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Minecraft: Education Edition apps (Minecraft: Education Edition, Classroom Mode and Code Connection) can be installed manually or on a supported platform with system management software.

Prerequisites for deploying apps

Before deploying the apps, the following requirements must be met:

1. Check that your OS and devices are compatible. To learn more, visit Supported Platforms for Minecraft: Education Edition.
2. Ensure users have the correct permissions based on the set-up and deployment method being used at your school.
3. For Windows 10, all apps must be up-to-date as Minecraft: Education Edition will not install if there are updates pending for other apps on the PC. Before installing M:EE, check to see if there are pending updates for Microsoft Store apps. For more information, see Check updates for apps and games from Microsoft Store

Deploying apps manually

Minecraft: Education Edition apps can be downloaded and installed manually from our website download page (as well as the Microsoft Store for Education, for Windows 10 installation). If necessary, installation files can be downloaded to a network location or a USB drive for later installation.

For more information, see

• Installation for Minecraft: Education Edition (macOS)
• Installation for Minecraft: Education Edition (Windows)
• Get Started with Minecraft: Education Edition on iOS
• Get Started with Minecraft: Education Edition on Chromebook

Deploying and updating apps using system management software

To deploy Minecraft: Education Edition across a large-scale environment, you may use your school’s preferred system management software or manually deploy the software. For specific guidance on several of the most common system management software choices, see below:

Windows 10

• Intune for Education
  To deploy Minecraft with Intune, please see the following guidance:
  • Getting Started with Intune
  • Adding Apps to Intune
  • Adding Windows Store Apps to Intune
  • How to Manage Volume Purchased Apps
  • Distribute offline apps
  • How to get Support for Microsoft Intune
• System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM)
  For more information, go to Manage apps from the Microsoft Store for Business with System Center Configuration Manager or check out Microsoft’s complete System Center Configuration Manager Documentation
• Set Up School PC
  To deploy Minecraft with SUSPC, please see the following guidance: Use the Set up School PCs app. To see a Minecraft deployment with SUSPC in action, check out Microsoft Education: Use the Set up School PCs App.
• Updating Minecraft: Education Edition
  In order to update to the latest version of our game you can run “Windows Update” on your computer. Turning “auto-update” on will apply any available updates each time your machine restarts.

macOS

• macOS Deployment
  For information on deploying Minecraft on macOS, go to macOS Deployment Reference.
• Updating Minecraft: Education Edition
  In order to update to the latest version of our game you will need to uninstall your current version and then re-download from our website here

iOS

• iOS Deployment With Apple School Manager, you can get the Minecraft for iOS app in bulk for your school and then use your preferred Mobile Device Management system to deploy the app to your organization’s devices. For more information on how to add and deploy apps for iOS go to iOS Deployment Reference 
• Updating Minecraft: Education Edition
  In order to update to the latest version of our game you will need to run the most recent iOS update for your iPad

Chromebook

Minecraft: Education Edition is available for download in both the managed Google Play Store and the consumer Google Play Store.

• Managed Play Store: The managed Play Store allows an administrator of a domain to have control over which applications are enabled and how they are installed. To install Minecraft: Education Edition for managed Chromebook users, the administrator will need to enable managed Google Play, Android apps and Minecraft: Education Edition for the users.  To enable the managed Play Store and Minecraft: Education Edition, please follow Google’s instructions here:
  • Guidelines for deploying Android apps on Chromebooks
  • Deploy Android Apps to managed Chromebook users
  • Manage App Updates
• Unmanaged (Consumer) Play Store: To install Minecraft: Education Edition as an unmanaged user (for example, if you sign into your device with a personal Gmail account), you will need to log in to a device that supports the Google Play Store. You can install the application from the Play Store by following Google’s directions here:
  • Get Android apps from the Google Play Store

Help with deploying apps

If you require any type of support related to deploying M:EE apps (including Code Connection and Classroom Mode), check out our Communities or Submit a Request.

Welcome to Minecraft: Education Edition, we hope you are excited to get going! This article will cover:

• Step-by-step installation instructions for Windows
• Additional Resources

1. Head to: 

https://education.minecraft.net/get-started/download/

2. Select “Download”

3. A window will pop up asking if you want to install. Select “Install”. Ensure launch when ready is checked

4.Wait for the application to finish installing

5. Upon completion the game will launch and ask for sign in credentials. Sign in with your Office 365 account to access the game. 

6. A successful sign on will bring you to the M:EE start screen

7. In order to download Classroom Mode or Code Connection. Access the same link listed in Step 1: https://education.minecraft.net/get-started/download/. Select “Download Code Connection” Or “Download Classroom Mode” and select “Run”

8.Select “Next”

9. After Download completes select “Finish”

Additional Resources

For more information you can check out our supported platforms and specifications article.

Windows 10 can be purchased as a digital download or a boxed product from the online Microsoft Store, with special savings for students, parents, and faculty. To upgrade to Windows 10, you can click here for information.

Need to troubleshoot? You may always contact support if you run into any technical issues, or the issue you are seeing is not covered in our Basic Troubleshooting Knowledge Base article.

