1. What Arcadia is
Arcadia is a private, invite-only online gaming and coding club for under-18s, run by Cognito Coding. It provides a club chat with voice rooms, several Minecraft worlds, and a set of creative and coding tools, all hosted on a server Cognito Coding runs itself.
It is not a public platform. There is no sign-up page, no advertising, nothing to buy inside it, and no way for a stranger to reach a member.
2. Who can join
- Members are children and young people known to Cognito Coding, usually current or former tuition students, joining by invitation.
- There is no minimum age. Members under 13 are welcome, on the same terms, with age-appropriate defaults applied automatically — see Online Safety & Acceptable Use.
- Every member needs a person with parental responsibility to complete the consent form before an account is created. A child cannot join themselves.
- Membership is personal. Accounts are not shared with siblings, friends or parents, and only the named member may use theirs.
- Members must be able to take part safely in a small online group. Where that needs adjustments, we make them — see Accessibility.
3. What we provide, and what we don't promise
- Arcadia runs on a single rented server and is maintained by one person. It is offered on a best-effort basis, and there is no uptime guarantee.
- Some Minecraft worlds sleep when nobody is using them and wake on connection. The first attempt to connect can fail and the second succeeds. That is normal, not a fault.
- Everything is backed up nightly, on the server and off-site, but you should keep your own copy of anything you would be upset to lose. We will export a member's work on request at any time.
- Features, worlds, mods and tools may change or be retired. Anything that changes how a child's data is used is notified to parents in advance.
- Playing Minecraft on our worlds needs the member's own paid Minecraft account. That is between them and Microsoft; we do not supply it.
4. Rules that come with membership
By joining, a member and their parent or carer agree to:
- The Code of Conduct.
- The Online Safety & Acceptable Use Policy.
- The Behaviour, Bullying & Sanctions policy, including that access can be paused immediately to protect somebody.
Specifically prohibited, and grounds for immediate removal: harassing or sexually harmful behaviour towards another member; sharing another member's personal information; attempting to bring a non-member into the club; attempting to break into accounts or the server; and sharing club addresses or invites outside the club.
5. What members make is theirs
- A member keeps ownership of everything they create — builds, Scratch projects, Python programs, art and models.
- We store it so they can carry on working on it, and back it up. We claim no other rights over it.
- We will only show a member's work publicly with written parental consent, and will take it down on request without needing a reason.
- Members must not upload work that is not theirs, and must not copy another member's project and present it as their own.
6. Third-party software
Arcadia runs open-source software (including the Stoat chat server, Minecraft server software, and community-made Minecraft mods) and self-hosted tools. Those remain the property of their authors under their own licences. Community mods are checked before installation, but they are not written by us and can contain bugs.
7. Ending membership
- A parent, carer or member can leave at any time, for any reason, by telling Eris. No notice needed.
- We may end membership where the behaviour policy has been exhausted, where a safeguarding concern makes it necessary, or if the club itself closes.
- On leaving, the member's work is exported and given to them on request, accounts are deactivated, and data is deleted on the timetable in the Privacy Notice.
- If Arcadia closes, parents get at least 30 days' notice and a copy of their child's work.
8. Money
Club membership itself is [to confirm: free / included with tuition / £x per term]. Nothing inside Arcadia can be bought, there are no in-app purchases, no adverts, and no payment details are held on the server.
9. Liability
Nothing here limits liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, for fraud, or for anything else that cannot be limited in law — including our safeguarding responsibilities, which are not disclaimable and which we do not attempt to disclaim. Beyond that, Arcadia is provided as-is, and we are not liable for loss of data, loss of progress in a game, or the actions of a third-party service such as Microsoft or Minecraft.
10. Law and complaints
These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales. Complaints go through the Complaints Procedure; data protection complaints can also go directly to the Information Commissioner's Office.
11. Changes
We will tell parents and carers directly about any change that affects safety, privacy or cost. The version and date at the top show what is current.