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A view of a crimson forest with a hoglin and a ghast in the background.
A view of a nether fortress.
The Nether is a dangerous hell-like dimension containing fire, lava, fungal vegetation, many hostile mobs, and exclusive structures and biomes.
Accessing[]
Main article: Nether Portal
"Economy" portal without corners (left), full portal (right)
To access the Nether, the player must construct a nether portal in the Overworld (portals created in the End do not activate). To create the portal, the player must first build a rectangular obsidian frame, ranging in size from a minimum of 4 blocks × 5 blocks to a maximum of 23 blocks × 23 blocks. Once the frame is built, it can then be activated by placing fire within the frame, using flint and steel, fire charge, dispensers or any material that is capable of igniting fire.
The portal allows most entities (with the exception of the wither, the ender dragon, and entities riding or being ridden by another entity) to be transported to a corresponding portal in the Nether. In Survival, the player must stand in a nether portal for 4 seconds to get to the Nether. The player can step out of a portal before it completes its animation to abort the teleport. The portal plays a sound effect while the player is inside it. If there is no corresponding portal, a new 4×5 portal is created. The portal can be destroyed by breaking the obsidian frame, by a nearby explosion, or by placing water in the Overworld or lava into it with a bucket or dispenser. Any of the blocks in the corners can be destroyed without destroying the portal.
In the Old[Bedrock Edition only] world type, it is impossible to construct a nether portal. The portal block must be placed using cheats. When done, the Nether has the same 256×256 borders as the Overworld, and if a nether portal is then made in the Nether, it can spawn the player outside the world barrier.
Traits[]
Bedrock comprises the top (including and below layer 127) and bottom 4 layers in a rough pattern, essentially making the Nether 128 blocks high unlike the Overworld's 320. In the infinite worlds of the Java and Bedrock Editions, the Nether is also horizontally infinite. In Bedrock Edition, the build limit in the Nether is 128 blocks, despite it being 256 in all other dimensions.
The Nether has no daylight cycle and no weather. Natural sources of light include fire, lava, portals, shroomlights and glowstone. Even with a light level of 0, the Nether has a dim ambient light (roughly equivalent to light level 8 in the Overworld). Light otherwise functions exactly the same as it does in the Overworld and the End.
The majority of flora in the Nether is fungus-based as opposed to plants. The Nether "grass" consists of specialized Nether mycelium (known as "nylium"). The Nether features its own unique fungi (including nether wart), as well as equivalent huge fungi which serve as trees. The stems of the huge fungi function as logs. Also present are a number of native vines and roots.
Most creatures found in the Nether are hostile and potentially dangerous.
Locations in the Nether correlate to Overworld coordinates, but horizontal Overworld distances are scaled down by a ratio of 8:1 for travel in the Nether. Therefore, traveling one block in the Nether means traveling eight blocks in the Overworld. For example, in a perfect scenario, a player who enters a portal in the Overworld at x=0, z=0 and travels in the Nether to x=1000, z=1000 returns to the Overworld at x=8000, z=8000. This makes portals a useful tool for traveling long distances in the Overworld.
An image of the Nether with a nether fortress.
Most items and blocks in the Nether function the same as they do in the Overworld, with a few notable exceptions:
- Beds explode and cause fires when a player attempts to sleep in one. It has an explosion power of 5. The explosion is larger than that of TNT, which has an explosion power of 4. They cannot be used as a respawn point.
- One has to use a powered respawn anchor to respawn in the Nether, but when it runs out of charges, the player once again respawns in the Overworld.
- There is no way to place liquid water in the Nether without the use of commands, except inside a cauldron. These can be used to put out a player on fire, but are difficult to center oneself in.
- Using water buckets produces steam particles and a hissing sound, leaving the player with an empty bucket.
- Ice that is melted or smashed in the Nether does not produce water.
- A wet sponge instantly becomes a regular sponge when placed.
