Minecraft

Minecraft

Author(s)	Mojang Studios Xbox Game Studios SkyBox Labs 4J Studios Other Ocean Interactive NetEase Credits
Platform(s)	Java Edition Bedrock Edition Native Optimized/Enhanced Xbox Series X|S PlayStation 4 Pro Minecraft Education China Edition Desktop Edition Mobile Edition
Written in	Java (Java Edition) C++ (Bedrock & Education)
Latest version	Java Edition: 1.21.5 (25w15a) Bedrock Edition: 1.21.72 (beta 1.21.80.27) (Preview 1.21.80.27) Minecraft Education: 1.21.06 (Preview 1.21.51.0)
Release date	Java Edition May 17, 2009 (Classic) December 23, 2009 (Indev) February 27, 2010 (Infdev) June 30, 2010 (Alpha) December 20, 2010 (Beta) November 18, 2011 (Release) Minecraft 4k December 2, 2009 Bedrock Edition Android: August 16, 2011 iOS: November 16, 2011 Fire OS: April 2, 2014 Fire Phone: July 25, 2014 Galaxy Store: 2014 Windows Phone 8.1: December 10, 2014 Windows: July 29, 2015 Gear VR: April 27, 2016 Oculus Rift: August 15, 2016 tvOS/Fire TV: December 19, 2016 Windows 10 Mobile: February 22, 2017 Xbox One: October 22, 2024 Windows Mixed Reality: November 21, 2017 Nintendo Switch: June 21, 2018 iPadOS: September 24, 2019 PS4: December 10, 2019 PS VR: September 22, 2020 ChromeOS: June 7, 2023 Xbox Series X|S: February 6, 2024 PS5: October 22, 2024 MinecraftEdu November 5, 2011 Legacy Console Edition Xbox 360: May 9, 2012 Xbox One: September 5, 2014 PS3: December 17, 2013 PS4: September 4, 2014 PS Vita & PS TV: October 14, 2014 Wii U: December 17, 2015 Nintendo Switch: May 11, 2017 Pi Edition February 11, 2013 Minecraft Education November 1, 2016 China Edition August 8, 2017 New Nintendo 3DS Edition September 13, 2017
Rating(s)	See Java Edition, Bedrock Edition, Minecraft Education, China Edition
Size	See Java Edition, Bedrock Edition, Minecraft Education, China Edition
License	Terms of Use
Source available	Java Edition: Partial Other editions: No
Links	Website

{
    "title": "''Minecraft''",
    "rows": [
        {
            "field": "(values exceeds 1000 characters...)",
            "label": "Author(s)"
        },
        {
            "field": "(values exceeds 1000 characters...)",
            "label": "Platform(s)"
        },
        {
            "field": "\n* (link to File:Java.svg article, displayed as x20px|Java|link=wikipedia:Java (programming language)) (link to wikipedia:Java (programming language) article, displayed as Java) <sup>(''Java Edition'')</sup>\n* (link to File:C++.svg article, displayed as x20px|C++|link=wikipedia:C++) (link to wikipedia:C++ article, displayed as C++) <sup>(''Bedrock'' & ''Education'')</sup>",
            "label": "Written in"
        },
        {
            "field": "\n* ''(link to Java Edition article, displayed as Java Edition)'': (link to Java Edition_1.21.5 article, displayed as 1.21.5) <br />((link to Java Edition_25w15a article, displayed as 25w15a))\n* ''(link to Bedrock Edition article, displayed as Bedrock Edition)'': (link to Bedrock Edition_1.21.72 article, displayed as 1.21.72) <br />((link to Bedrock Edition_beta 1.21.80.27 article, displayed as beta 1.21.80.27)) <br />((link to Bedrock Edition_Preview 1.21.80.27 article, displayed as Preview 1.21.80.27))\n* ''(link to Minecraft Education article, displayed as Minecraft Education)'': (link to Minecraft Education_1.21.06 article, displayed as 1.21.06)  <br />((link to Minecraft Education_Preview 1.21.51.0 article, displayed as Preview 1.21.51.0))",
            "label": "Latest version"
        },
        {
            "field": "(values exceeds 1000 characters...)",
            "label": "Release date"
        },
        {
            "field": "See ''(link to Java Edition article, displayed as Java Edition)'', ''(link to Bedrock Edition article, displayed as Bedrock Edition)'', ''(link to Minecraft Education article, displayed as Minecraft Education)'', ''(link to China Edition article, displayed as China Edition)''",
            "label": "Rating(s)"
        },
        {
            "field": "See ''(link to Java Edition article, displayed as Java Edition)'', ''(link to Bedrock Edition article, displayed as Bedrock Edition)'', ''(link to Minecraft Education article, displayed as Minecraft Education)'', ''(link to China Edition article, displayed as China Edition)''",
            "label": "Size"
        },
        {
            "field": "[https://minecraft.net/terms Terms of Use]",
            "label": "License"
        },
        {
            "field": "'''''Java Edition''''': Partial<br />'''Other editions''': No",
            "label": "<span style=\"white-space:normal\">Source available</span>"
        },
        {
            "field": "\n* [https://minecraft.net/about-minecraft Website]",
            "label": "Links"
        }
    ],
    "invimages": [],
    "images": [
        "Java Edition 1.21.5.png",
        "Bedrock 1.21.72.png"
    ]
}

