The Uncensored Library is a library built inside Minecraft by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) to hold journalism censored in its home countries, republished as in-game books. Made with DDB Germany, BlockWorks and MediaMonks, it opened on 12 March 2020, World Day Against Cyber Censorship. In October 2026 its server, map download and browser tour were all still available.
Our account draws on the library record, RSF's releases from 2020 to 2026, the official site, the One Show entry and press coverage. Most results come from that entry, which the campaign team submitted.
The Uncensored Library at a glance
The Uncensored Library — Reporters Without Borders (2020)
Agency: DDB Germany (creative), BlockWorks (design and build), MediaMonks (production) · Mechanic: Adventure & Quest · Platform: Minecraft (in-game)
Opened: 12 March 2020 · Server: visit.uncensoredlibrary.com · Media budget: €0, according to the One Show entry, which also credits The Humble Brag (PR) and DaHouse Audio (music)
Why did Reporters Without Borders build a library in Minecraft?
Where websites, blogs and the free press are strictly limited, RSF argued at launch, Minecraft is still open to everyone (RSF). It counted more than 145 million monthly players and called the game a favourite of the young people it wanted to reach. The brief, according to the One Show entry, was a follow-up to RSF's Uncensored Playlist that would reach young people in oppressive countries with online censorship.
The game also had the right object: a Minecraft book holds 100 pages and can be written freely; on a server, other players can read it but not change it, RSF explained. BlockWorks led 24 builders from 16 countries over three months, using more than 12.5 million blocks for a library whose main dome is nearly 300 metres wide.
How do you visit the Uncensored Library?
RSF opened three ways in: the public server, the full map as a download to play offline, and a 360° walk-through on the website for people without the game (RSF, Communication Arts). All three were still up on 19 October 2026. The official site lists the server address and links the map, a 57.6 MB zip file in a Google Drive folder, and its "Enter" section still opens a 360° view of the entrance. That day mcstatus.io and mcsrvstat.us both showed the server online.
On the way in you pass a giant fist holding a pen, RSF's symbol for press freedom, and teleports carry you between sections (The Verge). A world map in the floor ranks 180 countries on RSF's World Press Freedom Index, and their flags ring the dome. There is no catalogue: a book at the entrance explains the layout, and you pick a country to teleport to its room (Library Journal). Every article is a book in English and its original language; Arabic texts come as audio, because Minecraft cannot render Arabic script's joined letters, Library Journal reported.
What is inside the Uncensored Library?
At launch it held journalism from five countries: Egypt, with articles from the news site Mada Masr; Mexico, with the work of Javier Valdez, killed by gunmen in 2017; Russia; Saudi Arabia, with articles by Jamal Khashoggi; and Vietnam, with writing by the lawyer and blogger Nguyen Van Dai (RSF).
Each room has its own artwork. The Mexico room holds a gallery of portraits of murdered journalists, the official site says; Vietnam's "labyrinth of truth" shows how hard the state makes it to reach independent information; Egypt's tipped scales stand for laws that jail critics. The Verge counted more than 200 books in launch week.
Rooms for Belarus and Brazil opened on 12 March 2021 (Tagesspiegel). By April 2022 Library Journal also listed an Eritrea wing and counted more than 240 books, plus a room on COVID-19 reporting in 10 countries. RSF added an Iran room in March 2023 with material from the US-based TV channel Iran International (RSF), and by November 2023 Minecraft.net described around 300 books in twelve wings.
The newest room, opened in March 2026, turns to the United States and what RSF calls subtler attacks on the press in established democracies: government websites removed by US authorities, pressure from the Federal Communications Commission on media companies, President Donald Trump's lawsuits against media outlets, and a cartoon by Ann Telnaes that the Washington Post refused to print (RSF). RSF illustrated the announcement with this view.
What did the Uncensored Library achieve?
Result: the One Show entry reports more than 20 million gamers reached in 165 countries, a total play time of 15 years, more than 300,000 map downloads, over 400 community YouTube videos and 790 news articles with a total media reach of 2.7 billion, on a media budget of €0. Donations to RSF rose 62%, the entry says. In March 2026 RSF counted over one million visits and 10 million book reads since the 2020 opening.
The 20 million and the 2.7 billion are reach numbers from the team's own entry, which does not say how they were counted; RSF's own count, one million visits, is narrower, though RSF does not give its method either. The start was fast: by 17 March 2020 BlockWorks counted more than 23,000 map downloads and 17,000 unique visitors across 30,000 server sessions, and a rush of visitors had already crashed the server once (The Verge). With no paid media, the reach was earned media: press, community videos and players re-hosting the map.
