The children in my class would like a private lan server set up in school for MC. However I am a noob although I have played it via a vanilla server a while ago.

The school are willing to provide hardware and technical support but no financial for the immediate term until they are convinced it is worth while.

Do all versions of minecraft require a paid for username in order to play?

Is it possible to setup a private offline LAN multiplayer server which the children can play while in school to build etc? If so, would we still require at least one username?

I don't mind paying once I have seen it in use but don't want to throw away money. The school are not forgiving lol.

Any advice or links to articles on how to do this would be really helpful

The children in my class would like a private lan server set up in school for MC. However I am a noob although I have played it via a vanilla server a while ago.

The school are willing to provide hardware and technical support but no financial for the immediate term until they are convinced it is worth while.

Do all versions of Minecraft require a paid for username in order to play?

Is it possible to setup a private offline LAN multiplayer server which the children can play while in school to build etc? If so, would we still require at least one username?

I don't mind paying once I have seen it in use but don't want to throw away money. The school are not forgiving.