The Nether in Minecraft: complete guide

1. How to get to the Nether

To travel to the Nether you need to build a Nether portal. A portal is a rectangle of obsidian blocks, at least 4x5 (width x height, frame included) and at most 23x23. The inside of the portal must be empty. Once activated, it fills with the characteristic purple swirl.

Getting obsidian

Obsidian forms when flowing water touches a lava source. You can mine it with a diamond or netherite pickaxe, which takes about 9.4 seconds. If you do not have a diamond pickaxe yet, you can cast the portal instead: set up a mold out of blocks, pour lava into it from a bucket, then flood it with water to create obsidian block by block, with no mining at all.

Building the portal step by step

1. Build an obsidian frame at least 4 blocks wide and 5 blocks tall. The corners can be any block or left empty.
2. Use flint and steel or a fire charge to light any block on the inside of the frame.
3. The portal activates and the inside fills with a purple haze and a characteristic sound.
4. Step into the purple field and wait about 4 seconds. You will be teleported to the Nether.

The portal in the Nether

When you enter the Nether for the first time, the game automatically creates a matching portal on the other side. If a portal already exists nearby, you will be linked to the nearest one. This can lead to several Overworld portals connecting to a single portal in the Nether.

2. Nether biomes

Since the 1.16 update the Nether has five unique biomes, each with its own landscape, mobs, blocks and atmosphere. Before that update the whole Nether looked the same. Now it is one of the most varied dimensions in the game.

For more detail, see our detailed guide to Nether biomes.

3. Nether mobs

The Nether is home to some of the most dangerous and most interesting mobs in Minecraft: flying ghasts that shoot fireballs, piglins that barter, and the only mount that can walk on lava.

4. Structures in the Nether

The Nether generates three main types of structures, each with its own challenges and rewards.

Nether fortress

A huge structure made of nether bricks and the only place where blazes and wither skeletons spawn. Here you will find naturally growing nether wart and chests with valuable loot. Fortresses generate in bands along the Z axis.

Detailed guide: Nether fortress: exploring and farming

Bastion remnant

Massive blackstone ruins inhabited by piglins and piglin brutes. There are four variants: Bridge, Housing Units, Hoglin Stables and Treasure Room. The most valuable is the Treasure Room, with netherite ingots and smithing templates.

Detailed guide: Bastions: types, loot and strategies

Ruined portal

Partially built portals made of obsidian and crying obsidian. Each one comes with a chest of loot: gold ingots, flint and steel, obsidian. Crying obsidian is used to build a respawn anchor, a block that lets you set your respawn point in the Nether.

5. Resources and materials

The Nether is home to many unique and valuable resources:

• Netherite: the best material for tools and armor. Ancient debris sits at Y 15 and is smelted into netherite scrap. 4 scraps + 4 gold ingots = 1 netherite ingot. Full guide
• Nether quartz: a white ore found in large amounts. Used to craft decorative blocks, comparators and observers. A great source of experience.
• Glowstone: a bright block (light level 15) found on the Nether ceiling. One of the best light sources, and an ingredient that strengthens potions.
• Ancient debris: the rarest ore, 1-3 per chunk, most often at Y 15. Resistant to explosions and lava.
• Nether wart: a plant from the nether fortress and a basic ingredient of virtually all potions. It grows on soul sand.
• Blaze rods: dropped by blazes. Turned into blaze powder, they fuel brewing stands and are an ingredient of the eye of ender. Without them you cannot get to the End.
• Blackstone: found in Basalt Deltas and bastions. A dark counterpart of cobblestone for crafting tools and furnaces.

6. Navigation: the 1:8 ratio

The most important rule: every block in the Nether corresponds to 8 blocks in the Overworld. Walking 100 blocks in the Nether is the same as walking 800 blocks in the Overworld. This ratio is the key to fast travel.

Calculating portal coordinates

To work out the portal coordinates in the Nether, divide the X and Z coordinates of your Overworld destination by 8. The Y coordinate does not matter.

Navigating without a compass

A compass does not work in the Nether (the needle spins randomly). Navigate with coordinates (F3) or with a lodestone and a lodestone compass. On the Nether ceiling (Y 127) you can build safe tunnels with no mobs and no lava.

7. Survival tips for the Nether

Gear to bring

• A full set of iron or diamond armor, with a golden piece if you plan to meet piglins
• A shield: blocks blaze fireballs
• A bow with plenty of arrows: essential for fighting ghasts
• Flint and steel: for relighting the portal
• Cobblestone or another non-flammable block: for building bridges and shelters
• Plenty of food: ideally golden apples for emergencies

Survival rules

• Never dig straight down: there may be a lava lake under the block
• Do not attack zombified piglins: the whole group will charge you
• Avoid beds: trying to sleep in the Nether causes a powerful explosion
• Mark your way: place torches on one side of the tunnel
• Potion of Fire Resistance: your best friend in the Nether