11 Family-Friendly Minecraft Servers Where Your Kid Can Play Safely Online

Your child will be more comfortable playing Minecraft online if they have had some time to themselves or with family members.

Minecraft on a publicly accessible server can bring the game to a whole new level. There are many benefits to playing on a public server. One, you have a new community of likeminded players to connect with and collaborate. This will help your child develop social skills such as cooperation, compromise, and problem-solving.

A majority of servers also feature pre-built worlds with incredible cities and buildings, transport networks, as well as mini-games for your child to explore and enjoy.

Finally, most servers extend Minecraft using lots of server plugins, which allow for a whole range of extra gameplay features, including money systems, jobs, role-playing elements and teleports. These features can be added by any Minecraft server.

By now you're probably thinking: This is all very well, but aren't public servers a dangerous place for my kid? If they go on a server, how will I know they will be safe from bad language, bullying, or online predators?

Of course, no public server is 100 percent safe, but there are some fantastic Minecraft servers out there that cater especially to kids and families. Minecraft Realms allows you to set up a private Minecraft server for your child and close friends.

This guide will highlight eleven of best Minecraft servers that are family-friendly. You'll also learn a bit more about how Minecraft servers work, and how to connect to these servers and start playing online.

At this point, I should point out that this guide is for the PC/Mac version of Minecraft only. While there are some family-friendly servers for the Pocket Edition and Xbox versions of Minecraft, the vast majority of servers work with the PC/Mac version.

So without further ado, let's dive into the world of online, family-friendly Minecraft! We'll start by looking at some important concepts related to public Minecraft servers.

You need to be familiar with key server concepts

Here are a few key concepts and terms that are worth knowing before you join a public server:

Servers vs. worlds: Usually, a single public Minecraft server has several worlds that you can jump between. A main survival world may have a second world with creative-mode, while another world might have a mini-games world. There will be a central lobby or hub that allows you to teleport between worlds. PvP vs. PvE: PvP is "player-vs.-player", while PvE is "player-vs.-environment". Most public servers, particularly those that are family-friendly, offer PvE. You fight monsters, not other players. Some servers have PvP zones where you can fight others players. (Usually, you don’t lose all of your stuff if a player dies in a PvP area, unlike a survival world. It's for fun. Spawn: Usually your player will spawn (start) at a set point in the world, usually referred to simply as "spawn". This is usually located in or near a central city or area, or in a lobby. To return to your spawn location, you can typically type the command /spawn. Rules: Nearly all servers have rules as to what you can and cannot do, and - as you'd imagine - family-friendly servers tend to have a big list of strict rules. It is important to read all rules. (When you join servers for the first time, they will force you to follow all the rules. You can be banned temporarily, or even permanently, if you don't comply with the rules. Griefing, grief protection: This is a big problem on public servers. It is possible to demolish other players' houses or steal their stuff. Many servers use various plugins in order to stop griefing. These plugins allow users to lock their chests, doors, furnaces, as well as claim a patch on the land. This allows you to create and break blocks within your claim. Griefing is strictly forbidden according to the server rules. Griefers are warned and banned. Most server admins can "rollback" your building back to the condition it was before it was grieved. Text chat: Minecraft provides text chat (the T' key), which allows your kid to communicate with other Minecraft players. Chat can be either public or private, which is one-to-one. To chat with your child, they will need to be able to read. However, it is possible to help them online. Most family-friendly servers employ automatic filtering for preventing swearing in text chat. As with all online chats, you should remind your child to not give out any personal information. Voice chat: Some servers link up with voice chat servers such as Mumble, TeamSpeak or Ventrilo to enable players to speak with each other while playing. If your child uses voice chat, you need to be aware of who they are talking to and what they're discussing. Server commands: In order for online play to be successful, you'll need various commands to the servers. A command is given by pressing the /(slash) key followed by the command title and sometimes extra text. For example, the command /sethome usually sets your homepoint to the point you are currently standing at, while /home teleports your homepoint. The commands vary from server to server, but you'll soon get the hang of them. Using mods: If you've added mods to your Minecraft client, be careful when connecting to servers, since most servers ban at least some mods - particularly those that let you cheat, of course. OptiFine mods, which make your game run more smoothly, are usually okay.

How to join the server

Joining a public Minecraft server is very easy. Just open the Minecraft launcher and click Play to run the main Minecraft game. To add a server, click the Add Server button once you have reached the main title screen.

Enter a name for the server into the Server Name box. Next, type the server address into the Server Addressbox. This will normally be a domain, such mc.intercraften.org. It can also be an IP address, such 1.2.3.4. Click Next to add the server into your server list.

