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Battle of the Boroughs

Rules, divisions & judging

Everything teams and educators need to know, drawn from the official NYC Public Schools guidance for the most recent season.

Season status: Rules below reflect the 2025–26 season. The 2026–27 prompt, rubric and deadlines have not been announced; official documents will be linked here when released.

How the competition runs

Round 1 · Build challenge

Teams create a world in response to the season prompt and record a 2–3 minute video on their build. School staff submit the form and video.

Round 2 · Borough qualifiers

Selected teams compete in person in their borough. Prior-year live contests used 30 minutes of research followed by a 30-minute build.

Finals · Mayor's Cup

Borough champions in each division face off citywide. Prior-year finals builds ran 45 minutes.

Three divisions, fifteen champions

Each borough crowns one champion per division. All fifteen advance to the Mayor's Cup.

K–5

Elementary School

6–8

Middle School

9–12

High School

Most recent prompt (2026 season)

“How can we transform Pier 6 at MADE Bush Terminal in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, into an innovative, inclusive, and sustainable public space that celebrates its industrial past, while serving the diverse needs of the community?”

Design considerations

World access (2025–26): the Blocks of Grass world in Minecraft Education. Play → Library → Search Library → “Grass” → Create World.

Practice prompts from the 2024 borough championships

Shared by NYC Public Schools for team practice. Summarized; see the official page for full text.

  • Brooklyn

    K–5: Create a sustainable learning space along the waterfront where NYC residents can learn about ways to become more involved with solutions for the climate crisis.

    6–12: Create a sustainable space for businesses and entrepreneurs, especially for people who will help us solve the climate crisis.

  • Bronx

    K–5: Reinvent the center so all residents can enjoy the space and eat well where they live: local food production, supplies, and access to affordable healthy food.

    6–12: Design a community space that promotes inclusivity and provides good, green job opportunities, considering learning, training and mentorship.

  • Manhattan

    K–5: As a city planner, redesign SPARC Kips Bay to stay safe during floods, save energy and be easy for everyone to visit.

    6–12: As an environmental engineer, design a flood-resilient, energy-efficient and accessible campus for SPARC Kips Bay.

  • Queens

    K–5: Build homes in Willets Point for elderly residents that are accessible, energy efficient and close to green space, transit and community facilities.

    6–12: Design a new Willets Point school with a low environmental impact: materials, energy use, urban nature and how students travel.

  • Staten Island

    K–5: Reimagine the waterfront to be better for the environment and also a space for community activities.

    6–12: Create a new school in the area with a low environmental impact: materials, energy use, nature and student travel.

How builds are judged

Round 1 submissions are reviewed by competition judges against the official Round 1 rubric published by NYC Public Schools.

Open the official rubric

This site does not reproduce or replace the official rubric. Scores shown anywhere on this site are published only after judge review and administrator approval.

What judges have looked for

  • • How well the build answers the season prompt and its design considerations.
  • • Originality, potential social impact and demonstrated teamwork (criteria reported for the 2023 qualifying round).
  • • Clear explanation of the design in the team video or live share.

What every team needs

  1. 1Full names of student team members (up to 5). Five students are required if selected for the in-person Round 2.
  2. 2A student team name.
  3. 3A team advisor, coach or designee.
  4. 4Access to the latest Minecraft Education through each student's nycstudents.net account.
  5. 5Confirmation of media consent for each participating student.

School staff submit the competition form and each team's video. In 2025–26, submissions closed January 16, 2026 and late entries were not accepted.

Start registration

Frequently asked questions

Who can compete?

NYC Public Schools students in grades K–12, competing in three divisions: Elementary (K–5), Middle School (6–8) and High School (9–12).

How big is a team?

Up to five students. Five students are required if a team is selected for the in-person Round 2 borough competition.

What does a team need to enter?

Full names of student team members, a team name, a team advisor, coach or designee, access to the latest Minecraft Education through each student's nycstudents.net account, and confirmation of media consent for each participating student.

Who submits the entry?

School staff submit the competition form and the team's video. Students do not submit directly.

What is submitted in Round 1?

In the 2026 season, teams built a world responding to the build prompt and recorded a 2–3 minute video about it, scored against the official Round 1 rubric.

How do the live rounds work?

Prior-year live contests used 30 minutes of research followed by a 30-minute build; the finals used a 45-minute build. Formats for the next season will be confirmed by organizers.

How do teams advance?

Top Round 1 submissions compete at in-person borough qualifiers. Borough champions in each division advance to the citywide Mayor's Cup Final.

How do students get Minecraft Education?

Minecraft Education is free to all NYC Public Schools students through their DOE student account. It runs on Windows, Mac, iPad and Chromebook; school-issued Chromebooks may need help from the school's technology teacher.

Can teammates build together from home?

Yes. Multiplayer works across locations as long as everyone signs in on the same domain (for example nycstudents.net). Worlds can be saved to the host's DOE OneDrive.

When does the next season start?

Dates for the 2026–27 season have not been announced. This site will publish them as soon as they are confirmed by NYC Public Schools.

Is this the official NYC Public Schools website?

No. This is an independently hosted, provisional site. For official information, visit the NYC Public Schools Minecraft Education Challenge page or email Minecraft@schools.nyc.gov.

Official questions: Minecraft@schools.nyc.gov · Coding and CS education: CSeducation@schools.nyc.gov

Guides, rubrics and tools