[MCL-14369] "Sorry, unable to start Minecraft. Please check your configurations" and some/all versions missing in the launcher

Moderator Note

This issue may be being caused due to faulty cloudfront servers. It's possible that this issue can be resolved by switching DNS servers. If you can't do this or you still have issue after doing so, please visit Community Support.

Please only add a comment here if you have information that could potentially be helpful to solving this issue - if you just want to say "Happens to me too", please instead just click the "Vote for this issue" button on the right.

Certain users are unable to play the game at all, with the error message "Sorry, unable to start Minecraft. Please check your configurations" showing up. Other users are reporting that certain versions are missing that should clearly be available. These are connected because asking the latter user to completely reinstall the game results in the error message of the former.

Three logs are attached, all provided by users who experienced this issue and came to the technical support channel.

Here are a few lines that stick out:

[Error: 2020-09-13 17:32:40.9767980: GameVersionManager.cpp(71)] Can't read directory ...\.minecraft\versions: The system cannot find the path specified.

[Error: 2020-09-13 18:35:46.7534825: LauncherController.cpp(549)] Failed to download configuration: Invalid version type

[Error: 2020-09-13 18:34:50.7568779: NetQueue.cpp(471)] NetQueue: No ip address available. Error code 28, Host: launchermeta.mojang.com

Linked issues

is duplicated by 143

MC-199681 no versions available Resolved

MC-199052 Can't change version Resolved

MC-199147 I have downloaded the minecraft launcher, but have no versions downloaded to play Resolved

MC-199163 Cannot update to Nether Update Resolved

MC-199198 Minecraft will not update to 1.16.2 Resolved

138 more links

relates to 1

MCL-14985 Windows Minecraft Launcher DNS Resolve Issues Resolved

Attachments

Captura de Pantalla 2020-08-30 a la(s) 10.34.06 a. m..png

Captura de Pantalla 2020-09-01 a la(s) 12.26.14 p. m..png

Comments 30

violine1101 2020-06-17T09:59:21Z

In the "installations" tab, can you check whether "snapshots" and/or "releases" are ticked? Does it work if at least one of them is ticked?

migrated 2020-06-17T17:54:42Z

there are none , no bars no snapshots no releases , after I update louncher this happend :

MCL-11754

migrated 2020-06-19T21:54:08Z

Try reinstalling the Minecraft Lancher

migrated 2020-07-02T20:18:29Z

i Tried nothing happend

migrated 2020-08-30T04:54:21Z

I switched to cloudflare dns and the problem disappeared, heres a link on how to do it if anyone wants to try
https://www.windowscentral.com/how-change-your-pcs-dns-settings-windows-10

20 more comments

migrated 2020-08-30T18:58:46Z

The DNS change worked for me !

migrated 2020-08-30T19:12:45Z

Worked Ethan thanks. How did you know to try it ? Thanks again.

migrated 2020-09-04T14:55:03Z

Hopefully this can help further on the DNS switching procedure for those using Windows 10. If you changed your DNS using Control Panel and the issue still persists for you, try changing it from the Windows 10 Settings instead. Both can be found by the guide given by Ethan here.

Last but not least try flushing your DNS cache using the command ipconfig /flushdns on the command prompt.

migrated 2020-09-07T01:26:06Z

i tried to change my dns and it did not work what should i try next as i have the same problem can someone please help me as of now i can't play online due to this bug

[Mod] markderickson 2020-09-07T02:48:38Z

Hi @unknown!

You should try joining the Community Support Discord (linked in the Note). There are plenty of super helpful people there who may find a fix for you.

migrated 2020-09-08T20:01:40Z

I just bought the game and I am having the same issue, what is a DNS server? and how do I change it?

migrated 2020-09-10T05:40:03Z

Hello @unknown,
If you are having issues with the explanation, you can use the instructions at https://1.1.1.1/dns/ to change your DNS servers. Alternatively, visit community support (The link is linked in the mod notice) for further help.

migrated 2020-09-11T00:16:28Z

i use MacOS to play MC and having the same issue. the DNS change on the previous comment was for windows 10. anyone know how to fix this in MacOS? im already in the community support @discord and i was not getting any replies for the past few hours.

migrated 2020-09-11T20:57:59Z

Im having an issue where my launcher isn't showing 1.16.3, i changed my DNS to 1.1.1.1, and i've went to the community board on discord. but my issue is not resolved =\

1.16.3 is in my .minecraft/versions folder, but not showing in launcher if that helps!

I tried running the .jar file through Java, that didn't do anything

migrated 2020-09-12T15:26:47Z

My launcher isn't showing the 1.16.3 update and changing DNS servers didn't help.

migrated 2020-09-14T14:49:02Z

Can we stop with DNS? I cannot update launcher, never had A DNS, never set one up, never needed it, can we have this looked into please????

migrated 2020-09-15T22:04:05Z

Wait I have an idea, you know how in the .minecraft files, there is a folder named versions with all the versions in it, what if we downloaded the folder and dragged it into the versions folder to get the missing versions?

migrated 2020-09-15T22:30:33Z

I believe my idea might work, i tried deleting my launcher and my .minecraft files, and download launcher again. when I downloaded launcher again there were no installations and I pasted the versions back and the versions appeared

migrated 2020-09-16T07:47:45Z

Hello everyone - we are making an overhaul of the DNS lookup in the Launcher which should hopefully fix this issue. Stay tuned!

migrated 2020-10-15T14:52:28Z

So, what actually can i do for this problem?
Just bought the game for java,
And it unable to play.
Money was gone, but nothing come for me.

migrated 2020-10-21T23:27:52Z

[media]

so what you gotta do at least what i had to do is make sure that realeases and snapshots were checked

migrated 2020-10-22T16:42:03Z

Hello, I used to have this problem as well, however, I found a way around it but it is slightly tedious, You need to downgrade your launcher to the old launcher, you can look up on google "how to get the legacy launcher in minecraft" and follow a tutorial. After you do this, your versions should work properly. Hope this helps!

migrated 2020-12-03T01:49:02Z

This is an active issue for me today is there any updates on the status on fixing it?

migrated 2020-12-03T02:52:29Z

Hello @unknown, have you tried the workarounds listed in the moderator notice and in the comments?

migrated 2020-12-15T19:48:52Z

When you reinstall Minecraft and relaunch the launcher, No versions will show up. Navigate to your .minecraft folder and delete all the .json files you see there relating to the launcher (launcher profiles, etc.) Now relaunch the launcher and sign in again, and you versions will be there again!

migrated 2020-12-16T15:44:14Z

If this is a reinstall, go to your .minecraft folder and delete all the .json files relating to the launcher. Hope this helps!

migrated 2020-12-24T01:17:56Z

I have the same issue on 2.2.909. I will attach my log file:

[media]

migrated 2021-01-12T04:39:00Z

On Ubuntu, I tried everything listed in the earlier comments including changing DNS, reinstalling, deleting the JSON configs etc. Finally what worked was hooking my laptop to my 4G hotspot.

migrated 2021-01-22T08:39:52Z

We've made some adjustments to this so that the version manifest is attempted to be downloaded when an internet connection is established, if it previously failed. This issue should be caused less often hopefully!

migrated 2021-06-23T14:04:12Z

I changed the launcher to the beta version and it worked for me