Minecraft launcher: "java.net.UnknownHostException: s3.amazonaws.com"

When I start the game, I've the next error in the "Launcher Log" tab:

[21:17:34 INFO]: Minecraft Launcher 1.6.48 (through bootstrap 100) started on windows...
[21:17:34 INFO]: Current time is Nov 29, 2015 9:17:34 PM
[21:17:34 INFO]: System.getProperty('os.name') == 'Windows 10'
[21:17:34 INFO]: System.getProperty('os.version') == '10.0'
[21:17:34 INFO]: System.getProperty('os.arch') == 'amd64'
[21:17:34 INFO]: System.getProperty('java.version') == '1.8.0_25'
[21:17:34 INFO]: System.getProperty('java.vendor') == 'Oracle Corporation'
[21:17:34 INFO]: System.getProperty('sun.arch.data.model') == '64'
[21:17:34 INFO]: proxy == DIRECT
[21:17:35 INFO]: JFX is already initialized
[21:17:35 INFO]: Refreshing local version list...
[21:17:35 INFO]: Refreshing remote version list...
[21:17:35 ERROR]: Unexpected exception refreshing version list
java.net.UnknownHostException: s3.amazonaws.com
    at java.net.AbstractPlainSocketImpl.connect(AbstractPlainSocketImpl.java:184) ~[?:1.8.0_25]
    at java.net.PlainSocketImpl.connect(PlainSocketImpl.java:172) ~[?:1.8.0_25]
    at java.net.SocksSocketImpl.connect(SocksSocketImpl.java:392) ~[?:1.8.0_25]
    at java.net.Socket.connect(Socket.java:589) ~[?:1.8.0_25]
    at sun.security.ssl.SSLSocketImpl.connect(SSLSocketImpl.java:649) ~[?:1.8.0_25]
    at sun.net.NetworkClient.doConnect(NetworkClient.java:175) ~[?:1.8.0_25]
    at sun.net.www.http.HttpClient.openServer(HttpClient.java:432) ~[?:1.8.0_25]
    at sun.net.www.http.HttpClient.openServer(HttpClient.java:527) ~[?:1.8.0_25]
    at sun.net.www.protocol.https.HttpsClient.<init>(HttpsClient.java:275) ~[?:1.8.0_25]
    at sun.net.www.protocol.https.HttpsClient.New(HttpsClient.java:371) ~[?:1.8.0_25]
    at sun.net.www.protocol.https.AbstractDelegateHttpsURLConnection.getNewHttpClient(AbstractDelegateHttpsURLConnection.java:191) ~[?:1.8.0_25]
    at sun.net.www.protocol.http.HttpURLConnection.plainConnect0(HttpURLConnection.java:1146) ~[?:1.8.0_25]
    at sun.net.www.protocol.http.HttpURLConnection.plainConnect(HttpURLConnection.java:997) ~[?:1.8.0_25]
    at sun.net.www.protocol.https.AbstractDelegateHttpsURLConnection.connect(AbstractDelegateHttpsURLConnection.java:177) ~[?:1.8.0_25]
    at sun.net.www.protocol.http.HttpURLConnection.getInputStream0(HttpURLConnection.java:1511) ~[?:1.8.0_25]
    at sun.net.www.protocol.http.HttpURLConnection.getInputStream(HttpURLConnection.java:1439) ~[?:1.8.0_25]
    at sun.net.www.protocol.https.HttpsURLConnectionImpl.getInputStream(HttpsURLConnectionImpl.java:254) ~[?:1.8.0_25]
    at com.mojang.launcher.Http.performGet(Http.java:54) ~[launcher.jar:1.6.48]
    at net.minecraft.launcher.updater.RemoteVersionList.getContent(RemoteVersionList.java:27) ~[launcher.jar:1.6.48]
    at net.minecraft.launcher.updater.VersionList.refreshVersions(VersionList.java:85) ~[launcher.jar:1.6.48]
    at net.minecraft.launcher.updater.MinecraftVersionManager.refreshVersions(MinecraftVersionManager.java:60) ~[launcher.jar:1.6.48]
    at net.minecraft.launcher.Launcher$2.run(Launcher.java:133) [launcher.jar:1.6.48]
    at java.util.concurrent.Executors$RunnableAdapter.call(Executors.java:511) [?:1.8.0_25]
    at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.run(FutureTask.java:266) [?:1.8.0_25]
    at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:1142) [?:1.8.0_25]
    at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:617) [?:1.8.0_25]
    at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:745) [?:1.8.0_25]
[21:17:35 INFO]: Loaded 2 profile(s); selected 'Woshiko'
[21:17:35 INFO]: Refreshing auth...
[21:17:35 INFO]: Logging in with access token
[21:17:35 ERROR]: Exception whilst logging into profile
com.mojang.authlib.exceptions.AuthenticationUnavailableException: Cannot contact authentication server
    at com.mojang.authlib.yggdrasil.YggdrasilAuthenticationService.makeRequest(YggdrasilAuthenticationService.java:71) ~[launcher.jar:1.6.48]
