Minecraft is one of my favorite games, and I love Chromebooks and instead of going to my awesome gaming computer I wondered how hard would it be to get Minecraft installed. Chrome OS has supported for Linux apps out of the box but you will want to make sure your Chromebook is using an Intel CPU the reason for this honestly comes down to support and performance. Many Chromebooks now come with an ARM processor and might not be able to run Minecraft reliably (if you like to experiment though you may continue). If you’re not sure go to chrome://system and search for Intel and see if anything comes up.
Enabling Linux Apps
Depending on your Chromebook this feature might be enabled by default or not. If it isn’t or you’re unsure you need to open up your settings panel the easiest way is to click on the notification center in the bottom right and then click the cog once it opens. You should now see a Window like the below.
Now you will need to click the little Penguin that reads Linux (Beta) and if it’s not installed it will have an install button. Please install it if it’s not installed at this time and then carry on to the next steps.
Downloading the Debian Installer
Now, for most users this next step should work but for the outliers I have a fix below. You will need to download the debian installer for Minecraft which can be downloaded off the official website: https://www.minecraft.net/en-us/download/alternative/ .
Now, make sure during the download you save it in the Linux Files section
You need to do this so it can be installed on Linux (otherwise it will not run. All you should have to do now is navigate to the Linux Files section now using the file explorer and double click it, you will be prompted if you wish to install it and click install.
Launch Minecraft
The great news is that after the installation is finished you should be able to search for Minecraft like any other app and run it. You will need to login to your Minecraft account like normal and it will begin the download process. One thing I recommend is that in the Minecraft Settings when launched is increasing the Sensitivity Speed. At least on my Chromebook (Galaxy Chromebook) the movement was a bit slow and clunky maybe using a mouse would resolve this.
Fixing Java
Sometimes particularly on lower end Chromebooks (like my old Acer Spin before it no longer would charge) JDK might be out of date. Which will prevent Minecraft from running this can be resolved by opening up terminal.
After opening up terminal we need to update JDK
- sudo apt-get update
- sudo apt-get upgrade
- sudo apt-get install default-jdk
After running each of those commands one at a time this should resolve any issues when it comes to launching Minecraft.
Unable To Open Package Error
Some users reported this error and its due the .deb file not being placed in the Linux Files section during download. You can either move the file there or download it again to this folder. It will not run in the downloads folder as this isn’t the virtualized linux container and chromeos won’t recognize it.
No Option For Linux Beta
This error simply means that your specific Chromebook doesn’t support Linux often times this is because of its CPU. Make sure if you’re considering purchasing a Chromebook grab one with an Intel CPU. You might be able to run Android Apps (unlikely though) in which case you can download the Pocket Edition of Minecraft. Which is much less satisfying user experience in my opinion.
If you have any questions please feel free to ask but keep in mind a lot of the time it can come down to hardware limitations. Overall this was such a fun experience and I am glad to have a real game to play on my Galaxy Chromebook!
