If your child has spent a while playing Minecraft on their own - or with other relations on your own home community - they'll in all probability attain some extent the place they’ll wish to play with others on-line.
Enjoying Minecraft on a public server can take the game to an entire new stage. For one thing, there’s a brand new community of like-minded gamers to make buddies with and collaborate with. This may help your child study social expertise, reminiscent of cooperating, compromising and problem-fixing.
In addition, most servers characteristic big, prebuilt worlds, with wonderful cities and buildings, transport networks, and mini-games for your child to discover and get pleasure from.
Lastly, most servers lengthen Minecraft utilizing a number of server plugins, which allow for a whole vary of extra gameplay features, together with cash techniques, jobs, position-enjoying components and teleports. (You don’t want to switch your Minecraft recreation to add these features; they’re all handled by the server.)
By now you’re in all probability pondering: This is all very properly, but aren’t public servers a dangerous place for my kid? In the event that they go on a server, how will I know they will be secure from dangerous language, bullying, or on-line predators?
In fact, no public server is 100 % safe, however there are some improbable Minecraft servers out there that cater especially to children and families. (That mentioned, if you’d fairly set up a completely private server on your kid and their close friends, try Minecraft Realms.)
On this guide, you’ll discover eleven of the very best household-pleasant Minecraft servers on the market. You’ll also be taught a bit more about how Minecraft servers work, and the way to attach to these servers and start taking part in online.
At this level, I ought to level out that this information is for the Computer/Mac model of Minecraft only. Whereas there are some household-friendly servers for the Pocket Version and Xbox variations of Minecraft, the overwhelming majority of servers work with the Computer/Mac model.
So with out additional ado, let’s dive into the world of online, family-friendly Minecraft! We’ll begin by looking at some vital ideas related to public Minecraft servers.
Key server concepts it's good to know
Listed here are a couple of key concepts and phrases which are worth understanding earlier than you join a public server:
Servers vs. worlds: Normally, a single public Minecraft server has a number of worlds which you can leap between. For instance, there’s often a predominant survival world, one other creative-mode world, and probably a third world for mini-video games. Normally there’s a central hub or foyer, with warp points that allow you to teleport between the totally different worlds.
PvP and PvE: PvP stands for “player vs. player”, while PvE stands for “player vs. environment”. Most public servers - especially family-pleasant ones - are PvE; that is, you battle monsters, not gamers. Nonetheless, some servers have particular PvP arenas the place you may struggle other players. (Typically, when you die in a PvP enviornment, you don’t lose all of your stuff, as you would in an everyday survival world. It’s only for enjoyable.)
Spawn: Often your participant will spawn (start) at a set point on this planet, normally referred to simply as “spawn”. Usually that is in, or near, a central city or city, or in some sort of lobby space. You may normally kind the command /spawn to return to your spawn level.
Rules: Almost all servers have guidelines as to what you possibly can and cannot do, and - as you’d imagine - family-friendly servers are likely to have an enormous listing of strict guidelines. Be sure you learn all the rules completely. (Once you first be a part of some servers, they actually drive you to walk past a lot of signs with the principles on!) In the event you don’t observe the principles, you will be banned temporarily or even completely from the server.
Griefing and grief protection: A big potential downside on public servers is griefing; that is, demolishing other players’ buildings or stealing their stuff. Many - but not all - servers use numerous plugins to cease griefing. Sometimes these plugins let you lock your chests, doors and furnaces, and you can too claim a patch of land as your personal - which means no one else can create or break blocks within your claim. As well as, griefing is always forbidden within the server rules; griefers are warned after which banned, and most server admins can “roll back” your building to the state it was in earlier than it was griefed.
Text chat: Minecraft has built-in text chat (the ‘T’ key), which is the default method that your kid will talk with other players. Chat might be public or non-public (that's, one-to-one). Obviously your child will want some studying skill to take part in chat, though you may also help them if you’re enjoying online too. Most family-pleasant servers employ computerized filtering to forestall swearing in text chat. As with all on-line chat, be sure to remind your child by no means to present out personal particulars when chatting.
Voice chat: Some servers link up with voice chat servers such as Mumble, TeamSpeak or Ventrilo to allow gamers to talk with one another whereas taking part in. In case you permit your child to use voice chat then clearly you need to be careful about who they’re speaking to, and what they’re talking about!
