Minecraft’s controversial new chat reporting system is here to stay, says Mojang

Minecraft Steve
(Image credit: Mojang Studios)

Minecraft developer Mojang has said it stands by the new chat reporting system after fans complained that it could ban players from their self-hosted servers. 

Yesterday, on July 27, Mojang fully released Minecraft Java Edition 1.19.1, which contains many changes to Allay duplication, Sculk catalysts, chat features, and player reporting. The main thing that has received pushback from the Minecraft community, though, is the new chat reporting system which allows players to send individual messages for moderation and could eventually lead to being completed banned from playing Minecraft online. 

As spotted by The Gamer, after the Minecraft 1.19.1 update was pre-released last month, one player took to Reddit to share why this feature is a bad idea from the perspective of a server host. As user JewelTK says in the video: "The recent chat reporting function introduced in version 1.19.1 goes against everything community servers stand for.

"A large fear many server staff, including myself, have is that we may ban a player from our server, and that player, abusing the report function with multiple accounts can get our account banned." JewelTK continues, "if Microsoft wants to enforce the rules and report system on the realms they provide, that’s okay - but they should not have a say in how our servers are run."

 JewelTK wasn’t the only person to voice concerns about the new features, which has prompted a community manager at Mojang to address the changes in the comments of a Reddit post. The comment reads: "First, we know that there has been pushback to the player reporting system that is being introduced in this next update. We appreciate and value your feedback, but it does not mean that feedback will always change the design principles Mojang Studios adheres to - this includes the upcoming reporting system." 

The community manager continues: "While we understand this may not be the answer some of you were hoping for, we are not planning on changing it." So, at least right now, it looks like these changes are firmly in place, much to the detriment of Minecraft server hosts and those who actively participate in them.

Now looking for another sandbox or survival game to play? Take a look at our games like Minecraft list for inspiration. 

Hope Bellingham
News Writer

After studying Film Studies and Creative Writing at university, I was lucky enough to land a job as an intern at Player Two PR where I helped to release a number of indie titles. I then got even luckier when I became a Trainee News Writer at GamesRadar+ before being promoted to a fully-fledged News Writer after a year and a half of training.  My expertise lies in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, cozy indies, and The Last of Us, but especially in the Kingdom Hearts series. I'm also known to write about the odd Korean drama for the Entertainment team every now and then.