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Can I Run Minecraft?
Do you fancy a spot of Minecraft, but aren’t sure if your PC is up to the task? We’ve got you covered.
To begin, you’ll need to know what components make up your PC, specifically the CPU, GPU, and RAM as a starting point. Once you have these, you can jump to the minimum and recommended specifications below. Check that your PC matches up at the very least or ideally has better hardware than required.
If you are struggling to find your PC specifications, follow our easy guide right here. Moving forward, we are also developing a tool designed to capture PC specifications at the click of a button to make the whole process significantly more straightforward. The feature is still in development, but we will share the good news once we’ve got it up and running smoothly.
Minecraft has recently been updated (well the Bedrock/Windows 10 version at any rate), so it can now fully use raytracing if you have a compatible GPU. This steps up the minimum specs if you are after that experience, but if you aren’t bothered by that, most PCs these days should be able to handle it.
If you want to know more about Minecraft laptop compatibility, check out our guide for laptops that can run Minecraft.
Minecraft Game Details
- Release Date: 18th November 2011 (PC, macOS, Linux, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PS Vita, Wii U)
- System Requirements: Low
- Genre: Creative
- Developer: Mojang
- Publisher: Mojang, Xbox Game Studios, Sony Computer Entertainment
In simple terms, Minecraft is the ultimate sandbox game that allows the player to mine for precious ores and craft with resources from the surrounding environment to construct ever more ambitious structures, explore a world made up of uniformly sized blocks, and battle mobs of zombies and skeletons.
In reality, Minecraft is so much more. It’s an open-ended creative tool that players can use to build pretty much anything their minds can conjure up on a pixelated dynamically-generated map. Towering monoliths, grand pieces of carefully crafted artwork, you name it, Minecraft is a canvas. Additionally, there’s also a degree of story to the game where players can embark on a cross-dimensional journey to battle the colossal ender dragon. Not bad.
Minecraft is also the best-selling game of all time having shipped a staggering 176 million units as of May this year, sidelining timeless classics such as innumerable Mario games and even the cult puzzler Tetris. It’s living through a resurgence of sorts recently thanks in part to renewed interest from nostalgic players and high profile YouTubers, and finally shedding the children’s game label that has long hampered it. There’s never been a better time to jump in.
Minecraft System Requirements
Minimum Minecraft System Requirements
| CPU | Intel Core i3 3210 | AMD A8 7600 APU or equivalent |
| RAM | 4 GB RAM |
| Storage | 180 MB to 1 GB available space |
| GPU | Intel HD Graphics 4000 or AMD Radeon R5 series | NVIDIA GeForce 400 Series or AMD Radeon HD 7000 series |
| OS | 64-bit Windows 7 or later |
| Screen Resolution | 1024 x 768 or better |
| Network | Broadband Internet connection |
Recommended Minecraft System Requirements
| CPU | Intel Core i5-4690 3.5GHz / AMD A10-7800 APU 3.5 GHz or equivalent |
| RAM | 4 GB RAM |
| Storage | 180 MB to 1 GB available space |
| GPU | GeForce 700 Series or AMD Radeon Rx 200 Series with OpenGL 4.5 (excluding integrated GPUs) |
| OS | Windows 10 |
| Screen Resolution | 1024 x 768 or better |
| Network | Broadband Internet connection |
Minecraft With Ray Tracing (RTX) System Requirements
| CPU | Intel Core i5 or equivalent |
| RAM | >8 GB of RAM |
| GPU | DirectX hardware ray tracing capable GPU like NVIDIA GeForce® RTX 20 Series and higher, and AMD Radeon™ RX 6000 Series and higher |
| Storage | 180 MB to 1 GB available space |
| OS | Windows 10 64-bit You may have to update your Windows operating system and graphics drivers to experience ray tracing. You can learn more about updating Windows 10 here. |
| Minecraft Version | 1.16.200 or higher |
NB – If your hardware does not support ray tracing, you will be unable to download ray tracing content from the Minecraft Marketplace.
Minecraft Java Edition System Requirements
Minecraft Java Edition Minimum Requirements
- CPU: Intel Core i3-3210 3.2 GHz / AMD A8-7600 APU 3.1 GHz or equivalent
- RAM: 4GB
- GPU (Integrated): Intel HD Graphics 4000 (Ivy Bridge) or AMD Radeon R5 series (Kaveri line) with OpenGL 4.4*
- GPU (Discrete): Nvidia GeForce 400 Series or AMD Radeon HD 7000 series with OpenGL 4.4
- HDD: At least 1GB for game core, maps, and other files
- OS:
- Windows: Windows 7 and up
- macOS: Any 64-bit OS X using 10.9 Maverick or newer
- Linux: Any modern 64-bit distributions from 2014 onwards
Minecraft Java Edition Recommended System Requirements
- CPU: Intel Core i5-4690 3.5GHz / AMD A10-7800 APU 3.5 GHz or equivalent
- RAM: 8GB
- GPU: GeForce 700 Series or AMD Radeon Rx 200 Series (excluding integrated chipsets) with OpenGL 4.5
- HDD: 4GB (SSD is recommended)
- OS (recommended 64-bit):
- Windows: Windows 10
- macOS: macOS 10.12 Sierra
- Linux: Any modern distributions from 2014 onwards
Playing Minecraft on a Chromebook
Minecraft is only compatible with Windows, macOS, and Linux so it isn’t able to run on a Chromebook. ChromeOS uses a web browser as its OS so the only way you can play on a Chromebook is by installing Linux but then you won’t get the benefits the ChroomeOS brings. It’s possible, but whether it is actually worth it is down to you.
Minecraft macOS Minimum System Requirements
| CPU | Intel Core i3-3210 |
| GPU | Intel HD 4000 |
| RAM | 2 GB |
| File Size | 1 GB |
| OS | OS X 10.9 Mavericks |
Minecraft Linux Minimum System Requirements
| CPU | Intel Core i3-3210 |
| GPU | Intel HD 4000 |
| RAM | 2 GB |
| File Size | 1 GB |
| OS | Any modern distributions from 2014 onwards |
