The website gives you two social tools. Friends is a follow list: you follow players to keep up with them, and two players who follow each other are friends. Messages is your private inbox: the same conversations you have in game with the private-message commands, readable and writable from a browser.
Both need a signed-in account (Signing In to the Website). A signed-out visitor to either page is told to sign in.
Friends page#
Open Community > Friends. The page has five tabs.
| Tab | What it lists |
|---|---|
| Following | Players you follow, with when you followed them and an Unfollow button. |
| Followers | Players who follow you, each with a Follow button so you can follow back. |
| Friends | Players you follow and who follow you back. A Friends badge also appears on them in the other tabs. |
| Search | A name search to find a player and follow them. |
| Blocked | Players you blocked, each with an Unblock button. |
Lists show 20 players per page with Previous and Next buttons. When a list is empty the page tells you how to fill it, for example "When you and another player follow each other, you become friends."
Following a player#
- Open the Search tab, type the exact player name and click Search. Names are 3 to 16 characters: letters, numbers,
_and.. - Click Follow on the result. The button becomes Following. Click it again to unfollow.
- You can also click Follow on any player's profile (Player Profiles) or on the Followers tab.
If the player follows you back, the Friends badge appears for both of you.
Rules and messages you may meet:
| Message | Meaning |
|---|---|
| You cannot follow yourself | Self-follows are rejected. |
| That player could not be found | The name does not match a player who has joined. |
| You cannot follow this player | One of you has blocked the other. |
| You are following players too quickly | You hit the follow limit: 30 follows in any 10 minutes. Wait a few minutes. |
| No player found with that name | The search found nothing. |
| Enter a valid player name (3-16 characters, letters, numbers, _ and .) | The name in the Search tab is not a valid Minecraft name. |
When either of you blocks the other, the Follow button disappears. Blocking is managed from the Blocked tab (or from Account Settings > Privacy, see below).
Blocking and unblocking#
Blocking stops that player from messaging you and from following you, and you will not see their messages. Blocking from the Friends page or from the Privacy card in Account Settings uses the same block list. You cannot block yourself, and some players cannot be blocked ("You can't block this player").
Messages page#
Open Conversations from the avatar menu, or go to Messages in the account navigation. A badge on your avatar counts your unread messages (9+ above nine).
The page has two panes. On the left, Conversations lists your threads, newest first, with the other player's name, the last message and an unread count. On the right is the open thread. The list refreshes every 15 seconds and an open thread every 5 seconds, so replies appear without reloading.
Starting a conversation#
- Click the pen button (New message) above the list.
- Type a player's username in the New message box and confirm. You cannot message yourself, and an unknown name gives "Player not found."
- Write in the Write a message... box and send. Until the first message is sent, the conversation shows as Draft in your list and the other player sees nothing.
You can also open someone's profile and click Message, which jumps to a conversation with them.
Sending messages#
- A message can be up to 256 characters. A counter appears when you get close to the limit.
- Consecutive messages from one sender within 5 minutes are grouped together. Scroll up in a long thread to load older messages.
- Messages go through the same chat filter as in-game chat and the same mute rules.
- Web messages are limited to 8 messages per 10 seconds.
If a message cannot be sent you see one of these:
| Message | Meaning |
|---|---|
| You can't message this player | They blocked you. |
| You have blocked this player | Unblock them first. |
| A member of this conversation has private messages disabled | They switched private messages off. |
| You can't send messages while muted | An active mute applies to you. |
| Message blocked by the chat filter | The text broke the chat rules. |
| You're sending messages too quickly | Wait a few seconds. |
When you open a conversation (from a profile or with New message) with a player you cannot message, a pop-up message explains why: You have blocked this player, This player can't receive messages right now, or You have private messages disabled. Enable them in your account settings.
Same inbox as in game#
Messages sent on the website are the same private conversations you use in game with /msg, /reply and /conversations. A message you write here arrives in the recipient's game chat if they are online, and one sent in game shows up here. Players with unread conversations are reminded when they join. If you are offline when someone writes to you, you also get a notification (Website Notifications). See Private Messaging for the in-game commands.
Turning private messages off#
In Account Settings > Privacy switch off Allow private messages. Nobody can then start or continue a private conversation with you, in game or on the website, until you switch it back on.
See also#
- Player Profiles for the Follow and Message buttons on a profile.
- Account Settings for privacy and blocked players.
- Website Notifications for message alerts.