase. For example, Minecraft:Alpha v1.2.3_02 is the second bug fix patch ("_02") for the third minor revision (".3") of the second major version (".2") of Alpha.

Beta

Beta reset the version number back to 1.0 after Minecraft:Alpha v1.2.6, and Beta version numbers now only had two numbers followed by an optional underscored bug fix patch (e.g., Minecraft:Beta 1.1_01 was released to fix a major bug in Minecraft:Beta 1.1). This format was used somewhat inconsistently; for example, Minecraft:Beta 1.7 was followed by Minecraft:Beta 1.7_01, which was then followed by Minecraft:Beta 1.7.2.

Beta also started releasing preview versions of major releases in the form of "pre-releases". These pre-releases took the form of the major version number followed by the word "Pre-release" and then a revision number. For example, Minecraft:Beta 1.8 Pre-release 2 was the second pre-release for Minecraft:Beta 1.8. Pre-releases for release 1.0.0, which was then called Beta 1.9, omitted the hyphen from the word "Pre-release".

When it was decided that Beta 1.9 would be instead released as full version 1.0, future development versions were classified as release candidates, with RC1 and RC2 being the only two.

Release

The full release of Template:JE, then known as just Minecraft, reset the version number to 1.0.0. This version is the only release version not to omit the final ".0" for a major release (such as in version 1.1). Minecraft:Game drops, introduced in 2024, increased the minor version number like hotfixes did despite being content updates. The last version to have the "1." prefix was 1.21.11.

Starting in 2026, release versions are formatted as "YY.D.H", where "YY" is the two-digit year, "D" is the drop number within that year, and "H" is the hotfix counter for that drop. Initial drop releases do not get a hotfix number.<ref>Template:Mcnet</ref>

Snapshots

After the full release of Minecraft, public development versions called "Minecraft:snapshots" have been published most weeks showing the development of that version at the time. Prior to 2026, snapshots used a very different format to other releases, being of the form "YYwNNn", where "YY" is the two-digit year, "w" stands for "week", "NN" is the two-digit week number of that year, and "n" is a revision letter which increments each time a snapshot is released in that week. For example, Minecraft:18w10d was released as the 4th iteration (18w10-d) in the 10th week (18-w10-d) of 2018 (18-w10d).

Starting in December 2025, snapshots use the same naming scheme as pre-releases and release candidates (Version Snapshot N), with the first being Minecraft:26.1 Snapshot 1 (the first snapshot for 26.1).

Pre-releases

Minecraft:Pre-release versions between 1.2.1 and 1.7.4 took the form of full releases, which then incremented the minor version number for a new version. For example, 1.7 was a pre-release for 1.7.2.

From 1.7.6 until 1.13.2, pre-releases were named as their full release counterparts followed by "-pre" and a revision counter (Except for pre-release 1.11.1 and 1.8.8, which use the previous pre-release format). For example, Minecraft:1.12-pre7 is the seventh pre-release for 1.12.

Since 1.14, the word "pre-release" is spelt out in full. (However, the launcher nonetheless continues to use the shortened form with "-pre".) For example, 1.14 Pre-Release 3 is the third pre-release for 1.14.

Since 1.15.2 Pre-release 2, the "R" after the prefix "Pre-" was changed to lowercase. This change was reverted after 1.20.2 Pre-Release 3.

Release candidates

Minecraft:Release candidates were reintroduced during 1.16 with Minecraft:1.16 Release Candidate 1. The phrase "Release Candidate" is always spelt out in full in title case in the version string, though the launcher uses a shortened format similar to pre-releases (for example, 1.18-rc4 is used in the launcher for Minecraft:1.18 Release Candidate 4). These usually come after pre-releases; however, 1.19.1 notably reverted back into its pre-release stage after the release of Minecraft:1.19.1 Release Candidate 1.

