Bad Connection?

{
 "title": "Bad Connection?",
 "rows": [
 {
 "field": "(link to Mojang Studios article, displayed as Mojang Studios)",
 "label": "Map maker(s)"
 },
 {
 "field": "Free",
 "label": "Price"
 },
 {
 "field": "February 10, 2026",
 "label": "Release date"
 },
 {
 "field": "\n*Choices Matter\n*Choose Your Own Adventure\n*Competition\n*Custom Mobs\n*Fast Paced\n*Free\n*Middle School\n*Gamer",
 "label": "Tags"
 },
 {
 "field": "Educational",
 "label": "Genre(s)"
 },
 {
 "field": "\n*[https://www.minecraft.net/en-us/marketplace/pdp/minecraft/bad-connection/516635a3-e598-4510-9526-2e2e94865bd6 Bad Connection? in Minecraft Marketplace]\n*[https://education.minecraft.net/en-us/lessons/cybersafe-bad-connection CyberSafe: Bad Connection?]",
 "label": "Website page"
 },
 {
 "field": "[https://www.minecraft.net/en-us/article/cybersafe-bad-connection \"CyberSafe: Bad Connection?\"] – (link to Minecraft.net article, displayed as Minecraft.net).",
 "label": "Article"
 }
 ],
 "invimages": [],
 "images": []
}

Bad Connection? also known as CyberSafe: Bad Connection? is a map on Minecraft Education teaching online safety, particularly when interacting with other people online.

The player starts the map in a completely black background. The narrator warns them of the intentionally uncomfortable events in the gameplay to teach them online safety, and suggests telling grown-ups about anything reminding them of real-life events.

After reading the disclaimer, the dark background brightens to reveal that the player is at school, and a tutorial tells them to look at four orbs and then move along the corridor to the classroom. There, Rene gets excited about the Double Points Weekend in the game Lunar Smash. Dale reminds his friends that they do their chores before playing in order to avoid an incident he experienced once. Charlie then invites the player to join the school group chat on WhatSnap, and Rene, the group creator rushes the player before class starts. To join, the player has to interact with their laptop and open the school chat where a promotional message for Double Points Weekend appears. Charlie informs the player that clicking the advertisement will place them in the same lobby as their friends', which Rene finds as a smart idea. Back offline, Professor Pasternack enters the classroom, guessing that his students' excitement is caused by the Double Points Weekend event, much to the students' amazement. Out of such a feeling, Rene asks if Pasternack also plays Lunar Smash, but he denies it and instead knows his students well.

At home, the player has to interact with their laptop to open WhatSnap. There, Dale joins the chat late and announces that he is inviting an online friend of his to the lobby. Once the message is read, the player opens Lunar Smash via the advertisement where they find themselves in a well-lit, spaceship-like hub.

There, Charlie (CharN_Charge) says he is using his alt account to level up. Having figured it out, Rene (Potionz4U) realizes all her teammates are using alts except Dale (DaleLikesGames2012), before Apple_Pie_Guy and EclipseTheSun join the lobby. After that, Dale tells his friends that he sent an invite to his friend Stray3r, with whom he was friends at least three or four weeks ago. Having joined the lobby, Stray3r says that they come from another school and are always eager to collect points thanks to their nearing school break, insulting the other players as noobs in the process.

The game then starts outside the spaceship where the player is equipped with a laser gun and a wrench on the left of their hotbar and a settings on the right. The button opens a window with a mission review button and another for reporting players. The player must defend the base by launching laser projectiles on alien robots attacking it.

After the attack ends, Stray3r asks for the players' age, fearing that they might be playing with "a bunch of squeakers". Dale denies that he is young for that, Rene says she will be 17 next month, and EclipseTheSun will turn 15. Charlie then worries about personal information, before Stray3r asks the player their age. The player either reveals their age or conceals it, the former revealing that they are the same age as Stray3r. Rene then asks about where they got their Chaos Suit from, and they reveal that they live in a family that works in the game studio, hence their perks, and share them with Dale. This causes Rene to be eager to claim the Chaos Suit, and Stray3r consents on sharing it with the rest of the teammates provided they give them their email adress on the chat, which causes the player to either share or not.

Then, a gate opens at a staircase leading to the moon's surface, and xX_elite_Xx joins the game. There, the player must collect the scattered parts of the spaceship across the surface and use the wrench to fix it before leaving the moon. When Rene notices xX_elite_Xx spamming messages, the player has to report the latter, kicking them out. Afterward, the player has to fix the ship and leave the moon, ending the game.

Back in the lobby, all the team celebrate xX_elite_Xx's kickout for spamming, as well as Stray3r's skills and unique emotes. Stray3r then reminds their teammates to share their emails. Rene gets excited and shares her email adress, but Charlie cannot for multiple reasons. Stray3r then asks if the player's friends go to school together. Rene reveals that they live in Crafter City and they used to go together to school before studying currently in Blockstone High School, much to Charlie's dismay. Then, Stray3r reveals that they frequent Blockstone High School's rival school and are part of the Smashers group chat where only high-end players join. There, they discuss about the game and outside it. When Stray3r asks if the school's mascot is the wolf, the player must either hide or reveal the truth. Then, other players decide to join the Smashers and play together without worrying about griefers.

