The Ultimate 5-Step Guide: How To Make An Ender Portal (Works In 2024/2025)

The quest to reach The End and face the mighty Ender Dragon is the ultimate goal for many Minecraft players. As of today, December 11, 2025, the core mechanics for creating and activating the Ender Portal remain the same across the latest versions of Minecraft Java Edition and Bedrock Edition, but one vital, often-missed detail is the key to success. This in-depth guide will walk you through the entire process, from gathering the necessary materials in Survival Mode to the precise placement rule that prevents the portal from activating, ensuring you can finally step into The End.

Whether you are building the portal from scratch in Creative Mode or hunting for the pre-existing one in a Stronghold in Survival Mode, the final activation requires 12 specific blocks and a perfect orientation. Follow these steps precisely to ensure your gateway to the final dimension opens on your first attempt.

The Essential Ingredients: What You Need to Open the Gateway

To successfully activate an Ender Portal, you need two main components, totaling 24 items in a perfect scenario. However, in Survival Mode, you should prepare for more.

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1. End Portal Frames (12 Blocks)

• Survival Mode: These cannot be crafted. You must locate a Stronghold, a massive underground structure, where a pre-built portal room contains all 12 frames.
• Creative Mode: Easily accessed from the Creative Inventory. You will need to place all 12 yourself.

2. Eyes of Ender (12 to 15+ Items)

The Eye of Ender is the activation key. You need one for each of the 12 frames. However, in Survival Mode, you will also need them to locate the Stronghold itself, which consumes some of the items.

• Crafting Recipe: An Eye of Ender is crafted by combining 1 Ender Pearl (dropped by Enderman) and 1 Blaze Powder (crafted from Blaze Rods, which are dropped by Blazes in the Nether).
• Recommendation: Craft at least 15 Eyes of Ender. This allows for three to be used for locating the Stronghold, leaving the required 12 for the portal itself.

Step-by-Step Survival Guide: Finding the Stronghold

For players in Survival Mode, the first and most challenging step is finding the Stronghold, the underground fortress where the natural Ender Portal is housed.

1. Craft Your Eyes of Ender

Gather the necessary materials: Ender Pearls from the Overworld (or the Warped Forest biome in the Nether) and Blaze Rods from a Nether Fortress. Convert the rods into Blaze Powder and combine them with the pearls to create your Eyes of Ender.

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2. Throw the Eye of Ender

Hold an Eye of Ender and right-click (or use the designated action button). The eye will fly into the air and point in the direction of the nearest Stronghold. Follow its path. It will break about 20% of the time, which is why you need extras.

3. Pinpointing the Location

As you get closer to the Stronghold, the Eye of Ender will fly more horizontally and eventually begin to fly downwards into the ground. When it hovers and drops straight down, you have found the X and Z coordinates of the Stronghold. Start digging down carefully, as the structure can be at any Y level.

4. Locate the Portal Room

The Stronghold is a massive labyrinth. Navigate its corridors, libraries, and staircases until you find the dedicated Ender Portal room. This room contains the 12 pre-placed End Portal Frames, sometimes with 1-3 Eyes of Ender already inserted. Be wary of Silverfish, which can spawn from the surrounding stone blocks!

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The Crucial Secret: How to Build the Portal in Creative Mode (or Activate the Stronghold Portal)

This is the most critical section. Whether you are building the portal in Creative Mode or simply filling the frames in a Stronghold, the frame placement orientation is the single biggest reason why players fail.

The Rule of Inner Placement

The End Portal Frames are directional blocks. They must all be facing inward toward the center of the 3x3 square. If even one frame is placed incorrectly, the portal will not activate. To ensure correct placement, you must follow this simple rule:

ALWAYS stand in the middle of the 3x3 area while placing the 12 frames.

If you are in Creative Mode, here is the exact process:

1. Find a flat, open area.
2. Stand in the center of where the portal will be.
3. Turn in one direction and place three End Portal Frames side-by-side.
4. Pivot 90 degrees and place the next three frames, ensuring there is a one-block gap between the end of the first row and the start of the second (the corner blocks are left empty).
5. Repeat this process until all 12 frames are placed, forming a 5x5 outer square with a 3x3 empty space in the middle.

Final Activation: Inserting the Eyes of Ender

Once you have your perfectly oriented 12-block frame, the final step is activation. This process is the same for both the player-built Creative portal and the Stronghold portal.

Switch to holding the Eye of Ender item. Place one eye into each of the 12 End Portal Frames. It does not matter which order you place them in, nor does it matter if you stand inside or outside the frame for this step.

As you insert the 12th and final Eye of Ender, the portal will immediately activate, filling the 3x3 inner space with a shimmering, starry black void. The portal is now open, and you can jump in to begin your final battle against the Ender Dragon!

Troubleshooting: Why Didn't My Ender Portal Work?

If you have placed the 12 frames and 12 eyes and nothing happened, one of these common mistakes is the cause:

• Incorrect Frame Orientation (The #1 Mistake): You must have stood inside the 3x3 square while placing the frames. If you stood outside, the internal texture of the frame blocks will be facing the wrong way, and the portal will not activate.
• Corner Blocks: The portal is a hollow square. You cannot place frames in the four corner spots. The structure must be 3x3, 3x3, 3x3, 3x3, with the corners missing (12 blocks total).
• Using the Wrong Block: The portal requires the specific End Portal Frame block, not just any block.
• Not Enough Eyes: Ensure all 12 frames have an Eye of Ender inserted.

If you made a mistake in Creative Mode, you must break the incorrectly placed frames and start over, ensuring you are standing in the middle. In Survival Mode, if you are using the Stronghold's portal, the orientation is guaranteed to be correct, and the only possible issue is not having 12 Eyes of Ender to fill the empty slots.