“	Minecraft is a game made up of blocks, creatures, and community. Blocks can be used to reshape the world or build fantastical creations. Creatures can be battled or befriended, depending on your playstyle. Experience epic adventures solo or with friends, there’s no wrong way to play. Unless you’re digging straight down.	„
	— minecraft.net on Minecraft

Key art by Mojang Studios

Minecraft is a 3D sandbox game created by Swedish game developer Markus "Notch" Persson. It is maintained by Mojang Studios, a part of Xbox Game Studios, which in turn is part of Microsoft.

From its creation, Minecraft was developed almost exclusively by Notch until Jens "Jeb" Bergensten started working with him and has since become head of its development. It features music by Daniel "C418" Rosenfeld, Kumi Tanioka, Lena Raine and Aaron Cherof, as well as paintings by Kristoffer Zetterstrand and Sarah Boeving. Initially released as what is now known as Minecraft Classic on May 17, 2009, the game was fully released on November 18, 2011, after multiple updates. Since its release, Minecraft has expanded to mobile devices and consoles. On November 6, 2014, Minecraft and all of Mojang Studios' assets were acquired by Microsoft for US$2.5 billion. Notch has since left Mojang and is no longer working on Minecraft.

Minecraft focuses on allowing the player to explore, interact with and modify a dynamically-generated map made of one-cubic-meter-sized blocks. In addition to blocks, the environment features plants, mobs and items. Some activities in the game include building, mining for ore, fighting hostile mobs and crafting new blocks and tools by gathering various resources found in the game. The game's open-ended model allows players to create structures, creations and artwork on various competitive or collaborative multiplayer servers or their single-player maps. Other features include redstone circuits for logic computations and remote actions, minecarts and tracks, and a mysterious underworld called the Nether. A designated but completely optional goal of the game is to travel to a dimension called the End and defeat the ender dragon.

Purchase and availability

Official Minecraft Trailer

Java Edition is mostly available on PCs. It can be purchased from the Microsoft Store or from the Minecraft Official Website. Gift codes can be bought for others, for the same price as buying the game for oneself. The demo version can be played for free without multiplayer. Java Edition can not run on Windows RT, it can only be run on ChromiumOS or ChromeOS if the "Linux development environment" is turned on, and it can not be run on many non-PC devices, even ones that use Java, such as cars, toasters, and Android devices.

Bedrock Edition is available on most devices. It can be purchased on Google Play (for ChromeOS & Android), the Apple App Store (for iOS & iPadOS), the Amazon Appstore (for Fire tablets), the Microsoft Store (for Windows & Xbox), the Nintendo eShop (for Nintendo Switch), and the PlayStation Store (for PS4, PS VR, & PS5).

Alternatively, Xbox Game Pass Standard provides access to Bedrock Edition on Xbox consoles. PC Game Pass provides access to Java Edition on PC and Bedrock Edition on Windows PCs. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate provides access to Java Edition on PC and Bedrock Edition on Windows PCs and Xbox consoles.