Click Add Server and enter your server details. The Join Server button will allow you to connect to the server.

Then, click on a server and click the Join Server button.

Let's now look at some of the issues that can arise when you join a server.

You can divide public Minecraft servers into two types:

Whitelisted servers are protected with a whitelist, which is a list that allows users to join the server. To join a whitelisted Minecraft server, you will need to apply to be added to the whitelist. This typically involves filling in a form and then waiting a few hours to receive your approval. Most servers require that you submit separate applications for your child and yourself. Once you are on the whitelist you can join the server in the same way as before. Non-whitelisted servers do not have a whitelist, which means anyone can join the server simply by entering the server's address in their Minecraft client, as shown above.

Applying for a whitelisted server can be a bit of a drag - especially when you have an impatient eight-year-old tugging at your sleeve - but it does provide an extra degree of reassurance that all the players on the server are known to the server administrators.

Versions for client and server

When joining a server, one thing to be aware of is that your Minecraft client (game), must match the version number on the server. You won't be connected if the versions don't match.

For example, Minecraft 1.7.9 is the current version, but many servers still use 1.7.2 or 1.6.4. Sometimes, the server's website will tell you which version they are running. But sometimes, it's best to just try it out and see. If you get an error message when using the 1.7.9 client, try the 1.7.2 client instead.

It's easy to switch between versions of the Minecraft client. In the Minecraft launcher, you can click New Profile to create different profiles that use any Minecraft version you like. Then, just select the profile you want to use from the drop-down list in the launcher, and click Play.

It's easy to set up the Minecraft launcher with profiles for different versions. Here, I've created two profiles for 1.7.2 and 1.7.9. OptiFine, a handy mod that speeds up Minecraft's performance, is available. The dropdown "Use version" in the topmost window allows you to choose the version.

The list of family-friendly servers

Now that you know the basics of playing online with Minecraft, here are 11 excellent Minecraft servers for you and your kid to play on.

I have played on all of them. They are listed in no particular order; I think they are all very good, and every single one comes across as being suitable and welcoming for kids, parents and grandparents alike!

You'll find that each server has its own unique "feel", so it's worth exploring a few of them to find out which one feels right for you.

Cubeville, a server that is family-friendly, is really great. You don't need to apply to join - just enter cubeville.org into your Minecraft client - but the server is well policed and has a good, clear list of rules. When you first join, it will provide a detailed tutorial.

The enormous Cubeville world has a big central city, as well as lots of smaller towns and settlements dotted all over the map.

Cubeville also has a clever money system that allows you to earn cash by completing quests; smart automated shops; and an excellent transport network. You can also claim your own Cubeville corner with land and chest protection.

Update 14 April 2019 - Towncraft has now been shut down. The Towncraft staff members have set up another family-friendly server called Ohanacraft that still adheres to Towncraft's guiding principles.

Updated 10 Aug 2020: Towncraft has been restored to normal operation! It follows the same rules and has the same server name as before. Yay!

Towncraft isn’t whitelisted. Anyone can join. All you have to do is enter play.towncraft.us directly into your Minecraft client. It also has a TeamSpeak server that allows voice chat. The IP address can be found on the Towncraft site.

Towncraft has a lot more to it than being a simple world to explore or build in. The world has been wiped out by a meteor. Now it's up you and your friends to rebuild it. At the start of the game, you pick a trade, such as hunter, farmer, blacksmith or merchant, then as you improve your skills in that trade over time, you unlock new abilities.

Towncraft doesn’t get too busy, which makes it a relaxing crafting experience. There are many children and parents playing on the server. The people are generally friendly and helpful.

The server uses the Zombie Apocalypse plugin; this randomly makes a horde of zombies appear around the player at night, which you must defeat to receive a reward. It's possible for younger players to get a little scared by this, but it's great fun for older kids.

Towncraft uses the Grief Prevention plugin so you can protect your house and contents from griefing by other players.

Kolgrath, Towncraft admin, has created a player guide as well as a handy parent’s guide to Towncraft. It is well worth a look.

Intercraften is a very popular family-friendly Minecraft server. It's well designed and has extremely helpful moderators, who are excellent at solving problems, and looking after both parents and children.

The server is whitelisted, so to join you first need to fill out the simple application form.

Intercraften, a massive server, has many worlds.

You can earn coins by working for the server's money system. You can use the cash to purchase items in shops or to claim large areas of land to ensure that no one else can grief your builds. If you do get griefed, the moderators are very careful to set everything right again (and ban the offender from the server).

