FAQ: Availability, Pricing and Licensing
Where do I buy it?
You can buy Minecraft: Education Edition here and visit our Purchasing Minecraft: Education Edition guide in the Knowledge Base. A license costs $5 USD and lasts for one year. The beginning of the year long license is marked by the date of purchase.
Is it available on Chromebook?
Yes! You can learn more here
Can I purchase a school/server license?
No. Unless licenses are bundled as part of your larger Enrollment Education Solution (EES), licenses are purchased at the individual level and assigned to individual Office 365 Education accounts. It is not compatible with Servers.
Do I need anything besides a Minecraft: Education Edition license to play?
Yes, all users of Minecraft: Education Edition will need an Office 365 Education account to play the game. Learn more about Office 365 for Education and Minecraft: Education Edition here.
I see you have launched on iOS. Can I play Minecraft: Education Edition on my iPhone?
While we are now available on iOS Minecraft is not supported on iPhone devices.
Is Minecraft: Education Edition available in my country? What languages can I play in?
Our team is adding countries frequently. To access the current list please view our languages and countries offered in our Knowledge Base. If you have a suggestion for a new country or language, please post in our community to let us know you are interested and also please subscribe to our newsletter to stay updated for future availability.
Who is eligible to purchase Minecraft: Education Edition? Are home schools eligible?
Minecraft: Education Edition is available for purchase by schools, libraries, museums, and participants in nationally recognized home-school organizations. All users will still need an Office 365 Education account. The pilot for home schools to get Office 365 Education is currently full, you can follow https://twitter.com/MicrosoftEDU for updates
Can I purchase Minecraft: Education Edition if I am a parent, student, or individual consumer?
If an individual is not affiliated with an academic institution (see eligibility), they will not be able to purchase Minecraft: Education Edition, but other versions of Minecraft are available on a large number of platforms, including PC/Mac, Xbox, Windows 10, or iOS and our website educator resources are free to all.
How much does it cost?
Minecraft: Education Edition costs 5 US dollars per user, per year (or local currency pricing). To purchase directly, please visit our website to get started. Opportunities for volume licensing are also available by contacting your preferred reseller. Click here for more information on volume licensing or to locate a Microsoft Partner.
What if the order button is greyed out and I cannot add payment details in Microsoft Store for Education?
This usually means that an IT admin on your tenant has toggled off the "allow users to shop" setting. Directions on how to toggle this back on so you can make the purchase can be found here.
It could also indicate that you have a viral tenant. In order to takeover your tenant and become an admin so you can purchase, follow the directions here.
Are there any discounts if I buy a large number of licenses for my school? How many user licenses will I need for my school?
School districts and municipalities with a Microsoft Enrollment for Education Solutions volume licensing agreement may add Minecraft: Education Edition to their agreement which will give them access across their organization, contact your local Microsoft representative or re seller to learn more. If you are not adding Minecraft: Education Edition through your EES agreement licenses must be purchased individually from the store.
Are you providing discounts for underprivileged schools?
Our current pricing levels are in line with many other educational software and services, and there is great value in having Minecraft in the classroom as a virtual maker space, replacing many alternative hands-on learning lab kits which are more expensive.
Can I give copies of the software to my students to use at home?
Students are able to use Minecraft: Education Edition at home by signing in using their Minecraft: Education Edition login as long as they are on a supported platform.
I see you need Office 365 Education for login. If I have questions about COPPA, FERPA and CIPA as it relates to Minecraft: Education Edition and Office 365, where can I find this information?
You can find that information right here.
What if the students don't have email address to assign licenses to?
Minecraft: Education Edition licenses just need to be assigned to an Office 365 Education account. These accounts don't necessarily have to have email functionality. New accounts can be created in your Office 365 admin portal. Once these accounts are created under your tenant, then Minecraft: Education licenses can be assigned to these accounts and they can be used for login to the game. For more information on creating accounts in the admin portal go here.
What if I want a refund?
In order to process a refund you'll first need to ensure that all of your licenses have been reclaimed and are not assigned. Then you can process a refund by navigating to the "manage" tab. Complete instructions can be found here.
Can I reclaim a license after its been assigned?
Yes you can. Licenses can be assigned and unassigned to different accounts within the one year period. After you reclaim a license it can take up to one month for that user to lose access to the game.