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There are three main methods for playing Minecraft in VR.
These days, the Oculus Quest 2 (aka Meta Quest 2) is the best VR headset for just about anyone. The $299 headset allows you to play VR games either sitting or walking around. It runs as a standalone device or it can tether to your PC and run PC-based VR games either over a wired USB connection or Wi-Fi, the latter of which Oculus calls AirLink.
If you want to play Minecraft in VR, there are three ways to do that on the Oculus Quest 2, each of which has its own setup method. The most recent (and likely best) method to use is QuestCraft, an unofficial port of Minecraft Java that runs as a standalone app on the headset and supports a variety of mods as well as roomscale tracking. However, it’s an unofficial port and so could break or be blocked by Mojang at any time.
Here are the pros and cons of each method, and we’ll explain how to install below.
While other methods rely on you using a PC to run the game and then sending the VR images over a USB or Wi-Fi connection, QuestCraft allows you to run the game entirely on the Quest 2. It’s an unofficial port of Minecraft Java, so you’ll need to enable developer mode and sideload the APK, a process which is fairly easy if you follow the steps below.
You’ll still need a legitimate Minecraft Java account to log in and play QuestCraft. However, since it’s an unofficial port, it’s always possible that future updates will break it.
1. Enable developer mode in the Oculus mobile app on your phone or tablet. To get there, tap Menu->Devices->Developer Mode and toggle it to on.
3. Launch SideQuest with the Oculus plugged into your PC via USB. The app should detect your headset automatically. If this is the first time, you will see a prompt on the headset to allow USB debugging and you’ll probably want to accept “always allow from this computer” so you don’t get prompted again.
4. Enter “questcraft” in the SideQuest search box and click the top result.
7. Navigate to the apps menu on the Quest 2.
11. Click Microsoft Login on the QuestCraft splash screen and Enter your Microsoft account credentials.
Installing mods in QuestCraft: You can install some, but not all Fabric mods in QuestCraft. To do so, simply connect your Oculus Quest 2 to your PC and copy the mod files to the Android -> data -> net.kdt.pojavlaunch.debug -> files -> .minecraftmods folder. Then start the game. If a mod is incompatible, the game won’t launch or will have bugs. You can see a community-maintained list of compatible mods here.
It almost goes without saying that your PC has to meet the very modest system requirements for Oculus Link in order to run in wired or wireless mode. These include having a 4th Gen Core i5 or first-gen Ryzen 5 or higher CPU, Windows 10 or 11, 8GB of RAM and some kind of discrete graphics. Minecraft’s system requirements are even lower than these, but if you want to use ray-tracing, you need an Nvidia RTX or Radeon RX 6000 series graphics card.
1. Install the Oculus desktop app on your PC if you don’t have it already.
2. Launch the Oculus app.
3. Navigate to Devices.
8. Navigate to Quick Settings on the headset and select Oculus Link. As long as your controllers are paired with the headset, they will automatically connect to your PC.
Air Link is Oculus’ system for connecting your Quest 2 headset to your PC via Wi-Fi. Air Link works with either Minecraft for Oculus (Bedrock) or Vivecraft (Java), but it is the laggiest solution.
In order to work, both the PC and the headset must be connected to the same network. To reduce latency, It helps if the PC is connected via Ethernet. If you are using a mesh network, make sure you configure the router to only allow both devices to use one node so they are on the same node (or else it won’t work).
1. Navigate to Devices->Add Headset->Quest 2 in the Oculus desktop app as shown in steps 2 through 6 in the section above.
2. Select Air Link and click Continue.
4. Toggle Air Link to on.
7. Click Confirm on the PC.
8. Click Continue and then Launch on the Oculus Quest 2.
The only first-party method for playing Minecraft in VR is the simplest, but most limiting. If you already have Minecraft Bedrock edition installed (aka Minecraft for Windows or non-Java Minecraft), setting up VR will take just a few seconds. However, you won’t be able to use mods like you can with the other methods.
1. Create a desktop shortcut to launch Minecraft VR using the location of minecraft://Mode/?OpenXR=true. To do this, right-click on your desktop and select New->Shortcut. Enter minecraft://Mode/?OpenXR=true as the Location, click Next and name your shortcut Minecraft VR (or something similar).
As with Minecraft for Oculus, Vivecraft requires a wired or wireless connection to your PC.
1. Download Vivecraft. There are several versions available, depending on whether you want the latest or one that supports Forge mods. As of this writing, version 1.16 was the latest that supports Forge. Fabric mods are unavailable on any version. Make sure you don’t install a version that has “NONVR” in the file name. Note that Java is required to install Vivecraft.
2. Launch the Vivecraft installer. If you get a “Windows protected your PC” message, click “More info” and then “Run Anyway.”
7. Launch Steam (install it if it’s not already installed).
8. Launch SteamVR from within Steam. If it’s not already installed, install it.
10. Make sure that Vivecraft is selected from the version menu and click Play. 
MORE: Oculus Quest 2 Review
MORE: Best VR Headsets for PC and Gaming
MORE: Virtual Reality Basics
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