Building from Source - Minecraft Community Edition

This guide covers building Minecraft Community Edition from source for all supported platforms.

Overview

Minecraft Community Edition uses a Visual Studio-based build system with platform-specific configurations.

Project Structure

source/
├── MinecraftConsoles.sln          # Main solution file
├── Minecraft.World/                # Core game engine
│   └── Minecraft.World.vcxproj
├── Minecraft.Client/               # Client-side code
│   ├── Minecraft.Client.vcxproj
│   ├── Windows64/                  # Windows-specific code
│   ├── Xbox/                       # Xbox 360 code
│   ├── PS3/                        # PlayStation 3 code
│   ├── Durango/                    # Xbox One code
│   ├── Orbis/                      # PlayStation 4 code
│   └── Common/                     # Shared console code
└── README.md

Windows 64-bit

Windows 64-bit is the primary development platform with the most complete feature set.

Prerequisites

Visual Studio 2012 or Later

Install Visual Studio with C++ development tools:

Visual Studio Express 2012 for Windows Desktop (minimum)
Visual Studio 2012 Professional/Premium/Ultimate
Visual Studio 2013 or later (with v110 toolset)

Required components:

Platform Toolset v110
Windows SDK
C++ compiler and libraries

DirectX SDK (June 2010)

Download and install the DirectX SDK:

# After installation, verify environment variables:
echo %DXSDK_DIR%
# Should output: C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft DirectX SDK (June 2010)\

The June 2010 SDK is required. Later SDKs integrated into Windows SDK may not be compatible.

Required Libraries

The project includes several third-party libraries:

Miles Sound System - Audio engine (Windows64/Miles/)
Iggy - UI rendering library (Windows64/Iggy/)
4J Libraries - Custom framework libraries (Windows64/4JLibs/)

These are included in the repository.

Build Configuration

The solution includes multiple build configurations:

Configuration: Debug
Platform: Windows64 (x64)

Output: x64_Debug/Minecraft.Client.exe
Defines: _DEBUG, _WINDOWS64
Optimization: Disabled (/Od)
Runtime Library: Multi-threaded Debug (/MTd)
Debug Info: Full (/Zi)

Configuration: Release
Platform: Windows64 (x64)

Output: x64_Release/Minecraft.Client.exe
Defines: NDEBUG, _WINDOWS64
Optimization: Full (/Ox)
Runtime Library: Multi-threaded (/MT)
Debug Info: Program Database

Building

Via Visual Studio IDE

Open Solution

Launch Visual Studio
File → Open → Project/Solution
Navigate to source/MinecraftConsoles.sln
Click Open

Select Configuration

In the toolbar, select:

Configuration: Debug or Release
Platform: Windows64

Build Projects

Build the projects in order:

Right-click Minecraft.World → Build
Right-click Minecraft.Client → Build

Or build the entire solution:

Build → Build Solution (Ctrl+Shift+B)

Verify Output

Check the output directory:

source/x64_Debug/Minecraft.Client.exe
source/Minecraft.World/x64_Debug/Minecraft.World.lib

Via Command Line (MSBuild)

# Set up Visual Studio environment
"C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 11.0\VC\vcvarsall.bat" amd64

# Build Debug configuration
msbuild MinecraftConsoles.sln /p:Configuration=Debug /p:Platform=Windows64 /m

# Build Release configuration
msbuild MinecraftConsoles.sln /p:Configuration=Release /p:Platform=Windows64 /m

# Clean build
msbuild MinecraftConsoles.sln /t:Clean /p:Configuration=Debug /p:Platform=Windows64
msbuild MinecraftConsoles.sln /t:Rebuild /p:Configuration=Debug /p:Platform=Windows64 /m

The /m flag enables parallel builds for faster compilation.

Dependencies

The Windows64 build links against:

// Core Windows libraries
d3d11.lib          // Direct3D 11
XInput9_1_0.lib    // Controller input

// Third-party libraries
mss64.lib          // Miles Sound System (Windows64/Miles/Lib/)
iggy_w64.lib       // Iggy UI (Windows64/Iggy/lib/)

// Project libraries
Minecraft.World.lib // Core game engine
4J_Input.lib       // Input handling
4J_Profile.lib     // Profile management
4J_Render_PC.lib   // Rendering (Windows64/4JLibs/libs/)

Include Directories

$(ProjectDir)                           // Minecraft.Client/
$(ProjectDir)\..\Minecraft.World\x64headers  // Game engine headers
Windows64\Iggy\include                  // UI library
Windows64\4JLibs\inc                    // Framework headers

Xbox 360

Xbox 360 development requires the Xbox 360 SDK and a development kit. This is restricted to licensed developers.

