A complete guide to every known method of running Minecraft Bedrock Edition on Linux.
Important
All Android-based methods (Methods 1–5) ultimately depend on mcpelauncher-client and mcpelauncher-extract from the mcpelauncher-manifest project. If that project ever becomes unavailable, every Android-based launcher listed below will eventually stop working unless you already have the required binaries.
The original launcher and the foundation of nearly every Android-based Bedrock launcher on Linux. It requires owning Minecraft through Google Play and automatically downloads the APK using your Google account.
Warning
ChristopherHX (maintainer of mcpelauncher) stated on the official Discord on 22 February 2026:
"Yes we are sitting on top a cave full of tnt, you have no long term update warranties. Update delays / stops could happen at any point of time, since the DRM has been enabled."
- Legal; uses your own purchased copy of Minecraft.
- Downloads the APK directly from Google Play.
- Custom APKs are not officially supported.
- The first launcher ever to run Minecraft Bedrock on Linux.
Warning
The highest supported Minecraft version on x86_64 systems with this launcher is 1.26.31.
A modern launcher built on top of the standard mcpelauncher utilities. It adds version management together with integrated mod and texture pack support.
- Uses
mcpelauncher-client - Uses
mcpelauncher-extract - Supports custom APKs
- Built with C++
- Built-in version management
Developed by the Las Tortuguitas de Ezku community.
A Python launcher featuring a graphical interface built with CustomTkinter.
- Uses
mcpelauncher-client - Uses
mcpelauncher-extract - Supports custom APKs
- Built with Python
A modified AppImage fork of mcpelauncher.
It claims to remove the dependency on the Flatpak runtime and was created by a contributor associated with the Trinity project.
- Supports custom APKs
- Standalone AppImage
- No Flatpak runtime required
Instead of using a launcher, you can directly use the underlying mcpelauncher utilities from the terminal.
Every launcher above ultimately performs these same commands internally.
curl -fsSL https://minecraft-linux.github.io/pkg/deb/pubkey.gpg | gpg --dearmor | sudo tee /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/mcpelauncher.gpg > /dev/null
echo "deb [arch=amd64 signed-by=/etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/mcpelauncher.gpg] https://minecraft-linux.github.io/pkg/deb noble main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mcpelauncher.list
sudo apt update
sudo apt install mcpelauncher-manifestmcpelauncher-extract is not distributed as an independent package, so it must be compiled manually.
sudo apt install git cmake clang libzip-dev
git clone https://github.com/minecraft-linux/mcpelauncher-extract.git
cd mcpelauncher-extract
mkdir build
cd build
cmake ..
make -j$(nproc)
sudo make installDownload an x86_64 Minecraft Bedrock APK from MCPELife.
Important
Download the x86_64 APK, not the ARM version.
The APK must first be extracted before it can be launched.
mcpelauncher-extract {PATH_TO_APK} {STORE_PATH}{PATH_TO_APK}— Path to the downloaded x86_64 APK.{STORE_PATH}— Directory where the extracted version will be stored.
mcpelauncher-extract ~/Downloads/minecraft.apk ~/Downloads/mcpelauncher_versions/1.21.0Tip
You may also store extracted versions inside:
~/.local/share/mcpelauncher/versions
This directory is automatically created after installing mcpelauncher-manifest.
Example:
mcpelauncher-extract ~/Downloads/minecraft.apk ~/.local/share/mcpelauncher/versions/1.21.0mcpelauncher-client -dg {STORED_PATH}{STORED_PATH}— The directory created during extraction.
mcpelauncher-client -dg ~/Downloads/mcpelauncher_versions/1.21.0or
mcpelauncher-client -dg ~/.local/share/mcpelauncher/versions/1.21.0To add another version, simply repeat Steps 3–5 using a different APK and destination folder.
All user data managed by mcpelauncher-client is stored inside:
~/.local/share/mcpelauncher
This directory is automatically created after installing mcpelauncher-manifest.
To open it in your file manager:
cd ~/.local/share/mcpelauncher/games/com.mojang
xdg-open .Place content inside the appropriate folders.
Examples:
- Resource packs →
resource_packs - Behavior packs →
behavior_packs - Worlds →
minecraftWorlds
Note
Everything stored inside ~/.local/share/mcpelauncher/ is shared globally across every version launched through mcpelauncher-client.
mcpelauncher-client only works with x86_64 Minecraft APKs.
Cracked x86_64 APKs are available from MCPELife.
Other websites may also provide them, but this is one known source.
This method is currently untested.
It may be possible to create an x86_64 Android emulator using Android Studio and have Google Play provide the x86_64 APK.
Again, this has not been verified.
According to the creator of mcpelauncher and several members of the project's Discord server, the launcher retrieves x86_64 APKs through a Google Play API.
They also claim the approach is similar to Aurora Store.
The implementation has not been publicly documented, but it is worth mentioning.
Keeping local copies of the launcher binaries ensures they remain usable even if the repositories disappear.
mkdir ~/mcpelauncher-backup
cp /usr/bin/mcpelauncher-client ~/mcpelauncher-backup/
cp /usr/local/bin/mcpelauncher-extract ~/mcpelauncher-backup/Note
A backup of the binaries is also available in this repository for convenience.
If the repositories become unavailable, place the backed-up binaries inside:
~/mcpelauncher-backup
Then run:
cp ~/mcpelauncher-backup/mcpelauncher-extract /usr/local/bin/
cp ~/mcpelauncher-backup/mcpelauncher-client /usr/bin/
chmod +x /usr/local/bin/mcpelauncher-extract
chmod +x /usr/bin/mcpelauncher-clientAfter restoring, use them exactly as before:
mcpelauncher-extract ~/Downloads/minecraft.apk ~/.local/share/mcpelauncher/versions/{VERSION}
mcpelauncher-client -dg ~/.local/share/mcpelauncher/versions/{VERSION}Minecraft Bedrock on Windows has transitioned from UWP to GDK.
This method runs the native Windows GDK version through ProtonGDK together with proxy workarounds.
- Runs the actual Windows PC version.
- Does not rely on Android.
- Lengthy setup.
- Recommended only if Android-based methods fail.
Run Windows inside a virtual machine and play Minecraft Bedrock normally.
- Native Windows version
- Works reliably
- Higher resource usage
- Best used as a last resort
Waydroid previously ran Minecraft inside a complete Android environment.
Recent Minecraft versions become stuck at the loading screen, making this method unusable.
CCMC Launcher worked similarly to Trinity by extracting and launching custom APKs.
The repository has since been deleted or made private.
It is believed to have been discontinued when Trinity Launcher was introduced, as both projects shared a developer (JavierC).
