You’ve been punching trees for three days. Your chest is full of cobblestone, your farm is overflowing with wheat, and you’ve finally managed to stop a creeper from blowing up your front porch. But there’s a nagging feeling, isn’t there? You see that dark, pixelated void in the distance of your mind—the place where the Dragon lives. Honestly, getting to the End of Minecraft is less of a straight line and more of a chaotic scavenger hunt that usually involves falling into lava at least once.
It isn't just about finding a portal. It’s about a specific sequence of survival, logistics, and honestly, a bit of luck with the world generation. If you’re playing on a random seed, you’re at the mercy of the math. But if you know what to look for, the path becomes a lot clearer.
The Blaze Rod Grind is Where Most People Quit
You can't get to the End without Eyes of Ender. To get those, you need Blaze Powder. That means you’re going to the Nether. Some players try to speedrun this by tricking a bucket of water and lava into a portal shape, but if you’re playing a long-term survival world, just mine the obsidian. It’s safer. Once you're in the Nether, you need a Fortress.
Finding a Fortress is the worst part.
Seriously. You can wander for thousands of blocks in the red fog and see nothing but Soul Sand Valleys. Look for the dark brick structures. Once you're there, find a Blaze spawner. You need at least seven or eight Blaze Rods, but I always aim for 15 because you’re going to break some Eyes of Ender while throwing them later. Blazes are jerks. They set you on fire from twenty blocks away. Bring a shield. It’s the single most important tool in the Nether. You block the fireball, you run in, you hit them with an iron sword, and you repeat.
While you’re down there, keep an eye out for Piglins. If you’ve got gold ingots, trade them. They sometimes drop Ender Pearls. It’s a lot faster than hunting Endermen in the Overworld at 3 AM while dodging skeletons.
Crafting the Eyes and the Long Walk
Once you have your Blaze Rods, turn them into Blaze Powder. Combine that powder with Ender Pearls to get Eyes of Ender. This is the "GPS" of Minecraft.
✨ Don't miss: Hello Kitty Island Adventure Apple Arcade: Why It’s Way More Than Just a Cute Sim
When you throw an Eye of Ender in the Overworld, it floats into the sky and moves toward the nearest Stronghold. Then it either drops back down as an item or shatters into nothingness. This is why we over-farmed the Blaze Rods. You’re going to lose a few.
How to actually track the Stronghold
Don't just keep throwing them every ten blocks. That’s a waste. Run for about 200 or 300 blocks in the direction the first Eye pointed, then throw another one. If the Eye starts diving into the ground, stop. You’re standing on top of it.
Strongholds are massive, messy underground complexes. They’re full of libraries, iron doors, and too many silverfish. You are looking for the Portal Room. It has a specific look: a 3x3 square of green frames suspended over a pool of lava.
Finding the Portal Room Without Losing Your Mind
Strongholds are generated in "rings" around the world center (coordinate 0,0). According to the Minecraft Wiki and technical players like Ilmango, there are 128 Strongholds in a standard Java Edition world. On Bedrock, they can be a bit more random.
Sometimes the world generator messes up. You might find a Stronghold that’s missing the portal room entirely because a ravine or a mineshaft cut right through it. If you’ve searched every corridor and can’t find the portal, you might have to travel a few thousand blocks away and try to find a different Stronghold. It’s rare, but it happens.
Once you find the room, kill the Silverfish spawner immediately. Don’t be a hero. Just break it. Then, place your Eyes of Ender into the empty frames. You need 12 total, but usually, a few are already filled in when the world is created. When the last Eye goes in, the center fills with a black, starry texture.
That’s it. That’s the point of no return.
The Fight Everyone Thinks is Harder Than It Is
Jump in. You’ll spawn on an obsidian platform. Sometimes this platform is floating in the void away from the main island. Do not just run off the edge. Bridge over to the mainland with cobblestone.
The Ender Dragon is a "boss," but it’s mostly just a test of your aim.
- Step 1: Look at the tall obsidian pillars.
- Step 2: Look at the glowing crystals on top.
- Step 3: Shoot them with a bow.
The crystals heal the Dragon. If you don't break them, you’re just wasting arrows. Two of the crystals are usually trapped behind iron bars; you’ll have to climb those towers and whack the crystals with a sword or pickaxe. Be careful. They explode when they break. Use a water bucket to catch your fall if the Dragon knocks you off the pillar.
Once the crystals are gone, the Dragon will eventually fly to the center "perch" (the bedrock fountain). This is your chance. Run in and hit its tail or underbelly with your best sword. Avoid the "Dragon Breath" purple particles—they linger on the ground and chew through your armor faster than you’d think.
What Happens After the Credits?
When the Dragon dies, it drops a massive amount of XP and opens the exit portal. But getting to the End of Minecraft isn't actually the end of the game. It’s more like the end of the tutorial.
The real reward is the End Gateway. It’s a tiny, one-block portal that spawns near the edge of the island. Throw an Ender Pearl into it. This teleports you to the "Outer End Islands." This is where you find End Cities and, most importantly, the Elytra.
The Elytra are wings. They change everything. You stop walking and start flying. You’ll need firework rockets to boost yourself, but once you have them, the Overworld feels tiny.
Actionable Next Steps for Your Journey:
- Check your gear: Do not enter the Nether without at least one piece of Gold armor. The Piglins will ignore you, which makes finding a Fortress ten times easier.
- The F3 Trick: If you are on Java Edition, press F3 to see your coordinates. If the "E" (entities) count spikes when you’re looking at a wall in a Stronghold, there’s a good chance the Silverfish spawner—and the portal—is right behind it.
- Bed Trick (Advanced): If you’re feeling brave, bring beds to the End. Sleeping in the End causes an explosion larger than TNT. If you time it right while the Dragon is perched, you can kill it in seconds. Just be sure to put a block between you and the bed so you don't die too.
- Slow Fall Potions: If you can kill a Phantom in the Overworld, use its membrane to brew Slow Falling potions. It makes the Dragon fight trivial because you can't take fall damage.
The End is a lonely place, but it’s the gateway to the best loot in the game. Get your pearls, find your fortress, and don't forget to bring a pumpkin head if the Endermen start getting twitchy.