Back on WhatSnap, on the school's chat group, Rene gets excited about Stray3r's offer, but Charlie worries about their suspicious behavior. Rene tells him that Stray3r sent her a message to ask her if she wants the skin. Charlie then warns her about Stray3r's behavior, warning her about a stranger showing up at the door, before the entire group logs out including the player.

The next day, the player has to log in and view their school group chat, where Rene posts the Double Points Weekend advertisement. She and Charlie notice they are alone until Dale joins, saying he had bad connection. Next, the player has to enter the game via the advertisement.

In the main hub, Charlie, Rene, Dale, and Stray3r are present, and two more players are needed to start the game. Rene thanks Stray3r for giving her the skin, and the latter invites Charlie to send his adress, but he refuses because he has to wait for the lobby to fill. Then, GOATGirlBae and Petal2DMetal join the lobby. Having read the former's name, he mistakes that she is referring to actual goats, but she corrects him that GOAT means "Greatest Of All Time", causing Dale to ironically worry that she is the "greatest GIRL of all time".

After the alien attack, Dale notices GOATGirlBae's inactivity and guesses if it was because she had to wash the dishes. Stray3r agrees on the joke, but Charlie views it as foolish. Petal2DMetal insists him on leaning to Dale's side because of GOATGirlBae's gender, and as a counterargument, Charlie mentions Rene as a leader despite her gender, and gets mad at Dale being one if her friends. This causes Petal2DMetal to speculate if Rene is merely Charlie's crush.

As the speceship fixing phase starts, Dale notices GOATGirlBae's helpfulness and jokingly asks her to make sandwiches. When Charlie sees him as a clown, GOATGirlBae answers that Dale is not the first clown that she met, but he is also the most foolish. Because of this, Dale insults her as the worst, and Rene threatens him to be reported because of his harassment toward a girl despite her longtime friendship with him. Dale ignores her and simply pretends that GOATGirlBae cannot play the game, let alone take action on him, but she tells him she played Lunar Smash for 150 hours and hence mastered everything, even reporting players. After being called a "loser", she reports Dale and asks for one more vote to kick him out. If Dale got reported, he eventually gets kicked out and Stray3r laughs at that, and Charlie notes that Dale did that to impress them and was never a clown like that. If he did not get reported before the spaceship gets repaired, Dale would say that GOATGirlBae cannot take a joke, which a real gamer has to do in his viewpoint.

Once the game ends, Charlie gets dismayed about his friends' behavior, viewing it as "toxic". Then, Stray3r tells their friends that they proved to be "real gamers", welcoming them to their Smashers group.

Back on WhatSnap, the player must open the Smashers' chat. Stray3r congratulates the members of the chat for having worked well during the Double Points Weekend. Rene feels proud of her "Super Smasher" status, but Charlie sees the game merely fun, not wanting to make it his identity. Then, Stray3r announces they have limited edition "Lunar Smash swag packs", causing Petal2DMetal's praise to them and their pride of being a Southside Smasher. To claim the packs, Stray3r requires the members to send their addresses and they will put it in their mail. When Charlie refuses, Stray3r says the former does not deserve being "awesome" for having rejected the offer and that "cool people deserve cool stuff". If the player did not report Dale, Stray3r advices GOATGirlBae to be better-tempered toward people like Dale and invites her to join the chat, which causes her excitement. If Dale got reported, he views coming to GOATGirlBae's as a bad act. Petal2DMetal, on their turn, sees it as betrayal and they would have never reported him. Charlie then comes in and reminds Dale of his behavior, and Dale simply says his act was merely against GOATGirlBae's skills, not her gender, causing Stray3r's laughter about Dale's kickout.

On Stray3r's chat, they invite the player to claim the swag pack, and the player either accepts or refuses. On Charlie's chat, he says that the Smashers' chat is flooded with offensive memes and that he left it for such behavior, insisting the player to block Stray3r and leave the chat. Rene, however, sees the memes hilarious despite their offensive meaning and is eager to become a Super Smasher. Among the memes is Stray3r giving Petal2DMetal a torn shirt for their "good behavior" and a message of theirs with the group's motto. Another is made by Petal2DMetal to Stray3r describing their seriousness when encountering "fake players". GOATGirlBae made two memes, one showing Stray3r's seahorse mascot shooting angrily with a gun and another being a parody of "This is fine".

The next day, the outside school building appears in the background. The narrator warns the player about "scary messages" and advices them that during such a situation, they are not blamed for that and must ask a trusted adult for help.

In the classroom, the player has to open the laptop and read the new message from Stray3r, who tells them that they arrived outside school to give them and Rene the t-shirts, inciting them to come out. The player will then either accept the offer or decline it by leaving.

Back in the classroom, interacting with Charlie will make him describe his worriness about Stray3r's behavior, and both tell Professor Pasternack about the matter. The player can also talk to the teacher directly. Interacting with Rene will make her follow the player as both come outside to meet Stray3r, who reveals themselves as an adult man forcing them to follow him to get the t-shirts.

If the player reported the matter to Professor Pasternack by both means, Stray3r gets stopped by Headteacher Edwards, to whom Dale talked about Stray3r's behavior. Edwards then prepares to ask Stray3r's questions regarding his attempt to use personal information to his profit.

If the player ignored Pasternack and Charlie, Stray3r will come close to Rene and tell her to come with him. According to the epilogue, the situation became dangerous until her parents got involved, but it is unknown what Stray3r exactly did to her.