If you are here, there's a decent chance you either:
1) stumbled across this site randomly, or
2) your child got in touch with my child about playing Minecraft together.
The purpose of this page is to provide you with a bit of a primer on my view of Minecraft, and some information on how I approach the topic of kids playing Minecraft together online.
The audience for this post is fellow parents who have heard of this thing called Minecraft from kids (either their own, or others), whose kids are wanting to play with other kids online, and are trying to suss out what works for them, their own comfort level, and keeping their kids safe in an online world.
First and foremost, I will admit that I play Minecraft myself also, even as an adult. It's a great platform, and I have to be honest - it took me a while to 'get it'. But once I did, I started to realize the massive implications of the game - the good, the bad, and the ugly.
So, what is Minecraft?
Short version - it's a sandbox game. You have a character, there are blocks, you place or manipulate blocks, and you basically make up your own destiny. It's great for the imagination (which is why it took me a while to 'get it' as an adult - life, a career, and 'the system' did a good job of stunting my imagination), it's great for creativity, it's great for socialization, and it's also great for STEM and engineering, believe it or not. There is a very good reason that since it's release in 2009, it has become one of (if not THE) most popular gaming platform in the world.
What is the downside?
Well, if you want to play with others, that generally means playing online. And that is where things can get tricky.
Who are they playing with?
Do you even know these people, let alone trust them?
Are they playing the same style? (some kids like to throw TNT around because making boom can be fun - but another kid who spent hours building a cool castle or house doesn't want TNT raining down on their creation).
While not necessarily a social media platform, it can have all the pitfalls of one.
On the flip side -
It's not all bad, nor is it all filled with doom and gloom. It's one of those rare games that provides something for everyone:
- If you like building things, you can do that.
- If you like architecture and design, you can rotate heavily into that.
- If you like automation and making machines, the redstone system is basically electrical engineering.
- If you like playing solo, you can do that.
- If you like banding together with others to accomplish a goal or task, you can do that.
There is a tremendous amount to be gained by leveraging it as a positive tool; and I think it is important to think of it as such. Just like a hammer can be used to destroy, it can also be used to build.
My Suggestion
Go to Youtube, and looking up something like 'parents guide to minecraft' - you will get a bunch of hits. But hopefully this page served its purpose well enough as a primer.
OK, so.. how do our kids play together?
Well, not by anything I'm going to post here, because anyone on the internet can read this post. So, there is that.
But, there are a couple technical details that can be sorted out.
First, verify the edition being played: Bedrock or Java.
Short version: if you are playing on a console (Switch, Playstation, etc) or tablet - you are playing Bedrock. If you are playing on a computer, it can be Bedrock OR Java. Bedrock is generally more easily accessible because it can be played on consoles (which are popular); Java is more customizable and has a lot more modifications (and in my opinion, a lot more options to explore as kids get older, if they want to get into the programming side of things).
This matters because by default, the two do not work together without some effort. They are like oil and water - they don't mix, unless special effort (a technical emulsifier, if you will) is made. There are public servers out there that accommodate both, and eventually I may set one up that does so - but for the time being, the private server I have set up is Bedrock, because chances are, most kids are playing on Bedrock.
Second: the gamertag
To play online, every character has a gamertag, or name. This is world-wide, and unique.
The server I have set up is by invite only, and I control the whitelist of who can join. For that reason, I will need the gamertag of your childs character in Minecraft, so that I can add them to the list.
I do this for security reasons - the server I set up is connected to the internet, and is running all the time. I don't want random people logging into the Minecraft world - I want it to be by invite-only.
A couple other notes about the server
There are two levers in the game that determine how it gets played: the mode, and the difficulty.
The mode is simply either Creative, or Survival. In Creative, characters have access to all blocks and items by default, and cannot be killed.
In Survival, this plays more like a role playing game - the character has health, there are enemies to defeat, and the character can die, potentially losing what they have in their inventory.
The difficulty ranges from Peaceful (hostile mobs do not spawn) to hard (hostile mobs spawn and are dangerous).
The server I set up is peaceful creative. We are not yet at the point of having a more involved survival world.
The benefit of this: all blocks are immediately available, and the players can do whatever they want. The downside: all other plays have access to all blocks (including TNT), and the players can do whatever they want - including to a build another child made.
Net-net for this: Set expectations that nothing is permanent in this world. There will likely be some amount of hard lessons learned, and I come from the school of: I'd rather they learn the lessons in a controlled, safe, environment.
At this point - you have my phone number and/or email address, so assuming your child is playing on Bedrock, simply let me know the gamertag of the player, and I'll add them to the list, and provide you with connection info.
Also note: it's possible that at some point, things expand beyond just a couple kids who all know each other playing on the same server. At that point, I have some thoughts on a more formal system of gatekeeping, and letting all parents know who-all has access.