In Minecraft, you can build a nether portal that acts as a door between the overworld and the Nether, find out how to make one.
Building a portal to Nether in Minecraft is a long and potentially arduous task. In Survival mode, it’s not as simple as mining obsidian blocks and setting them on fire. It may take hours of preparation, but it’s worth it, once in the Nether you may find Netherite or even encounter piglins.
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How to build and activate a nether portal in Minecraft ?
Steps to build and active a Nether portal
Total Time: 5 minutes
Build the obsidian frame
You will need 14 obsidians to build the nether portal frame. The base of the nether portal should be 4 obsidians wide, and the corners of the nether portal should be 5 obsidians high.
Activate the Nether Portal
Next, you need to turn on the Nether portal. You can use either a Flint and Steel or a fire charge to activate the portal. Select the lighter in your toolbar and then right-click on a block of obsidian at the bottom.
See the portal activate
Once you have used the Flint and Steel in the portal frame, the center of the portal should glow and turn purple. This means that the Nether portal is active and you can go into the Nether.
Go through the portal into the Nether
To use the Nether portal, simply jump/walk through the purple area of the Nether portal. You will be transported to the Nether. To return to the normal world, go back through the portal in the other direction.
Once you are in the Nether, there will be another portal to take you back to your Minecraft world. Have fun exploring the Nether !
How do I use less obsidian in a Nether portal ?
A basic Nether portal is made using 14 obsidian blocks, but there is a way to make one using only 10 obsidian blocks.
As you can see from the image above, the corners are optional. A Nether portal is still fully functional even without the corners, which saves you obsidian.
How to activate a Nether portal without a flint and steel ?
Here are 3 alternative solutions to light a Nether portal without flint and steel :
- Fire charge : by combining charcoal (deposited by skeleton Wither) with gunpowder (deposited by Ghasts) and fire powder (made from blaze stick, deposited by Blazes) you get 3 fire charges that can be right-clicked into the obsidian to set the Nether portal on fire.
- Wood and Lava: By placing blocks of wood or planks of wood next to the portal and lava next to the wood, you will cause the wood to catch fire. The fire will spread and light the gate.
- Lightning Rod: By placing a lightning rod next to the gate during a storm, you can hope that lightning will strike it and set the surrounding area on fire and activate the gate.
