The choice of languages is a feature that allows changing languages for people who are not familiar with English. The language menu is accessible via a button in the main menu to the left of the options button, and from the options menu.
Previously, language packs were needed in order to change the in game language. Language packs are obsolete, due to the official implementation of other languages.
Each language also has a font, although most languages share the same font.[1]
Available languages
There are 91 languages, which are, in the order they appear in the menu:
| # | Name | Language | Locale Code | Official language in | Added in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Afrikaans | Afrikaans | af_ZA | South Africa | 12w01a (1.1) |
| 2 | اللغة العربية | Arabic | ar_SA | North Africa + Middle East | 12w01a (1.1) |
| 3 | Asturianu | Asturian | ast_ES | Spain | 1.7.4 |
| 4 | Azərbaycanca | Azerbaijani | az_AZ | Azerbaijan, Dagestan | 1.7.10 |
| 5 | Беларуская | Belarusian | be_BY | Belarus | 1.9 |
| 6 | Български | Bulgarian | bg_BG | Bulgaria | 11w49a (1.1) |
| 7 | Brezhoneg | Breton | br_FR | France | 1.9 |
| 8 | Català | Catalan | ca_ES | Spain (Catalonia) & Andorra | 12w01a (1.1) |
| 9 | Čeština | Czech | cs_CZ | Czech Republic | 11w49a (1.1) |
| 10 | Cymraeg | Welsh | cy_GB | Wales | 11w49a (1.1) |
| 11 | Dansk | Danish | da_DK | Denmark, Faroe Islands | 11w49a (1.1) |
| 12 | Deutsch | German | de_DE | Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Belgium | 11w49a (1.1) |
| 13 | Ελληνικά | Greek | el_GR | Greece, Cyprus. | 12w01a (1.1) |
| 14 | English (Australia) | Australian English | en_AU | Australia | 12w21b (1.3.1) |
| 15 | Canadian English | Canadian English | en_CA | Canada | 11w49a (1.1) |
| 16 | English (UK) | British English | en_GB | Great Britain, India, Singapore, Ireland... | 11w49a (1.1) |
| 17 | New Zealand English | New Zealand English | en_NZ | New Zealand | 1.9 |
| 18 | ɥsᴉlƃuƎ (ʞ∩) | British English (upside down) | en_UD | Britain | 1.9.2 |
| 19 | Pirate Speak | Pirate English | en_PT | None (Web language) | 12w01a (1.1) |
| 20 | English (US) | American English | en_US | USA | Pre 0.0.0 |
| 21 | Esperanto | Esperanto | eo_UY | Constructed language (International) | 12w05a (1.2) |
| 22 | Español (Argentina) | Argentinian Spanish | es_AR | Argentina | 11w49a (1.1) |
| 23 | Español (España) | Spanish | es_ES | Spain | 11w49a (1.1) |
| 24 | Español (México) | Mexican Spanish | es_MX | Mexico | 1.1 |
| 25 | Español (Uruguay) | Uruguayan Spanish | es_UY | Uruguay | 1.1 |
| 26 | Español (Venezuela) | Venezuelan Spanish | es_VE | Venezuela | 12w01a (1.1) |
| 27 | Eesti | Estonian | et_EE | Estonia | 11w49a (1.1) |
| 28 | Euskara | Basque | eu_ES | Spain (Basque Country) & France | 12w01a (1.1) |
| 29 | فارسی | Persian | fa_IR | Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan | 1.7.2 |
| 30 | Suomi | Finnish | fi_FI | Finland | 11w49a (1.1) |
| 31 | Filipino | Filipino | fil_PH | Philippines | 1.7.2 |
| 32 | Føroyskt | Faroese | fo_FO | Faroe Islands | 1.9 |
| 33 | Français | French | fr_FR | France, Belgium, Monaco, Switzerland, .... | 11w49a (1.1) |
| 34 | Français québécois | Canadian French | fr_CA | Canada | 11w49a (1.1) |
| 35 | Frysk | Frisian | fy_NL | The Nederlands | 1.9 |
| 36 | Gaeilge | Irish | ga_IE | Ireland | 12w21b (1.3.1) |
| 37 | Gàidhlig | Scottish Gaelic | gd_GB | Scotland | 1.9.2 |
| 38 | Galego | Galician | gl_ES | Galicia (Spain) | 1.1 |
| 39 | Gaelg | Manx | gv_IM | Isle of Man | 1.7.4 |
| 40 | עברית | Hebrew | he_IL | Israel | 11w49a (1.1) |
| 41 | हिन्दी | Hindi | hi_IN | India | 1.1 |
| 42 | Hrvatski | Croatian | hr_HR | Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina | 11w49a (1.1) |
| 43 | Magyar | Hungarian | hu_HU | Hungary | 11w49a (1.1) |
| 44 | Հայերեն | Armenian | hy_AM | Armenia | 13w38c (1.7) |
| 45 | Bahasa Indonesia | Indonesian | id_ID | Indonesia | 12w21b (1.3.1) |
| 46 | Íslenska | Icelandic | is_IS | Iceland | 11w49a (1.1) |
| 47 | Italiano | Italian | it_IT | Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City State. | 11w49a (1.1) |
| 48 | 日本語 | Japanese | ja_JP | Japan | 11w49a (1.1) |
