You're standing in a field of blocky grass, a diamond pickaxe in your hand, and you’re wondering: how do I make a portal in Minecraft without blowing myself up or wasting an hour? It’s the classic mid-game hurdle. One minute you're farming cows, the next you realize you need blaze rods or you’re never going to see the credits roll. But honestly, the game doesn't give you a manual. If you’ve ever tried to light a purple portal and nothing happened, you probably missed a corner or used the wrong material. It happens to the best of us.
Minecraft isn't just one world. It’s a multiverse. To get to the "hell" dimension (the Nether) or the "end of the world" (the End), you need specific gateways. These aren't just decorative. They are functional, hard-coded structures that require a bit of geometry and some rare items.
The Standard Nether Portal: Obsidian and Fire
The most common question is usually about the purple one. That’s the Nether portal. To build this, you basically need Obsidian. Ten blocks of it, at minimum. You can go up to fourteen if you want to fill in the corners, but if you're low on resources, skip the corners. Nobody’s judging your aesthetic choices when there are Ghasts trying to fireball you.
You need a frame that is at least four blocks wide and five blocks high. If you’re fancy, you can make them massive—up to 23x23—but for your first trip, keep it small. Once the frame is up, grab a Flint and Steel. Right-click the inside of the bottom rim. If you did it right, the center fills with a swirling purple film. That's your ticket out.
Finding Obsidian Without Dying
How do you get the obsidian? You need a Diamond Pickaxe. Or Netherite, if you’re already rich. Anything less will just break the block and give you nothing. You find obsidian where water hits source blocks of lava. Don't just pour water on a lava pool and hope for the best; you might end up with cobblestone if the lava is flowing rather than stationary.
There's a "pro" way to do this if you don't have diamonds yet. It’s called "speedrunner casting." You basically build a dirt mold, use buckets to move lava into the shape of a portal, and then pour water over it to freeze the lava into obsidian right where it stands. It’s tricky. One wrong click and you’ve got a random obsidian block in the middle of your kitchen.
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What Most People Get Wrong About Nether Travel
The Nether isn't just a place to get loot; it’s a fast-travel system. This is where the math comes in. One block in the Nether equals eight blocks in the Overworld. If you build a portal at coordinates (100, 100) and then walk 100 blocks in the Nether to (200, 100), you’ve actually moved 800 blocks in the "real" world.
It’s easy to get lost. If you build two portals too close together in the Overworld, they might both link to the same portal in the Nether. This is a common headache. To fix it, you have to do the math: take your Overworld X and Z coordinates, divide them by eight, and build your Nether-side portal exactly at those new coordinates.
Finding the End Portal: No, You Can't Craft It
If you’re asking how do I make a portal in Minecraft to get to the Ender Dragon, the answer is: you don't. At least, not in Survival mode. You have to find it.
The End Portal is located in a Stronghold. These are massive, sprawling underground fortresses. To find one, you need Eyes of Ender. You make these by killing Blazes in the Nether (for Blaze Powder) and Endermen (for Ender Pearls). Combine them in your crafting grid.
Throw the Eye of Ender into the air. It will float in the direction of the nearest Stronghold. Follow it. Eventually, it will start diving into the ground. Dig down—carefully—and you’ll find the stone bricks. The portal room itself has a 3x3 square frame of "End Portal Frame" blocks with a pool of lava underneath. To activate it, you have to place an Eye of Ender in every single one of the 12 frame blocks.
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Why Your End Portal Might Not Work
In Creative mode, people often try to build their own End Portal and fail. The secret is the orientation. The frame blocks have a "front" and "back." When you place them, you must be standing in the center of the portal looking outward. If the "eyes" on top of the blocks aren't all facing the right way, the void won't open.
Modern Variations: Ruined Portals and Dimensions
Since the 1.16 update, the world is littered with Ruined Portals. These are naturally generating, broken Nether portals surrounded by Crying Obsidian and Netherrack. Sometimes they’re mostly finished. You just need to scavenge a few blocks of obsidian from the nearby chest or the structure itself to patch the holes. It’s a shortcut. Honestly, finding one of these early on can save you ten minutes of mining.
Then there are the "fake" portals. You've probably seen YouTube videos of people making portals out of glowstone or dirt to go to the "Aether" or a "Diamond Dimension." Unless you have mods like The Aether or BetterNether installed, these don't work. In vanilla Minecraft, it's just Nether and End. Don't waste your glowstone trying to reach the heavens; you'll just end up with a very expensive yellow frame.
The Logistics of Portal Safety
Stepping through a portal isn't instantaneous. There’s a "loading" phase. During this time, you are vulnerable. If you build a portal in the Nether and a Ghast is waiting on the other side, it can blow up your portal while you’re still loading. Always carry a spare Flint and Steel. Getting stuck in the Nether because a Ghast extinguished your only way home is a rite of passage, but it’s one you’d rather avoid.
Also, entities go through portals. This includes Creepers. If a Creeper wanders into your Nether portal while you're at your base, it will be waiting for you in the Nether the next time you go through. Or worse, a stray Piglin might wander into your bedroom. Building a fence or a small room around your portals is basically mandatory for long-term survival.
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Actionable Next Steps for Your Build
If you’re ready to stop reading and start building, follow this sequence to ensure you don’t lose your gear.
First, gather at least 10 pieces of obsidian. Use a bucket of water and a lava pool to create an "infinite" obsidian source if you find a deep lake. Second, craft a Flint and Steel using one iron ingot and one piece of flint. Third, set up your 4x5 frame in a safe location. Avoid putting it right next to your bed, because the "whooshing" sound of the portal is incredibly loud and will eventually drive you crazy.
Fourth, before you step through, write down your coordinates. Press F3 (on Java) or check your map (on Bedrock). If you lose your portal in the Nether, you're going to need those numbers to find your way back. If you die, your items stay in the dimension where you dropped them. Fifth, once you're in the Nether, immediately build a cobblestone hut around the portal. Ghast fireballs can't break cobblestone, so this protects your exit.
Mastering the portal system is the difference between playing "house" in Minecraft and actually beating the game. Once you have your Nether hub set up, the entire world becomes much smaller, and resources like Quartz, Ancient Debris, and Nether Wart are finally within reach. Just watch your step—the floor is literally lava.