Minecraft Demo and Free Trial: Time Limits and What You Get

Yes, there is an official free Minecraft demo. On Java Edition it gives you five in-game days (1 hour 40 minutes of real time) in Survival. On Bedrock the free trial runs for about 90 minutes. Both are the real game, just on a fixed world with a timer and no online multiplayer.

It’s enough to find out whether you, or your child, actually like the game before paying.

Java Edition demo

Install the Minecraft Launcher and sign in with a Microsoft account that doesn’t own the game. The launcher offers “Play Demo” instead of “Play.”

What you get:

• Survival mode on a preset world seed.
• Five in-game days, shown by a countdown. That’s 100 minutes of real time.
• LAN play with one demo account. No online servers.
• Commands disabled.

When the time is up, you can still walk around, but you can’t break or place blocks. Resetting the demo world resets the timer too, so you can start over, but you can’t carry on the same world.

Bedrock Edition trial

The trial is called “Minecraft Trial” and it’s available on:

• Windows, from the Microsoft Store, the Xbox app or the Minecraft Launcher, if your account doesn’t own the game.
• Android, from Google Play.
• PlayStation, from the PlayStation Store.

What you get is similar: a Survival world on a fixed seed, about 90 minutes of play, achievements off, and most settings locked. Multiplayer is blocked, LAN included, with one exception: PlayStation allows splitscreen. When time runs out, that world is locked and you’d have to start a new one.

Those are the platforms we could confirm in November 2026. Store listings change, so if you’re on another device, search your console or phone store for “Minecraft Trial” before assuming there isn’t one.

Other free ways to try it

• Minecraft Classic is the 2009 creative mode, free in a web browser. It’s a curiosity more than a trial, but kids enjoy it. See Minecraft Classic in the browser.
• Minecraft Education offers a free trial to people signing in with an eligible school Microsoft 365 account.

Anything else calling itself a “free full version” is not official. Our page on whether Minecraft is free lists what’s legitimately free and what isn’t.

When you’re ready to buy

The Minecraft price guide has the official prices per platform, and Java vs Bedrock helps you choose which to get. On PC you get both in one purchase. Install steps for every device are on our download page.