    at com.mojang.authlib.yggdrasil.YggdrasilUserAuthentication.logInWithToken(YggdrasilUserAuthentication.java:132) ~[launcher.jar:1.6.48]
    at com.mojang.authlib.yggdrasil.YggdrasilUserAuthentication.logIn(YggdrasilUserAuthentication.java:55) ~[launcher.jar:1.6.48]
    at net.minecraft.launcher.Launcher.ensureLoggedIn(Launcher.java:215) [launcher.jar:1.6.48]
    at net.minecraft.launcher.Launcher$2.run(Launcher.java:169) [launcher.jar:1.6.48]
    at java.util.concurrent.Executors$RunnableAdapter.call(Executors.java:511) [?:1.8.0_25]
    at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.run(FutureTask.java:266) [?:1.8.0_25]
    at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:1142) [?:1.8.0_25]
    at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:617) [?:1.8.0_25]
    at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:745) [?:1.8.0_25]
Caused by: java.net.UnknownHostException: authserver.mojang.com
    at java.net.AbstractPlainSocketImpl.connect(AbstractPlainSocketImpl.java:184) ~[?:1.8.0_25]
    at java.net.PlainSocketImpl.connect(PlainSocketImpl.java:172) ~[?:1.8.0_25]
    at java.net.SocksSocketImpl.connect(SocksSocketImpl.java:392) ~[?:1.8.0_25]
    at java.net.Socket.connect(Socket.java:589) ~[?:1.8.0_25]
    at sun.security.ssl.SSLSocketImpl.connect(SSLSocketImpl.java:649) ~[?:1.8.0_25]
    at sun.net.NetworkClient.doConnect(NetworkClient.java:175) ~[?:1.8.0_25]
    at sun.net.www.http.HttpClient.openServer(HttpClient.java:432) ~[?:1.8.0_25]
    at sun.net.www.http.HttpClient.openServer(HttpClient.java:527) ~[?:1.8.0_25]
    at sun.net.www.protocol.https.HttpsClient.<init>(HttpsClient.java:275) ~[?:1.8.0_25]
    at sun.net.www.protocol.https.HttpsClient.New(HttpsClient.java:371) ~[?:1.8.0_25]
    at sun.net.www.protocol.https.AbstractDelegateHttpsURLConnection.getNewHttpClient(AbstractDelegateHttpsURLConnection.java:191) ~[?:1.8.0_25]
    at sun.net.www.protocol.http.HttpURLConnection.plainConnect0(HttpURLConnection.java:1146) ~[?:1.8.0_25]
    at sun.net.www.protocol.http.HttpURLConnection.plainConnect(HttpURLConnection.java:997) ~[?:1.8.0_25]
    at sun.net.www.protocol.https.AbstractDelegateHttpsURLConnection.connect(AbstractDelegateHttpsURLConnection.java:177) ~[?:1.8.0_25]
    at sun.net.www.protocol.http.HttpURLConnection.getOutputStream0(HttpURLConnection.java:1281) ~[?:1.8.0_25]
    at sun.net.www.protocol.http.HttpURLConnection.getOutputStream(HttpURLConnection.java:1256) ~[?:1.8.0_25]
    at sun.net.www.protocol.https.HttpsURLConnectionImpl.getOutputStream(HttpsURLConnectionImpl.java:250) ~[?:1.8.0_25]
    at com.mojang.authlib.HttpAuthenticationService.performPostRequest(HttpAuthenticationService.java:73) ~[launcher.jar:1.6.48]
    at com.mojang.authlib.yggdrasil.YggdrasilAuthenticationService.makeRequest(YggdrasilAuthenticationService.java:54) ~[launcher.jar:1.6.48]
    ... 9 more

The "Update Notes" tab is blank and the "Play" button don't display "Play" but "Play Offline". When I launch the game with "Play Offline" then choose "Multiplayer" in the menu, I can't play online.

Like you can see in the error, I use Windows 10. Java is installed in a runtime folder with Minecraft (1.8; 64 bits).

What can I do to remove this error and play online?

Solution 1:

Seeing as this question is over a year old I hope your issues have been resolved.

However, just in case someone else has this problem I'm going to submit this answer. It sounds to me like your connection is offline. Try rebooting your computer or try to do other internet tasks.

Another problem could be that the Amazon S3 server is down (perhaps because of a typo /s) If that is the case then nothing can be done but wait. It's probably not this though as your logs indicate that none of Minecraft's services can be reached so it is most likely your connection (or all of the servers are down at the same time for some reason).