Running Minecraft using 64-bit Java: A tutorial for Windows 7 64-bit editionSo…one of the main problems I’ve had to date with playing Minecraft is that the client would freeze and/or crash over and over during a session playing the game. This is even with a new (less than one year) old laptop with an Intel Core i5 processor, 8 GB RAM, Windows 7 64-bit edition, and 1 GB dedicated video memory (I tell you this to let you know that my computer is not an old, clunky piece of…whatever that's on its last legs).
Despite my research and efforts to minimize this (e.g., by making sure my OS and drivers were all up to date, installing Optifine, and updating 32-bit Java to version 7), the freezing and crashing persisted with the vanilla Minecraft client. Recently, however, I made the decision to start running Minecraft in 64-bit Java, and for me, the difference has been like night and day…now, the game runs much more smoothly with NO CRASHES (even on Fancy graphics and Far render distance). I wanted, therefore, to share with you guys how I went about this, since it involves a couple of tweaks to minecraft.exe (the file that you would download if you click the Windows download on Minecraft.net).
Of note, this was all done on a 64-bit Windows operating system…this won't benefit you if you're running a 32-bit OS, as 64-bit Java cannot run on 32-bit systems. I can’t speak for how well this will work with MacOS or with Linux. Also, I’ll give the standard disclaimer that “your mileage may vary”. Please take any necessary precautions with your system and your Minecraft files before trying any of this.
First Step: Download 64-bit Java from Java’s website. An easy way to do this is to go into Internet Explorer 64 bit edition and go to
www.java.com. Now, Windows 7 64 bit comes with 2 editions of Internet Explorer…32 bit and 64 bit. The 64 bit edition of IE can be found in the Start Menu (go to “All Programs”); it is designated as “Internet Explorer (64-bit)”. Click on that to open up IE 64-bit. Then, migrate over to java.com and click “Downloads”…this should take you to the page where you can download 64-bit Java. Download that and follow the install instructions. Just so you know, you can have both 32 and 64 bit editions of Java co-existing on the same machine (in fact, since most browsers are still 32 bit, you will probably need to keep 32-bit Java on your machine).
Second Step: Now that you have 64 bit Java installed, here’s what you do to "point" your Minecraft client toward the "correct" Java install:
2A. Go to where you saved your minecraft.exe file (the executable file you downloaded from Minecraft.net when you first downloaded the game). Right click on the file so you can create a shortcut to the file on your desktop.
2B. Now, once you have the shortcut created, you need to make a couple of tweaks. Right click on the shortcut and go to “Properties”. Click the “shortcut” tab.
--In the line for “Target”, you will need to enter (or copy/paste) the following text:
"C:\Program Files\Java\jre6\bin\java.exe" -Xmx1024M -Xms512M -cp Minecraft.exe net.minecraft.LauncherFrameThis directs the client to open in 64-bit Java rather than (by default) 32-bit Java.
--In the line for “Start in”, be sure to enter the folder where you placed Minecraft.exe (for example, “C:\users\username\Saved Games”...obviously, if the file is in a different location, you will need to find that folder and place that path in the line instead.)
--Click “Apply”.
Now that all that’s done, you can now click on the shortcut to open up Minecraft using 64-bit Java. Enjoy!
