First launch¶

The launcher has one main screen. From top to bottom: notices, the version and profile picker, the performance preset, the launch options, and a dock with the Play button.

Enter your access key¶

The Xol access key is a random string issued to testers. It lets the launcher check for updates, profile data and notices. It is separate from your Microsoft sign-in.

1. Open Settings and choose the Service tab.
2. Paste the key you were given into Xol access key. Keys start with xolkey_ followed by 43 letters, digits, - or _.
3. Press Save key. Xol checks the key with the Xol service, then stores it encrypted by your operating system.

After that the key is never shown again. The field reads xolkey_•••••••••••• next to its state. The states and what to do about each are on Troubleshooting.

You can play without a key. Installing and launching do not depend on it. Without a key Xol does not check for updates and cannot send crash reports.

Sign in¶

1. Press Sign in with Microsoft in the dock. The account button at the top right opens the same flow through Add Microsoft account.
2. Xol opens Microsoft's sign-in page in your default browser. The dock reads "Finish signing in in your browser". Xol never sees your password.
3. Sign in on Microsoft's page and approve the request.
4. Return to Xol. Your player name appears in the account button.

To back out while the browser is open, press Cancel next to the Play button. The whole flow, what is stored and every error message are on Sign-in and accounts.

Pick a version and a profile¶

The version switch at the top offers 1.8.9 and 1.7.10. Under it is the list of profiles for that version. Xol 1.8.9 is selected on a fresh install.

A profile marked Preview works in limited testing and has not passed the acceptance checklist on real hardware. Every profile that Xol currently offers with its own client is a preview. What each profile contains is on Profiles.

All versions opens Mojang's full release list. Only versions that have a Xol profile can be chosen; the rest read "Not in Xol yet".

Pick a performance preset¶

Balanced is the default. The preset is a short list of video settings written into the instance's options.txt when you first play or when you change the preset. The exact values are on Performance presets.

Press Play¶

The dock reads "Ready to play" with the preset, the memory and the account it will use. Press Play.

On the first launch Xol downloads and verifies the game, its libraries and assets, the Java runtime, Forge and the profile's components. The dock shows the current stage, a progress bar, and "n of m files · x of y". The button becomes Cancel. A cancelled install resumes where it stopped the next time you press Play, because files that are already present and match their checksum are not downloaded again.

When the game starts, the button becomes Stop and the dock shows when the game started and which Java runtime it uses. The launcher stops all animation while Minecraft runs. The version, profile and preset pickers are locked until the game closes.

When the game closes, the launcher shows one of:

In game¶

Xol profiles add a small Xol button to the title screen and the pause menu, and the key Right Shift opens the client settings while you are in a world. Continue with The client.