The End in Minecraft: the complete guide

1. How to get to the End

Getting to the End is a multi-step process that needs resources from the Nether as well as exploration of the Overworld.

Step 1: Get ender pearls

You need at least 12 pearls. You can farm endermen at night on plains, or in a Warped Forest in the Nether. You can also trade with piglins: they have about a 4% chance of giving a pearl.

Step 2: Get blaze powder

It comes from blaze rods dropped by blazes in a Nether fortress. You need at least 6 rods (12 powder).

Step 3: Craft eyes of ender

Combine an ender pearl with blaze powder in the crafting grid. You need 12 of them, because that is how many frames the End portal has. Some frames may already hold an eye.

Step 4: Find the stronghold

Throw an eye of ender into the air and it flies toward the nearest stronghold. Follow it. Every thrown eye has a 20% chance of shattering. When the eye flies down, you are above the stronghold, so dig down.

Step 5: Activate the portal

Put an eye of ender in every empty portal frame. Stand outside the frame ring while you place them, because you could fall into the portal.

2. Fighting the Ender Dragon

The Ender Dragon is the final boss, with 200 HP, flying around the central island. First you have to destroy the end crystals on the obsidian pillars (they heal the dragon), then attack it with a sword when it lands on the fountain.

Gear

• Diamond or netherite armor with Protection IV
• A Sharpness V sword and a Power V bow with Infinity
• 5+ stacks of blocks for climbing the pillars
• Water buckets to cushion falls
• Potions of Slow Falling - keep you alive after being knocked back
• Golden apples and healing potions

Strategy

1. Destroy the crystals - shoot them with a bow (8 uncaged) and climb the pillars (2 in cages).
2. Attack the dragon with a sword when it lands on the fountain.
3. Shoot with a bow while the dragon is flying. Collect dragon's breath in a glass bottle.

Detailed guide: Fighting the Ender Dragon: the complete strategy

3. End cities and End ships

End cities are huge purpur structures on the outer End islands, which lie 1,000+ blocks from the central island. They are built from end stone bricks and purpur, and reach 50+ blocks high. This is the only place to get an elytra and shulker shells, and the chests can hold enchanted diamond gear.

How to get there

After you defeat the dragon, End gateways appear at the edge of the island. Throw an ender pearl through the middle of a gateway to teleport to the outer End islands.

End ships

Some End cities have an End ship: a flying ship with an elytra, 2 loot chests and a brewing stand with healing potions.

Detailed guide: Exploring End cities and their loot

4. Elytra: the wings of the End

The elytra are wings worn in the chestplate slot. They let you glide and, with firework rockets, fly freely. You can only find them on End ships. Durability: 432 points (7 minutes 12 seconds of flight). They are repaired with phantom membranes or the Mending enchantment.

Full guide: Elytra: getting them, flying, repairing

5. Shulkers and shulker boxes

Shulkers are mobs found in End cities that look like purpur blocks. They fire a homing projectile that gives you the Levitation effect for 10 seconds. When killed, they have a 50% chance of dropping a shulker shell. With 2 shells and a chest you craft a shulker box, a portable chest with 27 slots that keeps its contents.

6. Chorus fruit and chorus plants

Chorus plants are purple plants that grow on the outer End islands. Eating chorus fruit teleports the player to a random spot within 8 blocks. Chorus fruit smelted in a furnace gives popped chorus fruit, used to craft purpur blocks and end rods (glowing rods, light level 14).

A chorus flower can be planted on end stone in any dimension. You can collect flowers by shooting them with an arrow.

7. End gateways and the outer End islands

End gateways are 1-block portals with a starry effect that generate after each dragon defeat (up to 20 in total). Every gateway teleports you to a different part of the outer End islands. To go through a gateway, throw an ender pearl or enter in a boat.

The outer End islands are huge islands of end stone, chorus plants and End cities. There are gaps between the islands, so build bridges, use ender pearls or fly with an elytra.

8. Dragon egg

The dragon egg is the rarest item: one per world. It appears on the return portal after you defeat the dragon for the first time. It teleports when you click it, so to collect it use the torch method (break the block under the egg and it falls onto the torch) or push it with a piston.

9. Respawning the dragon

Get 4 end crystals (each from an eye of ender + a ghast tear + 7 glass) and place one on each side of the fountain. The dragon will spawn again, giving 500 XP and a new End gateway. The dragon egg only appears the first time.