Experimental snapshots

1.18 introduced the idea of Minecraft:experimental snapshots with Minecraft:1.18 Experimental Snapshot 1. Subsequent experimental snapshots for 1.18 had the name in lowercase. 1.19 also had an experimental snapshot, but it did not use this naming format, being instead called Minecraft:Deep Dark Experimental Snapshot 1. Experimental snapshots have not been used since Mojang started using Minecraft:Experiments to test 1.20 features in the 22w42a snapshot for 1.19.3.

Combat Tests

Combat Tests are, apart from Minecraft:1.14.3 - Combat Test, named with the words "Combat Test" followed by an incrementing digit, and sometimes then followed by an incrementing letter for patches to specific major combat test versions. For instance, Combat Test 4 is the next major iteration of the combat tests after Combat Test 3. After Minecraft:Combat Test 6, versions named with the words "Combat Test" followed by an incrementing digit are development versions of the full release, which is named after those development versions followed by a letter. For instance, Minecraft:Combat Test 7 and Minecraft:Combat Test 7b are development versions of Minecraft:Combat Test 7c and Minecraft:Combat Test 8 is a development version of Minecraft:Combat Test 8b.

Pocket Edition

Alpha

Minecraft:Pocket Edition versions in this development phase took the form of a "v" followed by three numbers: phase, major, and minor, followed by the word "alpha". The phase number during Alpha was 0, and the major and minor numbers incremented each release (when the major version number was incremented, the minor version was reset to 0). Development builds in this phase were labeled as their parent version followed by "build" and the build counter. For example, v0.14.0 alpha build 1 was the first build for Alpha version 0.14.0.

Release

Release versions kept the same format as in Alpha, but incremented the phase number to 1 and removed the word "alpha" after the three numbers. Development versions in this time were known as "alpha" versions (not to be confused with the development phase called "alpha") and took the form of the word "alpha" followed by a four-digit version number (major.minor.patch.revision<ref>As stated in Minecraft:options.txt.</ref>). The first three digits are the parent version (alpha 1.0.0.1 was a development build for 1.0.0) and the fourth number is the build revision, which is not necessarily incremented by 1 each release.

Bedrock Edition

Releases

In 1.2.0, the "Pocket EditionTemplate:Hairsp" subtitle was dropped, and development versions were renamed from "alpha" to "beta"; the version number format did not change (e.g., beta 1.8.0.8 was a development build for 1.8.0).

From Template:Vl, Bedrock Edition minor version numbers started having 2 or more digits, with the last digit set aside for hotfixes or platform-specific bug fixes. The exception for this is if the previous substantial version released was the first release in a major update cycle, in which case it would be 1 digit as the first version of the minor version would otherwise be 0. Previously, platform-specific bug fix updates were named through either including simply increasing the minor version number, like in Template:Vl, or adding a revision number at the end of the version, e.g. Template:Vl.

Starting from Template:Vl, Bedrock Edition major version numbers have matched Java Edition.<ref name="Skipping">Template:Tweet</ref><ref>Replying to [[[:Template:Tweet]] "are version numbers finally going to be the same across both bedrock and java then?"]: Template:Tweet</ref> While initially returning to the old system for platform-specific updates (e.g. Template:Vl), Bedrock Edition returned to the system introduced in Template:Vl in Template:Vl.

Before this, Bedrock Edition updates changed the major version number for content updates and the minor version number for patches. However, in order to maintain major version number parity, these increase the minor version number.<ref>Template:Tweet</ref> In the minor versions for 1.16, the minor version segment used up to three digits to denote the content of that version. Incrementing the third-to-last digit if present (e.g., 1.16.200) represented a major supplementary content update, incrementing the second-to-last digit (e.g., 1.16.210) represented a minor supplementary update, while incrementing the last digit (e.g., 1.16.201) represented a bug-fix supplementary update.