Server commands: To get the most out of online taking part in, you’ll want to give various commands to the server as you play. You give a command by pressing the / (slash) key, adopted by the command name and, generally, some additional textual content. For example, /sethome usually units your property level to where you’re at the moment standing, while /dwelling teleports you to your property level. The commands differ from server to server, but you’ll soon get the cling of them.
Utilizing mods: If you’ve added mods to your Minecraft shopper, watch out when connecting to servers, since most servers ban a minimum of some mods - notably people who let you cheat, of course. Normally, mods similar to OptiFine - which merely makes your recreation run more easily - are Okay.
How to hitch a server
Becoming a member of a public Minecraft server is very simple. Simply open the Minecraft launcher and click on Play to run the main Minecraft sport. Once you reach the primary title display screen, you click the Multiplayer button, then click on the Add Server button so as to add the server.
Now kind a reputation for the server in the Server Identify box, then type the server address within the Server Address box. Sometimes this will probably be a domain identify, such as mc.intercraften.org, or an IP deal with, such as 1.2.3.4. Then click Finished to add the server to your server record:
To add a server, click on Add Server and enter the server particulars. You may then connect to the server with the Join Server button.
Then it’s simply a matter of clicking a server in the list, and clicking the Join Server button to connect with it.
Now let’s take a look at a few issues that may come up when becoming a member of a server.
Whitelisting
You possibly can divide public Minecraft servers into two varieties:
Whitelisted servers are protected by a whitelist - that's, a list of usernames which can be allowed to affix the server. To affix a whitelisted server, you need to use to have your Minecraft username added to the whitelist. Usually, this involves filling out a type and waiting a couple of hours or days. Most servers require you to place in separate purposes for your self and for your kid. Once you’re on the whitelist, you join the server as described above.
Non-whitelisted servers shouldn't have a whitelist, which means anybody can be part of the server just by getting into the server’s deal with in their Minecraft shopper, as proven above.
Making use of for a whitelisted server can be a bit of a drag - especially when you've an impatient eight-12 months-previous tugging at your sleeve - nevertheless it does present an additional degree of reassurance that all the players on the server are recognized to the server administrators.
Server and shopper versions
One thing to watch out for when becoming a member of a server is ensuring the model number of your Minecraft consumer (recreation) matches the version variety of the server. Typically speaking, the variations have to match, otherwise you won’t be ready to connect.
For instance, the current model of Minecraft is 1.7.9, but many servers are still working 1.7.2, or even 1.6.4. Typically the server’s web site tells you what version they’re operating, but typically the only way to tell is to try it and see. When you get an error message when utilizing the 1.7.9 shopper, strive the 1.7.2 client as an alternative.
Thankfully it’s straightforward to modify to different variations of the Minecraft shopper. Within the Minecraft launcher, you possibly can click on New Profile to create different profiles that use any Minecraft version you like. Then, just select the profile you need to make use of from the drop-down list within the launcher, and click Play.
It’s easy to set up the Minecraft launcher with profiles for various versions. Here I’ve set up two profiles: one for 1.7.2 and one other for 1.7.9. (OptiFine is a useful mod that makes your Minecraft run faster.) The “Use version” dropdown in the topmost window permits you to choose the version.
The record of household-friendly servers
Now that you already know the fundamentals of taking part in online with Minecraft, listed below are 11 excellent Minecraft servers for you and your kid to play on.
I have personally played on all of those servers. They are listed in no particular order; I believe they are all excellent, and each single one comes throughout as being appropriate and welcoming for youths, dad and mom and grandparents alike!
You’ll discover that each server has its personal unique “feel”, so it’s value exploring a few of them to search out out which one feels best for you.
Cubeville
Cubeville is a really nice server that’s dedicated to being household-friendly. You don’t want to use to join - just enter cubeville.org into your Minecraft client - but the server is well policed and has a good, clear record of guidelines. It additionally has a thorough tutorial while you first be a part of.
The large Cubeville world has an enormous central city, in addition to a number of smaller towns and settlements dotted everywhere in the map. There’s a tremendous range of fun issues to explore and nice individuals to fulfill. It’s fairly crowded, so to build you’ll need to catch a experience on the transport system and head out to the edge of the map.
Cubeville also options a neat cash system with quests to earn money; clever automated retailers; and an amazing transport network. It also has land and chest protection so you can declare your own little corner of Cubeville for yourself.
