Minecraft is one of the most popular games on the planet and has sold millions upon millions of copies worldwide. It’s a creation, imagination, and exploration game and provides fun for you and your friends for hours and hours.
One of the most important objectives in the game is visiting the Nether - an underworld-like dimension where you can farm valuable resources and hunt unique mobs for their drops.
To visit the Nether, though, you need to build a Nether Portal, and we’re going to show you how. Read on for more.
Minecraft: an Overview
If you pay attention to video games at all, then it’s likely that you do not need to be introduced to this iconic game. Minecraft is a simple, sandbox game packed with infinite opportunities for exploration and adventure and can be played for hours on end.
In it, you are given the power to create constructions that are only limited to your imagination, using the abundance of resources and building blocks that the game offers. When you boot up a new game, you’ll spawn in a random biome, usually one with trees and animals.
You’ll start by punching the nearest tree to get wood and build your first tools. From there, the progression snowballs, and before you know it, you’ll have constructed your first home while wearing some exciting armor.
You’ll hunt animals, defeat mobs that come out at night, and visit entirely new dimensions and be faced with new challenges. On the topic of new dimensions, the Nether is a place you’ll be visiting frequently if you’re trying to stock up on exotic building and crafting materials.
Building a Nether Portal
While there are a number of different ways that you can design your Nether Portal, they all work the exact same way. To build the most basic design, you will need 14 blocks of Obsidian and 1 Flint and Steel / 1 Fire Charge.
To start, you will need the 14 blocks of Obsidian we mentioned earlier. Place down four blocks in a horizontal row, then add another four on top of the ends of the base. You should be looking at a ‘U’ shape made of Obsidian.
Connect the two upward joints together with your last two blocks so that the frame is closed. Once you’ve done that, use your Flint and Steel or Fire Charge on one of the base blocks. The portal should light up with a purple glow.
When you’re ready to enter the Nether, simply step through the portal. You’ll be met with plenty of red Netherrack blocks, and likely a bunch of not-so-friendly mobs. Welcome to the Nether!
What to Do in the Nether
There’s a lot of stuff to do in the Nether: defeat monsters, harvest materials, explore, and more. In fact, visiting the Nether is a necessity if you ever want to be able to craft potions, create powerful gear, and defeat the game’s bosses.
In the Nether, there are five monsters. They are Ghasts, Blazes, Wither Skeletons, Magma Cubes, and Zombie Pigmen.
There are also five kinds of resources, which are Nether Quartz, Nether Wart, Glowstone, Soul Sand, and Netherrack. Each of these has its own unique properties and cannot be found on the Overworld.
When you enter the Nether, know that you are visiting one of the most dangerous places in Minecraft. There isn’t much light, there’s lava everywhere, and the monsters are much more deadly. Dying is easy, so you’ll only want to bring the survival essentials when you’re paying the underworld a visit.
Be sure to remember where your Nether Portal is, or bring the appropriate resources with you to the Nether to build another one because it’s easy to get lost in this place. Don’t place a bed down either, because it’ll explode in your face, likely killing you.
Wrapping Up
And there you have it, a complete guide on how to build yourself a Nether Portal in Minecraft, as well as what to do when you’re actually in the Nether. We hope that you have found this article useful and that you’ll be brave enough to venture into Minecraft’s very own underworld.
