Fix: Sound not Working in Minecraft

Some players reportedly notice a bug while playing Minecraft where they cannot hear any sound from the game. They can hear the sound through Windows and other applications but nothing from the game.

The sound disappearing from Minecraft is not a new issue and is reported to occur mostly when the players update their game to the latest patch available by the developers. This is an ongoing issue and often emerges every now and then. There is nothing to worry about as this is usually a bug or some slight misconfigurations which conflict with the settings of the game.

What causes Sound not to Work in Minecraft?

We looked into this issue by analyzing several different cases through various user reports and fixes that were used to solve the issue at hand. Based on our research and experimentation, there are several culprits which are known to cause this particular issue. Some of them are listed below:

Note: This article targets ways to fix the issue only when the sound from Minecraft is not transmitting. If you cannot hear the sound from any application of computer, it is suggested that you check out our article Fix: Windows 10 No Sound

Solution 1: Refreshing the Game and its Textures

The first solution which we are going to try is refreshing the game and its textures. As you all might already know, Minecraft uses hundreds of different textures where each of them is associated with a unique sound and how sound should be transmitted whenever a player interacts with the object. If any of them is in an error state, the game will not output any sound.

You should start by pressing F3 + S on your keyboard. If this doesn’t work, press F3 + T. These commands reload the textures, models, sounds, and other resource pack contents which are linked to your Minecraft game. A complete reload usually solves the issue of no sound when any of the modules is in an error state or was not initialized properly.

Be extremely patient when the textures are being re-applied as this is a tedious task. After the screen has loaded up properly, check if the sound issue is fixed.

Solution 2: Checking if Minecraft was Muted Accidentally

Like all other games, Minecraft also has the option of a separate volume mixer in the computer. A volume mixer allows you to control the volume being output from several different applications or programs. If by any chance, Minecraft was muted, you would not be able to hear any sound except that of produced by other applications. In this solution, we will navigate to your volume mixer and check if indeed Minecraft was muted.

1. Right-click on the sounds icon present in your Desktop and select Open Volume Mixer.

2. Once the volume mixer is opened, check if there is a Minecraft mini-window.

3. After locating the volume mixer, make sure that you increase the volume of Minecraft to the fullest. After the volume mixer is at its peak, try launching the game and check if you can hear the sound perfectly.

Solution 3: Checking Sound in Minecraft

There are also several cases where the sound inside Minecraft is muted or lowered to such an extent that the game doesn’t output any sound at all. This is a very common scenario and there are times where the sound control of the game is lowered by default. In this solution, we will navigate to the settings of the game and make sure that the settings are not set incorrectly.

1. Launch Minecraft in your computer and click on Options when the screen loads up completely. If you have installed Minecraft from the Windows store, click Settings instead (the Options button will not be available).

2. Now when the game’s options come up, click on Music and Sounds. If you have downloaded Minecraft from the Windows store, click on Audio.

3. Now make sure that each setting is set to 100%. This includes all the sound options including Music, weather, blocks etc.

4. After changing the settings, select Done. Now restart your game and check if you can hear the sound properly without any issues.

Solution 4: Changing Mipmap Levels

Mipmapping lowers the quality of distant textures on your game. It reduces the flicker and aliasing on the texture itself. The mipmap levels determine the game will blur textures as compared to your location (where you are) in the map. Even though this option has nothing to do with the game, there are several reports that changing this option solved the issue instantly and the sound was transmitting again. In this solution, we will navigate to the game’s settings and change the mipmap levels.

1. Launch Minecraft and click on Options.
2. Once the options have opened, select Video Settings.

3. Now locate the mipmap You will see a slider. You have to move it in order to change the mipmap levels. Change it to 4 and then restart your game. If this doesn’t work, try changing it to another level and then check again.

4. Once you have discovered the correct mipmap level where there isn’t any issue, save your changes and enjoy the game.

Solution 5: Changing the Sound to Stereo

Another interesting case which we came across was where the sound, if set to surround caused Minecraft not to work properly and not transmit any audio. This seems like a bug internally inside the game because all games have the ability to transmit sound without depending on any sound setting selected. Here in this solution, we will navigate to your sound settings and change the setting to Stereo instead of Surround.

1. Press Windows + S, type “sound” in the dialogue box and open the application.
2. Once in sound settings, click on your output speaker and click on Configure present at the bottom left side of the screen.

3. Select the option Stereo and press Next.

4. Complete the setup. You can leave the default settings and keep pressing Next.
5. After the sound settings are changed, restart your computer and check if the issue is resolved and you are able to hear Minecraft perfectly.

Solution 6: Disabling Sound Enhancements

Some sound drivers use enhancements in an attempt to improve your sound quality. If these properties are not compatible with Minecraft, this can result in some major problems. We can try disabling the audio enhancements and check of the sound issue gets resolved. Not all sound drivers perform this function. They may have the Enhancements tab renamed as sound blaster. In that case, we can try disabling all the effects to the audio.

1. Press Windows + R button to launch your Run In the dialogue box, type “Control Panel” to launch the application.
2. Once in the control panel, type “sound” on the search bar present at the top right side of the screen. Open the options of sound the return in the search result.
3. Once the sound options are opened, click on the audio device connected to your computer. Right-click and select Properties.

4. Now head over to the Enhancements tab and uncheck all the enhancements enabled (you can also check the box which says “Disable all enhancements”).
5. Now select the Advanced tab and uncheck the exclusive mode where applications are allowed to override the settings. Save your changes and exit.

6. Now try outputting sound from Minecraft and check if the problem is fixed

Solution 7: Reinstalling Audio Drivers

If all the above methods fail to work, we can try reinstalling your Audio drivers and see if they do the trick. Audio drivers are the main components used in making a link between the sound hardware and the operating system. If the drivers are problematic and are not working properly, you will either not be able to hear any sound at all or have intermediate problems (like the one under discussion). In this solution, we will reinstall your Audio drivers and check if the issue gets resolved.

First, we will simply try Disabling and Enabling audio drivers. If this doesn’t work, we will try to install the default drivers. If the default drivers don’t work as well, we will update the drivers to the latest build and see if this fixes the problem.

1. Press Windows + R, type “devmgmt.msc” in the dialogue box and press Enter.
2. Once in the device manager, expand the category of Audio inputs and outputs, right-click on your sound device and select Disable Device.

3. Now, wait for a few seconds before Enabling the device again. Now check if the issue gets resolved.

If simply enabling/disabling the sound device doesn’t work, we will move on and install the default sound drivers.

1. Right-click on the sound hardware and select Uninstall device.

2. Now right-click anywhere on the screen and select Scan for hardware changes. The computer will not scan for any hardware not installed and will find the sound module. It will automatically install the default drivers.

Now check if you can hear Minecraft’s sound properly. If you still cannot, right-click on the sound hardware and select Update driver. You can then prompt for an automatic update. You can also navigate to your manufacturer’s website and download the latest sound drivers and install them accordingly in your computer.

Solution 8: Reinstalling Minecraft

If none of the above methods work on your computer and you still unable to produce any sound output from Minecraft, you should move on and reinstall the entire game. Make sure that you save your progress and backup any files which you might need in the future. Also, make sure that you are logged in as an administrator on your computer.

1. Press Windows + R, type “appwiz.cpl” in the dialogue box and press Enter.
2. Once in the application manager, locate Minecraft, right-click on it and select Uninstall.
   You can also uninstall the game by executing the uninstaller from the folder directory. Make sure that you also delete all the mod files and temporary setting files.

   

3. Now navigate to Minecraft’s official website, insert the credentials and download the game again. After installing, launch the game and check if the issue is resolved.