What Is Paper Minecraft? The Free 2D Game Made in Scratch
Paper Minecraft is a free 2D fan game by griffpatch, played in a browser on Scratch. It's unofficial. How it plays, its appeal, and the PaperMC mix-up.
Paper Minecraft is a free, fan-made 2D version of Minecraft built in Scratch, the block-coding site for kids, by a well-known Scratch creator called griffpatch. You play it in a web browser on the Scratch website. It’s a clever tribute, not an official game, and it has nothing to do with Mojang.
Looking for the paper item from the real game? That’s on how to make paper in Minecraft: three sugar cane in a row.
What Paper Minecraft is like
Think of Minecraft seen from the side, a bit like Terraria. You walk left and right across generated terrain, mine blocks, craft tools on a crafting grid, fight mobs and build. It has caves, ores, mobs and a day-night cycle, and griffpatch has kept updating it over the years. For something made entirely with Scratch’s drag-and-drop blocks, it’s very impressive.
It’s not a replacement for the real game. There’s no 3D world, progression is shorter, and saving works differently. But it’s free, it runs on almost any computer, and kids love it.
Why it’s so popular
- It runs in a browser. No install, which is why it’s popular on school computers and Chromebooks. Check your school’s rules before playing in class.
- It’s free and legal. Unlike sites that offer “Minecraft unblocked” downloads, Paper Minecraft is a fan creation hosted on Scratch, which is run by the Scratch Foundation.
- You can see the code. Every Scratch project can be opened to see how it’s built. Plenty of kids have started programming by remixing Paper Minecraft. If that sounds like your child, our page on learning to code with Minecraft suggests where to go next.
Because anyone can remix a Scratch project, you’ll find hundreds of copies. Look for griffpatch’s original to get the most complete version.
Other free ways to play something Minecraft-like
If what you really want is the real game for free, the honest answer is that it isn’t free, but there are official options: Minecraft Classic runs in a browser, and the official demo gives you a timed survival world. Our page on whether Minecraft is free explains what’s genuinely available.
The other “Paper”: PaperMC
People searching for “Paper Minecraft” sometimes mean PaperMC, open-source server software for Java Edition. It’s a performance-focused version of the server that supports plugins, and it’s what most community servers run. It isn’t a game. If you’re setting up a server, see how to make a Minecraft server.
Common questions
Is Paper Minecraft official?
No. It's a fan project made on Scratch and has no connection to Mojang. It's free and legal to play on the Scratch website, but it isn't Minecraft.
Who made Paper Minecraft?
The Scratch creator griffpatch, who is well known on Scratch for ambitious games and coding tutorials. Many other Scratch users have made copies and remixes since.
Is Paper Minecraft the same as a Paper server?
No. Paper, or PaperMC, is free server software for running Java Edition multiplayer servers. It shares the name and nothing else.
Sources & verification
Facts on this page are checked against these references and in-game behavior for the stated edition(s). how we verify.
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