Minecraft Multiplayer Games

By: Cara Stevens

If you haven't joined the Minecraft multiplayer world yet, you're in for a great surprise. Multiplayer mode gives you a chance to gamify your Minecraft adventures. You can play with other players on the same team, against other players, or try your luck against a hostile environment.

What's great about Minecraft is that whatever you're in the mood to do, there's a server where you can do it! Some games, like maze games, take only a few minutes, while others, like Capture the Flag, have a set time limit of 5 to 15 minutes, and still others, like Faction, can take hours to get through an adventure. 

PvE

In PvE (player versus environment) games, you battle mobs and the elements to survive, teaming up with other players to support each other, form a community, and learn from each other's experiences. PvE servers can create mazes, mob spawners, custom maps, and challenges for players to overcome separately or as a team, with different goals depending on the task. You can rack up kills, loot, coins, XP (experience points), or other types of points to improve your score and compete against yourself or your opponents.

PvP

PvP stands for player versus player, and in these servers players compete for survival. In other words, players can kill each other and steal each other's gear. The theme here is hunt or be hunted… or both! Most multiplayer games have a PvP element to them. To stay safe while playing online, look for whitelisted servers where moderators have to accept applicants before they can play, and look for moderated servers, where griefing and trolling are not tolerated.

Kidzworld writer and Minecraft enthusiast Cara J. Stevens has played 'em all. Here are her 14 favorites, in no particular order:

Hide and Seek mini-games

In Block Hunt, Prop Hunt, Hide and Seek, and Farm Hunt, you get to  be a prop like a fence, a creeper, or another everyday object and hide in plain sight.

In Farm Hunt, you can choose to be either a hunter or an animal. If you enter the game as a hunter, your mission is to roam around looking for other players who are disguised as animals. If you enter the game as an animal, it's up to you to stay concealed from the hunters.

Blocks VS Zombies

Survive a siege of zombies for 20 minutes to win this mini-game.

Spleef

Spleef (also known as Splegg) is similar to the classic board game Don't Break the Ice. Players enter a playing field made of an easily destroyed block like snow, leaves, dirt, or clay. To play, use a shovel to destroy the blocks below other players to get them to fall off the playing field into a pit. Last player standing wins!

CTF (Capture the Flag)

In Capture the Flag two or more teams each try to capture an enemy flag and bring it to their own base while also guarding their own flag. Games have a time limit. Scores are tallied at the end of each game.

Paintball

Paintball is a mini-game closest in gameplay to Capture the Flag, but players are equipped with several different types of paintball guns and colored armor, and are given a home base to store their equipment, reload, and retreat to.

Cops & Robbers

Also known as Prison, Jail, or Jailbreak, in this mini-game, some players guard the prison and the others are prisoners trying to escape. To progress on the server, players have to earn money in the prison to get to a higher level. The higher the level, the more areas that can be accessed.

Hunger Games

Also known as Survival Games, this game was adapted from The Hunger Games series of books and movies. All players start with an empty inventory in a circle in the middle of a big arena. Players must find loot scattered around the map, equip themselves, and try to survive and eliminate the other players. The last player standing wins.

TNT Run

TNT Run is a mini-game map that can be found on many multiplayer servers. Players start on a layer of sand. Since sand breaks apart every time you step on it, every block you step on disappears instantly. If you fall through the hole, you are knocked out of the game. Last one standing is the winner.

Factions

Factions games last longer than most mini-games. In this PvP game, players are placed in a large battleground. You can create teams, make alliances, and declare war. Win a war to claim enemy territory. The goal is to take over the world one faction at a time.

Deathrun

The Deathrun minigame is like a dangerous game of red light/green light. The Runners must make it to the end of the map. The Deaths try to prevent the Runners from reaching their goal. Runners must avoid those on the Deaths team and also avoid the automatic death traps along the way. The objective of the Deaths is to kill the Runners before they get to the end.

Parkour

In Parkour, you must move quickly through an area by running, jumping, and climbing around obstacles. There are many Minecraft servers dedicated to Parkour where maps are created for players to navigate by jumping; sprinting and jumping; leaping up, down, or diagonally; climbing ladders or walls; and jumping to bars or glass panes. The courses are fun, fast-paced, and difficult, though most servers have maps with different difficulty levels to help you train before you compete.

KitPvP

In a Kit PvP game, you choose from a preset category of kits. Each kit is equipped with its own set of unique resources. Enter battle with the kit of your choice to fight against your opponents to earn points, reputation, and achievements.

Quest

A quest, also known as QM or Questing mode, invites players to complete quests to gain rewards. The rewards might be cool items, loot bags, extra lives, or achievements. In HQM, or Hardcore Questing mode, you have only one life to complete your quest.

SkyBlock

SkyBlock is a PvE game that spawns players on an "island" floating in the sky. Players must use the resources they are given to survive in the game, complete challenges, and earn rewards to help improve their island.

Have your say

What's your favorite Minecraft multiplayer game? What servers do you like best? Share your favorites in the comments below.