Indev version 0.31 was released to the public on /indev and available only to people who had purchased the game. Indev (short for in development) was released on December 23, 2009, after Notch received requests to let the community try out new features he was implementing in Survival Test. Today, the majority of all pre-classic versions are lost. The game was finally released for an 'early private single-player alpha' on May 16, 2009. The name was later used for Minecraft: Story Mode.

The name Minecraft: Order of the Stone was announced the next day (from a suggestion a TIGSource forums user gave in an IRC chat ), a reference to The Order of the Stick, a webcomic and 'one of the best things on the internet', and then shortly after, it was shortened to Minecraft as it was much simpler and to prevent people from confusing it with The Order of the Stick. For instance, when Notch uploaded the first YouTube video of Minecraft on May 13, 2009, he had not yet decided on a name, and simply referred to it as a 'cave game'. When he first started working on Minecraft, Notch had planned for it to just be a small project. Other influences include Dwarf Fortress, Dungeon Keeper, and Notch's own previous project, RubyDung. Notch got the idea for Minecraft after playing Infiniminer with other members of the TIGSource forums in 2009. Java Edition on PC and Bedrock Edition on Windows are now sold together as Minecraft: Java & Bedrock Edition for PC. Owners of Java Edition who bought the game before June 7, 2022, received a free copy of Bedrock Edition for Windows. Realms for Java Edition is a separate service from Realms Plus for Bedrock Edition. One example of this is the addition of the obfuscation map, which is intended to make modding easier. Java Edition's code is more easily modified than the other editions, and so it has by far the most robust scenes for mods and custom servers.

The launcher allows for separate profiles that are useful for mods, development versions, and old versions. In addition to the latest version and latest snapshot, most past versions of Java Edition are also available through the launcher. Logging in with a Microsoft account is required to play the game. Updates are managed directly by the Minecraft Launcher, so it does not have to go through platform holders' certification. Main article: Java Edition exclusive features

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