The 3 Critical Secrets To Building A Working Ender Portal In Minecraft (Latest Update)

Building the Ender Portal is the ultimate step in every Minecraft player’s journey, marking the final frontier before the climactic battle with the Ender Dragon. Despite its simple appearance—a 5x5 frame with a 3x3 inner opening—the process is notoriously tricky, with many players failing to activate the portal due to one critical mistake. This comprehensive guide, updated for the current game versions as of December 2025, will walk you through the two distinct methods for reaching The End, focusing on the essential steps and the often-missed secret to manual construction success.

The method you use depends entirely on your game mode. In Survival Mode, you must find a pre-generated portal deep within a Stronghold. In Creative Mode, or if you wish to repair a broken Stronghold portal, you must manually construct the frame with perfect orientation. Understanding the difference between these two approaches is the key to finally opening the gateway to The End Dimension.

The Essential Ingredients: Crafting the Eye of Ender

Before you can even begin your quest to find or build the portal, you must first gather the necessary components to craft the Eye of Ender. This item serves two vital purposes: it acts as a compass to locate the hidden Stronghold, and it is the key component used to activate the portal itself. You will need 12 Eyes of Ender to complete a full portal.

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Step 1: Gathering the Base Materials

The Eye of Ender is a crafted item that combines two difficult-to-acquire resources: the Ender Pearl and Blaze Powder. This is often the most time-consuming part of the entire process, requiring a trip to both the Overworld and the Nether Dimension.

• Ender Pearls: These are dropped by Endermen, tall, black, neutral mobs found primarily in the Overworld, The End, and the Warped Forest biome in the Nether. Be careful when hunting them, as looking directly at an Enderman will provoke an attack.
• Blaze Powder: This is derived from Blaze Rods, which are dropped by Blaze mobs. Blazes are hostile flying mobs found exclusively in Nether Fortresses. You must first kill Blazes to get the rods, and then craft the rods into powder.

Step 2: The Eye of Ender Crafting Recipe

Once you have both materials, the crafting is straightforward. Each Eye of Ender requires one of each component.

• Place one Ender Pearl in the center slot of your crafting grid (3x3).
• Place one Blaze Powder in any slot directly adjacent to the Ender Pearl (above, below, or to the side).
• This combination will yield one Eye of Ender. Repeat this 12 times to have enough for a full portal, though bringing a few extra (14-16 total) is highly recommended for locating the Stronghold.

Method 1: Finding the Pre-Built Portal in Survival Mode

In a standard Survival playthrough (Java or Bedrock Edition), the only way to access The End is by finding a pre-generated Stronghold—a massive, underground dungeon complex—which contains the single, naturally occurring Ender Portal room. The Eye of Ender is your only guide.

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Using the Eye of Ender to Locate the Stronghold

To find the Stronghold, you must "throw" the Eye of Ender:

1. Hold the Eye of Ender in your hand.
2. Right-click (Java) or use the 'Place Block' button (Bedrock) to throw it.
3. The Eye will float a short distance in the air, pointing in the direction of the nearest Stronghold, before either dropping to the ground or breaking.
4. Follow the direction the Eye flew. Repeat the process every few hundred blocks.
5. As you get closer to the Stronghold's location, the Eye of Ender will begin to fly downward into the ground instead of horizontally. This indicates you are directly above the Stronghold.
6. Begin digging down at this spot. Strongholds can generate at any Y-level, so be prepared for a long descent.

Once you locate the Stronghold, you must navigate its maze-like corridors until you find the Portal Room. This room is a small, circular area featuring a lava pool and the pre-built Ender Portal frame. The frame will have a random number of Eyes of Ender already placed (it can be anywhere from 0 to 11). Your task is to simply fill the remaining empty slots with the Eyes of Ender you crafted.

Method 2: The Critical Secret to Manual Portal Construction (Creative Mode)

If you are playing in Creative Mode, or if you are repairing a damaged portal in a Stronghold, you can build the Ender Portal manually. This method is where almost every player fails due to a lack of understanding about Frame Orientation. The secret lies in block rotation.

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The Golden Rule of Ender Portal Construction

The Ender Portal is a 3x3 square composed of 12 End Portal Frame blocks. For the portal to activate, every single one of the 12 frames must be facing inward toward the center of the structure. The game determines the orientation of the frame based on the player's position when the block is placed, similar to how pistons are placed.

The Secret: You MUST stand inside the 3x3 square while placing the frames.

Step-by-Step Guide for Manual Construction

1. Clear a 5x5 Area: Find a flat, open space. The portal will occupy a 5x5 area, with the frames forming the outer ring.
2. Stand in the Center: Dig a 3x3 hole in the ground and stand in the exact center of where the portal will be.
3. Place the Frames: From your central position, rotate your character and place the End Portal Frame blocks in a 3x3 square around you. You will place three blocks on each of the four sides.
4. DO NOT Place the Corners: The corners of the 5x5 square should remain empty. You are building a hollow square, 3 blocks long on each of the four sides, for a total of 12 blocks.
5. Verify Frame Orientation: If done correctly, the green texture on the side of the End Portal Frame block should be facing inward, toward the center of the structure.
6. Insert the Eyes of Ender: Once all 12 frames are placed, you must insert an Eye of Ender into each of the 12 frames. Right-click on each frame block to place the Eye.

If all 12 frames are correctly oriented and all 12 Eyes of Ender are placed, the portal will instantly activate, filling the 3x3 space with a black, star-filled void. If it fails to light up, at least one of your frame blocks is facing the wrong direction, and you must break and replace the entire structure (or at least the incorrectly placed frames) while standing in the center.

Advanced Tips and Topical Authority Entities

Successfully opening the Ender Portal is only the beginning. To ensure a successful trip to The End and a victory against the Ender Dragon, consider these advanced preparation tips and related entities:

• The Ender Dragon Fight Preparation: The fight requires a bow, plenty of arrows, a water bucket (for safe landing), and a large supply of blocks (to climb the obsidian towers). You must destroy the End Crystals on top of the towers to prevent the dragon from healing.
• End Dimension Entities: Once the dragon is defeated, you can explore the outer islands of The End. Key entities here include Shulkers (which drop Shulker Shells for crafting storage boxes) and End Cities (which often house the coveted Elytra).
• Re-Activating the Portal: After defeating the Ender Dragon, a new exit portal appears. However, you can respawn the dragon by placing four End Crystals on the edges of the exit portal. This requires Ghast Tears, Ender Pearls, and Glass.
• Stronghold Portal Room Integrity: In Survival, if you accidentally break a frame block in the naturally generated Stronghold portal, you cannot craft a replacement frame. You must complete the portal with the remaining frames. If you break too many, the portal is permanently disabled in that Stronghold.

The journey to The End is a defining moment in Minecraft. By understanding the critical placement rule for manual construction and mastering the use of the Eye of Ender for Stronghold hunting, you will transition from a novice explorer to a true master of the Overworld, ready to face the final boss and unlock the secrets of the End Dimension.