Hello,
This thread is an open call to anyone and everyone who played Minecraft in 2009 and 2010, and who still has their computer, HDD(s), or any backups from that time. You may still, without your knowing it, have lost versions like 0.0.19a or 0.0.14a_03 saved. You could help revive previously long forgotten Minecraft history!
In 2009 and 2010, Markus Persson (aka Notch) was a prominent member of this forum, and thus this forum was one of the first groups to ever be exposed to Minecraft in May of 2009. Unfortunately, though he is a brilliant programmer, he was a poor archivist. Because of this, multiple important versions of the game from May and June of that year are lost. Even a few 2010 versions that many people played, like Alpha v1.1.1, are lost.
I am a member of the OmniArchive, Minecraft’s largest international archival organization. We are dedicated to finding and archiving long lost early versions/clients of the game for historical purposes and to be shared with the Minecraft community. Our efforts are not in vain, as even just a few weeks ago we recovered 0.0.18a_02, a previously much sought after lost 2009 client, along with 4 other lost clients.
If you are an old Minecraft player, and you still have your computer, HDD(s), or any backups from 2009 or 2010, please search your temp folder and any old Minecraft related files for “minecraft.jar”. It is very possible that you still have a version which has been lost for 10 or 11 years, and which could then be archived for generations of future players to enjoy. If you do have anything at all, I am happy to assist you in finding any files that you may have.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Here is Notch’s main introductory thread of Minecraft to this forum:
Here is the OmniArchive’s main Index of lost and found versions: