Tracking down Minecraft account creation

Minecraft Accounts.md

Tracks down when a Minecraft account was created.

How it works

Mojang has an API endpoint for usernames:

https://api.mojang.com/users/profiles/minecraft/<name>?at=<timestamp>

It can be used to find the UUID of an account, by username it used at the given time.
It returns either 200 OK or 204 No Content – indicating that the username was not in use at the time.

That means we can find out whether an account existed at a specific time.
We always look at a range of time, starting with Jan 2010 - now.
The range is then split in half, and a request is made for the intermediate time.
200 means the account already existed, thus created in the first half; 204 means the account did not yet exist, thus created in the second half.
This step is repeated with the respective time range until the exact second is found.
See also: Babylonian Method

Currently it needs about 27 requests to find the creation date.

Caveats

This works with nodejs, however it's not a proper module and the track function doesn't have a callback.

Due to Mojang being Mojang, the API endpoint is horribly broken:

• It does not work with legacy accounts
• It does not work with accounts that have been renamed
  • Except sometimes™
  • The result may be inaccurate though

Example usage

The arrow indicates in which half of the time range the account was created.

> track("dinnerbone")

range: 1263146630	<-|  	1453566749
range: 1263146630	<-|  	1358356689
range: 1263146630	<-|  	1310751659
range: 1263146630	  |->	1286949144
range: 1275047888	  |->	1286949144
range: 1280998517	  |->	1286949144
range: 1283973831	<-|  	1286949144
range: 1283973831	  |->	1285461487
range: 1284717660	  |->	1285461487
range: 1285089574	  |->	1285461487
range: 1285275531	  |->	1285461487
range: 1285368510	  |->	1285461487
range: 1285414999	<-|  	1285461487
range: 1285414999	  |->	1285438243
range: 1285426622	<-|  	1285438243
range: 1285426622	<-|  	1285432432
range: 1285426622	  |->	1285429527
range: 1285428075	<-|  	1285429527
range: 1285428075	  |->	1285428801
range: 1285428439	  |->	1285428801
range: 1285428621	<-|  	1285428801
range: 1285428621	  |->	1285428711
range: 1285428667	  |->	1285428711
range: 1285428690	  |->	1285428711
range: 1285428701	  |->	1285428711
range: 1285428707	<-|  	1285428711
range: 1285428707	<-|  	1285428709
range: 1285428707	<-|  	1285428708
found: Sat, 25 Sep 2010 15:31:47 GMT

track.js

function check(name, num, callback) {
  https.get("https://api.mojang.com/users/profiles/minecraft/" + name + "?at=" + num, function(resp) {
    callback(resp.statusCode === 200);
  });
};

function track(name, a, b, lastfail) {
  a = a || 1263146630; // notch sign-up
  b = b || Math.floor(Date.now()/1000);
  lastfail = lastfail || 0;

  if(a === b) {
    check(name, a, function(ok) {
      if (ok && lastfail === a-1) {
        console.log("found:", new Date(a*1000).toUTCString());
      } else {
        if (lastfail === 0) {
          console.log("target is <= " + a);
        } else {
          console.log("target is > " + a);
        }
      }
    });
  } else {
    var mid = a + Math.floor((b-a)/2);
    check(name, mid, function(ok) {
      if (ok) {
        console.log("range: " + a + "\t<-|  \t" + b);
        track(name, a, mid, lastfail);
      } else {
        console.log("range: " + a + "\t  |->\t" + b);
        track(name, mid+1, b, mid);
      }
    });
  }
}

@glee75 sorry, another null :(

hi can you check " TechwizardDK" ?

sorry, another null

Hello, could you try Glynnshed? If that doesn't work try either Lyndhurst2016 or Glynnshed2012.

@glee75 sorry, another null :(

hi can you check " TechwizardDK" ?

sorry, another null

Hello, could you try Glynnshed? If that doesn't work try either Lyndhurst2016 or Glynnshed2012.

Glynnshed2012 was created at 2020-10-01

LISTEN!!

For anyone that is new to this post, just open https://api.ashcon.app/mojang/v2/user/YOUNICKHERE
You don't need anything else.

LISTEN!!

