Glossary

Glossary of Minecraft name terms

The words players, and this site, use when they talk about Minecraft: Java Edition usernames, in alphabetical order. For longer explanations see the articles and the guide to name drops.

3L, 3C

A three-letter name (letters only) and a three-character name (digits and underscore allowed). The shortest names there are, and the rarest: see 3-letter names.

4L, 4C

The same for four letters or four characters. Much more numerous than 3L names, and still wanted when they are clean words.

37-day rule

A name left by its owner stays reserved for 37 days before anyone else can claim it. Explained in the guide.

Available

No account has the name and Minecraft accepts it: it can be claimed right now.

Blocked

A name with no owner that Mojang does not allow. Nobody can claim it, and it will not drop.

Bedrock Edition

The version of Minecraft on consoles, phones and Windows. It shows your Xbox gamertag instead of a Java username: see Java and Bedrock names.

Cape

A cloak shown on a player's back. Minecraft gives some for events and purchases; mods such as OptiFine and LabyMod have their own, seen by their users.

Claim

Changing your own account's name to a name that is free: how a name is taken after it drops.

Cooldown

The 30 days an account must wait after a name change before it can change again.

Dictionary name

A name that is a real word in some language. Short dictionary names are among the most wanted.

Drop

The moment a reserved name becomes free again, 37 days after its owner changed away from it.

Drop time

When a name drops. Known only as a window, because nobody outside Mojang sees the exact second of the rename.

Gamertag

The name of an Xbox profile, shown on Bedrock Edition. It follows Xbox rules, not Minecraft's.

IGN

In-game name: the name other players see. On Java Edition, your username.

Java Edition

The original version of Minecraft for computers. The usernames on this site are Java Edition names.

Microsoft account

The account every Minecraft account signs in with since the move from Mojang accounts. Its security protects your name: see protecting your account.

Name change

Choosing a new username for your account, free once every 30 days. See how to change your name.

Name history

The names an account has had. Mojang stopped publishing it in 2022; ours is what we saw ourselves: name history.

OG name

Short for "original": a short, clean name, usually letters only and often a real word. See OG, 3L and 4L names.

Rate limit

The cap Mojang puts on how often an account or an address may ask about names. Going over it means waiting before asking again.

Reserved

A name with no owner that cannot be claimed yet, because its 37 days are not over. It is on its way to a drop.

Skin

The picture wrapped around a player's model. It belongs to the account and stays after a name change.

Sniping

Claiming a name the instant it drops, by hand or with a program. A sniper is whoever does it.

Taken

An account has the name right now.

UUID

The permanent identifier of an account. Names change; the UUID never does.

Watch

Following a name on this site so we write to you when it is left, before it drops and when it is free: follow a name.

Window

The stretch of time a drop is expected in: the gap between the two looks around the rename, 37 days later. See how to read a drop window.