Tutorial:Menu screen (Java Edition)

This tutorial is exclusive to Java Edition.

This tutorial will help you understand and navigate the menu screens of Java Edition. Although they are mostly self-explanatory, some things may need explaining. If you need help navigating the menu, simply find the appropriate section of this tutorial.

There are two major menu groups in Minecraft: Java Edition: the main menu and the pause menu.

Main menu

The main menu is what you first see when you enter the game. It appears with a moving panorama of a world beneath the group of buttons, the version number at the bottom left, as well as shows the game's logo on the top-center with a splash to its bottom-right. This menu allows you to choose which game type to play as well as access Realms, Friends list, the game's Options, or quit the game.

Option	Description
Singleplayer	Takes you to the Singleplayer screen.
Multiplayer	Takes you to the Multiplayer screen.
Minecraft Realms	Takes you to the Minecraft Realms screen.
Player Heads Icon	Opens the Friends list.
Earth Icon	Takes you to the Languages screen.
Person Icon	Takes you to the Accessibility Settings.
Options	Takes you to the Options screen.
Quit Game	Exits the game.

Singleplayer

The Singleplayer button, located at the top of the group of buttons on the main menu, leads you to the screen as shown at the right. At the top of the screen, there is a space where you can search for any of your currently created worlds. In this menu, you can view, edit, and play all of your Singleplayer worlds. If you don't have any worlds, the game will direct you to the Create New World scene.

In the example at the right, there are two different worlds. Each world has its own section in the list, which contains the following information:

Line	Description
First line	The current world name. Can be changed in the edit world screen.
Second line	The name of the folder which the world is stored in By default, it is same as the world name unless the folder has been renamed or folder with the world name already existed when creating the world. Can only be changed by changing the actual world's folder name in the game files After the folder name, the last time and date you accessed the world is displayed
Third line	Displays the game mode of the world and which version of Minecraft: Java Edition it was last accessed in. Also displays if commands, experiments, or Hardcore mode are enabled or not

On the left of the three lines, there's the world image. When hovering the mouse over either the image or the texts, an icon is shown over the image. The different icons have the following meanings:


Icon	Description
	The world was saved with the current version and it can be played.
	The world was saved with an older version. Playing converts it to the current version.
	The world was saved either in an April Fools' Day joke version or in a too old version to convert. If the world was saved in an April Fools' day joke version, it cannot be played with other versions. If the world was saved in a too old version, it can be played by opening it first in an older version.
	The world was saved with a newer version. It can be played but it can be failed or the world can get corrupted.

A world can be played by clicking the image or it can be selected by clicking the texts next to the image.

Below the world list, there are six buttons. Create New World and Cancel buttons can be clicked at any time and the other four only when a world is selected.

Option	Description
Play Selected World	Allows you to play in the selected world.
Create New World	Takes you to another screen where you can change the settings of and create a new world.
Edit	Takes you to another screen where you can change the settings of the selected world, such as reset its icon, make a backup, optimize, and others.
Delete	Deletes the selected world.
Re-Create	Creates a copy of the selected world by creating another one with the same world options The copy will look as the original world was before the player modified the world.
Cancel	Takes you back to the main menu.

Create New World

As mentioned earlier, creating a new world will take you to another screen which allows you to change the settings of the world to be made. It consists of three tabs: Game, World and More. The following options in the bottom of the screen are always shown regardless of the current tab:


Option	Description
Create New World	Creates a new world with the settings chosen.
Cancel	Takes you back to the Singleplayer menu.

Game tab

Option	Description
World Name	Allows you to change the name of the world to be made. This is set to "New World" by default. Hovering the mouse over this shows the folder name where the world will be saved.
Game Mode	Allows you to change the default game mode of the world. Options are Survival, Hardcore, and Creative. If the world type (World tab) is set to Debug Mode, this is locked to Spectator.
Difficulty	Allows you to change the difficulty of the world (if you're on a singleplayer world, this can be changed in game).
Allow Commands	Allows you to disable or enable commands.
Experiments	Allows you to toggle experimental features. Only shows up in snapshots.