Awards: the ADC Black Cube for Best of Show at the ADC's 100th awards (Adweek, June 2021); seven Lions in one day at Cannes Lions 2021, two of them Gold (Horizont), of nine in all, according to Monks; two Yellow, one Graphite and five Wood Pencils at D&AD 2021; a 2021 Webby; and at the 2021 One Show a Sustainable Development Goals Pencil, three Gold, two Silver and one Bronze Pencil (The One Club).
- 12 March 2020The library opensRSF opens the server and the downloadable map on World Day Against Cyber Censorship, with journalism from five countries.
- 17 March 2020First countBlockWorks counts more than 23,000 map downloads and 17,000 unique visitors across 30,000 server sessions.
- 12 March 2021Belarus and Brazil roomsRSF adds two pavilions with censored articles from Belarus and Brazil, Tagesspiegel reports.
- June 2021Awards seasonThe ADC Black Cube for Best of Show at the ADC's 100th awards, and seven Lions in one day at Cannes Lions, two of them Gold.
- April 2022More than 240 booksLibrary Journal also lists an Eritrea wing and a room on COVID-19 reporting in 10 countries.
- March 2023Iran roomRSF adds a room with material from the US-based TV channel Iran International.
- November 2023Around 300 books in twelve wingsMinecraft.net's count, after rooms for Belarus and Brazil (March 2021), Eritrea (by April 2022) and Iran (March 2023).
- March 2026US roomRSF opens a room on the United States and counts over one million visits and 10 million book reads since 2020.
- 19 October 2026Still onlinemcstatus.io and mcsrvstat.us both show the server online.
What can marketers learn from the Uncensored Library?
Distribution was the idea. RSF did not ask readers to reach a news site that censors could block; it put the articles inside a game its audience already had, one that stayed open almost everywhere news sites did not.
The game's own rules carried the message. A book anyone can read and nobody can rewrite is a fair picture of a free press, and Minecraft already had it. Each room's artwork sets out the censorship before a word is read.
It was built to be news. A fixed date, famous names such as Khashoggi, a dome RSF called the world's second largest, and a one-line story. That is how €0 of media became 790 articles, by the entry's count.
It keeps getting new rooms. Iran in 2023 and the United States in 2026 each gave RSF a fresh reason to talk about a 2020 project. It is a charity's own campaign, not cause marketing, but the lesson carries over to brands working with a cause: give the partner a place it can keep adding to.
Other Minecraft maps in our library work the same way: Greenpeace Poland's To The Last Tree Standing (2017) rebuilt the Białowieża Forest at 1:1 scale, and Rock the Vote's Build The Vote (2020) walked young players through voting on a server. Our Minecraft tag holds 13 projects; 51 games carry a charity or social cause.
When not to copy the Uncensored Library
- Without Mojang's written approval. Minecraft's current usage guidelines bar companies, agencies, non-profits and governments from using Minecraft gameplay to promote campaigns unrelated to Minecraft without prior written approval from Mojang or Microsoft.
- If nobody will run the server for years. Launch demand crashed it; six years on, someone still pays for hosting and upkeep. A public server is also a public chat: the team told The Verge of debates starting in the chat over the Press Freedom Index. Budget for moderation.
- When the audience doesn't play. The library worked because its young audience already played Minecraft. If your players are elsewhere, see our guide to brands on Roblox.
- When you need leads. None of the reported results is a sign-up count; for a contact list, pick a format with a registration step.
FAQ
Does the Uncensored Library still exist in Minecraft?
Yes. When we checked on 19 October 2026, RSF's official site still listed the server and a map download, and mcstatus.io showed the server online. RSF keeps adding rooms, most recently for the United States in March 2026, when it counted over one million visits since 2020 (RSF). More on our case page.
What is the server IP address of the Uncensored Library?
It is visit.uncensoredlibrary.com, as the official site gives it: add it to your server list under Multiplayer. On 19 October 2026 it answered on Java Edition port 25565, reporting version 1.21.11 (mcstatus.io), and status checkers also got a reply on the Bedrock Edition port 19132 (mcstatus.io). To play offline, download the map from the same site.
What are the banned books in the Uncensored Library?
They are articles censored in their home countries, republished as Minecraft books in English and the original language. The first five wings were Egypt (Mada Masr), Mexico (Javier Valdez), Russia, Saudi Arabia (Jamal Khashoggi) and Vietnam (Nguyen Van Dai), RSF said at launch. Rooms for Belarus, Brazil, Eritrea, Iran and the United States came later. Minecraft.net put the total at around 300 books in November 2023.
Is the Uncensored Library the secret library in Minecraft?
No. Ordinary Minecraft worlds have libraries of their own: up to two can generate in each stronghold, with bookshelves and loot chests (Minecraft Wiki). The Uncensored Library is a custom map that RSF publishes openly, on a public server and as a download. What it hid, RSF said at launch, were the articles: inside a computer game, out of sight of government surveillance.
More worlds that brands and causes built inside other games are in the in-game worlds collection, and if you made one, send it to us.