This is the Minecraft FAQ page.
1. Where do I get Minecraft and how much does it cost? That depends on which version you want to get but all versions are only available online, so you won't be able to walk into a shop and buy a copy. If you want to get the Windows or Mac version then it is available from the official website, if you search for "Minecraft" the official website should be the first result you find. If you want the Xbox 360 version then you can find it online in the arcade section of the "Games Marketplace". If you want the Pocket Edition for iOS or Android devices then you can find it in their respective app stores by searching for "Minecraft". As for how much it costs, prices vary for each version and occasionally it may be on sale so you'll just have to look on each store to see what they are charging.
2. What consoles or platforms can I get it on? Currently versions of Minecraft are available for Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android and Xbox 360.
3. Is it coming out on different consoles or platforms? Yes, there is a new version coming out for the small Raspberry Pi PC. This will be a modified version of Minecraft: Pocket Edition and will be called Minecraft: Pi Edition. There is also a good chance a version will be released for the upcoming Ouya console, however that is not confirmed at this point. Other than that there are currently no confirmed plans for Minecraft to be released on any other platform, sorry PS3/Vita/Wii/DS/3DS users!
4. Can I get it for free? Yes, well, sort of. There are free versions available such as the classic and 4K versions for PC's, a demo for Xbox 360 or the "Lite" Pocket Edition for mobiles. But those versions are all limited in some way such as not being able to save games or not having access to many of the features of the full versions. Minecraft: Pi edition will be completely free, but you will obviously need to buy a Raspberry Pi to play that. Other than that, all the full versions cost money. If you find somewhere offering a full version for free, be warned! It might work but it is more than likely an illegal copy and stealing games isn't cool, not to mention that illegal versions or dodgy websites often contain viruses or other harmful software.
5. Is there any difference between each version and which one should I get? Yes, there are loads of differences between each version! It would take a long time to list out every difference but essentially the best and most fully featured version is definitely the one for PC, so we’d recommend that for most people. It is the first to get updates, has the ability to be modded and has a huge online community. The pocket edition is a simplified version and lacks a lot of the features of its PC counterpart, but it is however perfect for getting a quick Minecraft fix while you’re on the go! The Xbox 360 version is based on an old PC version so it lacks many of the latest updates and features and also does not support mods. But it does feature splitscreen play so it’s great if you like to play together with a friend or sibling.
6. How do I play the game? What am I supposed to do? It would take us forever to outline every detail of how to play, but for a comprehensive guide to everything you can’t beat searching the Minecraft Wiki for whatever part of the game you’d like to know more about (http://www.minecraftwiki.net/). YouTube is also a great resource for tutorials and is packed with useful videos showing you how to do just about everything. But the basic idea of Minecraft is to mine materials by bashing blocks, and then craft them into items by combining them, as the name suggests. One of the great things about Minecraft is the amount of ways you can play tho, you might simply enjoy playing in creative mode and using it as a virtual construction kit, or you might love just trying to survive all by yourself in survival, or teaming up with a few friends online to build epic structures, or maybe you love to mod the game and change the experience all together. There’s no right or wrong way to enjoy it!
7. How do I make rollercoasters? The basic essentials of any rollercoaster are simply having rail tracks and a minecart to ride them. Simply lay the rail tracks out in an interesting way, preferably with a big hill at the start and then simply add some powered rail along the way to keep your minecart moving fast!
8. How do I install mods? There is no one single way to install mods as many have different installation procedures. Our advice is to carefully read the website of the mod you are trying to install; they will almost always tell you the exact steps for installing a mod, if not there is probably a read-me document attached to the download that should explain it. We highly recommend that you make a complete back up of your Minecraft folder before attempting to install any mods! If you don’t you could end up messing up Minecraft completely and may lose or corrupt your saved games!
9. How does redstone wiring and all that work? Using redstone wiring and devices can be fairly complicated and takes awhile to figure out. We’d recommend looking at the details on the Minecraft Wiki page (http://www.minecraftwiki.net/wiki/Redstone) as well as youtube videos and just start building contraptions for yourself, the best way to learn is by trying!
10. I can’t get the Good Game world to work and your instructions make no sense, help! Sorry if the instructions don’t seem very clear but we promise if you follow them carefully they will work! The key things to remember are: -You need your own copy of Minecraft . -You need to find the folder where your Minecraft save games are located. -You need to use an archival program to extract our save file to that folder. We’ve tested our process many times and it always works, so just double check you’ve done every step right! And if you really can’t follow them perhaps try searching online for other guides on downloading and installing save files, hopefully they will make more sense to you!
11. Do you have a server we can play on? No sorry, we don’t really have the capability to set up and maintain a server as much as we’d love to!
12. Can you make another world? Of course we could in theory, but it wouldn’t be as good.
13. Can you change a survival world into a creative world and vice versa? Yes, there are ways. One simple way is to enable cheats when creating your world and then you can switch freely between creative or survival by entering commands. Simply press "t" then type "/gamemode 0" to enter survival mode or "/gamemode 1" for creative mode. If you've created a world already without cheats active then it's slightly more complicated and we would suggest you follow this guide (http://www.minecraftdl.com/convert-maps-survival-creative/). We strongly recommend you make a back up of your save game before attempting it however in case anything goes wrong!
14. How did you make your mob-grinder/tower? There are loads of possible designs for a mob-grinder, the one we used is by no means the best, we simply followed a very old design put up by someone on Youtube. Unfortunately we can’t seem to find that exact video anymore. However this design is quite similar http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlfHtPYnCkA . But have a look around at other designs, you might prefer those.
15. How long did it take to create your world, did you use any cheats? A very, very, very long time. And no, we didn’t cheat.
16. Are they making a Minecraft 2? Currently Mojang has not announced plans to develop Minecraft 2. Given its popularity it seems likely they would make a sequel at some point tho!
17. Are Mojang (the developers who created Minecraft) working on any other games? Yes, they are currently developing a card-based game called Scrolls as well as a Space exploration game called 0x10c.
18. I bought the game from the website but it’s not working for some reason, help! Sorry to hear you’re having trouble but we really can’t offer much help in that department. The official website has a large help section tho which may be able to offer some suggestions to the most common problems. If that doesn’t help then there are also links to community based forums and chat rooms where some helpful person may just be able to sort you out.
19. Does the Xbox 360 version work with Kinect? When Minecraft was announced for Xbox 360 it was said that there would be some kind of Kinect functionality. But as of now the game does not support Kinect in any way. So, no.
There. If you have a question, ask it and we'll answer it.