Minecraft.. Is it possible to play offline?

[Fisharefriendsnotfood]

Dd (6.9) is getting a laptop for xmas. She has heard about minecraft from friends and wants to play. I know nothing about it but our neighbour told DH that you can't turn off the 'chat' box at the side of the screen? Is that correct ?

[AlmaMartyr]

I don't know about PC version but DD plays it on the tablet and it's all offline.

[basgetti]

My DS only plays it offline on either laptop or PC.

[Fisharefriendsnotfood]

Thanks. I didn't think that made sense.

[Nervo]

My dd (9) and ds (4) only play offline.

[Nervo]

On the tablet and Xbox.

[Zazzles007]

I only ever play games off line, as I can't be bothered with the nastiness that can accompany some of the game environments. Should be able to do so with Minecraft as well.

[SecretSquirrels]

If she wants to play with friends on their own server the chat is part of the fun and not open to randoms.
My DC never had computers or games at that age but I guess they start younger now in which case you have to start educating them about online safety.