Welcome to Minecraft: Education Edition, we hope you are excited to get going! This article will cover:

• Step-by-step installation instructions for macOS
• Additional Resources

1. Access “System Preferences”. To ensure that your macOS device is ready to install software from known developers, go to the “Settings” window from the dock, click “Security and Privacy”, then make sure the “Allow apps downloaded from:” field is set to “App Store and identified developers”. If this section is grayed out, then it must be changed by the device admin.

2.Head to: https://education.minecraft.net/get-started/download/

3. Select Download

4. Select Minecraft: Education Edition from the Downloads folder.

5. Login with your Office 365 account

Additional Resources

For more information you can check out our supported platforms and specifications article.

For resources to update your macOS please use this link.

Need to troubleshoot? You may always contact support if you run into any technical issues, or the issue you are seeing is not covered in our Basic Troubleshooting Knowledge Base article.

If you are currently using managed Google Account credentials to sign into Chromebooks, there are a couple of different ways to make it easier for students and teachers to sign into Minecraft: Education Edition using their Microsoft 365 Azure Active Directory (AAD) credentials. This guide will walk you through the options for single sign-on as well as how to link, or federate, your Google and Microsoft accounts together using Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) so that the same credentials can be used for both Google and Microsoft products.

Note that due to the highly complex and custom nature of account configurations, the Minecraft: Education Edition team will be unable to provide help desk support for setup or troubleshooting of SAML federation.

Option 1: Use Minecraft: Education Edition’s In-App Single Sign-On Feature
Summary
In this option, teachers and students can enable Minecraft to remember their login information, so that Microsoft 365 credentials don’t have to be typed each time Minecraft is opened. This requires no IT Administrator work after the accounts are created in both systems, but does require teachers and students to know both their Google and Microsoft credentials.

1. Benefits
   Easiest to set up, no work required by IT Administrators once both accounts are created
   Considerations

Students will need to know both Google Account credentials to sign into the Chromebooks and Microsoft 365 credentials to sign in to Minecraft: Education Edition the first time they sign in or if there are problems when signing in.
Accounts will need to be provisioned in both Google and Microsoft systems to access all products.
Minecraft: Education Edition license assignment will be tied to the Microsoft accounts.
Setup In-Application Single Sign-On

The enable single sign-on within Minecraft: Education Edition: 

1. Sign into Minecraft: Education Edition using your Microsoft 365 Azure Active Directory credentials 
2. Once signed in to Minecraft: Education Edition, make sure that the Single Sign On is turned on by checking Settings -> Profile -> Enable Single Sign On 
3. Optional: Automate setup, provisioning, syncing and licensing of accounts in both systems
   • Google: Configure Microsoft Office 365 auto-provisioning,  Automate user provisioning across cloud apps 
   • Microsoft: Plan an automatic user provisioning deployment, Auto-assign Minecraft licenses 

Option 2: Enabling SAML Federation to use a Microsoft 365 Azure Active Directory Account to Sign into a Chromebook
Summary
In this option, an IT Administrator will need to link the Microsoft accounts to the Google accounts using SAML. This will mean that the teachers and students will use their Microsoft 365 credentials for all Microsoft products and their Google Workspace for Education products. This setup does require significant work by the IT Administrator to setup and manage and there are some things to consider (listed below). However, once fully set up, especially if configured with auto-provisioning and auto-license assignment, there is limited ongoing effort required to keep the two accounts in sync.

Sign into the Chromebook using your managed Google Account credentials 

Benefits

• Teachers and students will only need to remember one account, their Microsoft 365 account, to access most products and services that support SAML, including both Chromebook sign in and Minecraft sign in.  
• Existing Microsoft 365 Active Directory accounts can be used to access Google products and services without adding a second account that teachers and students need to use. 

Considerations

• Some Google services and products do not support sign in using SAML federated accounts. See the FAQ section in Googles’ SAML SSO for Chrome devices article and the SSO Troubleshooting FAQ for more details. 
• SAML is optimized for Google Workspace for Education web applications. See the SAML SSO FAQ for more information about web applications, including possible errors. 
• Microsoft also has an FAQ, which includes Known Issues with SAML federation, in the Azure Active Directory SSO guide 
• Accounts will need to be provisioned in both Google and Microsoft systems and linked together to access all products. Setup, configuration, syncing and testing of these accounts and linking will require significant work by IT Administrators. 
• Minecraft: Education Edition license assignment will be tied to the Microsoft accounts. 
• Due to the highly complex and custom nature of account configurations, the Minecraft: Education Edition team will be unable to provide help desk support for setup or troubleshooting of SAML federation.

