Recently, Mojang has given the Minecraft EULA (End User License Agreement) huge changes. This information quickly spreads like wildfire and created an uproar in the community, primarily regarding mods and servers. But, what exactly the user agreement updates are and what kind of new rules are the team imposing on its user? Let’s take a quick look at the new Minecraft 2023 EULA changes below.
What Are the Huge Minecraft Eula Changes in 2023? Answered
Minecraft seems to push the new EULA changes because of the “real-life gun” controversy that happened on several popular servers. According to the Grand Theft Minecraft (GTM) group, Mojang has considered that guns and weapons are “adult content” that violates the game’s usage agreement. And as such, it asked the servers’ admins to remove all offending material or risk being permanently banned.
Aside from cracking down on the depiction of gun violence and adult content, Mojang also updates its EULA to comply with Microsoft’s terms of service. While most of these changes won’t affect normal players, server owners and content creators might need to be a bit more careful starting now.
Terms of Service Changes in Minecraft New EULA
In terms of “general” rule changes, now the Microsoft Service Agreement and Xbox Community Standards have to be followed by all Minecraft players. Microsoft Services Agreement governs the use of the company’s products. Basically, stuff like Minecraft‘s privacy policy, software licenses, and service terms follow Microsoft’s rules. As for Community Standards, you have to be mindful of other players, be inclusive, no swearing, no cheating or hacking, respect the laws, etcetera. You know, the usual.
New Minecraft-related Content Creation and Usage Rules
Now, the Mojang team has made the official “Minecraft Usage Guidelines” page. As you can infer, it’s created to “help” players and content creators use everything related to Minecraft. These are the most important bits of the 2023 Minecraft EULA changes:
- We don’t want mods that affect players’ experience and create a scarcity of in-game content based on out-of-game conditions
- For example, a mod that checks if a player owns an NFT to unlock skins, functions, or other in-game experiences is not ok
- You may not use the Minecraft name as the primary or dominant name or title for your content
- Example:
- “Kotoba Miners: A Minecraft server for Redstone builds” (okay)
- “The Shaft – a Minecrafter’s podcast” (okay)
- “Minecraft – the ultimate Kotoba server for Redstone” (not okay)
- “Minecraft – the ultimate help app” (not okay)
- Example:
- We do not want Minecraft or Minecraft assets used to build a Minecraft world, mod, or server to promote your (or your client’s) corporate brand, products, or services, such as:
- Products that aren’t related to Minecraft products or services in playable form
- A company’s television show, movies, or videos through Minecraft gameplay
- Examples of things that are not allowed:
- A mod created to allow players to play in a world with branded automobiles
- A skin pack containing brand logos
- Minecraft blocks used to build a world or characters from a movie
- A political campaign that takes place in-game
- You are allowed to put footage on YouTube, Twitch, or any other website and make money from them so long as:
- All videos (in their entirety) are free to view (for example, there is no paywall or other charge)
- You add enough of your own unique content to the video or stream
New Server and Hosting Rules
Judging from the Microsoft Service Agreement and Minecraft Usage Guidelines, there are several points that will heavily affect server creation and moderation. Here are some of the 2023 Minecraft EULA changes you need to watch out for:
Server monetizing rules:
- Provide information to players on all the content and pricing applicable to your server before a person joins, signs up, or signs in
- Don’t engage in any activity that exploits, harms, or threatens to harm children
- Lottery or gambling with loot crates might fall under this rule
- Access on the server can’t be limited to or controlled by out-of-game content, products, or services.
- This might refer to a subscription or real-life item for bypassing queues
- Provide an online payment and purchase history for purchases
- Whether it makes money or not, a server is considered commercial and must comply with the entire Minecraft 2023 EULA.
Server moderation rules:
- All server content, entitlements, and advertising have to be suitable for audiences of all ages
- Anarchy servers might be banned under this rule.
- Don’t hide or alter any of the dialogs or prompts that are part of Minecraft
- Including EULA, warning, and error messages
- Don’t engage in activity that is fraudulent, false, or misleading
- Features that manipulate player count fall under this rule
- Mojang may request or force takedowns of any Minecraft-related content whenever they like
- You may not use the Minecraft name as the primary or dominant name or title for your website or server
- Adding “not an official Minecraft server” on the website, where applicable, should work
On Reddit, some players, especially server owners, are showing their distaste for these new changes. Meanwhile, other players think otherwise and don’t mind the harsher Minecraft EULA changes. Especially if “anarchy” or toxic servers like the infamous 2b2t server are now deemed illegal. Which side are you on? Discuss it in the comments below.
