Is Minecraft safe for my child?

For most children, Minecraft is one of the gentler, more creative games around, and it can be a good choice from around 7 if you set it up with them. It’s rated PEGI 7, the combat is mild and cartoony with no blood, and on a child account multiplayer is switched off by default (Minecraft). The real decisions come when your child wants to play online with other people: who they can play with, and who can talk to them.

Here’s what parents need to know, and how to set it up.

What Minecraft actually is

Minecraft is an open world made of blocks. Children build, explore and craft, either alone or with others. The main modes are (Minecraft, Hwb):

• Creative: build anything, with unlimited blocks and no enemies. The Welsh Government’s Hwb online safety guide recommends this mode for younger players.
• Survival: gather resources, find food and fend off creatures like zombies and skeletons.
• Hardcore: a tougher version of Survival where you don’t come back after dying.

Minecraft itself recommends PEGI 7 (and ESRB Everyone 10+ in North America). There are two main versions: Bedrock Edition, on consoles, tablets, phones and Windows, and Java Edition on computers. Both need a Microsoft account (Minecraft).

Playing alone vs playing online

This is the part that matters most. Minecraft can be played in a few ways (Minecraft, Internet Matters):

• Single-player: just your child in their own world. No contact with anyone.
• Local play: friends or siblings playing together in the same room.
• Realms: a private, paid-for server that only invited people can join. Internet Matters suggests it as a way for families to play online without strangers.
• Servers: private servers need an invitation; public servers are open to anyone.

Internet Matters recommends single-player only for younger children, and that older children steer clear of public servers. On public servers, chat messages are seen by everyone there, and strangers, bad language and player-made add-ons (“mods”) with unsuitable content are the main things parents run into (Internet Matters). Hwb adds that some players try to move children onto other apps to chat, which is worth talking about calmly with your child (Hwb).

How to set it up: a child account linked to yours

Minecraft treats players under 16 in the EU, including Ireland, as children, and a child account needs an adult account linked to it. Only the adult can change the settings (Minecraft). Minecraft doesn’t check ages, so Hwb suggests setting up the account together so the date of birth is right (Hwb).

1. Create your own Microsoft account if you don’t have one.
2. Create your child’s account with their real date of birth, and link it to yours as a family. Hwb describes doing this through the Microsoft Family Safety app: create a family group, invite your child, and they accept the invite.
3. To change their online settings, sign in at account.xbox.com/settings with your account, pick your child’s account and check their gamertag (username) at the top right (Minecraft).

Minecraft’s help page was written in 2023 and Microsoft does move its menus around, so if a name below looks different, look for the nearest match.

The settings that matter

On your child’s Xbox account settings (Minecraft):

1. “You can join multiplayer games” (under Online Safety): leave this blocked while they’re playing alone. Switching it to Allow is what opens up Realms and servers.
2. “You can add friends”: decide whether they can add friends at all.
3. “Others can communicate with voice, text, or invites” (under Privacy): choose Friends or Block, rather than Everyone.

Inside the game, Hwb points out that under-16s have chat filters on by default, and under Settings > Chat Settings you can switch chat off, filter bad language or allow messages from friends only. Players can also be reported or blocked from the player list (Hwb). On Java Edition, the pause menu has a Player Reporting option for abusive messages (Minecraft).

Spending and screen time

Minecraft is a one-off purchase, but extras like skins, maps and mini-games are sold in the Marketplace for Minecoins, which are bought with real money (Minecraft, Internet Matters). Microsoft family settings can require your permission before your child buys anything (Hwb).

Minecraft has no time limit of its own. Screen time and purchase limits are set on the device your child plays on, such as the iPhone, Android tablet, Nintendo Switch or games console (Internet Matters). If they play on a Switch, our Nintendo Switch parental controls guide walks you through it.

What to do next

• This week: set up your child’s account with their real date of birth, linked to yours, and check that multiplayer is blocked to start with.
• Start in Creative, single-player. Sit with them for a session or two and let them show you what they’re building. You’ll learn a lot about how they play.
• When they ask to play with friends, start with local play or an invite-only Realm with people you know, and set communication to Friends.
• Agree a “come and tell me” rule: if anyone online asks them to chat somewhere else, or something feels off, they tell you and they won’t be in trouble.
• Set a time limit on the device they play on, so the game doesn’t become the nightly battle.

Every family will draw the line in a different place, and that’s fine. With the online side set up thoughtfully, Minecraft can be a genuinely creative, sociable game for your child to enjoy.