Tried to log on to Minecraft but faced with the dreaded Minecraft “User Not Premium” error? No worries. Depending on what’s causing it, this is usually a pretty easy fix – so hang on to your hat, grab your Diamond Pick, and prepare – we’re going in.
Updated 13th June 2012
THIS JUST IN – Mojang’s “top 3 reasons for User Not Premium”
Marc from Mojang was kind enough to stop by the Pot to give us some info straight from the source on the “User Not Premium” bug. Here’s his list of the top 3 reasons for User Not Premium problems:
The top reasons for users to claim they are not premium:
- They have attempted a purchase, but something in the process failed, and didn’t properly inform them. Double check your bank account.
- Moneybookers (or, less frequently, Paypal) has refunded you. Double check your bank account (unfortunately, it takes a few days to show up).
- The user has registered multiple usernames, one is premium, the others are not, and they’re using the wrong one.
His full comment is here – I’d recommend having a read of it (and the linked article) if you’re having problems.
What causes “User not Premium”? Minecraft’s inner workings…
The problem you’re having if Minecraft’s throwing a “User Not Premium” error at you is actually pretty simple.
Whenever you start Minecraft up, as an anti-piracy precaution, it checks in with the main Minecraft server at minecraft.net to find out if you’ve actually paid for the game.
There’s some confusion about this – whilst at one point Minecraft was free, it isn’t any longer. If you want to play the game, you need to purchase it, for a pretty modest fee (15 Euros at time of writing).
However, if you have paid, you can still end up with the game thinking you haven’t – that’s what causes this error. In that case, something’s blocking Minecraft from accessing the servers at Minecraft.net. By default, if it can’t check if you have paid for the game, it assumes you haven’t. (That might sound harsh, but otherwise pirates would simply disconnect from the Internet before play!)
So, how do we fix that? Usually, it’s fairly simple.
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A note on cracked copies of Minecraft
I think you should buy Minecraft if you want to play it. Notch has put a hell of a lot of work into the game and deserves to be rewarded.
Regardless, though, cracked copies of Minecraft only work out being free if your time is worthless. Notch and the Mojang team are pretty clever guys, and by deciding to cheat them, you end up having to jump through all sorts of hoops and fiddle about just to play the game you want to play. That takes a bundle of time that you could have spent playing the game.
So, if you’re reading this article hoping to find a way around the Premium protections – the best way, taking into account the time it’ll take you, is to just buy the darn thing already.
For the vast majority who are honest – how to fix the User Not Premium bug
First things first, on the “Have you turned it off and on again” level – are you currently connected to the Internet? It’s worth trying to load up Minecraft.net and check you can connect to it – it might be that the server’s down, or that your router’s had a funny and thrown you offline.
It’s also worth, no kidding, trying turning your computer off and on again. Minecraft can sometimes get a bit confused, and a reboot will tend to sort it out. Try restarting Minecraft a few times, too. Sometimes this will cause whatever’s stopping you from connecting to shake loose. We’re not sure why, but it does work.
If neither of these things are the problem, it may be that you actually haven’t bought the game – even though you think you have. Check your email for the date when you purchased Minecraft. If you haven’t receieved a confirmation email from Moneybookers.com, the chances are your bank has realised that you’re trying to make a transaction with a foreign company – Mojang’s payment processors are based in London – and has voided the transaction on the assumption you’re the victim of fraud. Phone your bank and explain the situation.
(See this excellent comment for more details on this potential problem/solution.)
If that doesn’t work, it’s time for more advanced tactics.
If you’re trying to play a multiplayer game, double-check the IP you’re using to connect. Retype it from scratch and try again. If that still doesn’t work, try playing single-player – if you can do that but not multiplayer, it’s time to contact your server admin and ask them what’s up.
If all of this isn’t working, there’s a good chance that the latest version of Minecraft has messed something up. Check the official Minecraft support forums and see if there are a lot of other people posting similar problems. If so, the chances are it’s a problem on the Minecraft side, and there’ll be a fix soon. Often, you can also fix the problem by reverting to an older version of Minecraft – there are a variety of ways to do this, and if it works, people will probably be posting about it in the forums.
Failing all that, put up a post yourself, or contact Mojang support! The Minecraft community is extremely active and helpful, and Mojang are very active at responding to user problems – it might sound crazy to suggest it, but there’s a pretty good chance they’ll come up with a solution!
Did that work for you? Do you know other solutions to the Minecraft “User not premium” problem? Post them below!
{ 66 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi, what happens if i downloaded the 1.8 beta on the official website it still says user not premium?
@ben –
i have exactly same frisking problem, i downloaded the trial one created two accounts tried both of the and it still doesn’t work, i saw my friend playing it today, and he has same version and all. so i have no idea what is wrong with it… can somebody help?????