Towncraft
Update 14 April 2019: Towncraft has now shut down. The Towncraft workers members have arrange one other family-pleasant server called Ohanacraft that still adheres to Towncraft’s guiding ideas.
Update 10 August 2020: Towncraft is again up and working! It has the same rules (and server identify) as before. Yay!
Towncraft is just not whitelisted, so anybody can be part of - just enter play.towncraft.us into your Minecraft consumer. It additionally has a TeamSpeak server for voice chat; you could find the IP tackle on the Towncraft web site.
What I like about Towncraft is that, rather than simply being a regular world to explore and construct in, it has a little bit of a narrative happening. A meteor has wiped out the world, and it’s as much as you and your folks on the server to rebuild it. At the beginning of the game, you pick a commerce, comparable to hunter, farmer, blacksmith or service provider, then as you improve your expertise in that commerce over time, you unlock new talents.
Towncraft doesn’t are inclined to get too busy, making for a relaxed crafting experience. There are parents and children playing on the server, and people are generally are pleasant and useful.
The server makes use of the Zombie Apocalypse plugin; this randomly makes a horde of zombies appear across the participant at night time, which it's essential to defeat to obtain a reward. Clearly, youthful gamers might get a bit freaked out by this, but it’s good enjoyable for older youngsters.
Towncraft uses the Grief Prevention plugin so you may protect your house and contents from griefing by other players.
Kolgrath, the Towncraft admin, has put together a participant guide, in addition to a helpful parent’s guide to Towncraft that's price a read.
Intercraften
Intercraften is a very talked-about household-pleasant Minecraft server. It’s properly deliberate out, and has extremely useful moderators that are good at sorting out problems and looking after everybody, mother and father and youngsters alike.
The server is whitelisted, so to hitch you first have to fill out the easy utility form.
Intercraften is a large server with a number of worlds, including New Survival (the current principal world), a CTF (Capture the Flag) world, a peaceful world, a inventive world, a mining world, and lots extra.
The server has a money system, along with jobs - such as fisherman, brewer and woodcutter - you can carry out with the intention to earn coins. You should use the money to buy stuff in outlets, and in addition to assert chunks of land so that others can’t grief your builds. In case you do get griefed, the moderators are very careful to set every little thing right again (and ban the offender from the server).
In addition to doing stuff with the usual server commands, resembling /spawn, /sethome and /dwelling, it's also possible to use the person-friendly Intercraften Menu book (given free if you join) to pick jobs, perform commands and play mini-games.
The Sandlot
The Sandlot is a whitelisted, household-pleasant Minecraft server that’s been operating since December 2011. It’s operated by a former schoolteacher, and has an excellent set of rules and filters in place to stop any abusive behaviour.
What I like in regards to the Sandlot is the nice stability of different worlds available. There’s Semi-Vanilla Survival, which is fairly near a typical Minecraft world, with the wise addition of Grief Prevention and also a digital forex system (tied to gold ingots) so that gamers can arrange outlets.
A really great world for younger children is simple Survival. If Semi-Vanilla Survival is Scrabble, this is Junior Scrabble. Rather than having to spend ages digging round for assets and gadgets, youngsters can select a job (corresponding to farming) to earn cash, then spend their money to purchase items in an enormous mall in the centre. This makes for a much easier, more relaxed gameplay model. Nice thought.
Different worlds within the Sandlot include a Artistic world, and plenty of PvP sport worlds including hunger games (based mostly loosely on the books and movies), spleef and so on. There’s additionally a skyblock world (a world with floating islands and plenty of challenges).
All of those worlds are accessed through The Lobby, a implausible constructing based mostly on Hogwarts from the Harry Potter collection (take a look at the secret passages!). This, in addition to many of the other Sandlot worlds, are beautifully designed, making a enjoyable, welcoming setting to your kid.
CrazyPig
CrazyPig is a small household-friendly Minecraft server with a fantastic group. It was initially set up by a UK father or mother for his son, however is now open to all. It isn't whitelisted; to hitch, simply add play.crazypig.net to your Minecraft shopper.
CrazyPig makes use of a “belt” system to rank players by how long they’ve played on the server. As you spend extra time on the server, you’re robotically given belts of higher rank, which in turn provide you with access to certain worlds, in addition to a greater variety of “homes” that you can set and warp to.
There’s also a forex system, as well as a simple digital marketplace where gamers should buy and sell objects.
