[MC-123021] Crash on open if "Saves" is a link

The bug

Minecraft no longer starts if "saves" folder is a link as it tries to create it and an exception occurs, making the game crash.

Note: I use this "trick" to share games between Windows and Linux platform.

Crash report

17w48a\: [^crash-2017-12-05_10.40.04-client.txt]

Description: Initializing game

java.lang.RuntimeException: java.nio.file.FileAlreadyExistsException: /home/alain/.minecraft/saves
	at bix.<init>(SourceFile:36)
	at biu.<init>(SourceFile:38)
	at bmm.an(SourceFile:450)
	at bmm.a(SourceFile:366)
	at net.minecraft.client.main.Main.main(SourceFile:134)
Caused by: java.nio.file.FileAlreadyExistsException: /home/alain/.minecraft/saves
	at sun.nio.fs.UnixException.translateToIOException(UnixException.java:88)
	at sun.nio.fs.UnixException.rethrowAsIOException(UnixException.java:102)
	at sun.nio.fs.UnixException.rethrowAsIOException(UnixException.java:107)
	at sun.nio.fs.UnixFileSystemProvider.createDirectory(UnixFileSystemProvider.java:384)
	at java.nio.file.Files.createDirectory(Files.java:674)
	at java.nio.file.Files.createAndCheckIsDirectory(Files.java:781)
	at java.nio.file.Files.createDirectories(Files.java:727)
	at bix.<init>(SourceFile:33)
	... 4 more

Linked issues

is duplicated by 12

MC-122667 File already exists exception (saves folder) symlink issue Resolved

MC-126529 Game not Load when "Save" is a Symlink Resolved

MC-128191 Game crash when using symbolic link for "saves" directory with ownCloud Resolved

MC-129317 Game crashes on startup if the "saves" folder is a softlink Resolved

MC-129844 Snapshots for 1.13 crash if the saves directory is a symlink Resolved

7 more links

relates to 1

MC-150182 New java launcher with 1.14 cannot launch previous versions of minecraft! Resolved

Attachments

crash-2017-12-05_10.40.04-client.txt

crash-2017-12-08_11.00.19-client.txt

crash-2018-02-02_11.00.50-client.txt

crash-2018-07-18_22.44.32-client.txt

directory_listing.txt

Comments 22

bemoty 2017-12-08T12:40:50Z

We do not have enough information to find the cause of this issue.

Please attach the crash report found in [minecraft/crash-reports/crash-<DATE>-client.txt|http://hopper.minecraft.net/help/guides/finding-minecraft-data-folder] here.
If you cannot find a crash report, please attach the full launcher log found in [minecraft/launcher_log.txt|http://hopper.minecraft.net/help/guides/minecraft-logs/].

_{This issue has been temporarily closed as}_{Awaiting Response}_{. Once the requested information has been delivered, the report will be reopened automatically.}

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Alain Cabiran 2017-12-12T08:49:44Z

Files joined, sorry for being late

Regards

ELLIOTTCABLE 2018-02-22T11:02:08Z

Have the same issue — in my case, 18w08a, on macOS (High Sierra, 10.13.3), with Saves being a symlink into my Dropbox. Hasn't been a problem in previous versions, including my usual 1.12.2 installation, existing in parallel.

TxKreator 2018-03-06T18:30:33Z

Still in 18w10a

Alain Cabiran 2018-03-07T09:30:04Z

After some little tests, herre is what I have :
to reproduce the bug :
remove .minecraft directory.
launch minecraft to create fresh one. then i a shell :

cd $HOME/.minecraft # go to HOME in Minecraft dir
mv saves $HOME # move "saves" to another place. Here, just in Home
ln -s $HOME/saves . # create a symlink to saves in current dir

then launch minecraft.

The game doesn't crash until 17w46a and crashes since 17w47b (I just tried all beta releases after 1.12 which also works).