Legacy Console Edition can be purchased on physical media (excluding Nintendo Switch Edition) or on the respective platform's store. The PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita editions can only be purchased through the console. The Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Wii U, and Nintendo Switch editions are no longer available for direct digital purchase.

The North American version of New Nintendo 3DS Edition can be purchased on physical media. It is no longer available for direct digital purchase.

Minecraft Classic can be played at classic.minecraft.net for free.

Gameplay

A newly created Minecraft world.

Player

One of the nine default player skins, called Steve.

The player is the person that the user controls in the world. When the user starts a game, the player is put in a world, generated from a random or specified seed, with an empty inventory. If the bonus chest option is enabled, a chest filled with basic items generates near the player. The player has a health bar with 10 hearts and can be depleted when they are damaged. Damage to health can be mitigated by armor or the Resistance effect; while health can be restored by keeping the hunger bar full enough or by drinking specific potions. If the difficulty is set to Peaceful, health regenerates on its own.

Each player can have a unique look via 9 default skins, or by creating their own custom skin. A player can change their skin on the profile page of minecraft.net or in the Minecraft Launcher in Java Edition and in the pause or main menus in Bedrock Edition.

Blocks

A building based on a Greek acropolis.

The world of Minecraft takes place within a three-dimensional grid of cubes, with each cube being occupied by a certain type of block, not all of which are necessarily cubic. There are different types of blocks; natural blocks such as grass, stone and ores that generate randomly within the world. There are also blocks that players can craft, such as a crafting table and a furnace. Resources can be extracted from blocks by hand or by using tools. Some of these resources are simply blocks in the player's inventory that can be placed elsewhere, while others are used as material to create other blocks or tools. Others yield no practical use whatsoever. Some blocks cannot be broken through normal Survival means, e.g. bedrock, end portal frames, command blocks, nether and end portals, barriers and air.

Mining

Various ores (in proximity of lava) that can be mined with a pickaxe.

Mining is one of the main aspects of Minecraft and is done to extract ore and other materials mainly from below the surface of the map. These ores include coal, iron, gold, redstone, diamond, lapis lazuli, copper and emerald. Mining can involve digging a hole from the surface or going down through a cave. Mineshafts and ravines create extra areas that may contain resources, since they are usually rich in ores.

Crafting and smelting

A crafting table is used to create most of the blocks and items in Minecraft.

Crafting allows players to create new tools and blocks using items from their inventory. Subsequent versions often contain crafting recipes for new blocks and items. A player can use the 2×2 grid in the inventory or the 3×3 grid provided by a crafting table to craft. Smelting requires a furnace in addition to fuel and processes blocks into a more useful form such as from raw iron into iron ingots, which can then be crafted into iron tools and iron armor.

Brewing and enchanting

An enchanting table with glyphs being absorbed into it.

Brewing creates potions from various ingredients and water using a brewing stand. They are stored in a glass bottle and then consumed by the player or thrown at other mobs to generate a certain effect based on the magical ingredients used to create the potion. Enchanting is also used to upgrade armor, tools or weapons with an enchanting table or anvil. More powerful enchantments can be accessed by gaining experience and placing bookshelves around the enchanting table.

Mobs

A creeper in a forest. Creepers stalk the player and then explode once they get near.

Mobs (short for "mobiles") are interactable creatures that inhabit the world. Hostile mobs attack the player while passive mobs do not. Neutral mobs attack when provoked (not all neutral mobs are provoked the same way).

The Overworld contains many passive animal mobs that may be killed for food, bred with one another, or kept around for useful utilities; these include:

• Pigs: drop raw porkchops upon death and can be ridden using a saddle and holding a carrot on a stick.
• Cows: a source of beef and leather, and can be milked using a bucket.
• Sheep: kills leave mutton and wool, but can be otherwise sheared for a more sustainable source of wool.
• Chickens: drop raw chicken and feathers, and can lay eggs as an alternate form of reproduction.
• Horses: a form of fast land transport, equippable with saddles and horse armor.
• Rabbits: small, hasty mobs that drop meat, hide and its foot.
• Bats: ambient mobs that fly around caves.
• Fish: passive mobs that drop food or bones (bone meal in Java Edition).

