Tag Archives: Is minecraft safe for kids

A Parent’s Guide To Minecraft

A Parent’s Guide To Minecraft

Guest Post By Will.B Updated for 2020

What Is MinecraftWhat is Minecraft?

Minecraft is a virtual 3D Lego-like building game for the computer, where the player is free to make anything they want. It is a great way to encourage creativity and helps to build on team skills and working together to reach personal goals. After the initial purchase of the game, there aren’t any other forms of extra purchases. Some players have made some extraordinary builds that have taken over a year to build. See the screen shot below of ‘Minas Tirith’ a ‘Lord Of The Rings’ build. Minecraft Age Rating

Below is a story on Minecraft Leonie Smith was involved in for Channel 10’s “The Project” On 25th May 2015

Is Minecraft safe for kids?

Certainly, if it is used correctly and if you are restricting whom your child is playing with. However, there are many public servers for Minecraft that allow players to talk to complete strangers through a chat. Minecraft does not have any graphic content, but there are monsters such as spiders and zombies. However, the monsters in Minecraft are very cartoon-like.

Different Modes Of Play Minecraft
Different Modes Of Play Minecraft

The Different Versions of Minecraft

There are so far 3 versions of Minecraft for different platforms (gaming devices):

  • The PC version is by far the most used and provides a large variety of user-made servers (A place where many people from different places can play together) to play on, meaning that the likelihood of you meeting a complete stranger online is almost certain. However, if you do not wish for your child to be playing on a public server with strangers, they may create their own server and only the people they invite will be allowed on it. (Experts and advanced users only) (Click here for server setup tutorial).
  • The mobile version of Minecraft is available for iOS Apple and Android devices, and has a smaller community, but still allows players to play and communicate with one another. There is a huge reduction in the risk associated with this version of the game, but there are fewer features than the PC version.
  • The console version of Minecraft is available for Xbox and PlayStation, and is pretty popular, but still has a high risk of meeting a complete stranger. However, making a private server where only your child’s friends can play on it is very easy.
‘Minas Tirith’ a ‘Lord Of The Rings’ build.
‘Minas Tirith’ a ‘Lord Of The Rings’ build by from the EpicQuestz build team. Screen Shot by Leonie Smith

Parental Control Settings

Currently in Minecraft, there are no parental control or privacy settings. However, there is a way to stop your child from being able to play with others.

Minecraft has two main player options:

Singleplayer: Singleplayer is entirely safe, as no one can join the player’s game and no one can contact you through the Minecraft chat.

Multiplayer: This is the mode that you need to be careful of, as players can join any game they want, public or private, and can contact any player, weather they are friends or strangers. Minecraft Modes

LAN: You can also play together with friends in the same location or room, if you are all sharing the same modem via Ethernet or via WiFi. Log into Single Player and the click the “esc” button out to the ‘Game Menu’ screen and click ‘Open To LAN’ and then ‘Start LAN World’ Other’s then can join you if they are playing the same version of Minecraft. They go to ‘Multiplayer’ and the game then searches for local games, they should see an pop up to join your game. For more information, see this link

LAN Playing with friends at home
LAN Mode – Playing with friends at home

In Minecraft, there are many different modes. (These are for both Singleplayer and Multiplayer):

  • Survival: In survival mode, the player must survive against monsters and hunger. However, the monsters can be turned off by pressing escape, going into settings and turning the difficulty to ‘peaceful’.
  • Creative: In creative mode, the player is free to do whatever they want, and monsters cannot attack them.
  • Adventure: In adventure mode, the player is not allowed to break any blocks, but can only kill monsters and animals, or be killed by monsters.

Beware of Viruses and Malware

Always make sure that you are downloading Minecraft from the official website (Click here). Otherwise, it is very likely that you will download some sort of virus. Do NOT download the game from any website that is claiming to be giving it away for free or is a ‘torrent’.

Mods:

Additional content can also be downloaded for Minecraft through ‘mods’, which are small or large changes to the game that are unofficial. There is a small risk that if you download one of these ‘mods’, you will download viruses or malware on your computer. Always make sure that you are pressing the correct download button when downloading a ‘mod’ off the website, as many of those kinds of websites have multiple download buttons for different software in order to be misleading and to try and plant a virus on your computer. ‘Mods’ are a bit risky, because the only way to tell if a ‘mod’ is really okay is if the ‘mod’ is very popular or if the website looks official and secure.

Spiders In Minecraft
Spiders In Minecraft (screenshot by Leonie Smith)

Kids Safe YouTube Minecraft Channels:
Always check before subscribing.

NEW! A site created by two young minecrafters!  http://www.cleanminecraftvideos.com where only child friendly Minecraft videos are shown.

https://www.youtube.com/user/CaptainSparklez
https://www.youtube.com/user/TheDiamondMinecart
https://www.youtube.com/user/iBallisticSquid
https://www.youtube.com/user/paulsoaresjr
https://www.youtube.com/user/MinecraftUniverse

Parental Consent For Users Under 13yrs

Playing on Minecraft Realms, chatting in Scrolls, making purchases, or changing settings on the Mojang account site, is not possible now unless you have parental consent which includes verification via a credit card. More here about under 13yr old restrictions.

Minecraft Realms

Minecraft Realms is a paid subscription service where you can host a server for up to to 10 friends simply without having to set up I.P addresses, ports and LAN networks. This is the safest option for multi play when your child is playing with friends at different locations. Adult supervision for younger players is still advisable to ensure your child doesn’t invite an “online friend” to their server. Only the host has to pay a subscription and the costs are minimal around $11.00Aus pm . It is much easier to set up than a private server in the full version of Minecraft.

Minecraft Education Edition

Schools have been using Minecraft in Education for years. This version of the game is strictly monitored by education staff, and only allows registered students to play and interact. Educators can set projects and tasks in Minecraft as simulations for all sorts of educational subjects. More Here:

For more privacy and safety settings have a look at my Step-By-Step Cyber Safety Manual

Leonie Presents Cyber Safety Talks for schools, business, and community groups.