How to change your Minecraft username

Java Edition and Bedrock Edition use two different names. On Java you change your profile name on minecraft.net, once every 30 days and for free. On Bedrock you see your Xbox gamertag, which you change in your Xbox profile. Your worlds and server ranks are tied to your account, not to the name, so nothing is lost.

Changing one does not change the other. There is no command to rename yourself in the vanilla game: the chat always shows the account name.

1. Go to minecraft.net and sign in with the Microsoft account that owns Java Edition.
2. Open your profile. In the Minecraft: Java Edition section, choose to change your profile name.
3. Type the new name. It must be 3 to 16 characters long and use only letters A to Z, digits and the underscore (_). The page tells you if the name is already taken.
4. Confirm the change.

You can do this once every 30 days. If you change your mind, you have to wait those 30 days to switch back to your old name. The new name can take a short while to reach every Mojang server.

1. Close Minecraft and the Minecraft Launcher completely.
2. Open the launcher again. It shows the new name at the top left. If not, sign out and sign back in.
3. Start the game and open a world: your name above your head and in the chat is the new one.

If a server refuses you with "Invalid session", close the game and the launcher and start again: the old login has expired.

Java Edition identifies players by a permanent account ID (UUID), not by name. The game files show it:

• Your inventory and position in each world are saved in a file named after your UUID, so they stay.
• The operator list, the whitelist and the ban list store your UUID next to your name. If you were an operator or whitelisted, you still are.
• Your skin and capes belong to the account and stay equipped (see how to equip a cape).

Plugins on some servers save data by name. Tell the server staff about your new name if a home, a rank or a balance disappears.

1. Open your Xbox profile: on xbox.com while signed in, in the Xbox app on Windows, or on an Xbox console.
2. Choose to customize the profile, then change the gamertag.
3. Type a new gamertag, check that it is available and confirm.

If Xbox created your gamertag automatically, your first change is free. Later changes are paid: the price shows before you confirm. The new gamertag appears in Minecraft the next time you sign in, on every device that uses the same Microsoft account.

• Name not available: someone else uses it. Try a variant with digits or an underscore.
• Change refused: your last change was less than 30 days ago. The page shows when you can change it again.
• Old name still shown on a server: leave the server, restart the launcher and join again.
• No change option on Bedrock: child accounts can be limited by the family settings of the Microsoft account. A parent has to allow it.