What Is Minecraft?
Minecraft is a sandbox adventure game developed by Mojang Studios. It has a 4.6+ store rating with over 400 million downloads. Users can download and play Minecraft on various devices, including Xbox One, Windows 10, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and Android and iOS devices. The Minecraft world and games may be accessed using a Microsoft account, Mojang account, or any active email account.
There are different versions of the game: Minecraft, Minecraft Dungeons, Minecraft Education Edition, and Minecraft Earth. Your child has the option to play alone or play with friends. There’s a feature where one adds friends and interacts and competes with them.
Minecraft Parental Controls
While Minecraft has no central parental or privacy settings, certain measures can be taken to keep dangers and threats at bay. For one, you can opt to set up private servers like whitelisted Minecraft servers. Such servers are kid-friendly and will help in reducing kids’ exposure to risks. Also. check out the following controls for an extra layer of protection for your kids while playing Minecraft.
Chat Management
Multiplayer games are notorious for inappropriate language and bullying. You can utilize a chat management plugin to help reduce spamming, swearing, and URL advertisements. Manually add swear words, IPs, and URLs you want to be avoided. Anything added will be automatically filtered and will help ensure the online safety of your kids.
Private Messaging Blocking
Turn off chats entirely if that’s what you prefer. While on an online multiplayer game, press the escape key. After that, click Options → Multiplayer Settings → Tap “Chat: shown” so it turns into “Chat: hidden”. This would mean the chat is already disabled.
Player Permissions
Player permissions in Minecraft can be tricky to understand especially for non-tech savvy parents. To put it simply, make sure your kid does not freely give op permissions to other players especially with strangers. Also, remind your kids to be mindful in giving out op commands to avoid conflict with other players.
Enable Parental Controls On Gaming Consoles
Since Minecraft can be played on consoles like Xbox Live, Nintendo Switch, Playstation 5, and PC. You can opt to turn on or set up parental controls on such devices. The parental controls settings and restrictions will then apply to Minecraft when played on those devices. This could include turning off chats and filtering out swear words among other things.
Keeping Kids Safe On Minecraft
Minecraft was designed for users aged 7 years and older. Its built-in safety measures and integration with other platforms significantly help in ensuring kids enjoy all offered game levels without compromising their safety and security. Nevertheless, taking personal precautionary measures doesn’t hurt.
Frequently Asked Questions About Minecraft Parental Controls & Safety
What are the dangers of Minecraft?
Kids could play multiplayer on Minecraft using Apple and Android devices, or any internet-enabled electronic device. Hence, they could be susceptible to threats like exploitation, bullying, and hacking. Some games could also be too violent for younger kids or contain age-inappropriate content.
Is Minecraft safe for 7-year-olds?
Minecraft’s official age rating is 7+ and its games are fantasy-oriented. So, for certain stages that contain violence, do not look too realistic.
Is Minecraft good for your brain?
Minecraft is a sandbox, adventure game that offers various brain-enticing levels. It promotes and fosters teamwork, creativity, resourcefulness, strategic thinking, programming skills, and more.
Can you put parental controls on Minecraft?
Minecraft’s integration with gaming consoles allows parents to a full suite of parental controls and privacy settings. Also, Minecraft offers various methods to ensure a safer gaming experience like customizable player permissions, chat filters, server moderation, blocking private messaging, content restrictions, and more.