Microsoft is officially saying that 4GB is just isn’t enough for Minecraft anymore – 16GB is the way it should be in 2026.
According to the official blog post, they mentioned the updated requirements are made to help the Java Edition build run more smoothly (duh) while giving devs of both official and community to craft (haha, we mine) more features and mods in future updates.
Although one might not expect the 4GB rig in this day and time, in some parts of the world they do exist, but with RAM this expensive right now, that’s one big headache to deal with.
Microsoft also cleared up, saying those who are affected won’t immediately lose access to the game, as it should still launch on unsupported systems for now, but performance and visual quality are no longer guaranteed. As the game gradually transitions away from OpenGL in favor of the more modern Vulkan graphics API, older hardware could eventually struggle to run the game or stop being supported altogether.
Meanwhile, Bedrock Edition is still set at 8GB for now. But the big tradeoff is that all those Java goodies and mod packs are not for Bedrock. But if you like vanilla Minecraft and the associated features, be my guest.
Specs | Java Edition (Minimum) | Java Edition (Recommended) | Bedrock Edition (Minimum) | Bedrock Edition (Recommended) |
| OS | Windows 10 64-Bit, Windows on ARM, macOS 12+, or Linux 64-bit | Windows 11 64-bit, macOS 14+, or Linux 64-bit | Windows 10 19041.0 or higher | Windows 10 19041.0 or higher |
CPU | Intel Core i3-10100 / AMD Ryzen 3 3100 / Qualcomm Snapdragon X / Apple M1 | Intel Core i5-12400 / AMD Ryzen 5 5600 / Apple M2 Pro | Intel Celeron J4105 / AMD FX-4100 | Intel i7-6500U / AMD A8-6800K |
| GPU | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950 / AMD Radeon RX 460 / Intel Arc A310 / Intel i5-6400 (iGPU) | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 / AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT / Intel Arc A580 | Intel HD Graphics 4000 / AMD Radeon R5 | NVIDIA GeForce 940M / Radeon HD 8570D |
RAM | 8GB (discrete GPU) / 12GB (iGPU) | 16GB | 4GB | 8GB |
Additional Source: Tom’s Hardware
