Is Minecraft China Edition different than Java Edition?

Minecraft China Edition is a specialized version of Minecraft that was developed in collaboration with Chinese software conglomerate NetEase specifically for the Chinese domestic market.

Minecraft China Edition is widely recognized and is incredibly popular with the youth of China. It remains one of the country's hottest video games with over 400 million players as of November 2020.

Although extremely popular in the Chinese domestic market, even the most prominent Minecraft gamers outside of China often have little idea as to exactly what's so different about the Chinese version of Minecraft.

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How is Minecraft China Edition different from its counterparts?

For starters, the Chinese Edition comes in both a Java and Bedrock edition. The Bedrock based version is free to play, which has made it much more popular than its Java counterpart.

Within Minecraft China Edition are various oddities and unique features. One of which is a relatively sophisticated friends system that also supports chat text. It should be noted, however, that this chat is heavily censored. Also censored are Books and Quills, Written Books, Signs, Anvils, and Spawn Eggs.

Another of Minecraft China Edition's biggest exclusive features is that of the "Shopkeepers gifts" system. This is a place where players can watch ads in order to earn a varying amount of diamonds and emeralds. These can later be used to unlock new modpacks, custom maps, and texture packs. One of the most popular mods of which is somewhat inspired by the hugely admired Minecraft pixelmon mod.

Also with Minecraft China Edition comes new game modes, including a new "apocalyptic" game mode which includes unique new items, mobs, achievements, biomes, and even 4 brand new bosses to conquer.

Finally, perhaps the biggest key difference between Minecraft China Edition and its western counterparts is the fact that a lot more is done in the game launcher. If players want to modify their world settings, install a modpack, change their world, or even change their skin, it must be done in the launcher menu. This is of course, highly different to how Minecraft Java Edition operates and is completely exclusive to the China Edition.

As fun as this all may sound, however, there's some bad news. Those outside of China will not be able to sign up to play Minecraft China Edition. This is because signing up requires a NetEase account which is something only Chinese citizens can currently acquire.