In addition to the usual server commands (/spawn,/sethome or /home), you can also use Intercraften Menu book (given for free when you sign up) to perform commands, pick jobs and play mini games.

The Sandlot is a whitelisted, family-friendly Minecraft server that's been running since December 2011. It's operated by a former schoolteacher, and has a good set of rules and filters in place to prevent any abusive behaviour.

What I like about The Sandlot is the good balance of different worlds available. There's Semi-Vanilla Survival, which is pretty close to a standard Minecraft world, with the sensible addition of Grief Prevention and also a virtual currency system (tied to gold ingots) so that players can set up shops.

A really great world for younger kids is Easy Survival. If Semi-Vanilla Survival is Scrabble, this is Junior Scrabble. Instead of spending hours digging for items and resources, kids can choose to do a job, such as farming, to earn money. They can then spend their money at a mall in the middle. This allows for a much more relaxed and enjoyable gameplay style. This is a fantastic idea.

The Sandlot also includes a Creative World, as well as a number of PvP Game Worlds such as hunger games (based loosely off the movies and books), spleef and others. There's also a skyblock world (a world with floating islands and lots of challenges).

All of these worlds are accessed via The Lobby, a fantastic building based on Hogwarts from the Harry Potter series (check out the secret passages!). This world, along with many others, is beautifully designed to create a fun and welcoming environment for your child.

CrazyPig is a small family-friendly Minecraft server with a great community. It was originally set up by a UK father for his son. However, it is now open to everyone. It is not whitelisted. To join, add play.crazypig.net in your Minecraft client.

CrazyPig uses a "belt" system to rank players by how long they've played on the server. As you spend more time on the server, you're automatically given belts of higher rank, which in turn give you access to certain worlds, as well as a greater number of "homes" that you can set and warp to.

There's also a currency system, as well as a simple virtual marketplace where players can buy and sell items.

As with most servers, CrazyPig features several interconnected worlds. There's a central lobby area from which you can choose a world to warp to. There's the Main World in which you'll build your home and spend most time. There's also the Creative World (you need Green Belt or higher to get it); a Games World featuring a giant chess table; and an Extra Hard World if your brave enough!

CrazyPig is not whitelisted but has a friendly, supportive community and uses the Grief Prevention plugin. This plugin stops players from grieving. It also has very good automatic language filters that eliminate swearing.

CrazyPig's concept of regions is quite novel. The main universe is automatically divided into regions. If you join, you'll automatically be added to the newest region. However, it's possible to warp between different regions. This ensures that each area of the world doesn't get overcrowded. It's a bit confusing at first, but once you get the hang of it, it's a pretty good system!

CrazyPig is a great community server if you are looking for a friendly, open-minded environment, with no rules and plenty of freedom to build and have fun.

Addstar

Addstar is a busy Australian server that is kid-friendly. It is not whitelisted so anyone could join, but it has a moderated environment and comes with LWC protection (for locking the things) and Grief Prevention. This allows you to claim land so it can’t be grieved.

Addstar follows the traditional format of a centrally spawned town with warps that can take you to other planets. There are many portals to a standard survival world as well as one to a creative world that has tons of amazing creations. Only donors to the server have the ability to build them.

In the spawn village, you will also find warps to tons if mini-games such as BlockHunt and CTF (capture The Flag), survival games, and Connect 4, checkers and even chess!

There's always a lot happening on the Addstar server, and - apart from a brief intro - you're pretty much thrown in at the deep end, so this server is probably better for older kids, or those who already know Minecraft and Minecraft servers well. However, the staff is always friendly.

MineSquish is a whitelisted server with a fairly strict application process. Register on the forums to apply. You will need to introduce yourself and participate in the forums for a few minutes. Only then can you apply to be whitelisted. An exception is made if you're applying on behalf of your kid and they're too young to post on the forums. In this instance, you will only need to post an introduction and show that your child has read the rules.

This long-winded whitelisting process is combined with strict server rules to ensure that players are well vetted before playing. It also fosters a strong community spirit.

The MineSquish Server is very family-friendly. It has all the features that make the game safe for kids to play, such as a monster-free spawn (starting), a rail and road system to make getting around easier and avoid getting lost. Well-managed towns and lockable chests.

The server does not have anti-griefing protection. This means that your build can be destroyed by other players. However, players are generally well behaved in the MineSquish Community and the server admins do a good job of catching griefers so griefing does not tend to be a major problem.

There are many worlds you can explore.

Here is a good MineSquish starter guide for parents and young kids.

