How to Fix Exit Code -1073740791 in Minecraft (0xC0000409)

Exit code -1073740791 looks scary, but it's just Windows reporting that something native crashed inside Java. Almost every time, that something is a graphics driver or a third-party overlay, and the most common cause is an overlay. Both are fixable, and you can find out which one you have in about ten minutes.

What the code actually means

Windows reports crash codes as signed 32-bit numbers, which is why yours looks like -1073740791. In hexadecimal that's 0xC0000409, which Microsoft documents as STATUS_STACK_BUFFER_OVERRUN: Windows killed javaw.exe on the spot because native code overwrote memory it shouldn't have touched. That's all you need to know about the number itself. The name of the file that did it is the useful part, and that's findable.

Find out which file crashed

I'd do this before changing anything, because it turns guesswork into a five-minute fix.

Start with the launcher log: %APPDATA%\SuperLauncher\logs\superlauncher.log. It's overwritten at every launch, so copy it somewhere else before you open SuperLauncher again. It lists the Java that ran and the game console output, and when the game fails to start, the launcher shows a red notice pointing right at this file.

Then check %APPDATA%\.minecraft\ for a JVM crash report: a file named like hs_err_pid12480.log, where the number is the process ID. Not every 0xC0000409 crash produces one, but when it's there, open it in Notepad, find the Problematic frame: line and read the DLL name in brackets. This is what that part looks like (illustrative; your numbers will differ):

# Problematic frame:
# C  [nvoglv64.dll+0xabc123]

That DLL is your culprit. The usual suspects:

• nvoglv64.dll or nvwgf2umx.dll: NVIDIA OpenGL driver
• ig7icd64.dll or igxelpc64.dll: Intel graphics driver
• atio6axx.dll or atig6pxx.dll: AMD Radeon driver
• RTSSHook64.dll: RivaTuner Statistics Server
• DiscordHook64.dll: Discord's in-game overlay
• NahimicOSD.dll: Nahimic audio software
• ucrtbase.dll: the Windows C runtime, usually dragged down by something else

No hs_err file? Press the Windows key + R, type eventvwr.msc, press Enter, and open Windows Logs > Application. Look for Error events with Event ID 1000 and Exception code 0xc0000409. The "Faulting module name" field names the same DLL.

Fix 1: turn off third-party overlays

This is where I'd start. Overlays from Discord, RivaTuner, GeForce Experience and audio utilities inject a DLL into javaw.exe to draw on top of the game window. When Minecraft creates its OpenGL context, changes resolution or toggles fullscreen, those hooks can trip a fast-fail. If you use any overlay tool at all, that's the likeliest cause of your crash.

Work down the list:

1. RivaTuner Statistics Server / MSI Afterburner: open RTSS from the system tray, click Add, select javaw.exe, and set Application Detection Level to None. Or just turn the On-Screen Display support off while playing Minecraft.
2. Discord: open Settings, go to Activity Privacy, and toggle off "Enable in-game overlay".
3. NVIDIA App / GeForce Experience: Settings > General, turn off the "In-Game Overlay" toggle.
4. Nahimic, Razer Cortex, Asus Sonic Studio: close them in Task Manager (Ctrl + Shift + Esc) before launching the game.

How to confirm it worked: launch the game, get to the title screen, then into a world. Then toggle fullscreen in Minecraft with F11. Fullscreen and resolution changes are exactly where overlay hooks blow up, so if the game survives that, you're probably done.

Fix 2: clean-reinstall the graphics driver

If the log names a driver DLL, the driver is the problem, and I wouldn't just run the installer on top of the old driver: stale files can survive an in-place update, and Windows Update can replace a vendor driver with a generic one. Use Display Driver Uninstaller (DDU) from Wagnardsoft for a clean sweep:

1. Download the current driver for your GPU from NVIDIA, AMD or Intel. Don't run it yet.
2. Download DDU from wagnardsoft.com and extract it.
3. Boot into Safe Mode: hold Shift while clicking Restart, then Troubleshoot > Advanced options > Startup Settings > Restart, then press 4 or F4.
4. Run DDU, select your GPU vendor, and click "Clean and restart". It removes the display drivers, their registry entries and leftovers, then reboots into normal Windows.
5. Install the driver you downloaded in step 1.

How to confirm it worked: launch the same profile again and play to the point where it used to crash. Then check %APPDATA%\SuperLauncher\logs\superlauncher.log to see the game console output from that session, with no return code -1073740791 at the bottom.

Fix 3: undo GPU overclocks and lighten the render load

An unstable core or memory overclock can make a driver throw exactly this error, and heavy shaderpacks at big render distances can exhaust VRAM until the driver gives up. If you've overclocked anything, put it back at stock before you blame Minecraft:

1. Open MSI Afterburner (or your vendor's tuning tool) and reset core and memory clock offsets to stock. Turn any memory overclock off.
2. Drop render distance to 12 or 16 chunks while you test. That's a starting point, not a magic number; if the crash stops, you can walk it back up.
3. Disable shaders temporarily. If the game is stable without them, the shader plus render distance combination was too much for the card.

How to confirm it worked: play a few sessions, including a trip to the Nether or another dimension, since dimension transitions stress the driver hardest. If it stays up with clocks at stock, the overclock was your problem.

Fix 4: repair Windows system files

When the faulting module is ucrtbase.dll, the Windows C runtime itself may be damaged, and that's a Windows problem, not a Minecraft problem. I'd run both scans and rule it out:

1. Press the Windows key, type cmd, right-click Command Prompt, and choose "Run as administrator".
2. Run sfc /scannow and let it reach 100%.
3. If it reports problems it couldn't fix, run DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth.
4. Restart the PC and launch the game again.

How to confirm it worked: SFC prints "Windows Resource Protection did not find any integrity violations" or "successfully repaired" when it's done. If the game then survives a session, you're out of the woods.

What doesn't help

• Reinstalling Minecraft or the launcher. The game files aren't the native code that's crashing, so this just costs you an evening.
• More RAM. This is not a Java heap problem, and bumping the RAM slider won't touch a driver DLL.
• Deleting worlds. Your saves in %APPDATA%\.minecraft\saves have nothing to do with a native crash, and I would not delete them over an exit code.
• Custom JVM arguments. SuperLauncher manages Java itself (Java 8, 17, 21 or 25 depending on your Minecraft version), and no flag stops a native DLL from corrupting a stack.

If it still crashes

Copy superlauncher.log right after the crash, note the module name from the hs_err file or Event Viewer, and match it against the list above. If it's a DLL that isn't on the list, search that exact file name: it usually belongs to whatever hooked into the game most recently, and knowing that is half the fix. For the broader reading of crash files, see our guide on reading crash reports.