How to make an End Portal in 'Minecraft,' and use it to find the game's final boss
When "Minecraft" first came out, there wasn't any way to beat the game. You just played as long as you wanted or until you fell into a ravine and died. But a few years into "Minecraft's" life, the developers added a final boss: the Ender Dragon. Once you beat this flying titan, the credits
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You can make an End Portal in "Minecraft" by adding twelve Eyes of Ender to a broken portal.
In Survival mode, broken End Portals can be found in underground strongholds scattered across the world.
If you're playing in "Minecraft's" Creative Mode, you can build an entire End Portal in seconds.
When "Minecraft" first came out, there wasn't any way to beat the game. You just played as long as you wanted — or until you fell into a ravine and died. But a few years into "Minecraft's" life, the developers added a final boss: the Ender Dragon. Once you beat this flying titan, the credits roll, and you get an achievement for beating the game.
To reach the Ender Dragon, you'll need to build a special structure known as an End Portal. The End Portal gives you direct access to "The End," the dark dimension where the dragon lives.
If you're playing in Survival or Hardcore mode, you'll need to find a broken End Portal underground and repair it using Eyes of Ender. In Creative mode, you can just build one using materials from your infinite inventory.
Whatever your style, we've got you covered with steps to find an End Portal in Survival mode, or craft one in Creative mode.
How to find and make an End Portal in "Minecraft's" Survival mode
In "Minecraft's" default mode, Survival, several broken End Portals are generated underground as soon as you create your world. To use them, you'll need to find the underground stronghold and repair them with Eyes of Ender.
Quick tip: In "Minecraft: Java Edition," all strongholds have an End Portal. In "Minecraft: Bedrock Edition," also known as "Minecraft for Windows 10," not all strongholds have one.
Fortunately, you don't have to aimlessly strip mine the map to find a stronghold. Strongholds can be located using those same Eyes of Ender.
Finding the End Portal
To find the stronghold, you'll need Eyes of Ender, which act as magic compasses of sorts for finding strongholds.
This'll take some work, though. Here's the step-by-step.
What you'll need to find an End Portal
Get Ender Pearls and Blaze Powder
Firstly, you'll need to get Ender Pearls. There are several ways to get them.
In "Java Edition," expert-level cleric villagers have a 66 percent chance to trade you an Ender Pearl for 4-5 emeralds. In "Bedrock Edition," they're guaranteed to offer this trade.
Trading with clerics can be a fast way to get Ender Pearls. Emma Witman/Insider
Endermen, the tall monsters that only attack when looked at, will drop Ender Pearls 25 percent of the time when killed.
In the Nether, Piglins — the pig-like villagers that will attack you unless you're wearing gold — can give you Ender Pearls. Drop a gold ingot in front of one, and it'll inspect it for a few moments, then give you a random item, which might be a couple of Ender Pearls. This is incredibly rare, however.
Next, you'll need Blaze Powder.
Go to the Nether and kill Blazes, the flaming creatures that live in Nether Fortresses. Whenever you kill one, it has a 50 percent chance of dropping a blaze rod.
Placing one blaze rod into your crafting recipe will give you two units of blaze powder.
Craft an Eye of Ender
Eyes of Ender can be crafted by combining one Ender Pearl with one unit of Blaze Powder.
Eyes of Ender use rare materials, but have an easy recipe. Emma Witman/Insider
You only need one to find the stronghold, but you might need up to 12 when repairing the broken End Portal.
To find a stronghold, throw the Eye of Ender, follow, repeat
As noted, the Eye of Ender acts as a pseudo-compass. When you throw the Eye of Ender, it'll rise high up into the air and move a few meters away. The direction it moves is the direction of the nearest stronghold.
If it's dark out, you might need sharp eyes to follow the Eye of Ender. Emma Witman/Insider
After a moment, the Eye will either fall back to the ground for you to pick up and use again, or shatter in mid-air. Every time you throw the Eye, there's a 20 percent chance of it shattering.
To find a stronghold, simply throw the Eye of Ender, follow it, and then throw again. It's a bit monotonous, and will likely take several minutes, but the outcome will be worthwhile: arrival at a stronghold.
Eventually, the Eye of Ender will stop moving in a direction, and start settling in one spot. At that spot, start digging straight down. The stronghold is directly beneath you.
Search the stronghold for the broken End Portal
Image: 8
Caption: The landing spot in the stronghold from digging directly below where the Eye of Ender settled.
Once inside the stronghold, don't celebrate yet. We still need to find the portal room, where the broken End Portal waits. The portal room has three pools of lava in it, along with a staircase leading up to a monster spawner and the broken portal.
The End Portal will be lit with lava. Mojang; Emma Witman/Insider
The Eye of Ender should have led you to the "start" of the stronghold, which is built like a maze. Thanks to dedicated Minecraft data miners, we know that the End Portal is generally fewer than 10 "rooms" away from the stronghold's start point.
You'll see numerous doors, passageways and stairs, denoting "rooms." If you go more than 10 or 12 rooms in any given direction and don't find the portal room, go back and try another way. You might want to place torches or another marker to note where you've been.
Image: 10, 11
Caption: A door with an awning, or entryway block, will lead you back to the start of the stronghold, versus a door that is flush with the wall.
If you get lost, try going through doors with an awning, rather than doors that are flush with the wall, to reach the start and begin your search again.
Making the End Portal
Once you've reached the portal room, you're almost done. For safety, fill in all the lava and destroy the monster spawner. This will prevent any unfortunate accidents.
At the top of the staircase is the broken End Portal. The portal's entire frame is there, but a number of Eyes of Ender will be missing. Carefully fill in all the missing pegs with Eyes of Ender to activate the structure.
Once you've placed all the pearls, you'll hear a loud booming sound, and darkness will fill the portal. Once you jump in, you'll be taken to The End, and the final boss, the Ender Dragon.
Make sure you're ready to face it before you step inside, because once you do, the only way back is by dying or winning.
How to make an End Portal in "Minecraft's" Creative Mode
The frame pieces of an End Portal can't be crafted. However, in Creative mode, you can find these frames in your inventory (as well as Eyes of Ender) and place them freely.
This means that you don't need to hunt for an End Portal — you can just make one from scratch.
1. Open your infinite inventory and grab your materials. You'll need 12 Eyes of Ender, and 12 End Portal Frames.
2. Now let's start building. To easily make sure that the frames are placed correctly, dig a 3x3 grid in the ground and stand inside of it.
Dig a 3x3 grid — you don't need to fill it, but you can. Emma Witman/Insider
3. Position yourself within the grid and face outward, and then place End Portal Frames along the edge of the grid. How you place the frames matters — the sides of the frames with extra green need to be facing the inside and outside, not toward the blocks next to them. Standing inside the grid should ensure they're placed correctly.
The blocks should drop in the correct position if you place them while standing inside the grid, which is where the future portal will spawn. Emma Witman/Insider
4. Now get out of the grid and start placing your Eyes of Ender in the frame. As soon as you place the 12th and final Eye, the portal will activate. Jump in, and you'll be transported to The End.
The Eyes can be placed from any direction. Mojang; Emma Witman/InsiderEmma WitmanEmma Witman is an Asheville, NC-based freelance journalist with a keen interest in writing about hardware, PC gaming, politics, and personal finance. She is a former crime reporter for a daily newspaper, and has also written extensively about bartending for Insider. She may or may not judge your drink order when behind the bar.Follow her on Twitter at @emwity. Read more Read less
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