Mobs that drop food drop the raw version of their food unless killed while on fire or by an item enchanted with the fire aspect enchantment.

Common hostile mobs found throughout the Overworld include:

• Zombies: slow, basic melee attackers.
• Skeletons: ranged attackers using a bow and arrow.
• Spiders: leap large distances and climb walls.
• Witches: make use of potions for attack and defense.
• Creepers: sneak up and explode when near the player.
• Endermen: are tall, black creatures with purple eyes, boasting teleportation and strong melee attacks; they can be provoked if the player looks at their eyes.

The Overworld also contains some rarer mobs that spawn only on occasion or in specific biomes, places or times:

• Spider Jockeys: a skeleton riding a spider.
• Chicken Jockeys: a baby zombie riding a chicken.
• Squids: aquatic mobs that drop ink sacs.
• Slimes: spawn deep within the map and in swamplands, splitting into multiple pieces when killed.
• Villagers: humanoid mobs with complex daily routines, inhabiting villages and are able to trade with the player.
• Golems: artificial constructs that can attack hostiles.
• Cats: inhabit villages or swamp huts, and can be tamed to deter creepers and phantoms.
• Ocelots: spawn in jungles.
• Parrots: spawn in jungles and can imitate the sounds of nearby hostile mobs.
• Wolves: can be tamed by the player and attack enemy mobs if the owner engages or is attacked by them.
• Llamas: can store items and form lines with other llamas, known as a caravan.
• Mooshrooms: mushroom-covered cows that spawn in mushroom fields biomes.
• Guardians and elder guardians: spawn in ocean monuments.
• Donkeys: similar to horses, trading off their agility for the ability to store items via chests.
• Skeleton Horses: spawn rarely in thunderstorms as part of a skeleton horse trap.
• Polar Bears: inhabits ice biomes, and are very protective of their cubs.
• Pandas: spawn in jungles and bamboo jungles, and have different personalities.
• Silverfish: small arthropods that infest stone blocks.
• Endermites: may spawn when a player throws an ender pearl.
• Vindicators: spawn in woodland mansions and raids, wielding iron axes that deal heavy melee damage.
• Pillagers: spawn in pillager outposts and raids, wielding crossbows.
• Evokers: spawn in woodland mansions and raids, able to summon biting fangs from the ground and vexes.
• Phantoms: flying hostile creatures that spawn when the player has not slept for three days.
• Wardens: large, blind, and tough mobs that roam the deep dark, using sound and smell to locate other mobs.
• Camels: rideable mobs that spawn in desert villages, able to dash and carry two players at once.
• Breezes: hostile mobs that spawn in trial spawners through trial chambers and shoots wind at the player.

Some mobs are found exclusively in the Nether, including:

• Ghasts: flying ghost-like creatures that shoot exploding fireballs at the player.
• Piglins: obsessed with gold, they can barter with the player to provide resource.
• Zombified Piglins: undead piglins that wield golden swords and attack in hordes if provoked.
• Hoglins: breedable hostile animals.
• Wither Skeletons: tall skeletons that wield stone swords and drop coal or, occasionally, wither skeleton skulls that can be used to summon an optional boss, the wither. Just like its cousin an attack from a wither skeleton will inflict the wither effect.
• Blazes: spawned by spawners in nether fortress, they shoot fireballs at players and hover above the ground.
• Magma Cubes: a fiery counterpart to the Overworld's slimes, having fire resistance and increased damage.
• Striders: are the only passive mobs naturally spawning in the Nether, which can walk on lava and can be saddled and ridden with a warped fungus on a stick.

The End contains the Ender Dragon, which is the main boss mob in Minecraft and allows the player to exit back to the Overworld when it dies, as well as shulkers, block-like mobs that shoot homing bullets at the player which inflict the Levitation effect. They also drop their shells, allowing the player to craft shulker boxes.