Prerequisites

Xbox 360 SDK (XDK)
Visual Studio 2010 or 2012
Xbox 360 Development Kit

Platform-Specific Code

Xbox 360 implementation includes:

// Key files
Minecraft.Client/Xbox/
├── XboxGameMode.cpp           // Platform-specific game mode
├── Network/                   // Xbox Live networking
├── Sentient/                  // Sentient SDK integration
└── 4JLibs/                    // Xbox libraries

Build Configuration

Configuration: Debug|Release|ContentPackage
Platform: Xbox 360

Defines: _XBOX, _DEBUG_MENUS_ENABLED
Toolset: Xbox 360
Output: Xbox 360_Debug/Minecraft.Client.xex

PlayStation 3

PS3 development requires the PlayStation 3 SDK and a development kit. This is restricted to licensed developers.

Prerequisites

PlayStation 3 SDK (SCE_PS3_ROOT)
SN Systems ProDG
Visual Studio with SN Systems integration

Platform Configuration

// Key environment variables
SCE_PS3_ROOT                    // PS3 SDK root

// Include paths
$(SCE_PS3_ROOT)\target\ppu\include
$(SCE_PS3_ROOT)\target\common\include
$(SCE_PS3_ROOT)\host-win32\sn\ppu\include

// Platform code
Minecraft.Client/PS3/
├── PS3Extras/                  // Platform helpers
├── SPU_Tasks/                  // SPU offload tasks
└── Assert/                     // PS3 assertions

SPU Tasks

The PS3 build uses Cell SPU acceleration:

PS3/SPU_Tasks/
├── ChunkUpdate/                # Chunk generation on SPU
├── LevelRenderChunks/          # Chunk rendering
├── PerlinNoise/                # Noise generation
├── Texture_blit/               # Texture operations
└── CompressedTile/             # Tile compression

PlayStation Vita

Prerequisites

PlayStation Vita SDK (SCE_PSP2_SDK_DIR)
Visual Studio with Vita toolchain

Platform Configuration

// Include paths
$(SCE_PSP2_SDK_DIR)/target\src\npToolkit\include
Minecraft.Client/PSVita/PSVitaExtras

// Platform-specific code
Minecraft.Client/PSVita/
└── PSVitaExtras/              // Vita-specific helpers

Xbox One (Durango)

Xbox One development requires the Microsoft GDK and appropriate licensing.

Prerequisites

Microsoft GDK (formerly Xbox One XDK)
Visual Studio 2012 or later
Windows SDK 8.0 or later

Platform Configuration

// Include paths
$(Console_SdkIncludeRoot)
Minecraft.Client/Durango/DurangoExtras

// Platform code
Minecraft.Client/Durango/
├── DurangoExtras/              // Platform helpers
├── Leaderboards/               // Xbox Live features
└── Layout/                     // Package layout

PlayStation 4 (ORBIS)

PS4 development requires the PlayStation 4 SDK and appropriate licensing.

Prerequisites

PlayStation 4 SDK (SCE_ORBIS_SDK_DIR)
Visual Studio with Orbis toolchain

Platform Configuration

Toolset: Clang

// Include paths
$(SCE_ORBIS_SDK_DIR)\host_tools\lib\clang\include
$(SCE_ORBIS_SDK_DIR)\target\include
$(SCE_ORBIS_SDK_DIR)\target\include_common

// Platform code
Minecraft.Client/Orbis/
├── Orbis_App.cpp              // Application entry
├── Orbis_Minecraft.cpp        // Platform integration
└── OrbisExtras/               // Platform helpers

Common Build Issues

Missing Dependencies

Error: LINK : fatal error LNK1104: cannot open file 'Minecraft.World.lib'

Solution:
1. Build Minecraft.World project first
2. Check output directory matches:
   - Debug: Minecraft.World/x64_Debug/
   - Release: Minecraft.World/x64_Release/

Error: Cannot open include file: 'd3d11.h'

Solution:
1. Install DirectX SDK (June 2010)
2. Verify DXSDK_DIR environment variable
3. Restart Visual Studio

Error: The build tools for v110 cannot be found

Solution:
1. Install Visual Studio 2012
2. Or install v110 toolset for VS2013+
3. Or modify project to use v120/v140/v141

