Oct 30, 2025 13:50:00

Minecraft: Java Edition will no longer have obfuscation, making it easier to create, update, and debug mods.

Microsoft has announced on its official blog that it will completely remove obfuscation from

Minecraft: Java Edition, which is written in the Java programming language. This is expected to make it easier for users to create, update, and debug mods.

Removing obfuscation in Java Edition | Minecraft
https://www.minecraft.net/en-us/article/removing-obfuscation-in-java-edition

Minecraft: Java Edition is a version of Minecraft written in Java that can be played on Windows, Linux, and MacOS. Its features include faster updates than the Bedrock Edition, and support for user-created skins and mods.

However, since its release, Minecraft: Java Edition's source code has been obfuscated, meaning users could not directly view the code. This meant that mod developers had to examine what every class and function in the code did. In 2019, the official Minecraft team released 'Obfuscation Mapping,' a list that maps obfuscated terms to non-obfuscated terms, to mitigate the issues involved in mod development.

The official Minecraft team has announced that they will completely remove obfuscation from Minecraft: Java Edition after the release of the update ' Mounts of Mayhem,' scheduled for November-December 2025. This means that in future builds, all original names, including variable names and other names, will be readable by default, making mod development even easier.

If obfuscation is completely removed from Minecraft: Java Edition, it could cause problems for existing mod development tools that are designed for obfuscated code. Therefore, the official team has stated that starting with the next update, in addition to the traditional obfuscated version, they will also provide an unobfuscated 'experimental release.' Mod developers can use the experimental release to test their tools and workflows before fully migrating to the unobfuscated version.

The official team stated, 'Mods are a core feature of Java Edition, but obfuscation has made creating mods difficult. We're very happy to be removing this obfuscation, as it should make it faster and easier for modders to create and improve mods. They won't have to parse complex code or deal with obscure names. Debugging will also be easier, and crash logs will be easier to read.'

The incident has also been

a hot topic on Hacker News, where one user pointed out that Minecraft developer Markus Persson (also known as Notch) had promised in 2010 that he would release the game's source code as some kind of open source after a certain amount of time had passed and sales began to decline.