The Wither is the second boss mob in Minecraft. It is created by the player by placing wither skeleton skulls on top of soul sand or soul soil in a specific pattern. When spawned, they shoot wither skulls at nearby non-undead mobs, while also causing any mob hit by the skulls to get the Wither effect.

The Nether

The Nether.

The Nether is a dimension in Minecraft accessible from the Overworld by a nether portal. It consists of five unique biomes, which are the nether wastes, the basalt deltas, the crimson and warped forests and the soul sand valleys. Each biome has unique generation and terrain. It is populated by zombified piglins, blazes, ghasts, wither skeletons, magma cubes, piglins and hoglins. Ores in the Nether include nether quartz, nether gold and ancient debris. The Nether also has large oceans of lava that have striders walking on them.

The End

The End.

The End is another dimension of the game where the player battles the ender dragon. The End is accessed by entering an end portal found in a stronghold. The End is composed of end stone and is inhabited by endermen. It also contains tall obsidian pillars on top of which are end crystals that heal the ender dragon. Once the ender dragon is slain, the exit portal is created in the center of the map and an end gateway portal is created near an edge of the map, which transports the player to the expansive outer End islands which are full of chorus fruit forests and end cities filled of chest loot and shulkers. The end gateway portal is only accessed by throwing an ender pearl, using elytra or trapdoors to enter the portal. There are no ores in the End.

Multiplayer (Java)

PvP (player vs player) on a multiplayer server.

Minecraft multiplayer servers have developed to include their own rules and customs, guided by their administrators and moderators. The term griefer, meaning a player who causes grief, is a typical term on the internet but has taken up its definition on Minecraft servers: a person who destroys or defiles other users' creations on servers.

Griefers are the reason many server administrators make rules, but this has been taken a step further with modifications to the Minecraft server and even plugin-based replacement servers such as Bukkit. Because of these plugin-based servers, new user-created features have shown up in Minecraft. This includes features like money, vehicles, protection, RPG elements and more. These features normally do not require modification to a user's client and can be accessed by using chat commands. With the default controls, the chat screen is brought up by pressing T.

One popular game on multiplayer servers is Spleef (a play on the word "grief"), a game where the player aims to make another player drop through the floor by destroying blocks beneath the opponent's feet. This is typically played in a designated area and is usually run automatically using server plugins.

Many popular multiplayer servers exist that may contain, PvP arenas, custom minigames or large Survival or Creative worlds.

Multiplayer (Bedrock)

Multiplayer in Bedrock Edition differs from multiplayer on the Java Edition in that it is centered around a friend system. A player can add friends through the Friends tab in the menu or in the pause screen of a world. A player may invite friends to a world instead of having to pay for a server or realm. Minecraft has featured servers on Bedrock, which means that they are available when opening the game. There are five featured servers: The Hive, CubeCraft, Lifeboat, Mineville and Galaxite.

Minecraft Realms

Minecraft Realms is an official subscription-based server hosting service that allows players to create and manage their own private Minecraft multiplayer worlds. Hosted by Mojang Studios, Realms provides an easy and fast way to create servers and allows the owner to manage them from inside the game, without prior knowledge of the concepts for hosting on the internet. However, Realms are not intended for large public servers, but for groups of friends or as a family server. Private Realms servers are easy to set up and available 24/7 as long as the owner pays for it.

Editions

Minecraft sales data, up to December, 2015.

Java Edition

The original version of Minecraft on Windows, macOS, and Linux, starting through the Minecraft Launcher, Java Edition was initially released for an "early private singleplayer alpha" on May 17, 2009, followed by several development stages (notably Classic, Indev, Infdev, Alpha, Beta) with the game finally being released on November 18, 2011. The Java Edition has seen many significant updates since its official release.

The original May 17, 2009, public release is officially recognized as the anniversary of the Minecraft franchise as a whole. The official 10th Anniversary (in 2019) and 15th Anniversary (in 2024) are set 10 and 15 years after this date respectively.

Bedrock Edition

Notch with Minecraft: Pocket Edition on the Xperia Play.