Since Template:Vl, the third-to-last digit has only been used as an extension of the second-to-last digit (see Template:Vl, which followed Template:Vl), and updates to the stable channel have not used the revision number. The first digit(s) of the minor version represents the minor update cycle of the major update (if not present, the minor update cycle is 0), while the last digit is used to represent the hotfix within the minor update cycle. For the first release within a minor update cycle, the last digit is zero. These first releases are more substantiative than hotfix updates, and can include Minecraft:game drops, parity changes, substantial amounts of bug fixes, and technical changes, among other things. For example, Template:Vl is the third hotfix of the seventh minor update cycle for Bedrock Edition in 1.19. Platform-specific bug fix updates also count as hotfixes. The first(A) digit indicated a version above alpha, the second was for major(M) updates, and the third was for minor(m) and hotfix(H) updates.(A.MM.mH)

However, some minor update cycles have been merged with the minor update cycle following them, like Template:Vl being merged into Template:Vl.<ref>Template:Cite</ref> In addition, in some occasions the first release of a minor update cycle has released with a separate version number for a different platform, for example Template:Vl releasing as Template:Vl on the Nintendo Switch, hence leaving the first hotfix released under the update as Template:Vl.

Template:Vl was the first version under the current version formatting scheme in which the first release of a minor update cycle had a minor version number ending with a digit other than 0 on all platforms. This is because Mojang needed to fix an additional bug at the last minute.<ref>Template:Tweet</ref>

After the Template:Vl update cycle, a new numbering system was introduced, where the phase number was dropped (outside of some internal version numbers), and the major version number was replaced by a two-digit year number. For example, Minecraft:26.0. The minor version segment increments the same way as before, though it resets to 0 when the year number increases.

Betas/Previews

Betas/Previews take the form of their parent version with a last digit incremented to denote the revision number, i.e. phase.major.minor.revision (before 2026) or year.minor.revision (from 2026). This version number is prefixed with either the word "Preview" or "beta", depending on device. The revision number is not necessarily incremented by 1 each release, and where the revision number starts at the beginning of a beta/Preview cycle has changed over time. Initially they started at a low number, usually between 0 and 3, then starting with the Minecraft:1.14.30 update cycle they usually started at 50 or 51, and since the Minecraft:1.17.10 update cycle they have usually started at 20 or 21.

Internal version formatting

On Android, the version number is internally stored as a fixed-width number — the Android version code. For instance, 982101020 is the version code for Minecraft:Preview 1.21.10.20; this number can be split as "98-21-010-20", with the first group representing the distribution (x86_64) and the remaining three being the major, minor, and build number.<ref group="note">The numbers used in the first group to represent the distribution are as follows:

• 95 for armeabi-v7a
• 96 for x86
• 97 for arm64-v8a
• 98 for x86_64</ref>

On Android, the version number is also stored as a version name, which is usually shown in the device's settings app. Before the 2026 version update, the Android version name matched the version number. After the update, the version name is the version number with 1. at the start. For instance, the version name for Beta 26.0.25 is 1.26.0.25.

Within Mojang is a private naming convention for minor releases of Bedrock Edition. This naming scheme is of the form "RnUm", where n is the major version part and m is the major segment of the minor version part. For instance, "R20U7" (release 20 update 7) refers to the first released Bedrock Edition 1.20.7x version.<ref>Template:Tweet</ref>

Legacy Console Edition

The many different console versions use entirely different versioning formats. Minecraft:Xbox 360 Edition versions used "title updates": the letters "TU" followed by a number. Minecraft:Xbox One Edition updates were called "content updates" and use the same format as Xbox 360 but with the letters "CU" instead of "TU". As mandated by PlayStation software, PlayStation Editions used a decimal three-digit version number (an integer followed by a two-digit number from 00–99, starting from 1.00; version 1.99 must be followed by 2.00), which may sometimes skip numbers. Minecraft:Wii U Edition versions are known as "Patches", and used the word "Patch" followed by a number. Minecraft:Nintendo Switch Edition versions used both patches and a three-part version number starting from 1.0.1, but only incremented the minor version each release.