- If somehow placed using cheats or when placed inside a cauldron, water takes on a reddish-brown color.[Bedrock Edition only]
- Lava flows twice as far (eight blocks) and six times as fast in the Nether compared to Overworld, basically water's equivalent flow characteristics from the Overworld.
- Grass blocks and leaves take a dead-looking brownish color because the Nether is dry and hot.
- Maps generate a brown-gray static pattern. The player's direction indicator spins randomly; its location is still relative to the player's location in the Nether, except in the New Nintendo 3DS Edition, where it is always in the center of the map. Usable significantly for lava ocean travel via strider. Putting the map in the off-hand minimizes the map to help see one's strider footing.
- Clocks spin wildly, making it impossible to tell the time while in the Nether. Compasses also spin wildly unless connected to a lodestone, which they then point toward.
- Snow golems rapidly take fire damage and die, due to the Nether being dry and hot. However, they can survive if they have the Fire Resistance status effect.[Java Edition only]
Environment[]
The Nether features unique cave-like terrain with no sky. Lava and fire are common hazards everywhere in the Nether. Areas distant from the player are shrouded in fog of red or blue. Unlike the Overworld, the shape of the terrain in the Nether is independent of the biome distribution; instead, the biome alters the surface material and adds terrain features to the netherrack terrain.
Biomes[]
Main article: Biome § The Nether
The Nether is divided into several biomes just like the Overworld, each featuring unique terrain, mobs, structures, ambience, etc. There are currently five biomes in the Nether.
| Initially the sole biome in the dimension before the Nether Update, the nether wastes is the most common biome in the Nether. The surface is composed of uncovered netherrack, exposing more blobs than any other biome. Zombified piglins dominate this biome, and can be found in hordes of up to 4. | |
| The biome is named for its red color, and is covered by the canopies of huge, tree-like fungi. Huge, pig-like animals called hoglins roam around the nylium-covered terrain, while tribes of piglins hunt them for food. This makes it one of the only biomes to have an ecosystem. While not as numerous as in the nether wastes, the occasional zombified piglin also roams, and if near normal piglins, it scares them away.
It is also one of the more habitable biomes in the Nether, due to hoglins being a source of food in the dimension, and despite being a hostile mob, it can be bred, making it perfect for farms in the dimension. |
|
| This forest-type biome has the most amount of flora in the Nether dimension (due to the additional nether sprouts that are only found within the biome) but also only has two mobs, those being the endermen and the occasional strider. The amount of endermen here makes the biome an ideal place to collect ender pearls before the player has access to the End dimension.
The very low diversity of mobs here makes it another habitable place in the Nether, since no mobs spawned here are naturally hostile to the player. |
|
| This desert-like biome is dangerous, not just because of the huge caverns and darkness that can allow numbers of ghasts and skeletons to spawn, but also due to the deposits of soul sand which slow the player down. Boots enchanted with Soul Speed allow the player to avoid the slowing effect of soul sand. Bluish-colored soul fire is common here and are more dangerous than regular fires. | |
| With high amounts of lava and magma cubes, this is one of the most dangerous biomes in the game. The terrain consists of steep and spiky basalt formations along with the flatter deltas. When the biome collides with a lava sea, archipelagos of basalt and gravel form. The biome is almost impossible to build in, which might explain why bastion remnants don’t generate here (unless a bastion remnant generates in a bordering biome).
Even though the magma cubes here are dangerous, their spawning rate makes the biome ideal for collecting magma cream, which can be used for brewing Fire Resistance potions. Blackstone also generates more commonly here than in other Nether biomes, making the basalt deltas ideal for making stone tools. |
Generated structures[]
The Nether contains a variety of unique generated structures. Though equally vast, it contains far fewer types of generated structures than the Overworld.
| Nether fortresses are large, castle-like structures that are composed of nether bricks. This structure is often found bridging over lava seas, or tunnelling through netherrack.