The Bedrock Edition (also known as the Bedrock Platform/Codebase/Engine, and officially Minecraft or Minecraft for Windows) is a multi-platform version of Minecraft developed by Mojang Studios and Xbox Game Studios. Unlike Java Edition, which runs on the titular coding system, Bedrock Edition runs on C++. Prior to this term, as the engine originated with Minecraft: Pocket Edition, this entire product family has been referred to using as "Pocket Edition", "MCPE" or "Pocket/Windows 10 Edition".

Before the Better Together Update, it had different subtitles on different platforms including Pocket Edition (for iOS and Android), Legacy Console Editions, Windows 10 Edition, Gear VR Edition, and Fire TV Edition.

Predating the Better Together Update, Minecraft: Pocket Edition was initially launched exclusively for the Xperia PLAY on Google Play for US$6.99 on August 16, 2011. It was later released for other Android devices on October 7, 2011, and iOS on November 17, 2011. On September 13, 2012, the Pocket Edition was made available for purchase on the Amazon Appstore. The Windows Phone version was released on the Windows Phone Store on December 10, 2014, for which the Pocket Edition 1.0.0 release and newer are available only for Windows 10 Phone and newer. Since then, four adaptations of Pocket Edition have been released; for Windows 10 on July 29, 2015, the Gear VR on April 27, 2016, tvOS on December 19, 2016, and the Fire TV on December 19, 2016. As of September 24, 2018, the Apple TV Edition has been discontinued.

Legacy Console Edition

Legacy Console Edition refers to the editions of Minecraft for consoles that are developed and updated by 4J Studios.

The Legacy Console Edition was initially announced for the Xbox 360 on June 7, 2011, during E3 2011. Xbox 360 Edition released digitally on May 9, 2012 followed by a physical release on June 4, 2013. The game was later released on additional platforms as PlayStation 3 Edition on December 17, 2013, PlayStation 4 Edition on September 4, 2014, Xbox One Edition on September 5, 2014, PlayStation Vita Edition on October 14, 2014, Wii U Edition on December 17, 2015, and Nintendo Switch Edition on May 11, 2017. As of December 10, 2019, no further feature updates have been released for these versions, and the newest available update depends on the platform. The most recent update on Xbox One Edition and Nintendo Switch Edition is the World of Color Update, while Xbox 360 Edition, PlayStation 3 Edition, PlayStation Vita Edition, and Wii U Edition have access to Update Aquatic. PlayStation 4 Edition is the most up-to-date version with Village & Pillage.

Minecraft Education

Minecraft Education (Edition, before late 2022) is an educational version of Minecraft specifically designed for classroom use. It is developed by Mojang Studios and Xbox Game Studios and contains features that make Minecraft easy to use in a classroom setting. The full game was released on November 1, 2016.

New Nintendo 3DS Edition

Minecraft: New Nintendo 3DS Edition was released on September 13, 2017 for the titular system, its XL variant, and the New Nintendo 2DS XL, a unique port developed by Other Ocean Interactive. Multiplayer was limited to local play. This edition was discontinued on January 15, 2019.

Other

There are a number of other versions of Minecraft. Minecraft 4k is a simple version of Minecraft in the style of other "4K" Java games (everything is packaged in 4 kibibytes) by Notch for contests. Minecraft: Pi Edition was a free ported version of Pocket Edition 0.5.0 for the Raspberry Pi, which was intended as an educational tool for novice programmers. It allowed users to manipulate the game code and supported multiple programming languages; however, it was discontinued in January 2016. Minecraft: China Edition is a localized version of Minecraft for mainland China.

