Hi guys! I work at a school system and I'm having some problems blocking Minecraft from being used by the students during the day on their laptops. We've tried blocking the .exe and that (predictably) didn't stop them. We've tried blocking the .jar and (somehow) that didn't stop them. They use MinecraftSP.exe and blocking that hasn't stopped them. My next step is going to be seeing about stripping access permissions from the %appdata%.minecraft/ folder.
I know there's a lot of ways posted here and around the internet to be able to get Minecraft working (some of which I've used myself, as I play as well), but this doesn't help much when I'm trying to STOP people from playing. Can you guys give me a little help? How else would you be able to get around these restrictions? How can I get these kids to concentrate on their schoolwork instead of goofing off? I would love to see Minecraft used as an educational tool, but if teachers keep viewing it as just another game, there's no way they will consider it.
It sounds like you tried using Minecraft as an educational tool of some sort, but teachers didn't approve. What I would reccomend is completely delete Minecraft off the computers (this could be quite a task depending on how many computers there are) and block access to minecraft.net.
No, using it as an educational tool is just something I would like to see happen.
It's that the kids are loading it onto the computers (somehow, every time we find a copy we delete it) and using it to play around during class. We never put it on any of them. We reimage the computer every time we find it and make sure the kid isn't storing it in a network drive, but it keeps coming back.
Minecraft.net has been blocked since the beginning.
If it's anything like the high school I went to, the students have issued laptops that they take home with them, so deleting it will probably do very little in curbing the problem.
I was generally well behaved so I never had the IT department in my school come down on me like a sack of bricks, but I remember hearing from the other students how the IT guy was able to disable access to certain folders over the school wi-fi. This sounds like the solution, but I'm not aware of how to do it, or what steps should be taken for your situation.
Just be prepared for the backlash and the workarounds. I haven't used MultiMC, but I think it allows you to specify your own filepath for minecraft, so blocking the appdata folder may only be a temporary solution for the more technically minded kids.
No, using it as an educational tool is just something I would like to see happen.
It's that the kids are loading it onto the computers (somehow, every time we find a copy we delete it) and using it to play around during class. We never put it on any of them. We reimage the computer every time we find it and make sure the kid isn't storing it in a network drive, but it keeps coming back.
Minecraft.net has been blocked since the beginning.
Yes, I suspect they've been loading it up via a flash drive. These kids aren't allowed to take the laptops home, they just use them during the day, but they're still damn crafty at getting on there.
I'm about to block access to the %appdata%\.minecraft folder, since that will seem to do it. What's the MultiMC thing? Can I have a link to it? I might be able to stop that before they can even research it.
Blocking MC altogether will be difficult. I'm fairly sure you can run it off a flash drive, albeit slowly. Also, there are multiple launchers out there. Simply revoking access to the .minecraft folder will not do much. Tekkit and Feed the Beast both create their own folders.
if you force students to use Limited user Account (assuming it's not setup that way), then if you don't install Java, they won't be able to play it; since they can't install Java.
The other option is to use a ACL and deny read,write, and delete access to the .minecraft folder.
But then you have the issue of portable installations.
Since Minecraft version 1.3, however, Minecraft has performed a Local loopback connection to a local server. You could look into a firewall solution; Windows Firewall won't allow for blocking local loopback connections, but some do. If you block local loopbacks on port 25565, you should reasonably dissuade Minecraft playing. There is of course still a way around that, which involves putting a Minecraft Server on, making it use a local loopback but on a separate port, and setting online mode to false. That is a bit more involved and takes more effort, and it's a more involved process that they'll have to go through frequently as you reimage the machines.
Yes, I suspect they've been loading it up via a flash drive. These kids aren't allowed to take the laptops home, they just use them during the day, but they're still damn crafty at getting on there.
I'm about to block access to the %appdata%\.minecraft folder, since that will seem to do it. What's the MultiMC thing? Can I have a link to it? I might be able to stop that before they can even research it.
Well you could set up a recording program right befor your students arive and than you can see what they do on the computer. But it wont work if they dont got assigned seats.
IIRC, they download a new one directly from minecraft.net
The students will still have access to moving the folder from a flash drive onto the computer directly.
In this case, does the Tekkit folder go to wherever you want it to go? So they could theoretically just put it onto the desktop and play it from there? That's a bit more of a problem.
if you force students to use Limited user Account (assuming it's not setup that way), then if you don't install Java, they won't be able to play it; since they can't install Java.
This isn't really an option because they need java for some of the other applications for school. They're already on extremely restricted limited accounts.
Well you could set up a recording program right befor your students arive and than you can see what they do on the computer. But it wont work if they dont got assigned seats.
Not really an option. The kids use laptops that they pick up in morning homeroom and return at the end of the day. A good thought, but not really practical, as far as dealing with installing spyware goes.
But then you have the issue of portable installations.
