A random string some testers were given, starting with xolkey_. Launcher 0.3.1 has no field for it: updates, profile data and crash reports work without one. A key saved by an older launcher is still sent; see Updates. It is separate from the Microsoft sign-in.
Add-on
An optional part you switch on or off per Minecraft version on the main screen: OptiFine or Forge mods (your own jars in my-mods). Since 0.3.0 add-ons replace the separate OptiFine and Forge profiles. See OptiFine.
Ad-hoc signature
A code signature made without a developer certificate. Every Apple Silicon program needs at least this to run. It does not identify a publisher, so Gatekeeper still asks on first start.
Anchor
One of nine screen positions (corners, edge centers and the middle) that a HUD module's offset is measured from. See HUD editor.
Brand
The short label a Minecraft client sends to a server when it joins, naming itself. Xol sends Xol. Self-reported and spoofable. See Multiplayer and fair play.
Bundled component
A file that ships inside the launcher, such as the Xol client jar. Its SHA-256 must match the profile manifest before it is copied into an instance.
Channel (release)
How stable a launcher release is meant to be: development, beta or stable. A build never installs a release from a less stable channel than its own.
Client
In these pages, the Xol mod that runs inside Minecraft and draws the HUD. "Launcher" is the desktop app.
Component
One installable part of a profile with an exact version and checksum: a mod, a library, or the Xol client.
Data folder
Where Xol keeps everything that is not the program. See File locations.
Diagnostics
Failed-update reports and crash reports. Off by default. See Privacy and data.
Ed25519
The signature scheme used for launcher release records.
Entitlement
Minecraft Services' record that an account owns Minecraft: Java Edition. Xol checks it before launching.
Forge
The mod loader the Xol profiles are built on: 11.15.1.2318 for 1.8.9 and 10.13.4.1614 for 1.7.10.
Gatekeeper
The part of macOS that assesses downloaded apps before their first start.
GUI pixel
The unit Minecraft's interface uses at the current GUI scale. One GUI pixel is 1, 2, 3 or more screen pixels.
HUD
Heads-up display: the information drawn over the game view.
Instance
The game folder of one profile: worlds, screenshots, options and mods. The server list, the Xol client settings and the options both Minecraft versions understand are shared with your other instances, and resource packs come from your Minecraft folder by default. See Instances.
Known build (OptiFine)
An OptiFine file whose name, size and, where it could be confirmed from more than one public source, SHA-256 Xol carries in a short list. The list only recognizes a file you downloaded; it holds no download address. See OptiFine.
The one checked copy of an OptiFine file you downloaded that Xol keeps per Minecraft version, in the data folder's optifine folder. While the OptiFine add-on is on, Xol places it in the instance right before the game starts.
Managed file
A file in an instance that Xol placed and recorded in instance.json. Only managed files are ever replaced or removed by Xol. The OptiFine copy Xol places follows the same rule, with its own note in the instance's xol folder.
Manifest (profile manifest)
The list of profiles with their loaders, components, checksums and states. One ships in the launcher; a newer one can come from the Xol service if it passes validation.
Menu theme
Xol's look for the game's menus: the title screen, the server list, the pause menu, the connect dialogs and the other menu screens. A settings group, not a module. See Menu theme.
Mixin
A way for a mod to change a specific method of the game. The Xol client uses mixins as well as Forge events. If one does not fit, it is skipped and the game keeps running; see Multiplayer and fair play.
Module
One switchable feature of the client, such as FPS or Key Strokes. Client 0.3.5 has 50. See Modules and the module review.
My mods (my-mods)
The folder in an instance for your own Forge mods. With the Forge mods add-on on, Xol loads the jars in it; with it off, they stay there and are not loaded. The instance's mods folder belongs to Xol: a jar you put there by hand is moved to my-mods at the next start.
Native runtime (Apple Silicon)
An arm64 Java 8 from Azul together with arm64 LWJGL libraries, used on Apple Silicon Macs instead of Mojang's x64 Java through Rosetta 2. See Apple Silicon.
Notarization
Apple's check of a signed app. Notarized apps open without the "Open Anyway" step. Xol's development builds are not notarized.
PKCE
Proof Key for Code Exchange. The part of the OAuth flow that makes the one-time sign-in code useless to anything except the program that started the sign-in.
Preset
A list of vanilla video settings merged into options.txt. See Performance presets.
Preview
The launcher's word for a profile that works in limited testing and has not passed acceptance on real hardware.
Profile
A complete, fixed setup: Minecraft version, loader, components. Since 0.3.0 there is one Xol profile per Minecraft version, Xol 1.8.9 and Xol 1.7.10. See Profiles.
Quarantine mark
An attribute that browsers and mail programs put on downloaded files on macOS. Gatekeeper assesses only files that carry it.
Redaction
Replacing tokens, keys, e-mail addresses, IP addresses and home folder paths with placeholders before a log is written or a report is previewed.
Reduced debug info
A Minecraft 1.8+ flag, set by a server or by you, that hides coordinates from the F3 screen. The Coordinates module follows it on 1.8.9.
Release record
The signed description of a launcher release: version, channel, sequence number, and each installer's name, size and SHA-256.
Rollback
Going back to an older launcher version. Xol does it only when a signed release record explicitly authorizes it; you can always do it by hand with the previous installer.
Right Shift menu
The in-game menu that opens with Right Shift: every module, the settings groups, search and the HUD editor. The key can be changed in Options ▸ Controls as "Open Xol settings".
Rosetta 2
Apple's translation layer that runs x64 programs on Apple Silicon. On an Apple Silicon Mac it is the fallback for the native runtime, and the Intel (Rosetta 2) choice; see Apple Silicon.
Runtime record
The file runtime.json in an instance. It says which kind of Java the instance last started with and, on an Apple Silicon Mac, whether the native runtime was tried and gave up. Repair deletes it.
Secure store
The operating system's facility for encrypting secrets: DPAPI on Windows, Keychain on macOS. On Windows Xol seals sign-ins with it. Current macOS builds keep them in a file only your user account can open instead; see Sign-in and accounts.
Sequence number
A number in every release record that only ever goes up. Xol refuses a record whose number is not higher than the last one it accepted, which defeats replays.
Shared settings
Since 0.3.0 the server list, the game options both Minecraft versions understand (key bindings included) and the Xol client's settings are one set, shared between Xol 1.8.9, Xol 1.7.10 and cloned instances. Xol keeps a shared copy in the data folder and brings each instance up to date before and after the game runs.
SmartScreen
The Windows feature that warns about unsigned or rarely seen downloads.
Translocation (App Translocation)
macOS running a quarantined app from a random read-only location because it was started from the folder it arrived in. Such a copy cannot update itself.
Tweaker
A class that sets the game up before it starts. OptiFine has one for use with Forge; Xol starts OptiFine through Forge and checks that the file you add contains it.
XSTS
Xbox Secure Token Service. The second Xbox Live step in the sign-in chain, which issues a token scoped to Minecraft Services.