| 49 | la .lojban. | Lojban | jbo_EN | Constructed language | 1.9 |
| 50 | ქართული | Georgian | ka_GE | Georgia | 12w01a (1.1) |
| 51 | 한국어 | Korean | ko_KR | South Korea and North Korea | 11w49a (1.1) |
| 52 | Kölsch/Ripoarisch | Kölsch/Ripuarian | ksh_DE | Germany (Rhineland), Belgium, Netherlands | 1.9 |
| 53 | Kernewek | Cornish | kw_GB | Cornwall | 13w02a (1.5) |
| 54 | Latina | Latin | la_VA | Vatican (no native speakers, was the language of Roman Empire during Antiquity) | 13w38c (1.7) |
| 55 | Lëtzebuergesch | Luxembourgish | lb_LU | Luxembourg, Germany, France, Belgium | 13w38c (1.7) |
| 56 | Limburgs | Limburgish | li_LI | The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany | 1.9 |
| 57 | LOLCAT | LOLCAT | lol_US | None (Web language) | 1.9 |
| 58 | Lietuvių | Lithuanian | lt_LT | Lithuania | 11w49a (1.1) |
| 59 | Latviešu | Latvian | lv_LV | Latvia | 12w01a (1.1) |
| 60 | Te Reo Māori | Māori | mi_NZ | New Zealand | 1.7.10 |
| 61 | Македонски | Macedonian | mk_MK | Macedonia | 1.9 |
| 62 | Bahasa Melayu | Malay | ms_MY | Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei | 12w01a (1.1) |
| 63 | Malti | Maltese | mt_MT | Malta | 12w07a (1.2)[2] |
| 64 | Platdüütsk | Low German | nds_DE | Germany, The Netherlands | 1.7.4 |
| 65 | Nederlands | Dutch | nl_NL | The Netherlands, Belgium, Aruba, Curaçao, Sint Maarten, Suriname. | 11w49a (1.1) |
| 66 | Norsk Nynorsk | Norwegian Nynorsk | nn_NO | Norway | 11w49a (1.1) |
| 67 | Norsk | Norwegian | no_NO | Norway | 11w49a (1.1)[3] |
| 68 | Occitan | Occitan | oc_FR | Occitania (Val d'Aran in Spain, southern tier of France, several alpine valleys of Piedmont) | 13w38c (1.7) |
| 69 | Polski | Polish | pl_PL | Poland | 11w49a (1.1) |
| 70 | Português (Brasil) | Brazilian Portuguese | pt_BR | Brazil | 11w49a (1.1) |
| 71 | Português (Portugal) | Portuguese | pt_PT | Portugal, Angola, Mozambique, ... | 11w49a (1.1) |
| 72 | Quenya | Quenya (Form of Elvish from LOTR) | qya_AA | Constructed language (Lord of the Rings: Aman) | 1.1 |
| 73 | Română | Romanian | ro_RO | Romania, Moldova, Transnistria | 12w01a (1.1) |
| 74 | Русский | Russian | ru_RU | Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, .... | 11w49a (1.1) |
| 75 | Davvisámegiella | Northern Sami | sme | Norway, Sweden, Finland | 1.8 |
| 76 | Slovenčina | Slovak | sk_SK | Slovakia | 12w01a (1.1) |
| 77 | Slovenščina | Slovenian | sl_SI | Slovenia | 11w49a (1.1) |
| 78 | Af-Soomaali | Somali | so_SO | Somalia | 1.9 |
| 79 | Shqip | Albanian | sq_AL | Albania | 1.9 |
| 80 | Српски | Serbian | sr_SP | Serbia (Kosovo), Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro | 12w01a (1.1) |
| 81 | Svenska | Swedish | sv_SE | Sweden, Finland | 11w49a (1.1) |
| 82 | ภาษาไทย | Thai | th_TH | Thailand | 12w01a (1.1) |
| 83 | Filipino | Filipino | tl_PH | The Philippines | 1.7.2 |
| 84 | tlhIngan Hol | Klingon | tlh_AA | Constructed language (Star Trek: the Klingon Empire) | 12w01a (1.1) |
| 85 | Türkçe | Turkish | tr_TR | Turkey | 11w49a (1.1) |
| 86 | Talossan | Talossan | tzl_TZL | Constructed Language | 1.9 |
| 87 | Українська | Ukrainian | uk_UA | Ukraine, Transnistria. | 12w01a (1.1) |
| 88 | Valencià | Valencian | ca-val_ES | Spain | 1.7.4 |
| 89 | Tiếng Việt | Vietnamese | vi_VN | Vietnam | 1.1 |
| 90 | 简体中文 | Chinese (Simplified) | zh_CN | China, Singapore | 11w49a (1.1) |
| 91 | 繁體中文 | Chinese (Traditional) | zh_TW | Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau. | 12w01a (1.1) |
Font
aA bB cC dD eE fF gG hH iI jJ kK lL mM nN oO pP qQ rR sS tT uU vV wW xX yY zZ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
! @ # $ % ^ & * ( ) _ - + = ~ [ ] { } | \ : ; " ' , < > . ? /
! @ # $ % ^ & * ( ) _ - + = ~ [ ] { } | \ : ; " ' , < > . ? /
Minecraft's font is made up of a grid of dots (based on a Northern European code page from MS-DOS[citation needed]). Each character supported by the font is between 1 and 6 dots wide, although most are 5. Characters not supported by this font have thinner lines and instead use computer pixels instead of bigger dots. This will also happen when using certain languages, like French. Text is normally white in chat and black on signs, but it can be changed with formatting codes.
History
Here is a table that summarizes the modifications of languages through the updates:
| Version | Added | Removed | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Release | Snapshot | |||
| 1.1 | 11w49a | 35 | – | 36 |
| 12w01a | 17 | 3 | 50 | |
| (1.1 release) | 6 | – | 56 | |
| 1.2.1 | 12w05a | 1 | – | 57 |
| 12w07a | 1 | – | 58 | |
| 1.3.1 | 12w21b | 3 | – | 61 |
| 1.5 | 13w02a | 2 | 1 | 62 |
| 1.7.2 | 13w38c | 4 | ? | 66 |
| 1.7.4 | – | 3 | ? | 69 |
| 1.7.10 | – | 1 | ? | 70 |
| 1.8 | – | 1 | ? | 71 |
| 1.9 | – | 13 | ? | 89 |
| 1.9.2 | 25 April 2016 | 2 | – | 91 |
Upcoming languages
| Name | Language | Locale Code | Official language in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Монгол | Mongolian | mn_MN | Mongolia |
| Ido | Ido | io | Constructed language |
Upcoming and still-in-progress translations are listed on the official Minecraft translation project page
Removed languages
| Name | Language | Official language in | Added in | Removed in | Reason |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Deutsch (Ös) | Austrian German | Austria | 11w49a (1.1) | 12w01a (1.1) | Unknown (probably because Austrian German mostly equals standard German) |
| Español (La) | Latino-American Spanish | South America | 11w49a (1.1) | 12w01a (1.1) | Replaced by Argentinian, Mexican, Venezuelan, and Uruguayan Spanish translations. |
| Norsk Bokmål | Norwegian | Norway | 11w49a (1.1) | 13w02a (1.5) | Added 'Norsk' (no_NO) instead. |
Issues
- Some languages use Unicode fonts when they should not (example: Spanish doesn't, but French does, even though the standard font contains all French characters).
- In some languages, the text is too long and overflows the button it is written on.
- Splash texts are not translated and therefore always show up in English regardless of language setting.
- As of 1.6.1, you can use a custom (not just translated) splash text by using a resource pack.
- Minecraft's language option is only for text display. In some languages (such as Chinese, Japanese and so on) players cannot input text in their languages. This is because Minecraft doesn't support the Input method of the language. Some users can still use Mods which support it.
- Alternative language input was partially resolved in 15w34c when 2781 was fixed, but still is not functional for all systems.
- Many in-game messages are not translated to any languages other than English.[4]
Trivia
- Minecraft is available in four constructed languages: Esperanto (devised as an international language now estimated to be spoken by between 100,000 and 2,000,000 people worldwide), Klingon (an alien language from Star Trek devised by linguist Marc Okrand), Quenya (one of the Elvish languages devised by J.R.R. Tolkien) and Lojban (a language created by the Logical Language Group). It is also available in the joke "languages" of Pirate Speak (English written in the way a stereotypical pirate talks), LOLCAT (English written in the way a stereotypical Lolcat talks), and upside down English. Latin, while not considered a constructed language, is not commonly spoken even in the Vatican.
- It is possible to add a custom language pack by modifying the minecraft.jar file, or, as of 13w16a, copying it to the assets/lang folder. In 1.6.1 (13w24a), this functionality was added to resource packs.
- Random text will only choose random characters with the same width as the original, and when in a language like French or Pirate, you can see the original text without it being random.
- Certain letters with certain accents are supported by the font, but not all of them. GNU Unifont is used for many languages like French or Pirate.
- The only 6-dot-wide characters are ®, ~, and @.
References
- ↑ Chinese, Japanese, and Korean shares the use of Han characters. See wikipedia:CJK Unified Ideographs.
- ↑ Maltese added in 11w49a but removed in 12w01a. It's re-added in 12w07a.
- ↑ File 'no_NO.lang' is found in 11w49a, but it's not selectable from language menu. no_NO is added to language menu in 13w02a.
- ↑ 5002 - Some texts can't be translated in a language file