This structure is the only place blazes and wither skeletons spawn, making fortresses the gateway to both bosses in the game: the ender dragon and the wither. Fortresses also contain blaze spawners, as well as small nether wart farms where nether wart can be obtained. Nether fortresses can be found in all Nether biomes. |
|
| Nether fossils are structures comprised of bone blocks. These structures have 14 different designs.
Unlike fossils in the Overworld, coal ore does not generate within these fossils. This structure generates exclusively within soul sand valley biomes. |
|
| Bastion remnants are large fortifications made up of blackstone, blackstone bricks and basalt. A large amount of gold blocks and loot chests can be found within these structures. They generate in four distinct variants, each with its own unique structure and loot.
These structures are inhabited by the piglins and piglin brutes, and in certain variants hoglins as well. These structures generate within any Nether biome except for the basalt deltas. |
|
| A structure containing what appears to be a destroyed nether portal and various types of stone or blackstone materials, when generating in the Overworld or the Nether, respectively. Netherrack generates on the ground around the portal, and a chest containing loot generates with the structure.
These structures can be found in any Overworld and Nether biome. |
Terrain features[]
The Nether has a lot of different terrain features which generate within the biomes of the Nether.
Mobs[]
The Nether is home to its own share of mobs, most of which are fire- and lava-proof. Skeletons, chickens, and endermen are the only Overworld mobs that can naturally spawn in the Nether; in Java Edition, baby zombified piglins may spawn as chicken jockeys.
Other Overworld mobs do not naturally spawn in the Nether but can be teleported through portals (with the exception of withers and ender dragons).
| Blaze | Chicken Jockey [JE only] |
Enderman | Ghast | Hoglin | Magma Cube |
| Piglin | Piglin Brute | Skeleton | Strider | Wither Skeleton | Zombified Piglin |
Blocks[]
Naturally generated[]
Naturally generated blocks includes those that are created through the world seed.
Naturally created[]
Naturally created blocks are created through a combination of events that lead these blocks to be placed by natural causes, not by the player.
Structures[]
These blocks are generated as part of nether fortresses, bastion remnants, and ruined portals, but only when the "generated structures" option is on.
Technical information[]
ID[]
| Nether | the_nether | -1 |
Folder[]
In Java Edition, the Nether is stored in .minecraft/saves/worldname/DIM-1. Deleting this folder resets the Nether, so that all player-made changes and buildings in that dimension are undone.
In Bedrock Edition, the com.mojang/minecraftWorlds/world ID/db folder contains several collections of chunks. Some of these files are used for the Nether, but it is impossible to tell which ones simply by reading the file name.
Achievements[]
| Into The Nether | Construct a Nether Portal. | Light a nether portal. | 30G | Bronze | ||
| Cover me in debris | Wear a full set of Netherite armor | Have a full set of Netherite armor in your inventory. | 50G | Gold | ||
| Oooh, shiny! | Distract a Piglin using gold | Give a piglin a gold item while it is aggressive toward the player. | 30G | Silver | ||
| Hot tourist destination | Visit all Nether biomes | The achievement can be completed if you visit biomes in different worlds. | 30G | Silver |
Advancements[]
There is a whole tab dedicated to the Nether in the advancement system, all involving visiting the Nether in some way in order to advance.
