Why Does PineconeMC Launch the Demo Version of Minecraft?

PineconeMC starts Minecraft in demo mode when the launcher has no valid account selected for the instance. The fix is to create a new account in the launcher — either an Ely.by account or an offline account — and make sure that account is the one active for the instance you launch. PineconeMC is a Prism Launcher fork that adds integrated Ely.by support and lets you play without a Microsoft account, but it still needs some account before it will start the full game.

What actually triggers demo mode

Minecraft falls back to the demo when it can't resolve a usable profile for the launch. In PineconeMC that usually means one of these:

• No account has been added yet (a fresh install).
• An account exists but isn't selected for the instance being launched.
• The selected account failed to authenticate — for example, an Ely.by login that didn't complete.

The launcher's own FAQ points to the first case directly: if it launches the demo version, "you have to create a new account. It can be either Ely.by or offline one."

Step-by-step fix

1. Open the account manager in PineconeMC (the same place Prism Launcher manages accounts).
2. Add an account and choose the type:
   • Ely.by — sign in with your Ely.by credentials. PineconeMC supports secure OAuth2 authentication for both Microsoft and Ely.by accounts, so this is the smoother path if you have an Ely.by profile.
   • Offline — pick a username. Use this if you don't have an Ely.by account and only play on servers that allow offline mode.
3. Select the account so it's the active one, then confirm it shows as logged in.
4. Launch the instance again. The demo banner should be gone and the full game should start.

Expected result: the instance launches with your chosen username, and the demo notice no longer appears.

Common snags

• You added an account but still get the demo. Check that the account is actually selected for that instance, not just present in the list.
• Ely.by sign-in fails. Re-check your Ely.by credentials on their site first; a failed auth leaves you without a usable profile.
• You want to join a specific server. Ely.by and offline accounts can only join servers running with online-mode=false. A server in online mode will reject them regardless of your launcher setup.
• Skins look wrong. PineconeMC supports skins everywhere via official patches, but capes aren't part of the Ely.by system — the official system supports them and Ely.by doesn't, so capes require mods.

Quick reference

If you'd rather not manage accounts per install, the portable builds bundle dependencies and instances in one folder you can move between disks — handy if you're setting up the same accounts on another machine.