How to install Minecraft on Ubuntu 20.04 Focal Fossa Linux

Although Linux isn’t always known for its stellar support of video games, Minecraft has a Linux version available and runs great on Ubuntu 20.04 Focal Fossa. In this guide, we’ll show you how to download and install Minecraft to get you up and playing in no time.

In this tutorial you will learn:

  • How to download and install Minecraft.deb
  • How to launch Minecraft

Minecraft on Ubuntu 20.04

Minecraft on Ubuntu 20.04

Software Requirements and Linux Command Line Conventions
Category Requirements, Conventions or Software Version Used
System Installed Ubuntu 20.04 or upgraded Ubuntu 20.04 Focal Fossa
Software Minecraft
Other Privileged access to your Linux system as root or via the sudo command.
Conventions # – requires given linux commands to be executed with root privileges either directly as a root user or by use of sudo command
$ – requires given linux commands to be executed as a regular non-privileged user

Download and install Minecraft

To install Minecraft, we’ll have to download and install a DEB file from Minecraft’s official website. Follow these step by step instructions to do just that:

  1. First, open a terminal and use wget to download the official Minecraft package. This command will download the package to your user’s home directory:
    $ wget -O ~/Minecraft.deb https://launcher.mojang.com/download/Minecraft.deb
    
    wget command to download Minecraft.deb

    wget command to download Minecraft.deb



  2. The DEB file is pretty small and should only take a few moments to download. Once it’s done, we need to install it. We’d recommend using gdebi, which makes installation of DEB files very easy. But first, make sure the gdebi command is available on your system:
    $ sudo apt install gdebi-core
    
  3. With gdebi installed, we are ready to install the Minecraft.deb file with this command:
    $ sudo gdebi ~/Minecraft.deb
    
  4. The nice thing about gdebi, and our reason for recommending it in the first place, is that it will automatically install all of the dependencies that Minecraft requires in order to install. If some required packages aren’t already on your system, you’ll get a list of what gdebi plans to install. Just hit y at the prompt to carry on with the installation.
    Install Minecraft with gdebi

    Install Minecraft with gdebi



  5. When the installation finishes, you’ll be able to find Minecraft in Ubuntu’s application launcher. Just type ‘Minecraft’ in the search box to find it quickly.
    Find Minecraft inside Applications menu

    Find Minecraft inside Applications menu

  6. Next, login with your Minecraft account or sign up for a new one if you need to.
    Login to Minecraft Launcher

    Login to Minecraft Launcher

  7. Now you’re ready to download the game files. If you haven’t already bought the game, you’ll have the opportunity to play the demo version to see how it runs on your system and if you enjoy it enough to purchase. After purchasing, you’ll be able to keep using the Minecraft launcher to open the game anytime you want to play.
    Download demo or purchase game

    Download demo or purchase game

  8. Click on Play Demo to start the download.
    Minecraft game files are downloading

    Minecraft game files are downloading

  9. Minecraft is ready to go! Click Play Demo World to get started playing.


How to open Minecraft launcher

For future reference, there are two methods for opening the Minecraft launcher when you want to play again in the future.

  1. The first method is to find the Minecraft launcher in Ubuntu’s application menu.
    Find Minecraft inside Applications menu

    Find Minecraft inside Applications menu

  2. Alternatively, you could open a terminal and just type minecraft-launcher to access the Minecraft launcher.
    Launch Minecraft from terminal

    Launch Minecraft from terminal

Conclusion

In this article, we learned how to download and install Minecraft on Ubuntu 20.04 Focal Fossa. Minecraft is a popular game that runs on many platforms, and Linux is no exception. Following the steps in this article allowed you to install Minecraft and its necessary dependencies. We also saw a couple methods for accessing the Minecraft launcher.