SafeCraft

SafeCraft - formerly Win Family Survival - is a small but growing family-friendly server built by a dedicated team of parents and kids in the UK. It uses whitelisting and strict filtering to make a kid-friendly server where people help out players of all abilities. The moderators are particularly open to helping out kids on the autistic spectrum and kids with ADHD.

The server is lively and fun with a bright main lobby (see screenshot).

You can reach the lobby from a standard survival realm (grief protection is available); the SafeCraft universe (no hostile mammas - great to little kids); a world that allows resource gathering; and a lot of great mini-games, such as Block Hunt and Skyblock. The lobby also has a few spleef arenas.
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This is a great place for children who want to be safe and have a close-knit environment.

Blocklandia, a whitelisted server that is fun and family-friendly, is suitable for all ages. Some players as young as four! The moderators can be very helpful and give you a tour when you first register. They may even offer their assistance in building your first house.

The spawn (starting place) is themed as an enormous shipyard. Each ship will take you to a different country. Mainland is the main survival world, while Peaceful is a safer mode with no hostile mobs or fall damage. A hot air balloon can take you to the Creative world.

Blocklandia has a money system that uses "shillings". There are plenty of jobs that will earn you shillings, including weaponsmith, digger, builder, sorcerer, alchemist, and even pirate!

The enormous library is an excellent addition to the shipyard. You can write a book and add it to the library, as well as read other people's books.

Although you can't claim land in the survival universes, the server uses the LWC plugin that allows you to lock doors, chests, furnaces, and other items. There are also very clear rules that you must read when you connect. Things like fire and TNT are generally prohibited. The moderators are excellent at resolving griefing issues.

Blocklandia is a great option for kids who are new to Minecraft but want to be part of a welcoming, helpful community.

Famcraft was created by parents who wanted to provide a safe environment for their children to play Minecraft online. It has been in operation for a few years now and has a great community of players, from 5 to 77 years old!

Famcraft is not whitelisted - just add survival.famcraft.com to your Minecraft client, and away you go. One of our friendly staff members will offer you a tour once you join. There are usually at most two staff members online at any one time.

The main survival server is large and has many great features. The main spawn area is a beautiful, wooden seaside village with stargates (warps), that link to different locations on the map. There are six randomly changing warps that lead to wilderness, where you can mine or build, free farms for resources, cities to explore and a carnival. You also have the option of playing PvP and mazes. Many plugins allow you to create cool stuff with redstone and signs, such as drawbridges and iron gates, lifts, and hidden areas.

Famcraft includes more than the usual server elements such as a currency and jobs system and grief prevention using LWC and PreciousStones. Famcraft also has some unique touches that give it a community feel.

For example, there are a large number of clans that you can join to work on projects together, and there are also lots of giant player statues to show appreciation for helpful players on the server.

The server staff stream family-friendly music via Mixlr every day. This adds an element to the gameplay. They even host dance parties at a great dance area around the globe!

Famcraft has an Mumble server that players can use for voice chat while they are playing. A #famcraft IRC channel lets players chat with one another even when they're not playing. All IRC chat appears in the regular Minecraft game chat window.

As well as the main survival world, there's also a world that uses the FTB (FeedTheBeast) modpack for extra fun and games.

The Famcraft staff are attentive, helpful and chatty, and make a great effort to make sure everyone is playing safely and having fun.

YAMS

YAMS - Yet Another Minecraft Server - is a small family-friendly server run by a dedicated team in the UK. It uses whitelisting. First register for the forums and then submit a request to be whitelisted in the "Introduce Yourself" forum.

What I love about YAMS is how realistic the world has been created. There is a central town with a large shopping centre, and four satellite communities that are connected via a vast transport network. Each satellite town has its own feel and building code. For example, buildings in one town are made from cobblestone while others have wooden buildings. You must first demonstrate that you can build a nice structure in the sandbox in the spawn town in order to build in it.

You will find plenty of sightseeing opportunities throughout the land, not only in the towns. There is also an impressive coliseum, complete with PvP games, a university (in the development), a theatre. A windmill, a maze. An observation tower. There are many hidden gems to be found throughout the map.

YAMS doesn't have grief protection or chest locking. However, the server has a tight-knit community as well as a set of rules that help keep things running smoothly. Any griefed or stolen items can be restored by the server administrator.

This server is for kids who enjoy playing in a team environment.

Have fun!

I hope you've found this guide to family-friendly Minecraft servers useful, and that you find a great server that you and your kid can enjoy. Maybe I'll see ya on one!