| We Need to Go Deeper | Build, light and enter a Nether Portal | Ice Bucket Challenge | Enter the Nether dimension. | story/enter_the_nether | |
| Nether | Bring summer clothes | — | Enter the Nether dimension. | nether/root | |
| Return to Sender | Destroy a Ghast with a fireball | Nether | Kill a ghast using a ghast fireball. | nether/return_to_sender | |
| Those Were the Days | Enter a Bastion Remnant | Nether | — | nether/find_bastion | |
| Hidden in the Depths | Obtain Ancient Debris | Nether | Have an ancient debris in your inventory. | nether/obtain_ancient_debris | |
| Subspace Bubble | Use the Nether to travel 7 km in the Overworld | Nether | Use the Nether to travel between 2 points in the Overworld with a minimum horizontal euclidean distance of 7000 blocks between each other, which is 875 blocks in the Nether. | nether/fast_travel | |
| A Terrible Fortress | Break your way into a Nether Fortress | Nether | Enter a Nether fortress. | nether/find_fortress | |
| Oh Shiny | Distract Piglins with gold | Nether | Give a piglin one of these 24 gold-related items in the #piglin_loved item tag: Other gold-related items, if any, do not distract the piglin and do not trigger this advancement. | nether/distract_piglin | |
| This Boat Has Legs | Ride a Strider with a Warped Fungus on a Stick | Nether | Boost[1] a strider with a warped fungus on a stick. | nether/ride_strider | |
| Uneasy Alliance | Rescue a Ghast from the Nether, bring it safely home to the Overworld... and then kill it | Return to Sender | Kill a ghast while in the Overworld. | nether/uneasy_alliance | |
| War Pigs | Loot a chest in a Bastion Remnant | Those Were the Days | Open a naturally generated, never before opened chest in a bastion remnant. | nether/loot_bastion | |
| Country Lode, Take Me Home | Use a compass on a Lodestone | Hidden in the Depths | — | nether/use_lodestone | |
| Cover Me in Debris | Get a full suit of Netherite armor | Hidden in the Depths | Have a full set of netherite armor in your inventory. | nether/netherite_armor | |
| Spooky Scary Skeleton | Obtain a Wither Skeleton's skull | A Terrible Fortress | Have a wither skeleton skull in your inventory. | nether/get_wither_skull | |
| Into Fire | Relieve a Blaze of its rod | A Terrible Fortress | Have a blaze rod in your inventory. | nether/obtain_blaze_rod | |
| Hot Tourist Destinations | Explore all Nether biomes | This Boat Has Legs | Visit all of the 5 following biomes:
| nether/explore_nether | |
| Withering Heights | Summon the Wither | Spooky Scary Skeleton | — | nether/summon_wither | |
| Local Brewery | Brew a potion | Into Fire | Pick up an item from a brewing stand potion slot. This does not need to be a potion. Water bottles or even glass bottles can also trigger this advancement.[2] | nether/brew_potion | |
| Bring Home the Beacon | Construct and place a beacon | Withering Heights | Be within a 20×20×14 cuboid centered on a beacon block when it realizes it has become powered. | nether/create_beacon | |
| A Furious Cocktail | Have every potion effect applied at the same time | Local Brewery | Have all of these 13 status effects applied to the player at the same time: The source of the effects is irrelevant for the purposes of this advancement. Other status effects may be applied to the player, but are ignored for this advancement. | nether/all_potions | |
| Beaconator | Bring a beacon to full power | Bring Home the Beacon | Be within a 20×20×14 cuboid centered on a beacon block when it realizes it is being powered by a size 4 pyramid. | nether/create_full_beacon | |
| How Did We Get Here? | Have every effect applied at the same time | A Furious Cocktail | Have all of these 27 effects applied to the player at the same time: The source of the effects is irrelevant for the purposes of this advancement. Other status effects, if any, may be applied to the player, but are ignored for this advancement. This is a hidden advancement, meaning that it can be viewed by the player only after completing it, regardless if one or more of its child advancements have been completed. | nether/all_effects | |
| Is It a Balloon? | Look at a ghast through a spyglass | Is It a Bird? | Look at a ghast through a spyglass while the ghast is focused on you. | adventure/spyglass_at_ghast |
History[]
| Added a map theme named "Hell". It was a normal map, but with a lava ocean, perpetually dim lighting, and a black sky with dull red clouds. Map themes were later removed in Infdev. |
