Windows

Can't download Mineways itself? First thing to try: open up an Incognito tab and download from the homepage. If that doesn't work, try using a different browser. Sometimes antivirus software will not allow you to download Mineways (and sometimes it won't even tell you it's "protecting" you). Chrome and other browsers may give you "minewaysVxxx.zip is not commonly downloaded and may be dangerous" with a "Discard" button next to it. Hit the "^" to the right of that and choose "Keep." Alternately, download the Mineways minimal version, which shouldn't give the warning. Everything else in the main zip is for adding new resource packs, automating processes, etc. Mineways.exe is all you need most of the time. If you get "Windows protected your PC" when running Mineways, click on "More info" and then "Run anyway".

Me, I'm trustworthy. The Mineways code is open source. That said, do make sure you're downloading Mineways from this site, mineways.com (which renames to https://erich.realtimerendering.com/minecraft/public/mineways/, because I'm a cheapskate).

If you test the Mineways executable files with VirusTotal, you're likely to get one out of 74 scanners turning up something like Bkav Pro flagging "W64.AIDetectMalware". I believe this is false positive (I've written them asking to investigate); note how the other 73 scanners found nothing. That said, I won't be hurt if you want to use jmc2obj or MiEx instead.

If you have problems with exporting, first try not changing any export options. Some tutorial videos give various options to click in the export dialog. For the most part, the default options should get you something reasonable to start with, and changing them might even cause a crash in Mineways (since there are so many permutations, it is hard for me to test them all).

If you get an error about MSVCR140.DLL being missing or "VCRUNTIME140_1.dll was not found" or "api-ms-win-runtime-l1-1-0-.dll" not found or similar, install the Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable for Visual Studio 2015, 2017 and 2019 for your system. Select vc_redist.x64.exe if you have a 64-bit system, vc_redist.x86.exe for a 32-bit system. You may also need to reboot. (Not sure what system type you have? Press the Windows key+I, select "System", select "About" at the bottom, and look at "System type" under "Device specifications"). Sorry for this annoyance, but Microsoft does not make this easy, and the problem even has a name. Microsoft will misleadingly say "Reinstalling the program may fix this problem" - it won't. Installing the redistributable will. Still having weird problems on startup? Try looking for system corruption, advice from this post. Note: For Mineways 5.10 and earlier, you may get an error about MSVCR120.DLL being missing; install the Visual Studio 2013 (VC++ 12.0) redistributable.

If you get "This app can't run on your PC", please try downloading again. This error was reported and later found to be a corrupt download. The main executable files are 64-bit, so should run on newer versions of Windows.

If you get "Error writing to export file; partial file output" (and "PNG error: failed to open file for writing") when you try to save an export, it's likely that antivirus software (such as Avast) is blocking Mineways. You need to give Mineways permission to write documents. See the item above if you want to test Mineways for viruses. Another possibility is that the directory path you gave Mineways is somehow confusing it. Try exporting to some directory that is simpler, such as c:\temp (which you may need to create, of course).(Thanks to Repty for figuring out the antivirus solution.)

Mineways understands only worlds created in the Minecraft: Java (aka Classic) Edition. If it doesn't find your worlds, you may be using the Bedrock Edition on Windows 10. If your level.dat files are located in a directory with the path ..."\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.Minecraft"... in it, or have weird directory names like "ZAD1Xfl9AAA=", that's a Bedrock Edition save. You can easily convert worlds from the Bedrock to the Java Edition so that Mineways can read them.

If Mineways doesn't run for you, make sure you've got the latest version, downloaded the whole .zip file (it should be about 24 megabytes), that you have unzipped the file to some directory, and that you're running mineways.exe. Read on for more things to try.

If Mineways gives you an error on startup or gets stuck mid-export, try Mineways32 (aka "for_old_machines_Mineways32.exe"). If that doesn't work any better, double-click (i.e., run) the file mineways_min_debug.bat (you might not see the ".bat" on your system). This will start up without loading the list of worlds, and create a file mineways_exec.log while running Mineways. After Mineways crashes or doesn't start or fails, etc., take a look at this file. Whatever is happening at the end of it may give you a hint. If not, send it on to me for analysis. You might also try mineways_debug_log.bat, which starts up normally (loads your list of worlds), unlike mineways_min_debug.bat, but still creates a debug log file.

Is your first language not English? Mineways (especially Sketchfab export) can have problems with accented characters. If, after checking into antivirus blockers, it fails to run or save, try unpacking Mineways into a directory with a short name such as C:\temp and try running it and saving there.

If a particular world is not loading, note that Mineways is unlikely to work on modded worlds. Mineways assumes certain things about how blocks can connect, and if those rules are modified, all bets are off.

If you find you scroll the map and the program crashes, or you crash when exporting, it's likely you're out of memory. Ideas: close down all other applications you have running; use Mineways32.exe instead of Mineways.exe, which limits map memory usage to about 2 gigabytes; under "Help" select "Give more export memory!"

If you are still using Windows XP, the last version that will work for you is 4.17.

One user had a problem where the left mouse did not drag the map. He found unzipping the zip again fixed it - strange. Me, I'd also try rebooting.

