How To: Download and Install Minecraft 1.9 Version 3 Pre-Release

UPDATE: Minecraft 1.9.5 Has Been Leaked! Get it Here.

You heard right. This one is hot off the presses! Last night, Notch promised a 1.9 Version 3 Update and here it is!

Jens confirmed that this update would include: "simplified potion system, added some new items and enchantment table (wip) + babies" and probably much more! Players are quickly making discoveries, though.

The list of discoveries includes:

Enchanting Table
Eye of Ender
Brewing Stand
Cauldron Icon
Crystal Block (will investigate)
Golden Apples' tool-tip appears pink - the apple itself has a shine effect
Baby animals
Mysterious Black Goop

How to Download and Install the Update

Download the update by clicking here. Save the file in a folder somewhere with easy access, like your desktop.
The quickest way to open your .minecraft folder is to open your start menu and in the search bar type, "run". Your computer's Run program should appear. When it does, open it and type %appdata% in the "Open Tab" and click "OK". Your appdata/roaming file should be open before you.
Open the .minecraft folder, and then open your bin folder.
Inside your bin folder you will see a "minecraft" file. Right-click on the file and hit "Rename". Now this is your old minecraft.jar file, so be sure to name it something you'll remember like "minecraftold".jar or "minecraft1.8".jar.
Finally, drag and drop the 1.9 Version 3 file you downloaded into your bin folder. Be sure that it is named "minecraft" exactly.

You're done! Now you can open Minecraft and play 1.9.3. If and when you decide to play your old version of Minecraft, which you will need for any servers that are not currently 1.9 Version 3, just rename your current minecraft.jar something like, "minecraft1.9.3". Rename your old jar file "minecraft".jar, and you will be able to play the old version again.

Updates Pro-Tip

If you plan on accessing your .minecraft file on a regular basis for things like new updates, follow these steps:

Open your start menu and select "Control Panel".
There should be a search feature in the upper right hand corner. In it type, "Hidden files" and press enter. A file named "Folder Options: Show Hidden Files and Folders" should appear.
Click on "Show Hidden Files and Folders" and a menu will appear. In the menu there will be a prompt that says, "Hidden Files: Don't Show / Show". Select the "Show" button and click "Apply". I've included a picture of the selection below.

How to Download and Install Minecraft 1.9 Version 3 Pre-Release

Now you can access your .minecraft folder anytime. Simply go to Start/User (your computer username)/appdata/roaming/.minecraft. This file also holds your texture packs and mods!

Stay tuned for more update discoveries and let us know what you find!

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59 Comments

sweet

Already 1.9 there was 1.8 a few weeks ago
GOOD WORKING MINECRAFT TEAM

i cant find my minecraft.jar file... HELP ME PLEASE!!!

First, run %appdata% then choose .minecraft then bin.
there is a file called minecraft.jar
Overwrite it. then you're done!!

Trust me I go int bin and I don't see any files named "minecraft.jar".

You should see one name "Minecraft". It's there, you couldn't play the game without it.

whenever i try to download this it freezes on someting that says "updating minecraft"

Me to plz help!

If you're getting this error the best thing to do is to delete your mincraft folder (backup your saves and texturepacks). Then run the game again and let it download all it's files. Now place minecraft 1.9.3 in your minecraft folder. Be sure to it is minecraft.jar exactly.

save it as Minecraft not Minecraft.jar, it will fix it. The same thing happened to me and it fixed it. It is already a jar file.

ya same here

me too Kurtis :'(

It wont let me download it

If that doesn't work try this: http://bit.ly/qWJs7L
The link should work and so its probably something with your browser. Try removing your pop-up blockers if you have those on your browser. The link should open a menu asking you to save the minecraft.jar but the tab itself should close.

when i go into the brewing stand it will exit it instantly PLEASE HELP ME!!!!!

hmm, I haven't got this bug. What exactly does it look like when it auto exits? Try reinstalling as well.

i have download it :) with i cant make a new world so crack my minecraft help me pls

What do you mean by make a new world?

there isw no mincraft.jar folder in mine folder plz help and dont say it again look again because i keep on doing that

Your minecraft.jar file is in your the "bin" folder. It may appear to just be called minecraft. We only say ".jar" because it is a Java file.

ok i need a video plz

whenever i start it it says done loading and is frozen

Try deleting your minecraft folder, running the game, and then following the steps again.

did not work just like all other mods i try to install anyone want to help me

What problems are you having exactly?

mine wont work

help me plz?

Did you follow the steps? Anything in particular that seems wrong?

i did what it says and it didn't work, it just gets stuck on the loading screen saying "done loading"

it would seem i have done everything right so i'm not sure why it doesn't work

oh wait i realised a few things, i can't change it from a zip to a jar, the "minecraft.jar" file on .minecraft doesn't exist, the clostest thing to it is an executable jar file called minecraft, i tried what was said above regardless but it didn't work. could someone help me?

The "minecraft" file is "minecraft.jar" just as if you have a text file called "Untitled" it is also "Untitled.txt". Replace the "minecraft" file all the same.

when i open minecraft it just says done loading

so do i have to delete the ".minecraft" folder or just the "bin" folder and let it redownload?

yes but i want to play minecraft without paying tho the game:((((((

never mind i have sorted it now

What did you do?

none of the things said have helped me..i still have done loading

Try deleting your minecraft folder and then running the game. Close the game and try this process again. All you are doing is moving a file into a folder and renaming it, if anything goes wrong it has something to do with overwriting or changing files. Reinstalling usually fixes this.

I've done as the instructions outline, i get a message that says" Failed to load main-class manifest attribute. I have also deleted the old version and reinstalled. Any ideas?

Melanie are you trying to open the "minecraft".jar file? All you need to do is rename the minecraft 1.9.3 file to "minecraft" and rename the old one something else. You can do this by clicking once or right clicking and selecting "rename".
If you want to access the file for some reason, right click it and select "open with", now select winrar or whatever file condenser you use.

Jon, the download isnt a single file, its a huge folder. Are we to rename this folder to minecraft.jar?

Yes rename the folder. It's still a file, it just contains editable material when opened with winzip or winrar.

The link given downloads a zipped file called minecraft. When unzipped it has over 1800 files, non of which are named minecraft.jar. What file are we supposed to replace mincraft.jar with? I just dont understand.

Also, when unzipping, i get a "Cant copy sr.class" error. Anyone else get this?

FOUND THE ANSWER!!!! Click the link to download, SAVE AS: minecraft.jar
The problem was I was letting it download as a .zip file. Force it to save as a .jar file then follow steps above.

i did all i renamed minecraft(old) to minecraft1.8 and put 1.9.3 name was minecraft but it says its 1.8.1

Right click on the new one (named 1.8.1) "minecraft".

you know it would a lot easier if it was a jar file instead of a zipped file...I tried it five times and still can't get it to work

it sais i have to open it with somthing what the problem

What if i did everything and it says updating and under its say done loading but its only about 85% done and its frozen like that ( PLEASE HELP!!!!)

The full version of Minecraft is out now, which includes this...So if you want to play the full version all you need to do is select "yes" to update when you load the game. If that's not working then delete all the files in your .minecraft folder besides your saves and texture packs and then open and run Minecraft again. That should work just fine, let me know if not! Cheers