Minecraft freezes when screen recording due to RenderDragon Vulkan GPU capture conflict
Platform:
Minecraft Bedrock Edition (MCPE)
Android 13 / Android 14
All device brands confirmed (Infinix, Samsung, Xiaomi, Realme, OnePlus, Vivo, Oppo, Tecno, Motorola)
Game Version(s) Affected:
1.21.0 – 1.21.121 (current RenderDragon builds)
Game Version(s) Not Affected:
1.20.80 and below (OpenGL ES builds)
Graphics Engine Involved:
RenderDragon (Vulkan implementation)
---
Issue Description:
When attempting to record Minecraft gameplay using any screen recorder, the gameplay rendering freezes completely, while the UI remains functional.
The game world stops updating frames (frozen image)
Touch controls still respond
The player can open menus and pause screen
The issue appears only when a screen recorder is active
This means the framebuffer used for rendering is blocked from screen capture, resulting in a GPU read-access conflict.
Steps to Reproduce:
1. Open Minecraft Bedrock 1.21+ on an Android device.
2. Enter any world (Survival or Creative).
3. Start any screen recorder (built-in recorder or third-party):
XRecorder
Mobizen
AZ Recorder
Native System Recorder
4. Gameplay rendering freezes instantly.
Expected Behavior:
Gameplay should continue rendering normally while screen recording is active, as it did in versions 1.20.80 and earlier when Minecraft used OpenGL ES.
Actual Behavior:
Only UI renders.
Gameplay stops drawing new frames.
Game becomes visually frozen until the recorder is stopped.
Root Cause Technical Explanation:
Minecraft 1.21+ uses RenderDragon with Vulkan, which does not allow shared GPU memory for screen capture, causing:
Vulkan Framebuffer → Non-read-accessible → Recorder cannot hook → Render Stall → Freeze
This issue does not occur in OpenGL ES builds (1.20.80 and below), where screen capture hooks are supported.
Impact:
Minecraft content creators are unable to record gameplay on Android
Affected: Millions of mobile players, especially in India, Brazil, Middle East, Southeast Asia (largest mobile MCPE market)
YouTube & Twitch content production for Bedrock is being blocked
This bug directly harms Minecraft’s creator ecosystem.
Suggested Fixes:
Any one of the following would resolve the issue:
1. Allow Minecraft on Android to manually switch between Vulkan and OpenGL ES Example setting:
Video Settings → Advanced → Renderer: Vulkan / OpenGL
2. Re-enable OpenGL fallback path for devices using screen recording APIs
3. Expose Vulkan Shared Mode / Screen Capture Support Flag
(VK_EXT_image_drm_format_modifier or VK_EXT_external_memory_host)
Conclusion:
This is not hardware failure, not recorder issue, and not user error —
It is a RenderDragon Vulkan framebuffer capture conflict introduced after 1.21.
Reintroducing OpenGL ES option on
Android would: ✅ Restore recording compatibility
✅ Protect the Minecraft creator ecosystem
✅ Prevent widespread user frustration
Gaurav Tiwari
Gaurav Tiwari
Minecraft freezes when screen recording due to RenderDragon Vulkan GPU capture conflict
Platform:
Minecraft Bedrock Edition (MCPE)
Android 13 / Android 14
All device brands confirmed (Infinix, Samsung, Xiaomi, Realme, OnePlus, Vivo, Oppo, Tecno, Motorola)
Game Version(s) Affected:
1.21.0 – 1.21.121 (current RenderDragon builds)
Game Version(s) Not Affected:
1.20.80 and below (OpenGL ES builds)
Graphics Engine Involved:
RenderDragon (Vulkan implementation)
---
Issue Description:
When attempting to record Minecraft gameplay using any screen recorder, the gameplay rendering freezes completely, while the UI remains functional.
The game world stops updating frames (frozen image)
Touch controls still respond
The player can open menus and pause screen
The issue appears only when a screen recorder is active
This means the framebuffer used for rendering is blocked from screen capture, resulting in a GPU read-access conflict.
---
Steps to Reproduce:
1. Open Minecraft Bedrock 1.21+ on an Android device.
2. Enter any world (Survival or Creative).
3. Start any screen recorder (built-in recorder or third-party):
XRecorder
Mobizen
AZ Recorder
Native System Recorder
4. Gameplay rendering freezes instantly.
---
Expected Behavior:
Gameplay should continue rendering normally while screen recording is active, as it did in versions 1.20.80 and earlier when Minecraft used OpenGL ES.
---
Actual Behavior:
Only UI renders.
Gameplay stops drawing new frames.
Game becomes visually frozen until the recorder is stopped.
---
Root Cause Technical Explanation:
Minecraft 1.21+ uses RenderDragon with Vulkan, which does not allow shared GPU memory for screen capture, causing:
Vulkan Framebuffer → Non-read-accessible → Recorder cannot hook → Render Stall → Freeze
This issue does not occur in OpenGL ES builds (1.20.80 and below), where screen capture hooks are supported.
---
Impact:
Minecraft content creators are unable to record gameplay on Android
Affected: Millions of mobile players, especially in India, Brazil, Middle East, Southeast Asia (largest mobile MCPE market)
YouTube & Twitch content production for Bedrock is being blocked
This bug directly harms Minecraft’s creator ecosystem.
---
Suggested Fixes:
Any one of the following would resolve the issue:
1. Allow Minecraft on Android to manually switch between Vulkan and OpenGL ES Example setting:
Video Settings → Advanced → Renderer: Vulkan / OpenGL
2. Re-enable OpenGL fallback path for devices using screen recording APIs
3. Expose Vulkan Shared Mode / Screen Capture Support Flag
(VK_EXT_image_drm_format_modifier or VK_EXT_external_memory_host)
---
Conclusion:
This is not hardware failure, not recorder issue, and not user error —
It is a RenderDragon Vulkan framebuffer capture conflict introduced after 1.21.
Reintroducing OpenGL ES option on
Android would: ✅ Restore recording compatibility
✅ Protect the Minecraft creator ecosystem
✅ Prevent widespread user frustration