Internet, Networking, & Security Family Tech Xbox 360 Family Settings and Parental Controls Limit play time and keep your kids safe by Eric Qualls Writer Former Lifewire writer Eric Qualls has been covering the Xbox line of consoles and Xbox games since August 2004. our editorial process Twitter LinkedIn Eric Qualls Updated on March 26, 2020 Xbox Buyer's Guide Xbox Buyer's Guide Introduction Xbox Basics Best Xbox 360 Console For You Xbox Basics The Original Xbox One Xbox Family Settings What Is Xbox Live? How Much Does Xbox Live Cost? What is Xbox Live Gold? Buying Xbox Live Gold Xbox One Console Bundles Xbox One Exclusives Best Xbox One Games The Best Xbox One Games The Best Xbox One X Games Best Multiplayer Xbox One Games Best First-Person Shooter Games Best Xbox One RPGs Best Xbox One War Games Best Xbox One Kids Games Best Xbox One Sports Games Best Split-Screen Xbox One Games Best Xbox One Fantasy Games Best Co-Op Games on Xbox One Best Xbox One Racing Games Best Xbox One Zombie Games Best Open-World Xbox One Games Best Xbox One Strategy Games Best Xbox One Puzzle Games Best Xbox 360 Games Best Xbox 360 Games By Genre Best Xbox 360 Kinect Games Best Xbox 360 Games Best Xbox 360 Local Multiplayer Games Best Xbox 360 RPGs Best Xbox 360 First-Person Shooters Best Xbox 360 Fighting Games Best Kids Xbox 360 & Kinect Games Xbox Essentials Best Xbox One Accessories Best Xbox One Headsets Best Xbox Controllers Best Xbox One Apps Xbox Reviews Xbox One Elite Controller Review Xbox One Energizer Charging System Review Xbox One S Controller Review Xbox One X Review Xbox One Chatpad Review Tweet Share Email When talking about kids and video games, it's usually better to play games with your younger kids rather than to just let them loose on their own. It's more fun for both of you if you can play together. As kids get older, though, you might not always be able to monitor what they are playing and for how long. That is where the parental control features of the Xbox 360 and Xbox One can step in to lend you a hand. Xbox 360 Family Settings The family settings available on the Xbox 360 allow you to restrict access to game or movie content that you don’t want your kids to see. You can set the console to only play games below a certain ESRB rating or movies below a certain MPAA rating. If you want to use the system yourself, or you want to allow your kids to view something that is blocked, you just tap in a password that you set when you set up the family settings. Mojang You also have several options to control what your kids can see and do and who they can interact with on Xbox Live. You can manually approve the people that want to be on their friend's list. You can choose whether to let them speak to and hear voice chat from anyone, no one, or just people on their friend's list. And you can also dictate how much they can do on the Xbox Live Marketplace. You can also block Xbox Live access entirely if you want. A great new feature is that you can set the console to only play for a certain amount of time each day or even each week. You can set the daily timer in increments of 15 minutes and the weekly timer in increments of 1 hour, so you can determine exactly how long your child can play. Notifications will pop up every now and then to let your child know how long they have left. And when you want to play, or you want to let your child play longer, you just tap in your password. Xbox One Family Settings Xbox One has a similar setup. Each child can have their own account (they're free, and if you have Xbox Live Gold on your XONE for one account, it applies to all of them), and you can set the privileges for each account separately. You can set each account to generic defaults for "Child", "Teen", or "Adults", which will grant various degrees of freedom such as who they can talk to / be friends with, what they can see and access the store, and more. If you want, you can also choose a custom setting which will let you manually set up exactly what your child can access in a long list of options. Get more details about keeping your kids safe and limiting their play time (plus more) at How to Use Xbox One Parental Controls. Another great feature is that, unlike in the past on X360, Xbox One accounts can "graduate", so they don't have to be tied to child controls forever. They can also be de-linked from the parent account and set up as full Xbox Live Gold accounts on their own (presumably on your kid/teen's / college student's own Xbox One. Was this page helpful? Thanks for letting us know! Get the Latest Tech News Delivered Every Day Email Address Sign up There was an error. Please try again. You're in! Thanks for signing up. There was an error. Please try again. Thank you for signing up. Tell us why! Other Not enough details Hard to understand Submit