As with most servers, CrazyPig features a number of interconnected worlds. There’s a central lobby area from which you can select a world to warp to. There’s the primary World where you’ll construct your own home and spend most of your time; a Creative World (you must be Green Belt or larger to access it); a Video games World with an enormous chess set; and an extra Onerous world if you’re feeling brave!
Though it’s not whitelisted, CrazyPig has a pleasant, helpful community of players, and employs the Grief Prevention plugin to cease players from griefing. It additionally has fairly good automated language filters to remove swearing.
A reasonably novel facet of CrazyPig is the idea of areas. The primary world is routinely divided up into areas; whenever you be a part of you’re automatically added to the newest region, but you may warp between regions. This ensures that every space of the world doesn’t get overcrowded. It’s a bit confusing at first, however once you get the hang of it, it’s a reasonably good system!
CrazyPig is a great server if you’re on the lookout for a very good community, not too many rules, and freedom to build and have fun.
Addstar
Addstar is a busy Australian server that is child-pleasant. It’s not whitelisted so anybody can be a part of, but it is closely moderated and comes with LWC safety (for locking things) and Grief Prevention (for claiming land so it can’t be griefed).
Addstar follows the familiar format of a central spawn city, with warps that take you off to different worlds. There are a number of portals into a fairly commonplace survival world, in addition to a portal to a inventive world with tons of amazing creations (only donators to the server can construct here).
Within the spawn town you’ll additionally discover warps to tons of mini-games, together with BlockHunt, a maze, parkour, spleef, CTF (capture the flag), survival games, and even Connect 4, checkers and chess!
There’s all the time rather a lot taking place on the Addstar server, and - apart from a short intro - you’re pretty much thrown in at the deep finish, so this server might be better for older kids, or those that already know Minecraft and Minecraft servers properly. That mentioned, the staff are at all times helpful and pleasant.
MineSquish
MineSquish is a whitelisted server with a reasonably strict software course of. To apply, it's essential to register on the forums, introduce your self, and actively participate within the boards for a while. Solely then can you apply to be whitelisted. An exception is made if you’re applying on behalf of your child and they’re too younger to submit on the boards. On this case, you solely need to make an introduction post, and present that you have learn by way of the server rules and explained them to your chid.
This comparatively lengthy whitelisting course of, mixed with strict server rules, ensures that gamers are pretty nicely vetted before they play, and helps to foster a superb community spirit.
The MineSquish server is very household-pleasant and has all types of options to make the game protected to play for youngsters, together with a monster-free spawn (starting) city, a rail and road system to make it straightforward to get round and keep away from getting lost, rigorously managed towns, and lockable chests, doorways and furnaces.
The server doesn’t have anti-griefing block protection, so there is no way to protect your build from being demolished by others. Nevertheless, players are typically properly-behaved in the MineSquish community and the server admins are good at catching griefers, so griefing doesn’t are typically an enormous problem.
There are several worlds to explore, including Persephone (the main survival world, the place you construct your home), a creative freebuild world, a tough-mode Exploration world for resource gathering that’s wiped every 2 months, a Skylands (floating islands) world, an enormous Build world for constructing spectacular large buildings, and more.
Here is an effective MineSquish starter information for folks and young children.
SafeCraft
SafeCraft - formerly Win Family Survival - is a small but rising family-pleasant server built by a devoted workforce of dad and mom and children within the UK. It uses whitelisting and strict filtering to make a child-pleasant server where people assist out players of all skills. The moderators are notably open to serving to out children on the autistic spectrum and children with ADHD.
The server has a enjoyable, lively really feel to it with a fantastically colourful important foyer (see screenshot above). The secure, welcoming surroundings means this server will appeal to children each younger and previous. The server contains another nice touches reminiscent of “Server Champion” awards and recognising birthdays, which add to the sense of neighborhood.
From the foyer you may attain a normal survival world (grief safety is included); the SafeCraft world (no hostile mobs - great for littler kids); a world for useful resource gathering, and heaps of nice mini-games including Paintball, Block Hunt, starvation/survival video games, TNT Run and Skyblock. There are additionally a few spleef arenas within the foyer.
Overall, this is a good server for youths who choose to play in a protected, welcoming setting with a close-knit community.
Blocklandia
Blocklandia is a enjoyable, family-pleasant whitelisted server that is suitable for youths of all ages (some gamers are as young as 4!). The moderators are very useful, and usually give you a guided tour once you first join. They could even supply to help you build your first house!
