Minecraft Knowledge Base: Editions, History, Safety and Help
Straight answers about Minecraft itself: what it is, who makes it, why there are two editions, game modes, world size, offline play and kids' safety.
This section answers the questions about Minecraft that aren’t about crafting a specific item or beating a specific mob. What is the game, who owns it, why are there two versions, can my kid play it safely, does it work without internet. If you’ve just heard of Minecraft, or you’re a parent who has been handed a shopping list, start here.
New to the game
What is Minecraft? is the five-minute version: a block sandbox with no required goal, sold on every platform, with two main editions. After that, how to play Minecraft walks you through your first few in-game days, from punching a tree to sleeping in your first bed. The game modes explainer covers Survival, Creative, Adventure, Spectator and Hardcore, and how to switch between them.
If you haven’t bought the game yet, the free demo and trial page tells you what you can try first, and the Java vs Bedrock comparison helps you pick a version. Our download hub has the install steps per device.
Editions, history and the people behind it
Minecraft is several products sharing one name. Every Minecraft edition lays out which ones are current (Java, Bedrock, Education) and which were retired (Pocket Edition, the old console editions, Minecraft Earth). What is Mojang? covers the Swedish studio and its 2014 sale to Microsoft, and where Minecraft was developed tells the origin story in a bit more depth. For the code-curious, what language Minecraft is written in explains why Java and Bedrock behave differently.
For a timeline of updates, from the 2009 alpha to the year-numbered drops of 2026, see the updates section.
Parents and teachers
Minecraft for parents is the page we’d hand to anyone buying the game for a child: age ratings, multiplayer safety settings, and what it costs after the first purchase. Minecraft vs Roblox compares the two games families argue about most. If you’re thinking about the classroom, the Minecraft Education hub is the next stop, and learning to code with Minecraft maps the path from block coding to Java mods.
Odd questions people search
Some pages here exist because the same confusing searches come up again and again: Paper Minecraft (a Scratch fan game, not the real thing), capes (you can’t buy them, whatever a website says), color codes for server messages, and how big a world is.
When something goes wrong with your account or purchase, official Minecraft support lists the real help channels, and useful resources is our list of the references we check our own facts against.