Setup Microsoft IdP + Google SP SAML Federation

1. Configure Microsoft as the SAML IdP by following Microsoft’s guide: Azure Active Directory single sign-on (SSO) integration with Google Cloud Connector 
2. Reference Google’s guides as needed to configure Google as the SP:
   • Set up single sign-on for managed Google Accounts using third-party Identity providers 
   • Configure SAML single sign-on for Chrome devices 
3. Optional: Automate setup, provisioning, syncing and licensing of accounts in both systems
   • Microsoft: Plan an automatic user provisioning deployment, Auto-assign Minecraft licenses 
   • Google: Automate user provisioning across cloud apps 

Option 3: Enabling SAML Federation to use a managed Google Account to Sign into Minecraft: Education Edition
Summary
In this option, an IT Administrator will need to link the Google accounts to the Microsoft accounts using SAML. This will mean that the teachers and students will use their Google credentials for all Google products and most Microsoft products. This setup does require significant work by the IT Administrator to setup and manage and there are some limitations to the functionality of some Microsoft products after the accounts are linked. However, once fully set up, especially if configured with auto-provisioning and auto-license assignment, there is limited ongoing effort required to keep the two accounts in sync.

Benefits

• Teachers and students will only need to remember one account, their Google account, to access most products and services that support SAML, including both Chromebook sign in and Minecraft sign in.  

• Existing Google accounts can be used to access Microsoft products and services without adding a second account that teachers and students need to use. 

Considerations

• Some Microsoft services and products do not fully support SAML federated Google accounts, you may encounter the following problems with these accounts:
  • Not possible to signing into Windows devices  
  • Can’t use Intune to manage the accounts 
  • Teams may lose authentication (signing in again should resolve this) 
  • Emails may not be received for @mentions or share notifications within Office documents 
  • In Outlook, email address may not match the Google email address and unexpected email behavior may occur due to Exchange settings  
  • Teams calendars may not match the Google calendar and invites and scheduling may not work as expected 
  • Many of the more complex account management and Active Directory features (such as Active Directory federation, password sync, access to AD-connected resources like printers and file shares) may not work with SAML federated accounts 
• There are limits to the type and flexibility of the domain configurations when enabling SAML, such as:
  • Can’t enable for only parts of the domain (must be enabled for the whole domain) 
  • Can’t link multiple AAD tenants to the same Google organization 
  • Can’t link multiple domains to the same Google organization 
• Accounts will need to be provisioned in both Google and Microsoft systems and linked together to access all products. Setup, configuration, syncing and testing of these accounts and linking will require significant work by IT Administrators. 
• Minecraft: Education Edition license assignment will be tied to the Microsoft accounts. 
• Due to the highly complex and custom nature of account configurations, the Minecraft: Education Edition team is unable to provide help desk support for setup or troubleshooting of SAML federation. 

How to Enable Google IdP + Microsoft SP SAML Federation
Configure Google as the SAML IdP by following Google’s guide: Set up SSO via SAML for Microsoft Office 365
Configure Microsoft as the SAML SP using PowerShell by following Microsoft’s guide: Configure your SAML 2.0 compliant identity provider
Optional: Automate setup, provisioning, syncing and licensing of accounts in both systems
Google: Configure Microsoft Office 365 auto-provisioning, Automate user provisioning across cloud apps
Microsoft: Plan an automatic user provisioning deployment, Auto-assign Minecraft licenses

Enabling SAML Federation for Other Identity Management Configuration
If you are using a different system to manage identities, such as on-premise Active Directory, Active Directory Federation Services or any other non-Google or non-Microsoft Identity Management system, it may be more difficult to federate it to either a managed Google Account or Microsoft 365 Azure Active Directory system. Please consult your identity provider’s documentation for SAML federation to determine what may be possible.

At this time, Minecraft: Education Edition is supported on operating systems for PC, iPad, Mac and Chromebook. On PC, Minecraft is supported for Windows 10 and earlier versions. On macOS Minecraft is supported for Sierra and High Sierra systems and later. On iOS Minecraft is supported on iOS 10 or higher. On Chromebook Minecraft is supported on Chrome OS 83 and higher.Users on Windows 10 1703 and earlier will need to use the Windows Desktop version of the application.The Windows 10 UWP is also available as a deployable .appx.

Technical requirements

 *These are our minimum supported versions. The game should be able to run on these operating systems but we will not be fixing any current our future bugs on these versions

All students must login to Minecraft: Education Edition Office 365 Education account. This does not mean that all students have to be able to utilize Exchange, SharePoint, etc. Office 365 can also be restricted by admins to allow only what you want your students to have access to. Office 365 doesn’t have to be an all or nothing service, you can pick and choose what you want to give to your students. Whether that is just an account for Minecraft: Education Edition (that looks like an email address) or Office Online, you can do that.

If your educational institution does not have an Office 365 education environment already setup, you can start an Office 365 Education trial. This lasts 30 days, and during that time period, you would have to attach a domain that you own/manage.

By attaching a domain, this doesn’t mean that you have to start using Office 365 for email. You can attach the domain with a TXT record, and that would allow you to continue using your email solution as you have it setup currently.

Once you have added your domain, as long as it is verified as educational, you will be able to access the free Office 365 Education licenses. You can then create users on a one-by-one basis, in bulk via CSV file, or in bulk with PowerShell as well.

You can then assign users the Office 365 Education license, as well as the Minecraft Education Edition license that you would purchase. Users could then login to Minecraft Education Edition application with their Office 365 accounts that you created to play Minecraft.