| Notch mentions the return of the hell biome, and that it can be used for fast travel, based on a transportation method used in the novel series The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan. Within a dangerous transportation system, "the Ways", people could travel a massive amount of distance in a few days instead of weeks. |
| This announcement poster hinted that the hell world would utilize portals and that distance traveled inside the hell world would be multiplied greatly on the map above ground. |
| Notch reveals a new block type, now known as soul sand, that would be included in the new dimension. |
| A screenshot was released by Notch depicting what the Nether would look like. |
| Notch makes mention of the first mob to be added to the Nether, saying "You will hate the Ghast." |
| Notch tweets that he is working on the second new Nether mob, and says that they are less dangerous but are otherwise "pointless." |
| Notch was conflicted on naming the new dimension; he wanted to avoid "re-using existing religious names", and wanted to use a more creative and original name. He considered both "the Slip" and "the Nexus" but felt that neither felt "[M]inecrafty enough". It was eventually changed to "the Nether" on the day of the Halloween Update release. |
| A preview of the Halloween Update was sent out to two gaming websites later that day.[3] Interestingly, the name "the Slip" was used in this release. |
| Added the Nether, including ghasts, zombie pigmen, netherrack, soul sand, glowstone, and nether portals. |
| Lava was made to flow farther than it did on the Overworld. |
| Portals were made to function properly in multiplayer, allowing players in servers to teleport between the Overworld and the Nether. |
| Beds in the Nether were made to explode if used. |
| The Nether now finally works in multiplayer. |
| Jens Bergensten tweets a teaser screenshot of changes to the Nether terrain generation, including nether fortresses. |
| Jens releases a second teaser screenshot, showcasing the structure of the upcoming nether fortresses. |
| Jens mentions that he is finished with most of the new Nether features, including two new mobs, one of which is a "retexturing attempt". |
| Many new additions to the Nether, including: magma cubes, blazes (as well as blaze spawners and blaze rods), nether fortresses (including nether bricks, nether brick stairs and Nether brick fences), nether wart, ghast tears dropped by ghasts and gold nuggets dropped by zombie pigmen. |
| With the addition of the Silk Touch enchantment, it was possible to legitimately obtain water using ice in the Nether. |
| The ability to pick up ice blocks with the Silk Touch enchantment was removed. |
| Snow golems now take damage in the Nether. |
| Added the /give command. Using it to get water or flowing_water blocks allows another way to place water in the Nether. |
| Ice can now be obtained with Silk Touch again, but ice no longer melts into water in the Nether. |
| Rarely, nether portals spawn zombie pigmen. |
| Growing nether wart is no longer restricted to the Nether – it can be grown in the Overworld and the End. |
| Zombie pigmen can wear armor, and the sword they are holding makes them deal more damage. |
| Any mobs and entities can travel through nether portals. |
| Added wither skeletons. |
| Added nether brick slabs. |
| Nether quartz ore is added to the Nether, which spawns around netherrack. |
| Lava flows more quickly in the Nether, and hidden lava can be found in the Nether. |
| Chests can now be found in nether fortresses. |
| Four music tracks added for the Nether, including "Concrete Halls", "Dead Voxel", "Warmth" and "Ballad of the Cats". |
| Added the /setblock command which can place water in the Nether. |
| Added the /fill command which can place water in the Nether. |
| Removed the item forms of water. The /give command can no longer be used to get water in the Nether because water can no longer exist in inventories (just as a placed block). /setblock or /fill should be used in place of /give. |
| Removed the Nether fog. |
| Re-added the Nether fog. |
| The wither and ender dragon no longer travel through portals. |
| Endermen now rarely spawn in the Nether, and can now pick up netherrack. |
| Added magma blocks. |
| Added red nether bricks and nether wart blocks, which can be crafted but do not otherwise generate naturally in the Nether. |