@somebody u dont know – Hm. That’s odd. Does the Web version work for you?
What the heck is going on. I’ve tried everything here and it’s not working. All I want to do is play Minecraft.
I went to the official site logged in it asked me to buy the game buth just the night before it worked completley fine so now what…
I did what this thing said, deleted the /bin file, and everything, re-downloaded it and now says I need to download it, or user not premium. And i have the same problem, it’s been almost a month since I had bought the game and the website still says i need to purchase the game :/
@J4cKP0ynT – Looks like you need to contact support.
Find your receipt and email “support@mojang.com”, explaining the problem and forwarding your email receipt to them – they should get back to you reasonably quickly.
How long?, because I already emailed them.
If it’s only been a couple of days, I’d give it a few more – they’re a small company and very busy. A second email might not be a bad idea – make sure to include the subject line and from address you used in the first one.
If it’s been more than that, you might want to post on the Minecraft forums that you’re having this problem and not getting any response from Mojang.
WTF. I have bought the game and nothing has work. I can log into the website, but it still says Im not a premium. This is [homophobic insult removed - but yeah, this sounds really annoying - Editor]
Have you tried the fixes suggested above?
yes. I have tried everything on here.
i bought minecraft 1.1 about mid january and it has been working fine up till today i went to sign in and it just said user not premium, so i went on minecraft .net and tried to play in browser but it said i need to purchase the game before i can play in browser. now i am incredibly angry because i payed like $30 for the damn game and now it doesnt even work
Usual question – have you contacted Mojang support about this?
WHAT
i bought the game, reset my computer, tryed all different download options and STILL it doesnt work. it just says ‘user not premium’
also, there was no ‘bin’ in the minecraft folder.
what do i do?
Hmm, that doesn’t sound good.
Are you on Windows Vista or Windows 7? If so, try running the Minecraft executable “as Administrator”, if you haven’t tried that yet.
I was having the same problem on a *brand new purchase* of minecraft. For me the fix was super simple, but this wont work for everybody.
I purchased the game, got an order confirmation #, executed the file, with the same result… user not premium, not downloaded.
While researching the problem I found an FAQ stating that most banks nullify the transaction immediately after the pruchase… somewhere after the order confirmation # is assigned on the site but before the confirmation e-mail is sent. But getting that first number led me to THINK I had purchased the game, but I didn’t realize I was waiting for an e-mail too.
I spoke to my bank as inquired about the transaction… as I suspected it was nullified. My banker informed me that as a safety feature, international purchases are locked out of most credit, debit, and bank cards. Since Mojang and Minecraft.net are based out of London, my card’s international safety features kicked in.
My simple solution: called my banker and had my card cleared for international purchases for 24 hours. Went home and purchased the game again (FOR REAL THIS TIME).
IF YOU DON’T HAVE A CONFIRM EMAIL FROM MONEYBOOKERS.COM, YOU DIDN’T ACTUALLY PURCHASE THE GAME. ALSO CHECK WITH YOUR BANK AND MAKE SURE SO YOU DON’T BUY IT TWICE ON ACCIDENT.
AHA! Thank you – this is an awesome comment. I’m going to add this tip to the body of this article, if you don’t mind?
I’m using 1.2.4 and I have the legit version bought it a week or two ago I’ve done everything above and now on top of it being “not premium” it’s now saying it’s not downloaded because you said to delete my bin folder. I’ve tried re-downloading it now I can;t even get the bin folder back. I really would appreciate some help now on how to make it stop saying it’s not premium and to get my bin folder back…thank you in advanced.
Hmm, that’s a nasty one – and I’m sorry our advice caused more problems!
First of all, delete your entire Minecraft / .minecraft folder and re-run the minecraft.exe to get your bin folder back.
Are you running single player or multiplayer?
Well, I got a gift code from a friend, and for a month or so on my second account for my sister (IGN dizzyizzy235) it said: user not premium, on minecraft.net and the launcher. why is this happening? and thanks if you know how to fix this
Ok , So I went to the “exellent comment” and when it told me to go to the user that I’m on , I didnt see the file . PLEASE HELP
Hi my sister bought the game a week ago and her bank sayes it has gone through so she bought it allready but mincraft still sayes that she has not bought it but she has. I have done everything but still will not let her me premium and/or she has not bough it. Please Help
I am new to minecraft and wanted as soon as possible to get the game. When I bought the game, it showed up on my credit card, but no confirmation email from moneybookers. It has been a few weeks and I still don’t have the game or email. I have sent an email to Mojang with no response. Do I contact my credit card company, or is the “excellent comment” for another situation?