Linker Errors

# Unresolved externals in Minecraft.World
Solution: Ensure Minecraft.World is built before Minecraft.Client

# Missing library files
Solution: Check that third-party libraries exist:
  - Windows64/Miles/Lib/mss64.lib
  - Windows64/Iggy/lib/iggy_w64.lib
  - Windows64/4JLibs/libs/*.lib

Runtime Errors

Missing DLL: mss64.dll

Copy from source location:

copy Minecraft.Client\Windows64\Miles\mss64.dll x64_Debug\

D3D11 device creation failed

Update graphics drivers
Verify DirectX 11 support
Check Windows Update for DirectX runtime

Application failed to initialize (0xc000007b)

Mixed 32/64-bit DLLs
Install Visual C++ Redistributable (x64)
Rebuild with correct platform (x64)

Advanced Build Options

Custom Build Configurations

The project includes several specialized configurations:

Debug - Full debugging, unoptimized
Release - Optimized, with debug info
ReleaseForArt - Artist/content creator build
ContentPackage - Retail package build
ContentPackage_NO_TU - Package without title update
CONTENTPACKAGE_SYMBOLS - Package with symbols

Preprocessor Defines

// Platform detection
#ifdef _WINDOWS64
    // Windows-specific code
#endif

#ifdef _XBOX
    // Xbox 360 code
#endif

#ifdef __PS3__
    // PlayStation 3 code
#endif

#ifdef __ORBIS__
    // PlayStation 4 code
#endif

// Build configuration
#ifdef _DEBUG
    // Debug-only code
#endif

#ifdef _DEBUG_MENUS_ENABLED
    // Debug menu features
#endif

Optimization Settings

Optimization: Disabled (/Od)
Inline: Default
Intrinsics: No
Favor: Neither
Omit Frame Pointers: No
Whole Program Optimization: No
Runtime Checks: Stack frames (/RTCs)

Optimization: Full (/Ox)
Inline: Any Suitable (/Ob2)
Intrinsics: Yes (/Oi)
Favor: Speed (/Ot)
Omit Frame Pointers: Yes (/Oy)
Whole Program Optimization: Yes
Runtime Checks: None

Build Performance Tips

Speed up your builds with these optimizations:

Enable parallel compilation: /MP flag (already enabled)
Use incremental linking: Debug builds only
Precompiled headers: stdafx.h is used
Exclude unused platforms: Unload platform projects you don’t need
Use SSD: Store source on fast storage
Increase RAM: Visual Studio benefits from 16GB+

Next Steps

Quick Start

Get the game running quickly

Contributing

Submit improvements and fixes

Architecture

Understand the codebase structure

Core Systems

Explore core game systems

​Overview

​Project Structure

​Windows 64-bit

​Prerequisites

​Build Configuration

​Building

​Via Visual Studio IDE

​Via Command Line (MSBuild)

​Dependencies

​Include Directories

​Xbox 360

​Prerequisites

​Platform-Specific Code

​Build Configuration

​PlayStation 3

​Prerequisites

​Platform Configuration

​SPU Tasks

​PlayStation Vita

​Prerequisites

​Platform Configuration

​Xbox One (Durango)

​Prerequisites

​Platform Configuration

​PlayStation 4 (ORBIS)

​Prerequisites

​Platform Configuration

​Common Build Issues

​Missing Dependencies

​Linker Errors

​Runtime Errors

​Advanced Build Options

​Custom Build Configurations

​Preprocessor Defines

​Optimization Settings

​Build Performance Tips

​Next Steps

Quick Start

Contributing

Architecture

Core Systems

Overview

Project Structure

Windows 64-bit

Prerequisites

Build Configuration

Building

Via Visual Studio IDE

Via Command Line (MSBuild)

Dependencies

Include Directories

Xbox 360

Prerequisites

Platform-Specific Code

Build Configuration

PlayStation 3

Prerequisites

Platform Configuration

SPU Tasks

PlayStation Vita

Prerequisites

Platform Configuration

Xbox One (Durango)

Prerequisites

Platform Configuration

PlayStation 4 (ORBIS)

Prerequisites

Platform Configuration

Common Build Issues

Missing Dependencies

Linker Errors

Runtime Errors

Advanced Build Options

Custom Build Configurations

Preprocessor Defines

Optimization Settings

Build Performance Tips

Next Steps