Edition comparison

Edition	Price (USD)	Developer	Platforms	Buy	Trial/Download	Input methods	Account type	Skin changes	Support	Notes
Java Edition	$29.99 – $39.99	Mojang Studios	Windows, macOS, and Linux	Microsoft Store	minecraft.net	Keyboard and mouse	Microsoft	Free, user-created	Minecraft Help Center	The original version of Minecraft. Access to occasional test updates known as snapshots.
Bedrock Edition	$6.99 – $39.99	Mojang Studios Xbox Game Studios 4J Studios SkyBox Labs	Windows, ChromeOS, Android, iOS, iPadOS, Fire, Xbox One/Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS VR, & PS5	Microsoft (Windows & Xbox), Google, Apple, Amazon, Nintendo, and PlayStation stores	Microsoft (Windows only), Google, and PlayStation stores	Keyboard & mouse, gamepad, and touchscreen	Microsoft (for achievements and servers), Nintendo (for online play), and Sony (for online play)	Free, user-created, via in-app purchase, or via Xbox network	Minecraft Help Center Xbox Support	Cross-platform local server multiplayer. Windows, ChromeOS, Android, iOS, iPadOS, Xbox, & PlayStation users have access to occasional test updates known as betas/previews.
Minecraft Education	$5.04 – $12 per user per year	Mojang Studios Xbox Game Studios 4J Studios	Windows, macOS, ChromeOS, Android, iOS, & iPadOS	education.minecraft.net and the Apple App Store	education.minecraft.net, Microsoft, Google, and Apple stores	Keyboard & mouse, gamepad, and touchscreen	Office 365 Education and Microsoft 365	Free, user-created	Minecraft Education Community Hub	Designed for teaching. Based on Bedrock Edition.
China Edition	Free	Mojang Studios Xbox Game Studios NetEase	Windows, Android, iOS, iPadOS, & macOS	N/A	mc.163.com, Apple, and other stores	Keyboard & mouse, gamepad, and touchscreen	NetEase	Free, user-created, or via in-app purchase	gm.163.com	Transplanted from Java and Bedrock editions.

Game customization

Add-ons

Add-ons‌ are the first step toward bringing customization to all editions of Minecraft and are officially supported by Mojang Studios/Minecraft. They currently allow players to transform the look of their worlds, change the behavior of mobs, and add entities, items and blocks, structures, functions and biomes.

Behavior packs

Behavior packs‌ change how vanilla mobs behave.

Resource packs

The game officially supports changing most of its various textures, sounds, and texts through resource packs. Resource packs must contain a certain structure of files and folders placed in the .minecraft/resourcepacks folder. Installed resource packs, as well as the folder in which resource packs are placed, can be accessed in the options menu. The extent to which the resources are changed is dependent on how many files are contained in the resource pack.

Data packs

Data packs‌ provide a way for players to further customize vanilla worlds in a similar way to resource packs. Unlike resource packs, which modify the game's resources, data packs can be used to override or add new advancements, functions, loot tables, structures, recipes and tags without any code modification.

Skins

Skin refers to the texture that is placed onto a player model or mob. The skin is divided into areas that act as the surface area of the character (for example, the front head area, left leg area, etc.). A skin allows only solid color; transparency is not allowed on the skin file except on the second layer, which is transparent by default; playing offline, pixels can be left free resulting in "holes" in the skin. The second layer can be used to give the character glasses, hats, or other accessories. Players can also change the arm size to be slim or normal. The slim variant is 3 pixels wide while the normal variant is 4 pixels wide.

Java Edition

in Java Edition, there are no special features in the skins. This version has only the features listed in the first part of this section.

Bedrock Edition

In Bedrock Edition, there are many more types of skin customization. Players can add 3D custom hair, eyes, mouths, arms, legs and more. Players can also change the size of a character. Players can also get many different accessories for the skin. However, the player cannot do this with a custom skin, only with an in-game skin. Players can also buy accessories and skins. Having a skin that is smaller than normal or larger does not affect the hitbox size, but can still give an advantage in multiplayer servers because it can be harder to see them. Some of the skins also do not show their armor or hand-held items.

Capes

Capes are an uncommon vanity item that can be equipped on a player's back. In Bedrock Edition, players start with a cape that is not equipped by default and some skins come with capes.

Capes also flail around when the player runs. When the player equips elytra, the texture of the elytra changes to an equipped cape.

Unofficial mods

Minecraft can be modified by replacing or adding Java class files to minecraft.jar in Java Edition. This method of making custom modifications is not supported by Mojang as it can break the game if the mod is outdated, defective, or in conflict with another mod. Some such modifications impressed Notch or Jeb sufficiently that they were added to the game and the authors were credited under Additional Programming. Some examples of mods being implemented into the main game include Hippoplatimus' Piston Mod and horses from Dr. Zhark's Mo' Creatures mod were added in Beta 1.7 and 1.6.1 respectively.

