Minecraft is an open world game that has no specific goals for the player to accomplish, allowing players a large amount of freedom in choosing how to play the game. However, there is an optional achievement system. The gameplay by default is first person, but players have the option to play in third person mode. The core gameplay revolves around breaking and placing blocks. The game world is essentially composed of rough 3D objects—mainly cubes—that are arranged in a fixed grid pattern and represent different materials, such as dirt, stone, various ores, water, and tree trunks. While players can move freely across the world, objects and items can only be placed at fixed locations relative to the grid.Players can gather these material blocks and place them elsewhere, thus allowing for various constructions.
Multiplayer on Minecraft is available through player-hosted servers and enables multiple players to interact and communicate with each other on a single world.Players can run their own servers or use a hosting provider. Single player worlds have local area network support, allowing players to join worlds on locally interconnected computers without a server setup.Minecraft multiplayer servers are guided by server operators, who have access to server commands such as setting the time of day and teleporting players around. Operators can also set up restrictions concerning which usernames or IP addresses are allowed to enter the server. Multiplayer servers offer players a wide range of activities, with some servers having their own unique rules and customs. Competitions are available in some servers, in which players can participate in a variety of games, including those resembling The Hunger Games. A gamemode, PvP (player versus player), may be enabled to allow fighting between players. In 2013 Mojang announced Minecraft Realms, a server hosting service intended to enable children to run server multiplayer games easily and safely.