How do I make a second minecraft account for my son?

I had the same problem trying to register an account for my son. This is what I did:

To purchase Minecraft for a minor

  • Log into minecraft.net as yourself.
  • Select "Buy Minecraft".
  • You will get a message "You can’t own more than one copy of Minecraft per account, but you can still buy it for someone else" and the option to purchase it as a Gift Card.
  • Choose the "Buy Digital Gift Card" option.
  • Email the gift card to your son's email.

To register your son's Minecraft account

  • Click on the Gift Card link and it will contain instructions that step you through the process of creating a new Mojang account and redeeming the Minecraft gift code.
  • When it comes to entering your son's date of birth: LIE. If you enter the correct date of birth for a minor you will be forced to enter your credit card details again so that a small, but non-refundable, amount can be deducted from you. This applies if your son's entered date of birth makes him 13 or younger.

With regards to playing together

You do NOT need to have a realms subscription to play together: If you have multiple computers on a LAN all you need to do is create a Singleplayer game and then choose the "Open to LAN" option, which will make the game appear in the other LAN computers multiplayer lobby.

If you wish to be more advanced, you can also download and run the dedicated server on a computer:

  • https://minecraft.net/en/download/server

  1. Go to minecraft.net - you'll probably see your email in the upper right
  2. Click it and log out
  3. Click 'log in'
  4. Log in using your son's email address and password
  5. Purchase Minecraft, not Realms

Realms is a server hosting solution - it is not a second copy of Minecraft. In fact, if you're playing in the same home, you can host minecraft on your computer and your son can join in via LAN without needing Realms.