How to Fix Audio Issues on Linux
Minecraft plays sound through OpenAL Soft and switches sound off when no audio device opens. On Linux, check the log, the Device option and the backend.
Quick Fix
Check Options, Music & Sound Options, Device first. If latest.log says Failed to open OpenAL device, start the launcher from a terminal with ALSOFT_DRIVERS=pulse in front of the command to try OpenAL Soft's PulseAudio backend.
Error Message
Failed to open OpenAL device / Error starting SoundSystem. Turning off sounds & musicHow to Fix
In Minecraft open Options, then Music & Sound Options, and set Device to System Default or to the output you actually use.
Search latest.log for OpenAL. OpenAL initialized on device tells you which device was opened; Failed to open OpenAL device means none was.
Try another backend for one launch by starting the launcher from a terminal with ALSOFT_DRIVERS=pulse or ALSOFT_DRIVERS=alsa in front of the command. If one works, make it permanent with a drivers line in the [general] section of ~/.config/alsoft.conf.
For a Flatpak launcher, grant sound access with flatpak override --user --socket=pulseaudio followed by the app ID that flatpak list --app shows.
Set ALSOFT_LOGLEVEL=3 when starting the launcher so OpenAL Soft logs what it tries, which shows why a device fails.
Common Causes
- No audio device could be opened when the sound engine started. latest.log shows Failed to open OpenAL device and Error starting SoundSystem. Turning off sounds & music, and the game runs without sound.
- OpenAL Soft picked a backend that has no working output on your system.
- The launcher runs as a Flatpak without access to the sound server. The --socket=pulseaudio permission is what gives a Flatpak app sound.
- The wrong output is selected in Minecraft's own Device option, or the selected device was unplugged; the log then says Audio device was lost!
Diagnostic Steps
- Check Device under Music & Sound Options.
- Search latest.log for OpenAL.
- Test with ALSOFT_DRIVERS=pulse from a terminal.
- For a Flatpak launcher, check the pulseaudio socket permission.
- Restart Minecraft after each change.
FAQ
PulseAudio or PipeWire?
Either works. Many current distributions run PipeWire with pipewire-pulse, which offers the PulseAudio interface, so OpenAL Soft's pulse backend works on both.
Do Java sound settings change Minecraft's audio?
No. Minecraft plays sound through OpenAL Soft, so OpenAL Soft's config file and environment variables are what matter.
Where is the OpenAL Soft config file?
Your own settings go in ~/.config/alsoft.conf and system-wide settings in /etc/xdg/alsoft.conf.
