Why PineconeMC Launches the Demo Version (and How to Fix It)

Updated

PineconeMC starts Minecraft in demo mode when the launcher has no valid account selected for that instance. The launcher itself is not the cause, and this is not a sign that you need to pay. Create a new account in the launcher — either an Ely.by account or an offline account — select it, and launch again. The official FAQ states this directly: "You have to create a new account. It can be either Ely.by or offline one."

What "demo version" means here

Minecraft falls back to demo mode when it can't find a usable account profile to authenticate the game session. PineconeMC is a fork of Prism Launcher that adds integrated Ely.by support, so it does not require a Microsoft account. But it still needs some account entry to hand to the game.

An empty or unselected account list is the most common trigger. This is separate from whether the launcher is free — the demo launch happens because no account is active, not because of licensing.

How to fix it

  1. Open the launcher and go to the account management section (in Prism-based launchers this is under Accounts in Settings).
  2. Add a new account and choose one of the two supported types:
    • Ely.by account — enter your Ely.by credentials. PineconeMC uses secure OAuth2 authentication for both MSA and Ely.by.
    • Offline account — pick a username. No external login needed.
  3. Select the new account so it's the active one for your instance.
  4. Launch the game again.

Expected result: the game starts normally instead of dropping into demo mode.

Things to check if it still launches in demo

  • No account is selected. Adding an account isn't enough — it has to be the active one for the instance you're launching.
  • You're launching a different instance that still points at an empty account.
  • The account was removed or failed to authenticate. Re-add it and confirm the login completes.

What servers you can join

With an Ely.by or offline account, you can join servers running with online-mode=false. Servers that require official Microsoft authentication will not accept these accounts.

A note on safety and sources

The launcher is safe if downloaded from official sources: pineconemc.ru, elyprismlauncher.github.io, or the ElyPrismLauncher/Launcher repository. You can also review and build the source yourself. The project explicitly asks that questions about this fork not be posted in the official Prism Launcher GitHub or Discord.

Minimum requirements

PineconeMC requires Windows 10 or later. On older versions, the project suggests considering Legacy Launcher instead.