Minecraft crashes with "java.lang.IndexOutOfBoundsException" when loading on an older version

Whenever I try to run older versions of Vanilla Minecraft it won't allow me to create or load a world in Singleplayer. If I try, it will start to generate the world, then crash.

Error Message:

---- Minecraft Crash Report ----
// Oh - I know what I did wrong!

Time: 2/1/16 10:14 PM
Description: Unexpected error

java.lang.IndexOutOfBoundsException
    at java.nio.Buffer.checkIndex(Buffer.java:540)
    at java.nio.DirectIntBufferU.get(DirectIntBufferU.java:253)
    at bls.a(SourceFile:270)
    at bls.a(SourceFile:220)
    at azd.a(SourceFile:1675)
    at azd.a(SourceFile:1633)
    at biv.a(SourceFile:113)
    at gu.a(SourceFile:70)
    at gu.a(SourceFile:13)
    at ef.a(SourceFile:164)
    at azd.o(SourceFile:1566)
    at azd.ad(SourceFile:753)
    at azd.e(SourceFile:704)
    at net.minecraft.client.main.Main.main(SourceFile:103)

System Details:

  -- System Details --
Details:
    Minecraft Version: 1.7.2
    Operating System: Mac OS X (x86_64) version 10.10.4
    Java Version: 1.8.0_60, Oracle Corporation
    Java VM Version: Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (mixed mode), Oracle Corporation
    Memory: 148530064 bytes (141 MB) / 285257728 bytes (272 MB) up to 1048576000 bytes (1000 MB)
    JVM Flags: 5 total; -Xmx1G -XX:+UseConcMarkSweepGC -XX:+CMSIncrementalMode -XX:-UseAdaptiveSizePolicy -Xmn240M
    AABB Pool Size: 18497 (1035832 bytes; 0 MB) allocated, 18497 (1035832 bytes; 0 MB) used
    IntCache: cache: 0, tcache: 0, allocated: 0, tallocated: 0
    Launched Version: 1.7.2
    LWJGL: 2.9.1
    OpenGL: Intel(R) HD Graphics 6000 GL version 2.1 INTEL-10.6.31, Intel
    Is Modded: Probably not. Jar signature remains and client brand is untouched.
    Type: Client (map_client.txt)
    Resource Packs: []
    Current Language: English (US)
    Profiler Position: N/A (disabled)
    Vec3 Pool Size: 0 (0 bytes; 0 MB) allocated, 0 (0 bytes; 0 MB) used
    Anisotropic Filtering: Off (1)

Is this a system problem, is there a problem with my system settings that would cause this error? If so, what steps can be done to correct it. If not, what could be the problem?

Solution 1:

This is an issue that occurs when downgrading from Minecraft 1.8 or higher without deleting your options.txt file or correcting its renderDistance entry. You can fix this by either deleting the file or changing renderDistance to 12 or lower. To do this, first open the game directory of the profile as described in this picture (sourced from here).

After that, find the options.txt file and either delete it or open the file in a text editor and change the line that starts with renderDistance to something like renderDistance:12. It can be lower, but don't increase it beyond 12. Save the file and launch Minecraft, and it should start.

Sources:

• MC-38527
• MC-67266
• MCX-475141 which contains an almost identical stack trace as well as a link to instructions for deletion.
• Mojang's help page detailing finding the instance folder