View the Competition Rulebook for league details.
Introduction and Purpose
These official rules of the PlayVS Scholastics Esports League apply to each of the teams who have registered and met the requirements for the 2025-2026 school year, as well as their head coach, assistant coaches, vice principals, athletic directors, starters, substitutes (collectively team members), and other members.
The following pop up will appear when launching the older version of minecraft used for PlayVS matches.
Communication on PlayVS Minecraft Servers
When competing in PlayVS, all matches will take place on PlayVS Minecraft servers only. To ensure a safe and moderated communication environment, player skins and usernames will not be displayed when joining any official PlayVS server. Furthermore, communication will be strictly limited between players from middle schools who are actively competing in the match.
Any inappropriate behaviors should be reported to PlayVS Support or emailed to support@playvs.com.
1. Game Rules
1.1 Game Account Connections
Players will not need to connect a game account to their PlayVS profile before competition as teams will be set up as private rosters. The accounts being used in competition do not need to be shared in match lobby chat as listed in 3.7 Private Rosters of the league's Competition Rulebook.
1.2 Roster Requirements
Team members must be eligible to compete on behalf of their school as listed in section 2. Team Member Eligibility of the league's Competition Rulebook.
All players and coaches must be present physically or virtually for all official PlayVS matches.
1.3 Substitutions
Substitutions must be made before the start of each game.
Once a game of record is established, substitutions are not allowed. Once the game is complete and the results are recorded, player substitutions may be made before the start of the following game.
If a player cannot compete in the match and there are no available substitutes, competition may continue without that player as long as it does not disadvantage the opposing team.
1.4 Game of Record
A game of record (GOR) in Minecraft Bed Wars (Java) is established in the following conditions:
When the in-game match countdown ends and teams load into the map.
Once GOR is established, game restarts will only be allowed under limited conditions as listed in section 7.4 Game Restart of the league’s Competition Rulebook.
1.5 Stoppage of Play
During any pause or stoppage, players may not leave the match area unless authorized by their coach. Coaches should communicate any disconnections or pauses inside PlayVS’ Match Lobby Chat.
Directed Pause
At any time and at their sole discretion, League Officials may order the pause of a match. Teams may complete the current game and finalize the results before pausing if necessary.
Player Pauses
By default, players are not able to pause an in-progress game.
In the event of an equipment failure, an in-progress game will not be stopped. Players should attempt to reconnect or correct their equipment.
Player Disconnection
If a player disconnects from the online match during a game, the player should attempt to reconnect to the match as soon as possible. If the player cannot rejoin, the game will continue with the current players found in the lobby.
You cannot fill the spot of a disconnected player with a different player in the middle of a game. You must wait until after the game to substitute the disconnected player for another player.
Team Disconnection
If an entire team disconnects from the online match during a game, the disconnected team coach must share a message in the match lobby chat to notify the opposing team. If the team cannot reconnect in a timely manner, notify PlayVS Support immediately for further assistance.
1.6 Match Format
Format | Best-of-Three (Bo3) games |
Mode | Bed Wars |
Team Size | 4 Players |
Minecraft Version |
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Each game is played on a single map, where both teams have 20 minutes to complete the following:
Gather resources
Upgrade their gear
Build a path to the enemy base.
The primary objective is to destroy the opposing team's bed and eliminate all players on their team. Once a bed is destroyed, eliminated players on that team will no longer be able to respawn. The last team standing wins the match. The first team to win 2 games wins the overall match.
Unless otherwise stated, this format applies to all phases within a PlayVS season.
All matches within the season will share the same match format as listed above, regardless of phase.
1.7 Installing Minecraft Java Version 1.8.9
After installing the Minecraft Launcher complete the following steps:
First time install
Open the Minecraft Launcher
Select the Minecraft Java Edition tab
Select Installations (Top left)
Click New Installations
Enter a name for the installation ie: PlayVS MC
Under Versions type or look for release 1.8.9
Click Install (Bottom right) > Play
After first time install
Make sure version 1.8.9 is selected from the dropdown on the left hand side next to the Play button
Click Play
2. Player Equipment
2.1 Equipment
Each player on the starting roster must have access to school-provided equipment or must be permitted by the school to provide their own equipment in the following categories:
PC that meets the minimum Computer Specifications
Mouse and keyboard
Stable internet connection
Minecraft: Java Edition
The use of any shaders or third party clients is prohibited.
2.2 Resource Pack
The server-side resource pack must be used at all times while in-game.
When joining the server, a popup will appear instructing you to download a resource pack used by the server. The resource pack is required to play on the server, declining the download will remove you from the server.
Before joining the server for the first time users must:
Open the Minecraft Launcher
Select the Minecraft Java Edition tab
Select Installations (Top left)
Move their mouse to hover over the release 1.8.9 version of Minecraft
Click Open installations folder
File explore should open the directory similar to \<usernamehere>\AppData\Roaming\.minecraft\
Create a new folder named server-resource-packs
3. Match Process
3.1 Pre-Match Setup
Teams must adhere to section 6.2 Pre-Match Setup in the league’s Competition Rulebook as they prepare to join their match.
3.2 Match Setup
Teams will follow Minecraft Bed Wars (Java) Match Instructions for lobby creation setup and to join the game lobby.
How to Connect to the Game Server
PlayVS Match Assistant
In the PlayVS Match Assistant:
Both Teams Ready Up using the PlayVS match assistant.
Both teams will click My Team is Ready and the server will start to be set up by the platform.
Server set up should take 3-5 minutes, if it takes longer than 5 minutes contact PlayVS Support.
The server IP will be listed and teams will be designated a color for them to join in-game.
if players choose the wrong teams, using Reset teams on the PlayVS Match Assistant can clear players from their team color.
Minecraft
In Minecraft:
Select Multiplayer from the main menu.
Select Direct Connect.
Enter the provided server IP and select Join Server.
Select the color of your assigned team as shown in PlayVS match assistant.
Once players from both teams have selected the correct color click Start The Game in the PlayVS match assistant to begin the match.
3.3 Match FAQ
Spectating
To avoid giving any team an advantage, spectators will not be allowed to join the game lobby.
4. Post-Match Process
4.1 Results
If the match is completed using the PlayVS Match Assistant tool, in-game statistics and results will be recorded at each game's conclusion.
In the event that the PlayVS Match Assistant cannot be used, statistics will not be tracked, and the match results must be submitted manually within 1 hour of match completion. Players should take screenshots of the match results and share those with their coaches.
In the event of an error, coaches must contact PlayVS directly.