Still stuck? See the General Troubleshooting section below for other common problems.

Feel free to write me if you still have problems. The more you describe what you've tried, what happened or didn't happen, and what type of computer you're on (Windows 10, Mac, etc.), the more chance I have of helping you.

Mac

To use Mineways on the Mac, download Mineways 11.07 on Wineskin (387 Mb), which runs on Big Sur (thanks, Hypersun_pro/Froxcey!). You'll likely get a message that this pkg cannot be opened because it is from an unidentified developer. If you instead right-click the pkg file and select "Open" and confirm, you can then install it. The steps done to make the Mineways Mac version are shown in this tutorial.

Other options: you can use Wine if you know what you're doing. Another option is PlayOnMac, which is free. Using it, run Mineways32.exe in the Windows distribution (now called "for_old_machines_Mineways32.exe"), the 32-bit version.

Other options that may work include VMware Fusion, which is free to students and home users (i.e., you), and Parallels, which has a free trial.

Another option is to use Crossover, which costs money, but does have a free 14-day trial (and the promo code "CX64BIT" gives you a 25% discount). I've briefly tried this out, and it's a bit confusing to set up, but does work. You don't "install" Mineways, the program just runs. What I did was "create a new bottle," (lower left corner of main window) then "Run Command..." and pick mineways32.exe (now "for_old_machines_Mineways32.exe")- this worked. Crossover does not appear to work on the 64-bit version of Mineways.

Yet another way is to use Boot Camp, which lets you boot your Mac as a Windows 10 machine. This is a pretty serious commitment, but will certainly work.

By default, Mineways now uses its own tile textures that are stored in the program itself. Other "terrainExt.png" can be used - a number of these come with the program. Use "File | Set Terrain File" and select the terrainExt.png in /users/<your name>/Downloads/MinewaysMac or wherever you put Mineways. You might need to search for these files, just use Spotlight and search on "terrainExt.png". The other terrainExt*.png files will be found in this directory.

When you save, go to the directory /Users/<your name>/Documents to save. Note that the 32-bit version of Mineways cannot export huge areas that the 64-bit version can. This normally doesn't matter for 3D printing, since you want to keep the models small. If you do find you're out of memory, try the "Give more export memory!" option under Help, which clears out the map cache before trying to export the area you've selected.

Otherwise the Mac version is the same as the PC version, and Mac users can similarly use MeshLab or GLC Player for viewing exported 3D models. See the main documentation page for (way) more help on using Mineways in general.

Troubleshooting for the Mac

If you get the warning "'Mineways' can't be opened because the identity of the developer cannot be confirmed." take steps similar to those explained in the Answers here. The short version: right-click and select "Open," then verify that you want to run the program. Yes, I'm trustworthy.

If when opening a world it says that the file name cannot contain the characters "/ : < > or |", change your world's folder name so that it doesn't contain these characters. Mineways is a Windows program masquerading as a Mac program, and Windows does not allow any of these characters in file names.

If you get the message "Couldn't find your Minecraft world saves directory..." you'll need to guide Mineways to wherever your world files are saved on your computer. Follow these instructions. If you are using a Mac with a language that is not English, Mineways may still have problems with the path to your files. One solution is to copy your world files to C:\TEMP or some other short, English folder name - this avoids the path problems. Another solution may be to temporarily change the language to English.

If you get "Error creating export file; no file output" or "PNG error: failed to open file for writing," try saving to a simple directory name. Mineways is a Windows application underneath it all, so elaborate directory paths with special characters can confuse it. Making a simple directory name and saving to it fixes this problem.

If you can't see the Application Support/minecraft folder, see this page for how to use the terminal utility to make it visible - old article, but one of those is bound to work. Short version (which should still work): search for "terminal" in Spotlight, copy and paste this line into the terminal:

	defaults write com.apple.Finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE

and then hit Enter. Then type or paste this line:

	killall Finder

to restart the finder. You can find your saves folder by opening Finder -> Go -> Go To Folder -> type ~/Library/Application Support/minecraft/saves. For future reference, it's best to make an alias for this folder and copy it to your desktop.

Selection is done with right-click; if you are using a trackpad or your mouse cannot right-click, hold down the Control key and left-click, or see this page for more options.

Still stuck? See the General Troubleshooting section below.

Feel free to write me if you have problems. The more you describe what you've tried, what happened or didn't happen, and what type of computer you're on (Windows 10, Mac, etc.), the more chance I have of helping you.

Linux

For Linux, download the Windows version and then use WINE to emulate Windows. You should be able to use the normal 64-bit mineways.exe, according to users and this FAQ. Note: Wine also works on the Mac; the downloadable Mac version here is the Windows version plus the Wine executables wrapped around it. That said, some Ubuntu Linux users have had problems (that I haven't figured out - something about GetMessage...). Linux is not "supported" by Mineways; I don't have Linux on any machine, I've never tried Mineways on Linux, I've been told it sometimes works. Crossover for Linux may work for you (see my Mac instructions above) - let me know. One other bit of advice: try starting up with "mineways -s none" if you get a warning about the worlds directory not being found.