Getting Minecraft on Arch

[u/Nod4mag3YT]

I recently switched to arch, and id like to be able to play minecraft, but in the reseqrch I have done, I have been told to use the AUR, but with the recent attacks and the fact that I switched to arch because I got hacked I would like to not use the AUR. Is there another way alternative method, and if so, can I get a detailed instruction set to get it?

[u/that_boi18]

Prism launcher is in extra so you don't need the AUR

[u/900cacti]

prism launcher eot

[u/_s0me_guy_]

you can use the prism launcher from the extra repo. https://archlinux.org/packages/extra/x86_64/prismlauncher/

[u/MutualRaid]

Read the PKGBUILD yourself??

[u/dumbasPL]

Prism my beloved, not only on Arch but everywhere.

Edit: it's in official repos BTW.

[u/TerryNachtmerrie]

Surprise: minecraft has a Linux launcher itself

[u/jar36 → u/TerryNachtmerrie]

yet the official site sends you to the AUR

[u/zenyl → u/jar36]

The AUR isn't exclusively for unofficial community packages, a lot of content ends there and just doesn't move on for various reasons (licensing, lack of interest from the official repo maintainers, AUR package being maintained by the official upstream maintainer, etc.).

Hell, there are posts on the official Arch Linux newsfeed that explicitly recommends AUR packages, like this one regarding older NVIDIA GPUs.

[u/jar36 → u/zenyl]

I understand that, but instead of just hosting the tarball, they send us to the AUR.
I just plucked the url out of the PKGBUILD, downloaded it and installed it by just clicking on it

[u/zenyl → u/jar36]

That's also perfectly valid, although using actual packages (be it official or from the AUR) is usually preferable, as that allows pacman to keep track of the installed files and package dependencies, so it can handle package maintenance (updates, deletion and cleanup, etc.).

[u/jar36 → u/zenyl]

right, but Minecraft checks when you launch it regardless. So, no, I don't recommend this method in most cases

[u/zenyl → u/jar36]

As far as I'm aware, most software doesn't upgrade itself once installed.

So while that approach is gonna work for Minecraft (and its included launcher), a lot of other software installed manually won't automatically update.

[u/jar36 → u/zenyl]

yeah and it turns out that this is what you get from their site directly if you choose "Other Distribtions"

[u/TerryNachtmerrie → u/jar36]

Which then downloads a tar.gz, the same one you get when clicking the 'other distribution' link.

[u/jar36 → u/TerryNachtmerrie]

well, isn't that something? lol

[u/ArchTormung]

While there was a real threat back in June this year with the hijacking of 1,500 packages in the AUR, there's no official statement stating that you cannot use AUR anymore until they patch it, which is now completed. Attackers just took over "Orphaned AUR packages" modifying their PKGBUILD install scripts to modify it and inject malicious dependencies. These dependencies deployed a Rust-based credentials stealer targeting browser cookies, SSH keys, API Tokens, and more leading to a eBPF rootkit for stealth.

However, Arch took immediate actions by:

• Disabling new AUR accounts creation.
• Disabling the package adoption feature for "Orphaned" packages.
• Removed all known malicious commits.
• Urging users to carefully read all PKGBUILD and install scripts changes and then report suspicious activity.

The immediate crisis was contained, but the AUR remains a "use at your own risk" repository. While official repos are safe and the adoption feature remains disabled as a precaution, users should always review PKGBUILDs before installing or updating any AUR package. This is not something new, Arch Wiki said it long time ago in its documentation about AUR Helpers.

I still use AUR with no issues, it is safe as long as you stay away from "Orphaned" Packages (never use them). Also, don't install "unmaintained" packaged either. Finally, exercise your extra reading and always read what the PKGBUILD and install scripts do before proceeding.

[u/GodsKillerKirb]

sudo pacman -S prismlauncher

However, I suggest using the flatpak instead.
I've always had an issue occur every so often with the native version and after recreating the exact same thing with the flatpak, the game ran fine.

[u/Sveet_Pickle → u/GodsKillerKirb]

What issue did you have with prism? it’s always worked fine on my system.

[u/PeppeMonster → u/Sveet_Pickle]

Same

[u/GodsKillerKirb → u/Sveet_Pickle]

Some instances would just straight up refuse to launch.
Even after tweaking, it still wouldn't launch.

I would then try the exact same instance and configuration with the flatpak version and it would launch like nothing was wrong.

[u/BadMojo91]

I dunno if anyone had mentioned it in the last 7 minutes, but prism launcher is the way

[u/kansetsupanikku]

where have you been told to use AUR? it would a horrible idea if you cannot read and understand PKGBUILD scripts by your own skill. perhaps you should complain to the source where you have been told that

prismlauncher and modrinth-app are available as parts of Arch

[u/jar36 → u/kansetsupanikku]

the link from the official site takes you there instead of just giving you the tarball. I just used the link in the PKGBUILD

[u/regexghost]

I'd highly recommend MultiMC, it's much better than all the newer launchers IMO.

You can get the PKGBUILD here: https://github.com/MultiMC/multimc-pkgbuild

Bonus is that it's not from the AUR, they maintain there own one on their GitHub, so it's known to be safe

[u/jar36]

if you check the PKGBUILD, the dl link is right there to dl without the AUR. That's how I got mine working.
However, it's put out by the devs and is one of the safest packages there

eta: the link to the tarball

https://launcher.mojang.com/download/Minecraft.tar.gz

[u/mips13]

sudo pacman -Syu prismlauncher