Response to oosborne20: My best guess is this… even transactions that get voided are still transactions. I’d double check that the transaction didn’t get voided by your credit card company. It might still show up as a transaction on your bill in one column, and show up as a Void or Refund in another column on your bill. I’d absolutely check in with your card issuers, get hold of a human being, find out from them if the money was transferred, never transferred, or transferred and then returned (logically it should only be one of those three options). I got my moneybookers confirmation email within half an hour of purchase. And remember, if you must purchase the game again, to have your card cleared for international purchases for the next 24 hours, and give them half and hour at least to move that clearance through their systems… ask how long it’ll be when you have got them on the phone. You don’t want to do it all correctly only to get blocked by rushing the last step. Hope this helps, and please remember… this is my BEST GUESS.
Ginsu, you rock. Thanks.
OP – What he said
i bought the game a month ago. now when i log in it says user not premium. I contacted mojang a few minutes ago. But when i get my mc account back, will all of my server data go away?
deal with it!!!!!!!god its just a game for crying out loud!!!!!!
if u had premium account, lost premiuim status, then regained it, will u loose ur server data?
You shouldn’t do at all. The user not premium problem is a client problem – server should be unaffected.
I noticed this was one of the top Google results for people who have lost premium status. While there’s certainly some good info in here (like about Moneybookers), other things (like deleting your .bin folder) are a combination of outdated info (I know it’s a 2011 article) and witch doctor voodoo magic.
The top reasons for users to claim they are not premium:
1. They have attempted a purchase, but something in the process failed, and didn’t properly inform them. Double check your bank account.
2. Moneybookers (or, less frequently, Paypal) has refunded you. Double check your bank account (unfortunately, it takes a few days to show up).
3. The user has registered multiple usernames, one is premium, the others are not, and they’re using the wrong one.
I’ve also created this handy article, which will be updated periodically: http://help.mojang.com/customer/portal/articles/329541-i-was-premium-now-i-m-not-
-Marc
Wow! Honoured to have you visiting, Marc!
Yeah, this is an outdated article, which I’ve been meaning to tidy up for a while – sorry about that.
Part of the reason I haven’t is that it has been hard to find accurate, useful information about this error, as people are clearly finding. Your article’s going to be a huge step in the right direction there – thanks very much. I’m going to add a link to it in the body of this article, and also update the content to 2012 status, on Monday.
Would it be OK if I emailed you with any questions?
It’s definitely been a chore to find useful information on problems like this. I’ve been a player since 2010, and insisted that they hire me so that I could fix their support issues
I’ve written a large number of articles on help.mojang.com, and hopefully they’re doing their job.
If you have a few support related questions, feel free to send them my way.
6/24/2012
Ooooooh… Not free anymore, eehhh?
I’ve read this on their main site:
‘Play Minecraft Classic (Outdated, but free)
Single player | Multi player’
Than downloaded and register FREE acc. Logged in and it said ‘User not premium’
Tried run in browser and it said: ‘You need to purchase the game before you can play it.’
Than why, WHY it is written on the main page: ‘Play Minecraft Classic (Outdated, but free)’
Stupid assholes!
minecraft classic is free, but when you download it you are downloading the pay to play version. classic the one you can play for free in your browser
I bought minecraft and played it for accouple weeks. I took a brake and when i came back and tried it logging in again it told me user not premium. Whats up with that and how do i fix it?
Hi. I have a big problem i tried all what you say and still two problems: if i connect with direct connect it writes: User not premium. if i connect with add server it writes: cannot reach server. I don’t know what is going on, but i just know that here is a problem.
We paid for a premium account on the morning of 7/15/12. The payment has cleared our bank, yet we are still unable to use the premium account. I have tried to contact Mojang 2 occasions with no response (their support site says as of 7/12 they’re just getting to May’s emails!! ugh!). Checked the bank account and the payment has NOT been credited back to our account. I’ve re-downloaded the game. Logged out/in. And the account is persistent in saying “User Not Premium”. This is the 2nd account we’ve bought (we have 2 kids) and didn’t have this issue with the first account. That one was ready to go in seconds. Here is in nearly a week later on the 2nd account and we still get “User Not Premium.” Very frustrated.
hello, I’m only 13 and i was buying the game off of my moms credit card that got verified YESTERDAY. We both checked on her bank account and the purchase didn’t go through. I’ve posted about 12 questions on Yahoo! Answers and i still get the same thing. People are saying “Wait a couple of days” so while I’m sitting here waiting i contacted Moneybookers and Mojang. I did that last night (Aug 7) around 10 AM or 11 AM. It is now 1:13 (Aug 8) and still no answer. Should i tell my mom to contact her bank or something? Ive been waiting for 3 months to buy the game and now my chance is ruined. PLEASE HELP ME :’(
PS: I haven’t gotten an verification email from Mojang or Moneybookers and i bought the game last night (Aug 7) around 9:30 AM. Do i need to wait the 3-5 business days? Or try to buy the game again?
Ouch! I feel your pain – that’s a nasty situation to be in.