Third-party programs

There are many programs designed for Minecraft. These include 3D map editors and viewers, game modifiers, various informational programs (such as crafting recipes) and server wrappers, and other specialty programs. As with mods, these too are not supported by Mojang.

Reception

Metacritic ranked Minecraft as one of the best video games of the 2010s, and Video Game Canon ranks Minecraft as one of the best games of all time.

Awards

Mojang Studios' trophies.

Since release Minecraft has won numerous awards including:

• PC Gamer's "Game of the Year"
• Independent Games Festival's Grand Prize and "Audience Award"
• Good Game's "Best Downloadable Game of 2010"
• Rock Paper Shotgun's "Game of the Year"
• Indie DB's "Indie of the Year", "Most Innovative and Best Singleplayer Indie"
• Game Developers Choice Awards's "Best Debut Game", "Best Downloadable Game" and "Most Innovative Game Award"

References in popular culture

Many references have been made in culture in response to the popularity of Minecraft, this includes many memes and also references in these video games, TV shows, and movies.

Gallery

Official artwork

• 

  Minecraft
  game logo

• 

  Minecraft: Java & Bedrock Edition for PC logo

• 

  Minecraft: Java Edition app icon

• 

  Minecraft: Java Edition snapshot app icon

• 

  Minecraft: Bedrock Edition app icon

• 

  Minecraft Preview
  app icon

• 

  Minecraft Education
  app icon

• 

  Minecraft Education Preview app icon

• 

  Minecraft square key art

• 

  Minecraft vertical key art

• 

  Minecraft horizontal
  key art

• 

  Minecraft horizontal
  key art without logo.

• 

  Minecraft horizontal
  key art without logo. (alt)

• 

  Minecraft: Deluxe Collection square key art

• 

  Minecraft: Deluxe Collection vertical key art

• 

  Minecraft: Deluxe Collection horizontal
  key art

• 

  Minecraft: Deluxe Collection horizontal key art without logo.

• 

  Minecraft: Deluxe Collection horizontal key art without logo. (alt)

• 

  Minecraft: Java & Bedrock Edition for PC square key art

• 

  Minecraft: Java & Bedrock Edition for PC vertical key art

• 

  Minecraft: Java & Bedrock Edition Deluxe Collection square key art

• 

  Minecraft: Java & Bedrock Edition Deluxe Collection vertical key art

• 

  Minecraft Education
  key art

Box art

• 

  PS5 box.

• 

  Outdated PS4 box.

• 

  Nintendo Switch box.

Old

• 

  Old Minecraft square
  key art with old logo.

• 

  Old Minecraft vertical
  key art

• 

  Old Minecraft vertical key art with old logo.

• 

  Old Minecraft horizontal
  key art

• 

  Old Minecraft horizontal
  key art without logo.

• 

  Old Minecraft horizontal key art without logo. (alt)

• 

  Old Minecraft: Java & Bedrock Edition for PC square key art

• 

  Old Minecraft: Java & Bedrock Edition for PC vertical key art

• 

  Old Minecraft: Java & Bedrock Edition for PC horizontal key art

• 

  Old Minecraft: Deluxe Collection square key art

• 

  Old Minecraft: Deluxe Collection vertical key art

• 

  Old Minecraft: Deluxe Collection horizontal
  key art

• 

  Old Minecraft: Java & Bedrock Edition Deluxe Collection square key art

• 

  Old Minecraft: Java & Bedrock Edition Deluxe Collection vertical key art

• 

  Minecraft Preview square key art

• 

  Minecraft Preview vertical key art

• 

  Minecraft Preview horizontal key art

In other media

• 

  Minecraft X (Twitter) profile image

• 

  Infographic celebrating 300 million copies of Minecraft being sold, showing statistics of several in-game mechanics.

• 

  An official poster made by J!NX.

• 

  An official poster made by SamCube.

• 

  An official poster made by SamCube.

• 

  Minecraft is for everyone!