The spawn (starting space) is themed as a big shipyard. Each ship takes you to a unique land. Mainland is the main survival world, while Peaceful is a safer mode with no hostile mobs or fall injury. There’s additionally a Creative world, reached via a reasonably scorching air balloon.
Blocklandia has a money system based mostly on “shillings”. There are plenty of jobs that will earn you shillings, together with weaponsmith, digger, builder, sorcerer, alchemist, and even pirate!
A nice contact is the enormous library, simply off the shipyard. You may write a ebook and add it to the library, as well as learn different people’s books.
Though the server doesn’t let you claim land in the survival worlds, it does use the LWC plugin which lets you lock chests, doorways, furnaces and so forth. In addition, there’s a very clear, detailed set of rules (that it's a must to learn while you first connect), issues like TNT and fire are generally banned, and the moderators are excellent at sorting out any griefing points.
If your kid is pretty new to Minecraft and wants to join a useful, welcoming neighborhood then Blocklandia is an effective guess.
Famcraft
Famcraft was set up by dad and mom who wished to make it possible for children had a secure place to play Minecraft on-line. It’s been running for a couple of years and had developed a really good neighborhood of players, ranging in age from 5 to 77!
Famcraft is not whitelisted - simply add survival.famcraft.com to your Minecraft consumer, and away you go. If you first be a part of, you’ll most likely be provided a tour by one of many friendly staff members. There are often Minecraft gamemodes of a few staff online at any given second.
The main survival server is big, with lots of great options. The principle spawn space is a beautiful wood seaside village, with stargates (warps) that link off to varied locations on the map. There are six often-altering random warps into wilderness the place you'll be able to mine and build; free farms in the event you want assets; cities to explore; a carnival; a sports stadium (with optionally available PvP); mazes; and tons of different sights. There are additionally many plugins that allow you to make cool stuff with signs and redstone, reminiscent of lifts, drawbridges, iron gates and hidden areas.
In addition to fairly normal server parts, akin to a currency system, a jobs system, and grief prevention with LWC and PreciousStones, Famcraft has some additional touches that give the server its personal distinctive, group feel.
For instance, there are a lot of clans that you can join to work on projects collectively, and there are also plenty of giant participant statues to show appreciation for helpful gamers on the server.
The server staff also repeatedly stream household pleasant music with Mixlr, which really provides an element of fun to the gameplay. They even host dance events in a unbelievable dance area inside the world!
Famcraft has a Mumble server, which many gamers use for voice chat whereas taking part in. There’s additionally a #famcraft IRC channel, which lets gamers chat with each other even when they’re not playing the sport. All IRC chat also seems in the regular Minecraft in-sport chat window.
As well as the main survival world, there’s also a world that makes use of the FTB (FeedTheBeast) modpack for extra fun and games.
The Famcraft employees are attentive, helpful and chatty, and make an incredible effort to make sure everyone seems to be playing safely and having enjoyable.
YAMS
YAMS - Yet another Minecraft Server - is a small household-friendly server run by a dedicated staff in the UK. It uses whitelisting; to use for the whitelist, first register for the boards, then submit a whitelist request in the “Introduce and Whitelist Yourself” forum.
What I actually like about YAMS is the thought that’s gone into organising a practical world. There’s a central spawn city with a large buying mall, and four satellite towns, reached via a comprehensive transport community. Each satellite tv for pc city has its own distinctive feel and constructing code: for example, the buildings in one city are built from cobblestone; another city features wood buildings, and so forth. (To build in a city, you first want to point out you'll be able to construct a pleasant building within the sandbox within the spawn town.)
As properly as the towns, there are tons of sightseeing opportunities dotted around the land, together with an impressive coliseum (full with PvP video games), a college (in improvement), a theatre, a windmill, a maze, an statement tower and much more. There are also a number of hidden things to search out throughout the map.
YAMS does not have chest locking or grief safety; nonetheless the server has an in depth-knit community and a strict set of rules that assist to maintain issues running along properly. The server admin may restore any stolen or griefed objects.
In case your child likes enjoying intently with a crew inside a structured environment then they will doubtless take pleasure in this server.
Completely happy playing!
I hope you’ve found this information to family-pleasant Minecraft servers useful, and that you find an awesome server that you simply and your kid can enjoy. Perhaps I’ll meet you on one in all them!