Journey to The End: A Minecraft Guide

So, you’re ready to face the Ender Dragon, eh? The journey to The End in Minecraft is a pivotal moment, marking a significant step in your gameplay. It involves a multi-stage quest that tests your resourcefulness, navigational skills, and combat prowess. This guide will walk you through each step, ensuring you’re well-prepared for this epic encounter.

The Path to The End: A Step-by-Step Guide

Getting to The End requires the following key steps:

Gather Resources: Before you even think about finding a stronghold, you’ll need to amass resources. This includes plenty of Ender Pearls (dropped by Endermen) and Blaze Powder (crafted from Blaze Rods dropped by Blazes in the Nether). You’ll also need a crafting table, a safe place to sleep (bed), food, weapons and armor to stay safe.
Craft Eyes of Ender: Combine one Ender Pearl with one Blaze Powder to create an Eye of Ender. These are crucial for locating the stronghold and activating the End Portal. You’ll need at least 12, but crafting extra is recommended, as some might break during the throwing process.
Locate a Stronghold: Equip an Eye of Ender and right-click (or use the equivalent button on your console/mobile device) to throw it into the air. The eye will float in the direction of the nearest stronghold. Follow its path. As you get closer, the eye will fly higher.
Find the End Portal Room: Once at the location where the Eye of Ender consistently floats downwards, dig down. You’re looking for a stronghold, a labyrinthine structure containing various rooms, corridors, and traps. Explore until you find the End Portal room.
Activate the End Portal: The End Portal is a square frame of 5×5 End Portal Frames (with the corner blocks missing) above a lava pool. Each End Portal Frame has a chance of already containing an Eye of Ender. Place the remaining Eyes of Ender into the empty frames to activate the portal. The portal will turn into a swirling black void.
Enter The End: Jump into the activated End Portal. This will teleport you to The End, a desolate dimension where the Ender Dragon resides. Be prepared for a fight!

Preparing for The End

Armor and Weapons: Diamond armor (or Netherite, if you’re that far along) is highly recommended. An enchanted sword (Sharpness, Smite, or Fire Aspect) and a bow with plenty of arrows (Power, Flame, or Infinity) are essential.
Potions: Potions of Healing, Regeneration, Strength, and Slow Falling can be lifesavers. A Potion of Night Vision can also be useful.
Food: Bring a stack of high-saturation food items, such as steak, cooked pork chops, or golden carrots.
Blocks: A stack of blocks (dirt, cobblestone, etc.) can be used to build bridges or protect yourself.
Water Bucket: A water bucket can extinguish fires caused by dragon breath and break your fall.
Ender Chest: Store essential supplies in an Ender Chest so you can retrieve them even if you die in The End.
Pickaxe: A strong pickaxe to break blocks if needed.

Navigating The End

The End consists of a main island where the Ender Dragon awaits and outer islands that can be accessed after defeating the dragon. After you defeat the dragon, you will need to find a End Gateway Portal that will take you there. Use enderpearls to teleport yourself from island to island.

Defeating the Ender Dragon

The Ender Dragon fight is the main event. The dragon is healed by Ender Crystals on top of obsidian towers. Destroy these crystals first, then focus your attacks on the dragon when it perches near the exit portal.

Exploring the Outer Islands

After defeating the Ender Dragon, an End Gateway Portal will appear. Use an Ender Pearl to teleport through this portal to reach the outer islands. These islands contain End Cities, which are home to valuable loot, including Elytra (wings) and Shulker Boxes.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

How do I find a stronghold quickly?

While there’s no guaranteed “quick” way, using the Eye of Ender method is the most reliable. In Creative mode, you can use the /locate stronghold command to get the coordinates.

What are the coordinates for the end portal?

Upon entering The End, a 5×5 horizontal platform of obsidian is generated centered at block coordinates (100, 48, 0).

How rare is it to get a full end portal?

There is a one in a trillion chance that an End Portal will spawn fully filled.

Can you use an Eye of Ender to find End Cities?

No, Eyes of Ender only lead to strongholds. You must defeat the Ender Dragon and then use an End Gateway Portal to reach the outer islands where End Cities are located.

Why can’t I find an End City?

End Cities generate in the outer islands of The End, often in “midlands” or “highlands” biomes. They can be far apart, so keep exploring!

Is there only one Ender City?

No, multiple End Cities can spawn in the outer islands. However, not all End Cities contain End Ships.

Is it possible for a stronghold to not have a portal?

In Java Edition, every stronghold has an End Portal. In Bedrock Edition, only some do.

How many Ender Eyes should I get?

Craft at least 12 Eyes of Ender to fill the portal frames, but bring a few extras in case some break.

How do you find the ancient city in Minecraft with commands?

Use the command /locate ancientcity.

Why can’t I find the Ender portal in the stronghold?

On Bedrock Edition, only some strongholds have a portal room. Strongholds can have many rooms, which can sometimes be hidden behind walls.

How many end portals are in a map?

In Java Edition, each world contains exactly 128 strongholds, so a total of 1,536 End Portal Frames are generated. In Bedrock only some strongholds have a portal.

Why isn’t my end portal working?

Ensure that the End Portal Frames are placed correctly, with the blocks on the north side facing south, and so on. When you place an End Portal Frame, it will point towards you. Each frame also needs an Eye of Ender.

Can we bring the Ender Dragon to the Overworld?

Yes, it’s possible! You can use pistons to push the Ender Dragon into an Overworld portal.

Can you hatch the Ender Dragon?

To “hatch” the dragon egg, you’ll need to collect or craft four End Crystals and place them on each side of the portal surrounding the Dragon Egg pedestal.

How rare are End Ships?

Every bridge in an End City has a 12.5% chance of spawning an End Ship, meaning that over half of all End Cities in a world will have a connected End Ship.

By following these steps and answering these FAQs, you’ll be well-equipped to conquer The End and explore its hidden treasures. Good luck, and happy crafting!

For more insights into learning through games, explore the resources available at the Games Learning Society website: GamesLearningSociety.org.

How to get to the Ender?