Minecraft Education Setup for MakeCode
Follow these steps to setup MakeCode for Minecraft Education.
Step 1: Get a Minecraft Education License
There are two types of Minecraft Education licenses: Academic and Commercial. Eligible institutions and their educators can purchase academic licenses. All other organizatons can purchase commercial licenses. Check to see your eligibility and which licensing option is best for you or your organization:
Step 2: Install Minecraft Education
Once you have purchased or verified that you have a license, download Minecraft Education for your computer (either Windows 10 or macOS). Click on the label that says: “Get it on…” with name of your operating system. The install will start automatically.
Step 3: Setting up Minecraft for MakeCode
Here’s how to get setup and connected to MakeCode for the first time…
Setup Minecraft
1. Start
Start Minecraft and sign in if you’re using Minecraft Education.
2. Create a world
Press the Play button. Push the Create New button in the Worlds dialog. The Create… window will have some default templates you could choose from but make your own world with the Create New World button.
3. Turn on cheats
You’ll see some settings for your new world. Leave everything as you see it except for Cheats. You need to turn Activate Cheats to the ON position to enable all of the coding features for MakeCode.
4. The world begins
Press Create and you can start playing in your new world.
5. Start In-Game coding
Start in-game coding by typing “c“. The Code Builder window will show up in the game with a list of coding apps to choose from. Select Microsoft MakeCode.
The MakeCode home screen will appear in the Code Builder window. Select “New Project” in the “My Projects” gallery to start a fresh project. If you want to try a tutorial or another example instead, pick one of those from the galleries.
Gameplay with your code
To run your code in Minecraft Education, go back to the game after working with your coding project. Press Resume Game. Depending on what your code is meant to do, your code might run as a chat command or maybe start when some condition in the game changes. Try one of the tutorials and follow the steps.
Minecraft has keyboard controls that help you move around and do tasks. Here’s a helpful key card that shows what they are:
