Honestly, I'm not a big fan of the current previews. In particular, the reflections feel too extreme (esspecially off the grass) and the colour feels a bit off. That said, Mojang has been shifting towards more customizability and if this is included in that, I'm sure modders and artists will do great work with the tech.
PlzGivHugs
Nothing you've said leads me to believe its a Microsoft account ban, but if it is, it'd be because of Microsoft's chat moderation - nothing to do with account or game setup. Microsoft has a chat moderation system that is enabled by default. Its possible, albiet very unlikely, he was banned due to something like saying something controversial, automated mass reports, or falsified reports.
That said, if he's a smart and friendly kid as it sounds like you're saying, its most likely a server ban - IE he got banned from the specific multiplayer server he had been playing on. In this case, you'd have to find the website for that server (if there is one) and try to appeal the ban, or just switch to another server or a single player world. I'd guess that he unintentionally damaged another player's work, and that's why he got banned. Its an easy mistake to make for an inexperienced player.
The article doesn't add anything, so here's the direct link: https://www.fanatical.com/en/pick-and-mix/build-your-own-play-on-the-go-bundle
It wouldn't be an anti-cheat issue as the only anti-cheats out there are run by (unofficial) servers and are purely server-side.
That leaves either a Microsoft account issue (in which case God help you), a server specific issue such as a ban from that specific server or a server reset, or a singleplayer issue like him deleting his save, or getting lost in-game.
Calling it now: Putin will break the ceasefire (as always) and then the US will pause aid again.
This will just be a chance for Putin to consolidate his gains and kill/remove Ukranians from captured territory.
Edit: On second thought, when Russia breaks the ceasefire, they'll probably blame it on Ukrane and have Trump impose sanctions or similar.
Unfortunately, for a lot of stuff, there just isn't a replacement from Reddit currently. Your best bet would be trying to find other local news sources and follow them individually, likely with an RRS.
That said, if you have the time and energy, the only way Lemmy will grow is with active users. If you join one or more of the more active Lemmy communities (likely the one Sunshine suggested) and try to post when you can, that goes a long way to either keeping these smaller communities alive, or helping them grow.
So you're asking how to encourage them to avoid you? Mostly, as you implied, you don't want to suprise them. When you're in the area, try and stay in the open, and if you can, make a bit of noise like whistling or that. They'll naturally want to stay away where possible.