Launching Bugs
What to check first when the game crashes on start or mid-game, where the crash report is, and what to send us.
Check these first
- Your own mods. The most common crash by far is a mod made for another version or loader. Every mod in a 1.8.9 profile must be for Forge 1.8.9. On the Profiles page, switch off every mod you added yourself and try again. If it starts, turn them back on one at a time to find the one at fault.
- Run on Java 21. If you switched it on and the game closed right away, the launcher switches it back off for that profile and tells you. Launch again and it starts on Java 8. More on Java 21.
- Graphics drivers. Update them from your GPU maker (NVIDIA, AMD or Intel), not through Windows Update. Old drivers are behind a lot of crashes on start, especially with shaders.
- Memory. On the Profiles page, set memory to 4 GB. Too little crashes when the game runs out; far too much can starve Windows on an 8 GB PC.
- Damaged files. Turn on Verify files on launch and Repair corrupted files on launch in Settings, then launch again.
Finding the crash report
Each profile has its own folder inside %USERPROFILE%\SourClientData\instances, named after the profile (spaces become underscores). In it:
| File | What it is |
|---|---|
crash-reports\crash-….txt | Minecraft's crash report, written when the game itself catches the crash. |
logs\latest.log | The full log of the last run. The end of it usually says what went wrong. |
hs_err_pid….log | Only when Java itself crashed, usually a graphics driver. |
The launcher's own logs are in %USERPROFILE%\SourClientData\logs: launcher.log, and one file per launch in launches.
Turn on Show game log console in Settings to watch the log live in a window beside the game.
Sending it to us
Open a ticket on the support page with the crash report or latest.log attached, your version and profile, and what you were doing. How to write a good bug report.