Strangely I tried with a symlink under Windows (7 I didn't try under 10) last week and the game didn't crash.

Regards.

12 more comments

TxKreator 2018-03-10T09:01:34Z

can confirm on windows 7
with 18w10d when you make a new symlink (delete the old) with /d /j option it work
(without /j it crash)

Guillaume Christin 2018-04-10T17:03:48Z

If you are using a cloud solution to store saves, try setting the entire game directory to where you are using symbolic links. However, it isn't a good idea if you only have 2GB of storage... 😃

c_death 2018-05-08T20:51:58Z

Confirm this issue with windows 10.

I don't use the /J argument however with simlink because my link is on a network location, accessed by my 2 different computers. I did this to avoid copying my saves from my PC to my Laptop. Was working fine with 1.12 till these snapshots.

EDIT

This still happens with PRE6. Very annoying bug. Here is a snip of the crash in the launcher. Maybe someone can find a workaround solution?

The game crashed whilst initializing game
Error: java.lang.RuntimeException: java.nio.file.FileAlreadyExistsException:
C:\.minecraft\saves

Korfi2Go 2018-07-18T22:12:58Z

Problem still exists in 1.13 release. Also on Windows 10.

Korfi2Go 2018-07-18T23:33:09Z

Also, my ressourcepacks and scrennshots folders are symlöinks as well, but those don't bother the game.

Michael 2018-07-19T01:38:11Z

I am experiencing this problem as well. I use a symbolic link to have my saves folder content stored on a larger disk drive, rather than my SSD. Unfortunately the workaround others have enjoyed won't work in my case because junction points can only exist on one drive, whereas I need a symbolic link. to allow it to exist on another drive.

This appears to be a bug that arises due to what seems like an implementation-specific exception case, where an implementation can throw an exception "if the directory exists but is not a directory" which would seem to apply for a symlink. More interesting is that it appears to apply in the specific case that the last directory name listed in the path is a symlink. I would presume that at some point something was added which attempts to avoid bugs by ensuring the save directory exists- only to cause this issue on a minority of systems where enterprising users have utilized symlinks.

I found this bug reported for OpenJDK regarding this issue.

ChaofanJ 2018-07-26T05:21:48Z

I can confirm that this bug is still in release 1.13. I use this to link the saves folder to my RAMDisk to preserve my SSD and for performance reasons. This feature still works in 1.12.x however...

habusaru 2018-08-01T00:56:04Z

I can confirm this issue on a mac - 1.13 throws up the error. However, 1.12.2 works and I have my minecraftsaves linked to dropbox.

Jason Kasewieter 2018-08-01T03:43:14Z

I can confirm this on Windows - 1.13, I to have saved files on Dropbox. 1.12.2 still works fine.

Korfi2Go 2018-08-01T18:32:07Z

Can confirm for 18w30a and 18w30b. However, so far not happenming in 18w31a. So, it might be fixed.

wobst.michael 2018-08-01T18:33:53Z

Can someone else confirm that this is fixed in 18w31a?

ChaofanJ 2018-08-01T18:43:35Z

Just tested it. Looks like it was fixed in 18w31a, as it worked perfectly on my RAMDisk.

Fa18Swiss 2018-08-02T19:54:21Z

I can confirm for Windows, ok in 1.12.2, crash in 1.13. ok in 18w31a. I use it for Dropbox too.

habusaru 2018-08-02T20:01:11Z

I can confirm that 18w31a is working with a mac and dropbox. Thanks!

Adam Leber 2018-08-04T16:29:28Z

Working in Windows 10 on 18w31 with Dropbox/Symbolic Link. Not working on 1.13

Istvan Kallai 2018-08-11T14:50:43Z

Not working on Windows 10 and Launcher V 1.13

kumasasa 2018-08-11T23:00:37Z

@unknown, this issue was fixed in snapshot 18w31a, therefore is 1.13 in the affected versions list.