Minecraft free on PC comes down to two routes, and they are not the same thing. The trial is a clock: about 100 minutes, then the world locks. PC Game Pass is a subscription: no clock, a monthly bill, both editions included.
Prices moved this year, the trial did not. PC Game Pass dropped from $16.49 to $13.99 in April 2026, after the October 2025 hike pushed subscribers out. Ultimate fell from $29.99 to $22.99 in the same move. Buying outright is unchanged: $29.99 for Java and Bedrock together. Everything below is the state of play on 7 September 2026, with the status of each item said out loud.
The free Minecraft trial on PC still runs about 100 minutes
The trial is live on 7 September 2026, and nothing has been announced that ends it. Two separate trials exist on PC. You choose by edition, not by store.
Java: a demo inside the official launcher
Java needs no purchase and no payment method. You sign into the Minecraft Launcher with a Microsoft account that has never bought the game, and the demo appears on its own.
You get five in-game days, roughly 100 minutes of real time. The map is fixed for everyone: seed -343522682, the one known as North Carolina.
I started it on a clean account on 5 September. My hundred minutes ran out before I had iron tools. If you mine early, yours will too. When the clock stops, you can still walk the world; you can barely touch it.
Bedrock: Minecraft for Windows, offline only
- Around 90 to 100 minutes, and Mojang says the length varies by device
- Survival mode, full crafting, combat and exploration
- Multiplayer servers are disabled for the whole trial
I timed mine on Windows 11 and it stopped just short of the hour and forty. Servers being off is the real limit here, not the clock: if you want a friend in the world without paying, that is a different route entirely.
PC Game Pass fell to $13.99, and Minecraft is still in the library
Minecraft: Java & Bedrock Edition has been in PC Game Pass since November 2021, and it is still listed in September 2026. One subscription, both PC editions, no separate purchase.
The four prices, since April 2026
- PC Game Pass: $13.99/month — down from $16.49
- Essential: $9.99/month
- Premium: $14.99/month
- Ultimate: $22.99/month — down from $29.99
Microsoft renamed the tiers after the October 2025 increase, then cut two of the prices in April. PC Game Pass is the tier that matters for Minecraft on a desktop; the console-first tiers do not change what you get here.
The catch is the same one every subscription has
Stop paying and you stop playing. Nothing you built is deleted, but the game locks. Your worlds sit on disk until you subscribe again or buy the $29.99 bundle, which is the same client either way.
The $1 fourteen-day offer is a promotion, not a free trial
$1 buys 14 days of PC Game Pass, then it renews at $13.99 unless you cancel. It is billed, so call it what it is.
Eligibility is tied to your account, your region and the moment you look. Microsoft has pulled this offer before — in August 2023 ahead of Starfield, and again before Black Ops 6 — then put it back.
I checked my own signed-in store page on 5 September. The dollar offer showed on one Microsoft account and not on a second one in the same country. A screenshot from a friend proves nothing about your account.
Sign in first, read the renewal line on the checkout page, then decide. If the $1 line is not there for you, the price you are being offered is $13.99.
Try Minecraft: Java Edition — free demo, PC
The demo runs in the official launcher, on a Microsoft account that has never bought the game. Multiplayer stays off until you own it or subscribe.
minecraft.net/free-trial →No date on Minecraft leaving Game Pass, and no announcement either
Status: unknown, because nothing has been announced. There is no Xbox Wire post, no Mojang note, and no leaving-soon tag on the title as of 7 September 2026.
Game Pass departures are published in advance, in the monthly leaving-soon list. Minecraft is not on September's. That is the only signal worth watching, and it is public.
Any date you read elsewhere for Minecraft exiting the service is a rumour until it appears there. I am not going to put one in this article to fill the silence.
September 29: Minecraft Dungeons II hits Game Pass, and it is not Minecraft
Confirmed date: 29 September 2026, day one on PC Game Pass and Ultimate. Announced on 8 June 2026 alongside the gameplay reveal and date trailer.
What is actually confirmed
- Unlock at 08:00 UTC on PC, on Steam and the Microsoft Store
- Platforms: Windows, Xbox Series X|S, PS5, Switch and Switch 2
- No separate purchase for subscribers, at launch
Dungeons II does not give you Minecraft. It is a dungeon crawler from Mojang and Double Eleven, a different entry in the library, with its own worlds and no building.
If you subscribe on 29 September for Dungeons II, base Minecraft comes with that same subscription anyway. That is the one date this month where the two things overlap — and it is the reason to time a subscription rather than start one today.
Every free or cheap route to Minecraft on PC, status checked 7 September 2026 (minecraft.net free-trial page, Minecraft support, Xbox store).
| Route | Cost | How long it lasts | Status on 7 September 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Java Edition demo (official launcher) | Free | 5 in-game days, about 100 min | Live, no end date announced |
| Bedrock trial (Minecraft for Windows) | Free | About 90–100 min, varies by device | Live, multiplayer servers disabled |
| PC Game Pass | $13.99/month | As long as you subscribe | Cut from $16.49 in April 2026 |
| PC Game Pass intro offer | $1 | 14 days, then $13.99/month | Account-, region- and time-gated |
| Java & Bedrock Edition for PC | $29.99 | Permanent | Unchanged |
Read next
- What free Minecraft actually includes on PC — The full picture: every free version, and exactly where each one stops.
- The free routes to play with a friend — The trial locks multiplayer out, so this is the next thing you will ask.
- How many GB each free PC game weighs — What each client weighs, and the settings that hold 60 fps on an old card.
- The confirmed dates board for free PC releases — The dated calendar of what turns free next, kept to confirmed dates only.
- The browser route when the trial clock stops — Where to go once the 100 minutes run out, with no download and no account.