World tab

Option	Description
World Type	The type of world to generate, can be Default, Superflat, Large Biomes, AMPLIFIED, Single Biome, or Debug Mode. Debug Mode can be accessed by holding `⌥ Alt` or `⌥ Option` while scrolling through the world types. "Superflat" and "Single Biome" will bring up a "Customize" button. Debug Mode removes the "Generate Structures", "Allow Commands", and "Bonus Chest" buttons.
Seed	The seed used to generate the world.
Generate Structures	The ability for villages, strongholds, and other structures to generate throughout the world.
Bonus Chest	Whether or not a chest with basic essentials (such as a wooden pickaxe, apples, wood planks, etc.) will generate near the spawn point.

Superflat Presets

Set presets for the superflat world to generate.

Preset	Description
Classic Flat	The default superflat world
Tunnelers' Dream	A world with trees, plants, and 200+ layers of Stone
Water World	A world filled with water
Overworld	A world that mimics the Overworld
Snowy Kingdom	A world filled with Snow
Bottomless Pit	A world that lacks a Bedrock layer
Desert	A desert world
Redstone Ready	A Sandstone world that is suitable for Redstone contraptions
The Void	A world with a Stone platform and nothing other than The Void

Single Biome World Customization

Customize how the single biome world will generate. Biome the world uses in generating terrain can be selected from the scrollable list. Biome choice determines things such like terrain, vegetation, generated structures (if applicable), and to some extent, mob spawning.

More tab

Option	Description
Game Rules	Allows you to change game rules of the world.
Experiments	Allows you to toggle experimental features.
Data Packs	Allows you to load data packs into the world.

Multiplayer

The Multiplayer button, found below the Singleplayer button, takes you to the Multiplayer Menu which lets you join servers with other players, whether online or nearby. It appears with a list of known servers which you may connect to. When you first log in, the message "Scanning for games on your local network" will appear, meaning it is scanning for nearby servers which have been opened to LAN via the Pause Menu. You will also find several buttons on the bottom of the interface.

Option	Description
Join Server	Allows you to join the selected server
Direct Connect	Allows you to connect to a server by entering its address
Add Server	Allows you to add a server to your list by entering its name and address (does not create your own server)
Edit	Edits the name and address of the selected server
Delete	Removes the selected server from the list
Refresh	Reloads the screen
Back	Return to the Main Menu

Add Server

In order to add servers to your server list, you will need to use the "Add Server" button, which takes you to a new menu where you can add a server by entering its name and address.

Option	Description
Server Name	Allows you to type in a name for the server to be listed as
Server Address	Allows you to type the address for the server
Server Resource Packs	Allows you to change how server resource packs will be handled Deny: Always blocks any server resource packs from appearing without player notice Prompt: Asks the player whether or not to show the resource pack (default) Enabled: Always allows any server resource packs to appear without player notice
Done	Saves the changes and adds the server to the list
Cancel	Return to the server list without adding the server

Minecraft Realms

The third button on the main menu is labeled Minecraft Realms. This button will take you to the "Homepage" of Realms. Here you can perform all of the basic actions associated with Realms, which are as follows:

See all of the Realms you own / are invited to and information about them
Play on a Realm
Buy a new Realm
Configure your own Realm(s)
Leave a Realm
See new invitations
Find out more about Realms

The majority of these functions can be carried out by clicking on a Realm and using the button group at the bottom of the screen. Invitations can be accessed via the envelope next to the Realms logo. The What is Realms? link in the upper right hand corner takes you to the Realms website where you can learn more about the program.

There is a distinct difference between the server list in the Multiplayer screen and the Realms list. Here you can see all of the basic information about the Realm you may need. The exact layout is shown here:

Option	Description
Realm name	Can be changed by the owner Displays Green if you are the owner of that Realm Displays White if it is someone else's Realm
Realm description	Can be changed by the owner When a Minigame is active, this line is replaced with a Minigame notice.
Realm owner's name	Shows the current username of the owner
Realm owner's face	Can be changed by the owner changing the face of their skin
Realm status	Has three states: Green, Gray, and Red Green: Realm is online Gray: Realm is offline Red: Realm has expired. Ten (10) days prior to a Realm's expiration date, it will start blinking for the owner's screen. When hovered over, it will say Expires in # days, with # being the number of days until it expires. On the day of expiration, it will display Expires soon, until it actually expires and turns red.
Online player count	Updates constantly to show the number of players currently playing on the Realm

Invitations

Invitations can be accepted or declined via the envelope next to the Realms logo. If you have an invitation, you will see a little number dancing on the envelope. If the little number is instead a !!!, then it means that you have more than five invitations.

