You’re standing in Creative mode, surrounded by a pile of black-and-teal blocks, and for some reason, the middle of the ring just stays empty. It’s frustrating. Most players think you just slap down twelve blocks in a square, pop in the eyes, and call it a day, but there’s a specific directional logic that Minecraft doesn't exactly explain in the tooltips. If you’re trying to figure out how to build an end portal in minecraft, you’ve likely realized that the game is incredibly picky about which way those blocks are facing.
Actually, it’s not just "picky." It’s a hard-coded requirement.
The End Portal is your gateway to the game’s final boss, the Ender Dragon, and while Survival players have to hunt down Strongholds using Eyes of Ender, Creative players have the luxury of building their own. But "building" is a loose term here. You can't just craft these blocks. You have to grab them from the inventory and place them with the precision of a clockmaker, or the void simply won't open.
The Secret Geometry of the Portal Frame
The biggest mistake people make is standing outside the ring while they build it. Don't do that. When you place an End Portal Frame block, it has an "inside" and an "outside." The block face that actually triggers the portal is determined by where you are standing when you click.
Imagine you are the center of a clock. You need to stand in one spot and rotate your character to place the frames around you. This ensures that the "front" of every block is facing the center of the portal. If even one block is rotated 90 degrees the wrong way, the portal is a dud. You’ll see the Eyes of Ender sitting there, looking pretty, but the black starry abyss won't appear.
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Look closely at the top of the frame block. You’ll notice two green tabs on the sides. Those tabs need to be pointing toward the inside and outside of the portal, not toward the adjacent frame blocks. If those green markings are running parallel to the portal edge, you’ve messed up. It's a tiny detail, but it's the difference between a working shortcut to the End and a pile of useless decorative stone.
Gathering Your Materials (Creative Mode Only)
Unless you’re using mods or some very specific glitches that involve breaking bedrock (which honestly isn't "building" in the traditional sense), you can only build these in Creative. You need exactly two items.
- 12 End Portal Frames
- 12 Eyes of Ender
You don't need a Diamond Pickaxe. You don't need Obsidian. Unlike the Nether Portal, which is flexible in size—ranging from a 4x5 frame up to a massive 23x23—the End Portal is rigid. It is a 3x3 interior space. That means your total footprint is a 5x5 square, but you leave the corners empty.
Step-by-Step: The "Stay Inside" Method
Start by clearing a flat area. You don't actually need a floor under the portal, but it makes it easier to see what you're doing.
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- Stand in the exact center of where you want the portal to be.
- Face north (or any direction, really) and place three frame blocks in a row in front of you.
- Spin 90 degrees to your right. Place three more.
- Spin another 90 degrees. Place three more.
- Spin one last time and place the final three.
You should now be standing inside a ring of 12 blocks. Now, for the eyes. You can jump out of the ring now if you want; the eye orientation doesn't matter as much as the frame orientation, though some purists insist on placing the eyes from the center too.
Right-click each frame with an Eye of Ender. Most people like to save one for the very end to get that satisfying "whoosh" sound effect when the portal activates. When the 12th eye goes in, the 3x3 center will turn into a black, starry texture. That's your cue.
Why Your Portal Isn't Lighting Up
If you followed the steps and it’s still just a bunch of blocks, check for these common culprits:
- The "Corner" Issue: Did you try to fill in the corners? You shouldn't. The 3x3 portal needs exactly 12 blocks. Adding blocks to the four corners of the 5x5 area won't necessarily break it, but it often confuses players about where the "inside" face is.
- Accidental Rotation: If you flew around while placing the blocks, one of them is definitely sideways. Break the frames and try again while standing perfectly still in the center.
- Existing Structures: Sometimes, grass or tall flowers poking into the 3x3 space can prevent the portal from spawning the "End Portal Effect" blocks. Clear the area.
- The Nether Problem: You cannot build an End Portal in the Nether. It just doesn't work. The game engine expects the End Portal to exist in the Overworld.
The Survival Reality: You Can't "Build" It
Here is the part where I have to be honest with the Survival players: You cannot craft End Portal Frames. Period. You can't mine them with Silk Touch, either. If you try to break a frame in a Stronghold, it just shatters into nothingness, even if you’re using a Netherite Pickaxe with Efficiency V.
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In Survival, "building" the portal really means "completing" it. You have to find a Stronghold using Eyes of Ender (throw them in the air, follow the direction they fly). Once you find the portal room—usually tucked away behind some iron bars near a Silverfish spawner—you'll notice some eyes are already in the frames. Usually, one or two are filled, but the math is random. You just need to supply the missing eyes.
Interestingly, there is a 1 in 1,000,000,000,000 (one in a trillion) chance that a portal spawns with all 12 eyes already in place. It’s the "holy grail" of speedrunning. For the rest of us, we’re stuck grinding Blaze Powder and Ender Pearls to craft those eyes ourselves.
Advanced Tips for Map Makers
If you’re building a custom map and want the portal to look unique, remember that the "black stuff" (the portal blocks) are actually separate entities from the frames. In Java Edition, you can use the /setblock command to place the minecraft:end_portal block anywhere you want. You don't even need the frames! You can make a floor out of portal blocks or a weird vertical gateway.
For Bedrock Edition users, the mechanics are largely the same, but the "orientation" rule is even stricter. Bedrock is notorious for being finicky with block states, so the "stand in the middle" trick is your best friend there.
Practical Next Steps
Now that you know how to build an end portal in minecraft properly, you should prepare before jumping in. Falling into that black void immediately teleports you to the End. There is no "confirmation" screen.
- Bring a Water Bucket: Useful for slowing down Endermen or surviving a long fall if the dragon knocks you off the central island.
- Pack a Bow: You can't hit the dragon effectively while it’s perched until you take out the End Crystals atop the obsidian pillars.
- Check Your Armor: Don't go in with leather. At least have full Iron, though Diamond or Netherite is preferred.
If you're in Creative just to experiment, try building the portal in the air or submerged under water. It functions perfectly fine regardless of the surrounding environment, as long as those 12 frames are looking at each other the right way. Once you see that starry void, you're ready to take on the dragon or explore the outer islands for an Elytra.