How to uninstall Luanti on Mac
Back up Luanti worlds and wanted game content before removing the app. The official worlds documentation says a world includes saved player and game state. This guide covers the official Mac archive app, whose recorded data paths still use the former name Minetest.
Quit and remove the app
Exit the current world and stop any Luanti server you intend to retire, while keeping the main menu open. Use About › Open User Data Directory to locate and copy wanted worlds, verify the copies, then quit the app and move luanti.app to the Trash. Keep a separately managed server and its data outside this app uninstall unless you are deliberately retiring it.
Data to keep or review
~/Library/Application Support/minetestwas observed under the old name. It can contain worlds and other wanted user content; back up the active user-data directory before removing this parent.~/.cache/minetestwas also observed and is offered for review by the current scanner.- The live cask zap includes the entire Minetest support parent and
~/Library/Saved Application State/org.luanti.luanti.savedState. It is broader than removing just the Luanti app.
After backing up worlds, open Finder with Shift + Command + G and paste each full path above separately. Move unwanted Luanti-owned items to the Trash only after the app and the relevant server have stopped.
Check the result
pgrep -ifl "luanti|minetest"
ls -ld /Applications/luanti.app "$HOME/Library/Application Support/minetest" "$HOME/.cache/minetest"
No process output means this name was not found, not that every helper has gone. Check any match against the app’s actual executable path. A missing-path error from ls means only that location is absent; permission errors leave its state unknown. A surviving folder can be intentional data to keep.
If you installed it with Homebrew
The cask has no separate uninstall helper. Its zap removes the whole support parent, including worlds stored there, so make a backup or use the non-zap command to keep that data.
To uninstall without zap, use:
brew uninstall --cask luanti
Mole checks Homebrew's full removal list and skips --zap when it reaches unchecked data, shared files or anything it cannot verify. It still removes the leftovers you selected. A direct brew uninstall --cask --zap luanti runs Homebrew’s full zap list without consulting Mole’s checkboxes.
What Mole lists
Mole selects the app and attributable temporary-cache rows by default. With “Remove data and settings with apps” off, the Minetest support parent and ~/.cache/minetest stay unticked. Turning it on can select eligible app data; check both rows and uncheck the world-data parent when it should remain.
These are the defaults with “Remove data and settings with apps” turned off. Enabling that preference can also select eligible reviewed app data; shared stores, protected profiles and agent archives keep their individual review or remain locked. Check the final list before confirming.
What this test covered
On September 25, 2026, Luanti 5.17.0 was copied from the official Mac archive and tested with a development build of Mole. The recorded follow-up added the two old-name user-data leaves and confirmed their removal on retest. The first-run app test did not verify an established world, mod setup or multiplayer server recovery.