If you hover over the envelope, a tooltip will appear. It will either say No pending invitations! or Pending invitations! If you click on this when you have some invitations, it will take you to a screen where you can accept or decline various invites.

The example as shown at the right is a list of any and all Realms you have been invited to. The operations here are simple: You simply click on an item and you can either accept the invitation or decline it.

Once you have been invited to a Realm and accepted it the Realm will appear on your Realm list. At any time you can click on that Realm and click the Leave Realm button, which will uninvite you from that Realm until such time as you are invited again.

If you decline an invite your name is taken back off the invited list of that Realm, but keep in mind that the owner can re-invite you at any time. If you are getting spammed with an invite from a particular person and you don't want to see them again, email the support address and they may be able to help.

Realm Configuration

The owner of a Realm has the ability to configure their Realm from inside minecraft:java edition. To access the configuration screen, you simply click on your Realm and click the Configure button.

From this screen, you can completely manage your Realm and its players. Written below is a detailed walkthrough of everything you can do to manage your Realm.

Player Management
To invite a player to your Realm all you need to do is click the + button and type in that player's username. When you click Invite, that player will be added to the whitelist and they will receive an invitation letter (explained above.) In this list, you can see the player's name and face, and you can also promote, demote, or remove them. Promoting a player is done by clicking the crown icon next to their name. If it's lit up that player is promoted. If it is gray, that player has not been promoted. Being promoted is equivalent to becoming an operator on the Realm. Only the owner can promote or demote players. To remove a player all you need to do is click the red x button next to their name. They will be taken off the whitelist and your Realm will disappear off of their list.

World Management
The Edit World button on the Configuration screen takes you to a view similar to the one on the right. Here, you can edit your world file, which includes the following functions: reverting to a backup, downloading the latest backup, uploading a world from your current Singleplayer worlds, and resetting your world. To manage backups, look to the left section of this screen. The list you see contains different backups of your world that Realms has saved over time. In each module, you can see the date and time for each backup. To the right of each backup is an orange arrow button. Click this and Realms will prompt you to clarify that you want to revert to that backup. If you click OK, it will take a moment and replace your current world with the backup you selected. Everything will be as it was when that backup was made. When a change in world, name or description is made there will be a plus sign next to the backup, that when clicked on will tell what was changed in that backup. On the right, you have three buttons: Upload World, Download Latest, and Reset World. Upload World Realms allows you to upload a local game if it is 500MB or smaller so that you can continue playing online with friends. Once your local game has been uploaded, there are no size limitations within Realms. Note that there is a limit to the number of times you can upload or download a saved game. Currently it appears to be 3 uploads/downloads per 72-hour period, but there is no UI to indicate the number you have used, nor the amount remaining. After reaching the limit, you will be unable to further update or download your latest backup, however uploads and downloads are tracked separately. Support cannot reset this counter, and it takes 24–72 hours to reset. Minigames In the Configuration screen, there is a button at the top that says Switch to Mini Game. Switching to a mini game will not delete your realm.

Realm Management
Allows managing the realm. Realm Information Allows you to change realm information. Subscriptions Shows the start of the subscription, in how many days it will be renewed, and a link to extend it.

Expired Realms

After your subscription for a Realm expires, it is transferred to expired status. Many things in the interface change, as seen in the pictures below. Your server status indicator turns red, and when hovered over displays the message Expired Server. It will remain like this, as far as anyone knows, indefinitely. You can extend the Realm when it is in this state to keep the same server.

The main screen with an expired Realm. You cannot choose to play the Realm when it is expired.
The configuration screen for an expired Realm
The Edit World menu on an expired Realm
The Subscription screen on an expired Realm

Options

Pause Menu

Option	Description
Back to Game	Allows you to continue the game
Advancements	Brings you to a list of advancements. Each advancement you earn gives you more advancements to unlock. Hovering over an icon gives you the advancement name, requirements, and status
Statistics	Statistics are a game feature that allows players to track how many times they have completed certain tasks.
Report Bugs	Opens the Minecraft bug tracker.
Give Feedback	Opens the Minecraft Feedback site.
Friends	Opens the Friends List.
Player Reporting	Opens the social interactions screen. This button is replaced with the “Open to LAN” button in singleplayer games.
Options	Opens the options.
World Options...	Opens the World Options menu.
Save and Quit to Title	Saves your world and take you back to the main menu.