So, you want to fly. Everyone does. Whether you’re tired of being blown up by a stray Creeper while trekking across a mountain biome or you just want to see your mega-base from a thousand blocks up, the urge to find out how to make wings in Minecraft is pretty much universal.
But here is the cold, hard truth that most clickbait tutorials won't tell you: you basically can't craft them.
Not in the traditional sense, anyway. You aren't going to pull up a crafting table, throw in some feathers and leather, and walk away with a pair of Elytra. It doesn't work like that. If you see a video claiming you can craft wings using a "secret recipe" involving diamonds or phantom membranes, they are lying to you. Or they’re using mods. In the vanilla, unmodded game—the one most of us play on Bedrock or Java—the "making" of wings is actually a quest. It's an endgame heist.
The Elytra Reality Check
The "wings" in Minecraft are officially called Elytra. They aren't even really wings; they’re more like a glider. If you jump off a cliff and do nothing, you’ll just fall slightly slower until you hit the dirt. To actually fly, you need external propulsion. We'll get to the firework rockets later, but first, you have to actually find the damn things.
Since you can't craft them, "making" wings is more about "taking" wings. You have to travel to The End. Not just the part where you kill the Ender Dragon, but the infinite, terrifying void that lies beyond the main island. This is where most players get stuck. They kill the dragon, see the credits roll, and think they’ve won. They haven't. The real game starts once you find that tiny bedrock portal (the End Gateway) that teleports you to the outer islands.
Where the Elytra Actually Hide
Once you've warped through that tiny portal—usually by throwing an Ender Pearl into it—you’re looking for an End City. But not just any city. You need one that has an End Ship floating next to it.
Honestly, finding an End Ship is a test of patience. You’ll be bridging over the void, praying a rogue Enderman doesn't knock you off, staring at purple towers for hours. When you finally see that ship, you’ve found the treasure. Inside the ship’s hull, sitting in an item frame behind a Shulker, is your Elytra. That’s it. That’s the "recipe."
- Step 1: Kill the Dragon.
- Step 2: Navigate the Outer Islands.
- Step 3: Raid an End Ship.
- Step 4: Don't fall into the void with your new loot.
How to "Make" Wings Functional with Rockets
Finding the Elytra is only half the battle. If you put them on your chest plate slot right now and jump, you’re just a falling rock with style. To turn these into actual wings, you need to "make" propulsion. This is where the crafting table finally comes into play.
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Firework Rockets are your fuel. But don't mess this up. If you add a "Firework Star" to the recipe, the rocket will explode when you use it. You will die. Your wings will break. It’s a bad time.
To fly properly, you want Duration 3 Rockets. You make these by combining one piece of Paper with three piles of Gunpowder. This gives you the longest flight boost without any of the "exploding in your face" side effects. It’s a simple 1:3 ratio. Most players keep a massive sugarcane farm and a creeper farm running just to sustain their flight habit. If you aren't prepared to spend half your time gathering gunpowder, you aren't ready for wings.
The Phantom Membrane Myth
There is a huge misconception about Phantom Membranes. People see the "Leathery Wings" of a Phantom and assume that’s how to make wings in Minecraft. It makes sense, right? Phantoms fly. They drop wing-stuff. Why can't I sew them together?
Well, Mojang decided against it. Instead, Phantom Membranes are used to repair your Elytra.
Wings have durability. Every second you spend gliding, that durability bar ticks down. If it hits zero, the wings don't disappear, but they stop working. They turn into a "broken" item texture. To fix them, you have two real options:
- Use an Anvil and Phantom Membranes (expensive and eventually hits the "Too Expensive!" cap).
- Get the Mending enchantment.
Seriously, if you have wings and you don't have Mending on them, you are living on borrowed time. Mending allows the wings to repair themselves every time you pick up an XP orb. It’s the only way to make your wings permanent.
Why Some People Think You Can Craft Them
If you've seen people crafting wings in Minecraft on YouTube, you’re likely looking at one of three things.
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First, there are Data Packs. Server admins can change the game's code so that a specific recipe (like a Nether Star surrounded by Phantom Membranes) produces an Elytra. This is common on "Anarchy" servers or specialized SMPs to make the game less of a grind.
Second, there are Mods. Mods like The Twilight Forest or Draconic Evolution add entirely different flight mechanics. These often involve "making" wings out of literal dragon scales or magical energy. But that isn't the base game.
Third, there's Creative Mode. If you’re in Creative, you just pull them out of the menu. No effort required. But we’re talking about Survival here—the real grind.
The Nuance of Flying Mechanics
Flying with Elytra isn't like flying a plane in a simulator. It’s more like being a very fast paper airplane. You have to manage your pitch. If you aim too high, you stall. If you aim too low, you pick up speed but lose altitude fast.
The "pro" move is to look at about a 40-degree angle, fire a rocket, and then level out. If you do it right, you can travel thousands of blocks in a couple of minutes. This completely changes how you play. Distance becomes irrelevant. You stop building roads. You stop caring about mountains. You just... go.
The Risks Nobody Mentions
Everyone talks about the glory of flight, but nobody talks about kinetic energy. This is the "hidden" mechanic that kills more players than Creepers do once they get wings.
If you fly into a wall at high speed, the game calculates your "Kinetic Energy" and applies it as damage. It’s basically Minecraft’s version of a car crash. I’ve seen players in full Netherite armor get deleted instantly because they tried to land a bit too fast and hit a leaf block.
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Pro tip: Always land in a spiral. Don't go for a straight approach. Circle your landing zone like a bird until you're moving slow enough to touch down safely.
Actionable Steps for Your First Flight
If you're sitting in your dirt hut right now wondering where to start, here is the path. Forget about "making" wings for a second and focus on the infrastructure.
1. Secure a Mending Book. Trade with librarians until you find one that sells Mending. Do not go to The End without a Mending book waiting in a chest at home. It’s heartbreaking to find wings and then lose them because they broke over a lava lake.
2. Build a Gunpowder Farm. You’re going to need thousands of rockets. A simple platform-based creeper farm in a deep ocean biome is usually the easiest way to get this going early on.
3. Master the Bridge. Practice "jitter clicking" or crouch-bridging. When you’re in The End, one mistake sends all your gear into the void. Bring a few stacks of Ender Pearls as a "safety net" in case you fall.
4. The Looting Strategy. When you find the End Ship, don't just grab the wings. Grab the Dragon Head on the front of the ship too. It’s a rare trophy and looks cool. Also, the chests inside End Cities contain some of the best enchanted gear in the game.
Wings fundamentally change the Minecraft experience. You move from a ground-based survivor to a literal god of the skies. Just remember that the game doesn't give them to you for free. You have to earn them through exploration and endgame combat. There is no crafting recipe, no shortcut, and no easy way out. Just the void, the ships, and the rockets.
Go get 'em.