So, you want to know how to make a nether star. Let’s be real for a second: you don't actually "make" one. Not in the way you make a wooden pickaxe or a cake. You can't just throw some ingredients into a crafting table and call it a day. To get your hands on this thing, you have to summon a three-headed flying nightmare that wants to delete your entire world. It’s a process. It’s stressful. Honestly, if you aren't prepared, it’s a quick way to lose all your enchanted gear.
The Nether Star is the soul of a Beacon. Without it, you’re just looking at a pile of glass and obsidian. But the gap between wanting a Beacon and actually placing one is filled with explosions and wither roses.
The Shopping List from Hell
Before you even think about the boss fight, you need the materials. This is the part that kills most players' motivation. You need exactly two things, but they are both a pain to find.
First up: Soul Sand or Soul Soil. You need four blocks of this stuff. You can find it all over the Nether, specifically in Soul Sand Valleys. It’s the easy part. The real nightmare is the Wither Skeleton Skulls. You need three of them.
Here is the problem. Wither Skeletons only spawn in Nether Fortresses. They are tall, charred versions of normal skeletons that give you the Wither effect, which slowly drains your health while turning your heart bar black so you can't even see how close you are to dying. They have a miserable drop rate for skulls. We are talking about a 2.5% chance. If you aren't using a sword with Looting III, you're going to be there for hours. Even with Looting III, the odds only jump to about 5.5%. You will kill hundreds of these guys. You will get frustrated. You will probably fall in lava at least once.
✨ Don't miss: Minecraft Cool and Easy Houses: Why Most Players Build the Wrong Way
Summoning the Beast
Once you have your four blocks of Soul Sand and your three skulls, you have to build the totem. It’s a T-shape. Put one Soul Sand block down, then three across the top. Then, place the three Wither Skeleton Skulls on the top three blocks.
Pro tip: Do not do this near your house.
The second that last skull touches the sand, the Wither spawns. It starts out small and blue, charging up its health bar. During this phase, it’s invulnerable. Do not waste your arrows. Do not run up and hit it. Just run. When that bar fills up, the Wither explodes with more force than a Creeper or a bed in the Nether. If you built this in your base, your chests are gone. Your dog is gone. Everything is gone.
Why the Wither Fight is Actually a Geometry Problem
The Wither is a flying boss. On the Bedrock Edition of Minecraft, it is significantly harder than on Java. It has more health, it spawns Wither Skeletons to help it, and it dashes at you like a freight train. On Java, it’s a bit more predictable, but it still flies out of reach and pelts you with skulls that destroy the terrain.
🔗 Read more: Thinking game streaming: Why watching people solve puzzles is actually taking over Twitch
Most players who actually know how to make a nether star without losing their minds use the "Bedrock Trick." They go to the roof of the Nether—or the exit portal in the End—and trap the Wither inside the unbreakable Bedrock blocks. If you place the Soul Sand T-shape horizontally directly under the 3x3 bedrock fountain in the End, the Wither’s heads will get stuck in the ceiling. It can’t move. It can’t shoot. You just sit there and whittle it down with a Smite V sword.
Is it cheesing? Kinda. Does it save you three hours of rebuilding your world? Absolutely.
If you decide to fight it "properly" in a cave, you need a few things:
- Smite V Netherite Sword: Smite deals way more damage to undead mobs than Sharpness.
- Golden Apples: Not just for health, but for the absorption hearts.
- Milk Buckets: Drinking milk clears the Wither effect. Keep a few on your hotbar.
- Strength II and Regeneration II Potions: You need to end the fight fast. The longer it goes, the more the terrain gets destroyed.
The Halfway Point Shift
When the Wither hits 50% health, it gains a blue aura. This is the Wither Armor. At this point, arrows stop working. You have to go in for melee damage. This is where most people die because the Wither starts moving faster and stays low to the ground, creating constant explosions. If you’re fighting in a tight tunnel, the lag from all the dropped blocks can actually crash some lower-end devices. Seriously, clear the area first.
💡 You might also like: Why 4 in a row online 2 player Games Still Hook Us After 50 Years
Picking Up the Pieces
Once the Wither finally dies, it hovers for a second, turns white, and explodes one last time. Don't go rushing in immediately. Wait for the final blast. Among the rubble and the Wither Roses, you’ll find it: a single, glowing item that looks like a four-pointed star.
That is your Nether Star. It won't despawn for a long time, but don't leave it lying around. It is immune to explosions, so it won't be destroyed by the Wither's final death rattle, but it can be destroyed by lava. If you fought the Wither in the Nether and it died over a lava lake, you’ve got a problem.
Turning the Star into a Beacon
Now that you have the star, the "making" part finally happens at a crafting table. You need:
- The Nether Star in the center.
- Three blocks of Obsidian along the bottom row.
- Five blocks of Glass filling the remaining slots.
This gives you the Beacon. But a Beacon by itself is just a shiny paperweight. To actually use it, you need to build a pyramid out of iron, gold, emerald, diamond, or netherite blocks. Most people use iron because it's the easiest to farm. You need a 3x3 base for a Level 1 beacon, which gives you basic buffs like Speed or Haste. To get the full Level 4 beacon with Regeneration and Haste II, you need a massive four-tier pyramid (9x9, 7x7, 5x5, and 3x3). That is 164 blocks of solid ore.
Actionable Steps for Your First Star
If you're doing this for the first time, don't just wing it.
- Farm the Skulls in a Fortress Crossroad: Wither skeletons spawn more frequently at crossroads within the fortress. Clear the area of fences and debris so you have a clear line of sight.
- Use a Smite Sword: A Smite V sword can kill a Wither skeleton in one or two hits, and it makes the boss fight twice as fast.
- Choose Your Arena: If you aren't cheesing it with bedrock, go deep underground (Y-level -50 or lower). The deepslate is harder to blow up than regular stone, which keeps the Wither somewhat contained.
- The Milk Strategy: Bring three buckets of milk. The Wither effect is what usually kills players, not the actual impact of the skulls.
Getting a Nether Star is a rite of passage. It represents the jump from the mid-game to the end-game where you start building massive projects that require Haste II to clear out chunks of the world. It’s a grind, and the boss is a jerk, but that beam of light shooting into the sky makes it all feel worth it.