Multi-Platform Installation

Gens Launcher is natively available on Windows, macOS, and Linux. Follow the instructions below to set up the software on your operating system.

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Windows (10 and 11)

Download and Setup

1. Navigate to the Latest GitHub Releases.
2. Download the installer file: GensLauncher-Setup-X.X.X.exe.
3. Double-click the downloaded executable to begin the NSIS setup wizard.

Windows Defender SmartScreen Alert

Gens Launcher is an independent open-source project. Because the project does not have an expensive commercial corporate certificate (EV Code Signing, costing hundreds of dollars per year), Windows SmartScreen may display a blue warning:
"Windows protected your PC".

To continue installation:

1. Click the text link "More info".
2. Click the "Run anyway" button.
3. All source code is completely public and auditable on GitHub; the software is safe.

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macOS (Intel and Apple Silicon)

1. Download the disk image GensLauncher-X.X.X-mac.dmg from the GitHub Releases.
2. Double-click the .dmg file to mount the installation volume.
3. Drag and drop the Gens Launcher icon into your Applications folder shortcut.

Mandatory Applications Folder

You must copy the app into /Applications. If you launch the app directly from the virtual mounted DMG image, the auto-updater will fail to install background updates.

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Linux

We offer two packaging formats for Linux distributions:

Option 1: Official Signed APT Repository (Recommended for Debian and Ubuntu)

This is the recommended route: it hooks Gens Launcher into your OS package manager for background updates via apt upgrade.

Open your terminal and run these 3 commands:

# 1. Download and import the official GPG signing key
curl -fsSL https://williambossard.github.io/Gens-Launcher/public.key | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/gens-launcher-keyring.gpg

# 2. Add the Gens Launcher repository to your apt sources
echo "deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/gens-launcher-keyring.gpg] https://williambossard.github.io/Gens-Launcher/ ./" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/gens-launcher.list

# 3. Update repositories and install Gens Launcher
sudo apt update && sudo apt install gens-launcher

To update in the future:

sudo apt update && sudo apt --only-upgrade install gens-launcher

Option 2: Universal AppImage Package

AppImage runs on any modern Linux distribution (Fedora, Arch Linux, Manjaro, Debian, Ubuntu) without installation:

1. Download the GensLauncher-X.X.X.AppImage file.
2. Grant execution rights:
   • Terminal:

     chmod +x GensLauncher-*.AppImage
     ./GensLauncher-*.AppImage

   • File Manager: Right-click file -> Properties -> Permissions tab -> check "Allow executing file as program".
3. Double-click the AppImage to launch the game.

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System Requirements

Component	Minimum Specification	Recommended Specification
Operating System	Windows 10 (64-bit), macOS 11+, Linux 64-bit	Windows 11, macOS 14+, Ubuntu 24.04 LTS
System RAM	4 GB	8 to 16 GB
Free Disk Space	2 GB for launcher and vanilla Minecraft	10+ GB (for larger modpacks and shader caches)
Java Runtime	Java 8, 17, or 21 (depending on Minecraft version)	Managed automatically by Gens Launcher