Since Minecraft version 1.3, however, Minecraft has performed a Local loopback connection to a local server. You could look into a firewall solution; Windows Firewall won't allow for blocking local loopback connections, but some do. If you block local loopbacks on port 25565, you should reasonably dissuade Minecraft playing. There is of course still a way around that, which involves putting a Minecraft Server on, making it use a local loopback but on a separate port, and setting online mode to false. That is a bit more involved and takes more effort, and it's a more involved process that they'll have to go through frequently as you reimage the machines.
THIS is rather interesting. No other programs would really use 25565, so I could block it entirely and nothing else would be affected. Would Tekkit and the other major mods use the same port?
Pardon me if I'm wrong, I know very little about networking and administration, but wouldn't a simple way of blocking it be forcing a different program to start using port 25565?
THIS is rather interesting. No other programs would really use 25565, so I could block it entirely and nothing else would be affected. Would Tekkit and the other major mods use the same port?
Block access to the /AppData/.minecraft folder as you stated. This is the best option. Also, if all of the laptops are on the network you can do a .batch file to set permissions to all of them in a loop so you wouldn't have to manually go to each computer and set permissions. I hope this helps!
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Yes, I suspect they've been loading it up via a flash drive. These kids aren't allowed to take the laptops home, they just use them during the day, but they're still damn crafty at getting on there.
I'm about to block access to the %appdata%\.minecraft folder, since that will seem to do it. What's the MultiMC thing? Can I have a link to it? I might be able to stop that before they can even research it.
That would be useless, the smart kids will figure out you can tell the MC launcher to looks for the .minecraft in a flash drive for example, that way they would have a portable version of minecraft. them they would tell their friends who would tell their friends. You could block flash drive access but how would students transfer files? My schools gives us google accounts but not all students have internet access at home. Plus kids would still be able to get to it. I can't think of anything, although if I do I will say so. Also what if the students brings in their own laptop, how do you stop them from playing it? It's not like you can go on their laptop, because that invades privacy.
Also is really that big of deal, at my school we have study halls three days of the week when we don't have PE) Some of us, like me tend to stay on top of our work and don't really need to use the study hall, so instead we just play minecraft or read.
I know there's a lot of ways posted here and around the internet to be able to get Minecraft working (some of which I've used myself, as I play as well), but this doesn't help much when I'm trying to STOP people from playing. Can you guys give me a little help? How else would you be able to get around these restrictions? How can I get these kids to concentrate on their schoolwork instead of goofing off? I would love to see Minecraft used as an educational tool, but if teachers keep viewing it as just another game, there's no way they will consider it.
Please, help me out!
It's that the kids are loading it onto the computers (somehow, every time we find a copy we delete it) and using it to play around during class. We never put it on any of them. We reimage the computer every time we find it and make sure the kid isn't storing it in a network drive, but it keeps coming back.
Minecraft.net has been blocked since the beginning.
I was generally well behaved so I never had the IT department in my school come down on me like a sack of bricks, but I remember hearing from the other students how the IT guy was able to disable access to certain folders over the school wi-fi. This sounds like the solution, but I'm not aware of how to do it, or what steps should be taken for your situation.
Just be prepared for the backlash and the workarounds. I haven't used MultiMC, but I think it allows you to specify your own filepath for minecraft, so blocking the appdata folder may only be a temporary solution for the more technically minded kids.
Maybe a flash drive.
I'm about to block access to the %appdata%\.minecraft folder, since that will seem to do it. What's the MultiMC thing? Can I have a link to it? I might be able to stop that before they can even research it.
"Programmers never repeat themselves. They loop."
The students will still have access to moving the folder from a flash drive onto the computer directly.
"Programmers never repeat themselves. They loop."
The other option is to use a ACL and deny read,write, and delete access to the .minecraft folder.
But then you have the issue of portable installations.
Since Minecraft version 1.3, however, Minecraft has performed a Local loopback connection to a local server. You could look into a firewall solution; Windows Firewall won't allow for blocking local loopback connections, but some do. If you block local loopbacks on port 25565, you should reasonably dissuade Minecraft playing. There is of course still a way around that, which involves putting a Minecraft Server on, making it use a local loopback but on a separate port, and setting online mode to false. That is a bit more involved and takes more effort, and it's a more involved process that they'll have to go through frequently as you reimage the machines.
In this case, does the Tekkit folder go to wherever you want it to go? So they could theoretically just put it onto the desktop and play it from there? That's a bit more of a problem.
This isn't really an option because they need java for some of the other applications for school. They're already on extremely restricted limited accounts.
This is what I'm working on implementing now.
Not really an option. The kids use laptops that they pick up in morning homeroom and return at the end of the day. A good thought, but not really practical, as far as dealing with installing spyware goes.
THIS is rather interesting. No other programs would really use 25565, so I could block it entirely and nothing else would be affected. Would Tekkit and the other major mods use the same port?
"Programmers never repeat themselves. They loop."
"Programmers never repeat themselves. They loop."
Although, I'm guessing you may have tried that already and found it didn't work, I'm not entirely sure what a loopback means.
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My Tekkit and FTB both defaulted to 25565.
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Also is really that big of deal, at my school we have study halls three days of the week when we don't have PE) Some of us, like me tend to stay on top of our work and don't really need to use the study hall, so instead we just play minecraft or read.