What is Minecraft?

What age is Minecraft for?

Minecraft has a recommended PEGI rating of 7 and an ESBR rating of Everyone 10+. Don’t worry – grownups are welcometoo!

If you’re a parent of a Minecraftermake sure to check out Minecraft’s parental control features FAQ.

Is Minecraft violent?

Because combat is part of the gamethere are some elements of mild violence. Players can hit and defeat both passive and hostile mobsas well as other players if playing in multiplayer mode. Howeverthe graphical violence is limited by Minecraft’s visual and there’s no blood.  When it comes to unwanted player violence like griefingwe encourage players to report griefing behavior.

What platforms is Minecraft available on?

Minecraft is available on WindowsMacLinuxXbox OneXbox Series S and XPlayStation 4 and 5Nintendo SwitchFire OS/TVAndroidiOSWindows Mobileand Samsung Gear VR.

Find your preferred platform here.

What game modes are there?

Minecraft has two standard game modes – Creative mode and Survival mode. 

In Creative modeyou have unlimited resourcesimmortalitythe ability to flyas well as the ability to destroy any kind of block instantly. This mode is mostly used by players who want to focus on the sheer pleasure of creating things with blocks.

In Survival modeyou explore the worldcollect resourcescraftfight monstersand gain experience points. Breaking different blocks takes work and requires specific tools. You are also bound by gravity and must manage your own hunger and health. Survival mode in Minecraft: Java Edition also has a sub-category mode called “Hardcore” in which you only get one life – lose it and it’s game over.

Creative and Survival both have four difficulty settings: PeacefulEasyNormaland Hard. In Creative mode these settings don’t matter very muchbecause mobs won’t attack you. In Survival mode howeverthese difficulty settings are very important! They affect a number of factorssuch as how often hostile mobs will spawnhow much damage they dohow quickly the hunger bar is depletedand how fast a player’s health replenishes over time.

To learn more about Creative and Survival modecheck out this guide.

In addition to these game modesthere’s also unique content created by the Minecraft community in the form of hand-crafted worldsmini-gamesmash-up packsadventure mapsand much more. This content can be found in Bedrock Edition at Minecraft Marketplace or via the subscription service Realms Plusas well as Java Realms (Java Edition).

To learn more about community contentvisit our guides to Minecraft Marketplace and Minecraft Realms.

Welcome to the Overworld!

Minecraft is a game for everyoneand we want to see you thrive in it. To help you on your journeywe’ve compiled a list of resources. These resources are divided into three categories: Before you beginGetting startedand Level up. To learn morehead over to our resource hub Tips for Beginners. You can also find answers to many of your questions at our help site.

Happy Minecraftingand here’s one final tip from us: don’t dig straight down!