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The global Velocity Prize officially opens

13 Oct 2026 A player digs downward towards a hidden red flag. Shadowy figures in vertical shafts to the left and the right are also exploring, with a status indicator that says, 'Scan for flag.'

Somewhere inside a Minecraft Education world, a flag is waiting to be found. Your students’ challenge is simple: find it as fast as they can. How they get there is entirely up to them. They can explore the world on foot, breaking blocks to try and reveal the flag, or they can write code to move faster and search more efficiently. There is no single right answer; only the fastest validated run. 

Welcome to the Velocity Prize, an exciting new program developed in partnership with Microsoft’s Digital Crimes Unit and inspired by capture-the-flag style cybersecurity challenges. Students demonstrate their computational thinking, creativity, and problem-solving skills in this classroom-ready Minecraft Education lesson and challenge.

The Velocity Prize world is available for all Minecraft Education users in our lesson library, allowing anyone to explore the immersive challenge world and try finding the hidden flag. Students 13-16 are eligible to submit their fastest flag-finding times with the help of a teacher or trusted adult, for the chance to win global recognition and Microsoft mentorship.

How to access the world

The Velocity Prize world is available in Minecraft Education’s in-game lesson library. Minecraft Education is part of most Microsoft 365 Education subscriptions.

  • If you already have access to Minecraft Education, make sure you have the latest version of the app installed (v26.32.0). You can download the app if needed. Then launch the app, find the Velocity Prize world in the library, and open the world to begin.

  • If you don’t have Minecraft Education, download the app and try signing in with your school or organizational account. Talk to your IT administrator if you can’t sign in, or activate a free trial. For a trial, you’ll need an eligible Office 365 Education or Microsoft 365 organizational account. Note that personal Microsoft 365 accounts do not provide trial access.

Students can begin in our tutorial world, where they can practice a simpler version of the challenge and test different methods for finding the flag before starting their official timed runs in the Velocity Prize world. A free, 45-minute educator training webinar is also available to support setup, facilitation, and submissions.

How the competition works

To enter the global competition, participants must be students ages 13–16 and submit through a teacher or another trusted adult affiliated with their school.

During a run, the timer starts, and students race to locate and retrieve a hidden flag as efficiently as possible. They can explore the world manually, code with MakeCode blocks or Python using Minecraft Education’s Code Builder feature, or combine exploration and coding.

Students participate individually and are allowed unlimited attempts to find the flag. Each student must capture their fastest times and solutions by screenshot.

Teachers or trusted adults can then submit each student’s fastest validated run and supporting solution through the challenge portal; students do not register or submit individually. See full eligibility details and official rules.

Inspiring future problem-solvers

Velocity Prize gives students an engaging way to practice and showcase their digital problem-solving skills, from computational thinking and coding to testing, iteration, and creativity. As they develop and refine a strategy for finding the flag, students strengthen career-ready capabilities such as adaptability, communication, and persistence—skills that can help prepare them for future opportunities in cybersecurity, technology, and other rapidly evolving fields.

Our team developed the Velocity Prize with Microsoft’s Digital Crimes Unit, whose work focuses on disrupting cybercrime and protecting people and organizations around the world from online threats. Like cyber professionals, students racing for the flag must look for what others may miss, make sense of incomplete information, and develop a method they can explain and reproduce.

Submissions close November 17th, 2026.

The race does not end when the timer stops. The winner will be announced in December, and the winning student will go behind the scenes with Microsoft professionals, including experts from the Microsoft Digital Crimes Unit and other Microsoft teams. They will discover how the skills they used in the challenge can open doors to careers in cybersecurity, technology, digital investigations, and beyond.

The fastest competitors will have the chance to earn global recognition for their school and a Velocity Prize trophy to proudly display. But speed isn’t the only way to win. Three entries will also be selected at random to receive exclusive Velocity Prize swag, so every submitted time has a chance to be celebrated. Encourage your students to play, code, improve, and submit their best run!

The flag is waiting, and the clock is ticking. Bring the Velocity Prize to your classroom, challenge your students to think boldly, and see how fast their curiosity, creativity, and computer science skills can take them.

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