How to make an End Portal in Minecraft: How to find End Portals inside Strongholds
Learn everything you need to travel to the End in Minecraft
How do you make an End Portal in Minecraft? So, you've conquered the Minecraft Overworld, and you've delved deep into the Nether, and now you're wondering what the next big step in your Survival adventure might be. Or perhaps you're creating your own spectacular Minecraft build in Creative Mode, and an austere End Portal is just what you need to complete your masterpiece.
Either way, this guide will help answer all your questions. Below we'll walk you through how to find an End Portal in Minecraft Survival Mode and complete it with Eyes Of Ender. We'll also explain how to create your own End Portal in Creative Mode, for those who are more interested in building than exploring.
How to make an End Portal in Minecraft
There are two ways to make a working End Portal in Minecraft, depending on which gamemode you're playing on. In Survival Mode, you make an End Portal by finding an unfinished End Portal inside a Stronghold, and then filling each empty End Portal Frame Block with an Eye Of Ender. Doing this will activate the Portal, allowing you to drop in and travel to the End.
You cannot create an End Portal from scratch in Survival Mode, since End Portal Frame Blocks can't be crafted or obtained naturally.
But if you're playing in Creative Mode, you can easily create an End Portal at any location by placing 12 End Portal Frame Blocks in a horizontal ring, leaving a 3x3 square of empty space in the middle of the ring. Then place an Eye Of Ender inside each End Portal Frame Block to activate it as you would in Survival Mode.
![A lit End Portal inside the Portal room of a Stronghold in Minecraft.](https://assetsio.reedpopcdn.com/minecraft-end-portal-in-dungeon.jpg?width=690&quality=80&format=jpg&auto=webp)
How to find an End Portal in Minecraft
End Portals in Minecraft can only be found naturally inside Strongholds. Strongholds are large naturally occurring structures that are generated underground when your Minecraft world is created.
To find the nearest End Portal, first you need to craft some Eyes Of Ender. You can craft an Eye Of Ender by combining the following:
- 1x Ender Pearl (obtained by defeating Endermen or trading with Villagers using Emeralds)
- 1x Blaze Powder (crafted from Blaze Rods, which are dropped by slain Blazes in Nether Fortresses)
![The recipe for crafting an Eye Of Ender out of an Ender Pearl and Blaze Powder in Minecraft.](https://assetsio.reedpopcdn.com/minecraft-eye-of-ender-recipe.jpg?width=690&quality=80&format=jpg&auto=webp)
There's no exact number of Eyes Of Ender that you need, but a safe bet is to craft at least 12 Eyes Of Ender. You'll need some for placing inside the End Portal Frame Blocks (though most naturally occurring End Portals already have Eyes Of Ender placed inside some of the Frame Blocks), and you'll also need some leftover Eyes Of Ender for finding the Stronghold in the first place.
Once you have enough Eyes Of Ender and are prepared for a potentially lengthy journey, right-click with one and it'll fly out a short distance from you, in the direction of the nearest Stronghold. After hovering in the air for a few seconds it will either drop back to the ground for you to collect (80% chance), or shatter in mid-air (20% chance).
![An Eye Of Ender floats above a Minecraft landscape, leading the player towards the nearest Stronghold.](https://assetsio.reedpopcdn.com/minecraft-eye-of-ender.jpg?width=690&quality=80&format=jpg&auto=webp)
Travel in the direction of the Eye Of Ender, and then after a while, throw another one, then follow the new direction. Eventually, when you throw an Eye Of Ender, it will travel downward instead of out in a certain direction, indicating that the Stronghold is directly below you. Once that happens, start digging until you find the Stronghold!
There is a Portal Room inside each Stronghold generated in Minecraft, and it is inside this room that you will find the unfinished End Portal. Just keep exploring the maze-like Stronghold (it's a good idea to mark where you've already been by placing down torches) until you find the Portal. Then you can complete it by placing the Eyes Of Ender into the empty slots inside the End Portal Frame.
Strongholds are generated in rings around the centre of each Minecraft seed. There are always 128 Strongholds generated in total in each world, but the nearest 3 Strongholds are always found between 1280-2816 blocks (or 80-176 chunks) from [0,0].
![An X-ray schematic of an underground Stronghold in Minecraft, taken using Minecraft Spectator Mode.](https://assetsio.reedpopcdn.com/minecraft-dungeon-x-ray.jpg?width=690&quality=80&format=jpg&auto=webp)
And that's all there is to the task of making an End Portal in Minecraft! The journey may be tough (unless you're playing in Creative Mode, in which case it's extremely simple!), but the results are worth it, as you'll finally be able to travel to the last Minecraft dimension - The End itself. Make sure you're well-equipped with all the best Diamond and Netherite gear, and use the very best Minecraft enchantments available to you before you venture into the lair of the Ender Dragon.