We aim to make it easier to play and enjoy old Minecraft versions, on both modern and retro hardware! Check out our stuff below.


Betacraft Launcher

The main Betacraft project is Betacraft Launcher, supporting all still existing versions of Minecraft before 1.6 and providing easy access to them. (A great portion of these versions was sourced from Omniarchive, so pay them a visit too!)

The launcher fixes various game crashes, lack of sound & player skins, and much more. A full summary of fixes is available on the GitHub page.

If you have a Minecraft server, you have to apply for verification to have your server listed in the launcher. Contact us through our social media (Discord or Bluesky) to get a private key, and follow the instructions here to make your server seen!

The server list is also available in the browser, here.

We're also developing a successor to our v1 launcher - Betacraft Launcher v2, which is more polished and intuitive, less janky, supports pretty much every Minecraft version and (almost) every platform under the sun!

Downloads are available here.

If you'd rather use another launcher, consider using LegacyFix - another project of ours that fixes old versions, or apply the Betacraft Proxy for limited fixes - like skin fix, sound fix and auth fix.


Our Minecraft server

We host a survival Minecraft server for Beta 1.7.3. There's a server trailer for you to watch at the top of the page =)

Land claims

The claim system on the server is staff-controlled, meaning you have to call a staff member to make or redefine your claim. There really isn't a limit to how many claims one might have, or what size they should be. The only rule is that we only make claims on terrain that you've built something on. If you later expand your build, just let us know and we'll expand the claim as well. All relevant claim information can be found under command /warp tutorial in-game. Available claim flags

Heaven!

Yes, we do have skylands on the server. But it's kind of different to how e.g. the Nether works. Your inventory in skylands is separate to your overworld inventory — this is meant to be a challenge to find ways to survive and thrive in that desolate, empty, yet beautiful dimension, where only chickens naturally spawn and where certain items or blocks are just impossible to get ahold of. Oh, and 1 block in the overworld is equal to 8 blocks in skylands, so everyone gets their own kind of heaven :)

Economy

From mid 2016 until early 2021 we tried various attempts at economy. It was constantly getting exploited to gain a gazillion coins, to later spend on anything one could ever want until the end of time. Eventually we came to the conclusion that currency-based economy is bad in its core, and we've removed it from the server.

Now there's only barter trade. And we also have a tradehouse at /warp Tradehouse, where you can advertise your trade offers (by requesting an admin to feature your shop there). We encourage players to use a Hermitcraft-like chest shop system, where the seller can request a certain itemstack for the itemstack they're selling. That means there isn't any standard trading item set (e.g. diamonds). Theft from such shops or mispayment is possible to be punished thanks to the LogBlock plugin that logs chest actions.

Community

The main place for our community is our Discord server. There, you can share your latest creations, funny moments, or anything really. You can also ping a server moderator to help you in-game, in case you need it.

Online server map

You can preview the server world in 3D, online. Take note that it requires a decent computer and JavaScript enabled!

Joining the server

Server address — betacraft.uk

To join the server, you should have a Minecraft Java Edition licence and some sort of auth fix installed. If you're using Betacraft Launcher or Betacraft Proxy, you should be good to go!

If you don't want to use either, you can get something like
SimpleOnlineModeFix (jarmod) or RetroAuth (Fabric mod) for your Minecraft instance.


Uberbukkit

Uberbukkit is a Minecraft server software (based on Project Poseidon) providing b1.7.3 plugin compatibility for older Beta protocols (b1.0 to b1.6.6) and exploit patches.

Simply download Uberbukkit, configure your target version and gameplay mechanics by editing uberbukkit.yml, and everything should work.