Error «The authentication servers are currently down for maintenance» — How to solve a problem in Minecraft

Many players are encountering an annoying error when trying to log into a Minecraft server.

The authentication servers are currently down for maintenance”
or
“The authentication servers are currently not reachable. Please try again.”

This message appears most often on versions 1.8.x — 1.16.5, and it can be confusing - it seems like the server is down.
But the server is fine—it's online consistently. The error isn't related to it, but to your local Java installation.

💡 Why does the error occur?
Minecraft (especially older client versions) uses a Java library to establish a secure connection to Mojang's servers.

In older versions of Java 8, some security certificates (TLS) are out of date.
Because of this, the Minecraft authentication system cannot authenticate the connection and "thinks" the server is unavailable.

Put differently, the problem isn't with Minecraft or the server, but with outdated Java root certificates on your computer.

✅ How to fix the problem step by step
Step 1: Install the latest version of Java
1. Go to the official Java website
2. Download the latest version for your PC.
3. Install the new Java and restart your PC.

💡 Tip: If you're playing through a launcher, it may use its own Java. You can manually specify the path to the new Java version in the launcher settings.

Step 2. Restart the launcher and log in again.
After Java is updated, the connection to the server will be restored, and you'll be able to access the server without any problems.

⚙️ Alternative way(for advanced users)
If for some reason you can't update Java, you can try manually replacing the security certificates.

This is a less reliable method, but it helps temporarily.

1. Open folder C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.8.x\lib\security\
2. Replace file cacerts with the latest version of Java.

⚠️ IMPORTANT: Make a backup copy of the old file so that if an error occurs, you can restore everything back.

🧩 If you're using older launcher builds

Some third-party launchers include built-in Java. In this case, updating your Java system won't help.

Check your launcher settings and make sure it's not using an older built-in version of Java.

💬 Conclusions:

The "Authentication servers are down" error doesn't mean the server is unavailable.
It's a sign that your client can't establish a secure connection due to an outdated Java version.

Just update Java 8 to the latest version and everything will work again.

Enjoy playing on Mineland Network!
🌐 IP: mc.mineland.net или tel.play-ml.ru

Discord: https://mineland.net/discord/en
Forum: https://forum.mineland.net/