So, you’re finally ready to face the dragon. It’s the moment every Minecraft player builds toward—that pivot from survivalist to slayer. But if you’re trying to figure out how do you make an Ender portal in Minecraft, you’ve probably realized there is a massive catch.
In a standard Survival world, you actually can’t "make" one from scratch. Not in the way you craft a furnace or a diamond pickaxe. You have to find it. However, if you're messing around in Creative Mode or building a custom map, the rules change entirely. If you place those frames even one degree off, the portal stays dead. It’s annoying. I've seen seasoned builders rage-quit because they couldn't get the gateway to spark, usually because of a tiny orientation error that the game doesn't explicitly explain.
Finding the Stronghold: The Survival Reality
In Survival, your journey starts with Blaze Powder and Ender Pearls. You need to craft Eyes of Ender. Once you toss one into the sky, it floats toward the nearest Stronghold.
Strongholds are massive, sprawling underground ruins. They’re messy. You’ll find libraries, iron doors that lead to nowhere, and eventually, the portal room. This room is unmistakable because it sits over a pool of lava and contains a Silverfish spawner. Most players just break that spawner immediately—it’s not worth the headache. The portal itself is a 3x3 square frame (minus the corners) made of 12 End Portal Frame blocks.
To activate it, you need to pop an Eye of Ender into every single frame. Usually, a few are already filled when you find it, but you'll almost always need about 10 more to finish the job. When the last eye clicks in, the center fills with a black, starry abyss. Don't fall in until you're geared up; there’s no coming back until the dragon is dead or you are.
How Do You Make an Ender Portal in Minecraft Using Creative Mode?
This is where people get stuck. If you’re in Creative, you have the Frame blocks in your inventory. You place them in a 3x3 square (skipping the corners), and... nothing happens.
💡 You might also like: Why Yakuza 0 Special Training Is the Only Way to Actually Survive Legend Mode
The secret is orientation.
Every End Portal Frame block has a "front" and a "back," even though they look almost identical from the top. The "front" of the block must face the center of the portal. If you stand in one spot and spin around while placing the blocks, the game registers them as facing inward. If you fly above and place them while looking down from different angles, the portal will never activate.
The Proper Placement Technique
- Stand exactly where the portal "hole" will be.
- Place the three blocks in front of you.
- Turn 90 degrees. Place the next three.
- Turn again. Three more.
- Finish the final side.
Now, while still standing inside or hovering directly over it, place the Eyes of Ender. The "green tab" on the Eye of Ender actually has a specific directionality too. By placing them while facing outward from the center, you ensure the internal logic of the game recognizes the structure as a valid gateway.
The Technical "Why" Behind the Failure
Minecraft’s code treats the End Portal Frame as a directional block, similar to a Piston or an Observer. According to the Official Minecraft Wiki, the block has a facing data value. If that value doesn't point toward the center 3x3 area, the "check" for the portal pattern fails.
It’s a strict check. Even one block facing the wrong way breaks the entire thing. You can see this if you look closely at the top texture of the frame. There are tiny green "scroll" patterns. These patterns should point toward the black void. If they are sideways, you need to break the block and replace it while standing in the center.
Essential Gear for the Other Side
Once you’ve figured out how do you make an Ender portal in Minecraft, the real work begins. Entering the End is a one-way trip unless you win.
You need a bow. Honestly, you need a lot of arrows, or an Infinity enchantment. The Ender Dragon heals herself using End Crystals sitting atop obsidian pillars. You have to snipe those first. If you try to sword-fight her while those crystals are active, you’re just wasting your time.
- Bed exploding: This is a pro-strat. In the End, beds explode with more force than TNT. Players place a bed on the central exit portal and sleep in it right as the dragon perches. It deals massive damage.
- Water Buckets: Essential for two reasons. First, to negate fall damage if the dragon tosses you into the air. Second, to keep Endermen away. They hate water.
- Slow Falling Potion: If you have access to Phantom Membranes, make these. The dragon's wings can launch you hundreds of blocks into the sky. Without this potion, that's a death sentence.
Common Myths and Misconceptions
I’ve heard people claim you need to be at a certain Y-level to build a portal in Creative. That’s false. You can build it in the sky or at bedrock.
Others think you can't move a portal once it's active. In Survival, that’s true—you can’t pick up the frame blocks even with Silk Touch. They are some of the only blocks in the game that are technically "unbreakable" in Survival mode. If you find a Stronghold where the world generation glitched and broke the portal (which happens sometimes near ravines), you are unfortunately out of luck and need to find a different Stronghold.
Beyond the Dragon: The Gateway Portals
After you kill the dragon, a different kind of portal appears. This is the End Gateway. It’s a single block of bedrock with a beam of light. You don't "make" this one either; it’s a reward.
To use it, you have to throw an Ender Pearl into the tiny one-block gap. This teleports you to the outer islands where the End Cities and the Elytra (the wings) are found. If you’re playing on the Bedrock Edition, you can sometimes just crawl into it or use a trapdoor to force yourself into a swimming animation to fit through.
Actionable Next Steps for Your Build
If you are currently staring at a 3x3 ring of frames that won't light up, do this:
- Step 1: Use a pickaxe (if in Creative) to delete all 12 frame blocks.
- Step 2: Dig a 3x3 hole in the ground and fill it with lava (this isn't strictly required for it to work, but it matches the natural generation and looks better).
- Step 3: Stand in the middle of that lava hole (fly if you're in Creative).
- Step 4: Carefully place the frames around you, ensuring you rotate your body for each side.
- Step 5: Place the Eyes of Ender while still rotating.
Once that black texture appears, you’ve successfully mastered the geometry. Just remember: in Survival, your only job is to find the Stronghold, fill the eyes, and pray you brought enough food.
Check your coordinates before you jump. If you're on a multiplayer server, it’s always a good idea to set a spawn point nearby with a bed. Nothing is worse than traveling 3,000 blocks to a Stronghold, dying to the dragon, and waking up at the world spawn point with no gear.