It sounds like you’ve already done the right things. Unfortunately, I’d recommend you wait a couple of days before doing anything else – the chances are that the bank’s doing something wierd or stupid. I know how much of a pain that can be!
If the purchase doesn’t go through in two days, definitely get your mum to contact her bank and ask what’s going on.
Chances are you should have Minecraft in a few days, but if you don’t, please do post again and we’ll try to help you out! Good luck!
Thank you soo much for replying! I will tell my mom to wait a couple of days then on Friday i will wait and see if it got turned into premium or not. If not then i will post my problem on here! Then best thing to do is wait!
i have like 8 accounts but i don’t remember the first one.
what do i do?
help
Ok, i have a strange problem. Nobody’s figured out how to fix it. I bought minecraft and can play it, It’s the real version ( not cracked), I bought it 2 months ago, and even got the confirmation email to tell me everything went fine…. But on Minecraft.net, it still says i’m not premium. I’ve looked for answers for weeks,but they all said “wait a while, it’ll turn premium eventually.” I wanted to email Notch about it, but i don’t have the order number anymore. What do i do?
well listen IF YOU HAVNT GOT A EMAIL FROM MONEYBOOKERS.COM THEN YOU HAVNT BOUGHT IT
only wait one 1-1 1/2 hours for it to go through if you didn’t get a email from moneybookers.com i has not gone through and must be bought again so there
thx u sooooo much i am getting to play minecraft now and having fun
Well I am suffering from the same problem. But whats weird is that I’m still able to play minecraft, but! because of this problem I can’t change my skin. I bought the game at least over a year ago now and only just recently gotten to playing it. I don’t understand what the problem could be :/ it’s annoying I can say that much.
I paid via paypal. The minecraft website crashed on return. Paypal has taken the money. I havn’t been upgraded. I havn’t had an acknowledgment. No one replies to my emails. I have raised a dispute via paypal to get my money back. Hoowever as this is a good game i’m trying a direct visa payment. This is SHOCKINGLY bad customer service.
I totally agree with u about the bad customer service thing, so much for us being true buyers, should of just downloaded the pirated version.
Omg ok so i got to wait 3-5 days when i actually buy the game. omg doesnt buying the game make me a more responsible person? minecraft quit fukkin with me. I know some people who got the pirated version and they got to play instantly wtf? So much for being a buyer. Oh yea and i forgot Thank you Minecraft for making me wait for 5 days(said sarcastically)
I bought a prepaid gift card from best buy and it says in my account that the game has been purchased but when I try to log in it tells me that dreaded “user not premium”. what can I do to fix this?
Hmm, that’s a new problem – not heard of the Best Buy gift cards.
Have you tried contacting Mojang customer support as recommended above?
Other than that – can you tell us a bit more about how the sales process worked, and we might be able to suggest something?
I bought a pre paid card and I think I have problem numer 3. Can u tell me how to fix this? I think I overlapped the username twice.
I’d suggest two things:
1) Check your email for emails about Minecraft. They should contain your username, I believe.
2) Try contacting customer support as explained in Mojang’s article
I bought Minecraft a week ago with a best buy redeemable gift card, and I still have “user not premium” I sent out two emails. I’ll make sure to write back in this forum when/if it works.
Let us know!
Please help! A while back I was given a minecraft premium giftcode. I activated it on minecraft.net and used it for several months…with no issues. Now when I try to login it says that user isn’t premium. It isn’t a different account, I click remember me, it isn’t a invalid code because it worked for a long time. I’ve tried rebooting both my computer and minecraft several times, and even when I go on minecraft.net it shows up that I need to buy it. Please tell me how to fix this!
Hey so i have a question, i got minecraft years ago when it was like “pay £5 now and get the full release when its out for free” or some shit and now im apparently now a premium member… Wat da fack… any help?
Just means you can still play it – enjoy!
I am having the same problem with the gift card.(I bought mine from Walmart) I know its redeemed because I can log into the website and see how long I’ve had it. But it won’t let me download it and says user not premium. Tried the minecraft forums with no help. Sent 2 support emails.
Recieved MInecraft code from a friend as a gift in November. Worked fine then. Now I have a new comp and operating system, tried to login and “User Not Premium” error. How do I fix it so I can play
ya idk about this but i was playing and my account is premium and then the next day i get on and its not i have been playing on it for a long time and i dont know whats happened
can some1 help me
*just buy the darn game*
You make it sound easy. Do you think we all can afford buying minecraft or other game? It’s like $3. It’s equal to a HUNDRED php in my country.
And where would i even get visa and mastercard? I’m just between 10 and 20 for that! Thats the largest reasons we use cracked games.
WE CANNOT AFFORD THEM.
I had two accounts for some reason. THANK YOU! i had no idea, you saved me a lot of stress
No problem at all! Glad it helped.