I host my own Minecraft server and have online-mode set to false in serer.properties.
Now, I want others to join but I don’t expect them to buy a legitimate copy of Minecraft. Isn’t that why we use this setting online-mode?
In the ol’ days (1.8 and post), I remember using some copy of Minecraft where I could just change my username on every start of this client, and join my server. Period. Done. I want the same again. Is this possible? In a non-illegal way? What about grey-area? I don’t care about security or impersonation (partly).
Didn’t you read the post, did OP change it fully or am I hallucinating? They’re asking how someone without an MC account can get and launch the game. All normal launchers require at least one legit account to log in and download the game.
You’d need a cheating client with a launcher, which usually allows you to use unauthenticated accounts. As that’s pretty weird, they’re asking for some other alternative.
Ok, it seems like he’s asking how someone can play on the server non-illegally without getting a copy of the game, which just seemed incredibly weird to me because of course that’s impossible.
Either you buy a copy or you get a client illegally.
Maybe not, I think. If third party launchers are legal, and one of these supports offline playing, then it can be used for all online-mode=false servers. But this requires one initial login from a legitimate account. This means you have to give your password to whomever wants to join your server.
Third party launchers that do not check for an official account are certainly not legal. Just do piracy, it’s completely fine.