For anyone that is new to this post, just open https://api.ashcon.app/mojang/v2/user/YOUNICKHERE You don't need anything else.

what does it mean if the creation history is null

oh i backread and it seems like most accounts cant find creation date because of api and migration

This is what i got from running the script.
range: 1263146630 <-| 1263146633
range: 1263146630 <-| 1263146631
target is <= 1263146630
PS C:\Windows\system32>
i tried the web lint it says 2020 i have screenshots from 2019

For anyone just joining us or actually reading the comments (thank you to those who have done so)
A seemingly new method has been found to determine a more exact account creation date using the inspect element/dev tool in chrome on Minecraft.net in order to find your own account creation date. (i've tested it myself and since I've already determined the exact time prior to the API changes using the original script for my own account, I can confirm the date/time matches with the new method.)

One catch being that you must be able to log into your account on minecraft.net, and therefore you can only check the creation date/time for your own account, not that of others. If you are looking to determine the account age for someone else, they will have to do so themselves, This is due to the requirement of needing the access token associated with that account. For obvious security reasons only the owner of the account should have access to this.

Instructions for the new method:
Go to minecraft.net.
Log in to your Microsoft account.
Go to your profile page.
Click on Profile Name under Minecraft: Java Edition.
Open Inspect Element (press Ctrl + Shift + I on Windows or Command + Option + I on Mac).
Navigate to the Network tab.
Refresh the Minecraft webpage.
In the filter box (usually at the top-left of the Network tab), type namechange.
Click on "namechange" from the list below.
In the right panel, click on Preview or Response.
Look for "createdAt"; that is your account creation date/time.
(e.g., "createdAt": "2012-04-30T00:00:00Z").

If that's still unclear search something like "How to see when you've created your minecraft account" on Youtube.

While Id love to create a basic program that simply asks you to log into your Microsoft/Minecraft account and tells you the date, I severely lack the coding experience. If any one else would like to do so instead it doesn't seem like too difficult of a task and we could finally get people to stop asking others to do searches for them.

Mine on, Gamers.

@mtndewv I have an account that wasn't migrated (That's because it's SO old, and I already have 2 main accounts so I forgot to migrate it) called "Tonikk", so this new method of login only works for the accounts you have access to, but since I didn't migrate it, I can't access it. I already used the link, and it gave me a null. I also used NameMC to see name and skin history, and the name changed in 2015, but it doesn't say anything like account creation. Hypixel also says my account first joined in 2015. So I'm wondering, isn't out there any public archive or something like that could give me a creation date or something older than that? Maybe it's kinda difficult, specially for me, since the account was created when Minecraft was still an Indev version

@shadow516 Hello! Unfortunately my knowledge of additional methods to track down your accounts creation date/time without having access to said account for the most part ends here. The old method which uses a link likely is returning Null because of the fact it wasn't migrated. To be honest Im not sure if this means that would be recoverable or not on mojang side of things, I mostly say this as the account still seems to exist according to sites like NameMC but I have also heard rumor that accounts which had gone unmigrated for so long were simply deleted. (this could just speculation on the communities part however).
The newer method, as you've already determined requires you to have access to the account. This was primarily done for safety concerns on Mojang's part. That being said, assuming you have absolutely no ways of traditionally recovering your account using "forgot password" then I would suggest perhaps trying to reach out to Mojang's assistance services directly over email and try and explain your issue in more detail, perhaps there IS someone who has higher authority to help you recover your lost account, but they may ask for some level of verification, this might be something like the number of the card used to purchase the account. details associated with the payment method like name, etc.. I know it's unlikely you still have such information still stored somewhere but otherwise im currently unsure of any other method that would allow you to regain access or even just check the creation date as that now requires access to the account in question.

Unfortunately no, there is no publicly available archive of account creation dates for Minecraft accounts. To my knowledge, no one actively made record of account creation for most/all players, or made such an archive publicly available. This is likely because even when it did work the previous method wasn't exactly widely known, and people such myself who utilized it didnt keep record of every single player we came across. I'm not sure how much the age of you account would complicate things if you're trying to recover access to the account, but if you simply want account age then unfortunately your best best seems to be recovery of the account and then using the newer method for determining account age once you have regained access. Sorry I couldn't be more helpful to your situation, perhaps someone at the Mojang help team could aid in getting that account properly migrated from a legacy Mojang account to a Microsoft one and give you access but no guarantees it will work or be so easy. You may be in for a tedious recovery process or simply unable to regain access.

Best of luck o7