| Vertical air cavities, stretching from bedrock level as far as Y=35 and filled with lava to Y=10, now occur in chains across the bottom of the Nether, often forming extensive ravines. |
| The biome "Hell" has been renamed to "Nether". |
| The biome ID of the Nether has been changed from hell to nether. |
| Added nether brick walls and red nether brick slabs, stairs and walls. |
| Soul sand and gravel now generate around lava sea level instead of between y level 60 and 65.[4] |
| Added 3 new biomes to the Nether, the crimson forest, warped forest and soul sand valley, while renaming the original Nether biome to nether wastes. |
| Added ancient debris, a rare ore that generates in the Nether. |
| Added hoglins, which spawn exclusively in the crimson forest in the Nether. |
| Added piglins, which spawn in both the crimson forest and nether wastes in the Nether. |
| Changed the ambient lighting in the Nether, it is now much darker |
| Added ambience to the Nether. |
| Added twisting vines to the warped forest biome in the Nether. |
| Added nether gold ore to the Nether. |
| Added striders, which spawn on lava lakes. |
| Added the basalt deltas biome to the Nether. |
| Added 3 new music tracks including: "Chrysopoeia", "Rubedo" and "So Below". |
| Added bastion remnants to the Nether. |
| Added ruined portals which can generate in the Nether. |
| Added piglin brutes, which spawn in bastion remnants. |
| Tommaso Checchi tweets a picture of the Nether, showing that it is officially in development. |
| He later tweets stating that he will not tell how finished it is or what version it will be in.[5] |
| Added the Nether. |
| Water can be placed in the Nether by breaking ice. |
| Lava now spreads faster in the Nether. |
| Endermen can now spawn in the Nether, and can now pick up netherrack. |
| Water cannot be placed in the Nether without inventory editing or using commands. |
| Four music tracks added for the Nether, including "Concrete Halls", "Dead Voxel", "Warmth" and "Ballad of the Cats". |
| Added magma blocks. |
| Added red nether bricks and nether wart blocks, which can be crafted but do not otherwise generate naturally in the Nether. |
| Added 3 new biomes to the Nether, the crimson forest, warped forest and soul sand valley. |
| Added ancient debris, a rare ore that generates in the Nether. |
| Added hoglins and piglins, hoglins spawn exclusively in the crimson forest in the Nether, while piglins spawn in both the crimson forest and nether wastes in the Nether. |
| Added ambience to the Nether. |
| Added nether gold ore to the Nether. |
| Added striders, which spawn on lava lakes. |
| Added the basalt deltas biome to the Nether. |
| Added 3 new music tracks including: "Chrysopoeia", "Rubedo" and "So Below". |
| Added bastion remnants to the Nether. |
| Added ruined portals which can generate in the Nether. |
| Gravel and blackstone patch can now generate below lava sea level in the Nether. |
| Added piglin brutes, which spawn in bastion remnants. |
| Added the Nether. |
| Added new music to the Nether. |
| Added nether fortresses. |
| Added Reset Nether option to force regeneration of the Nether. This is helpful for older saves that didn't have a nether fortress. |
| Endermen can now spawn in the Nether, and can now pick up netherrack. |
| Added magma blocks. |
| Added red nether bricks and nether wart blocks, which can be crafted, but do not otherwise generate naturally in the Nether. |
| Added the Nether. |
| Improved view distance. |
Issues[]
Issues relating to "The Nether" are maintained on the bug tracker. Report issues there.
Trivia[]
- Upon entering the Nether as a single player, the passage of time freezes in the Overworld, resuming when the player returns unless the /forceload command is used. This is due to the spawn chunks no longer being ticked, and not chunks loading and unloading as some players believe. The spawn chunks are kept loaded when there are no players in the Overworld, but most stuff other than basic redstone stops working.
- The numbers for the 3 dimensions are -1=the Nether, 0=Overworld, 1=the End. This contributes to a misconception that the Nether is "below" the Overworld, although Dinnerbone confirmed that they are simply separate dimensions.[6]
- In Bedrock Edition, if a section of the bedrock ceiling is removed (e.g., through commands) mobs can spawn directly below where the ceiling should be, despite the surface density cap in the Nether being 0.
- In Legacy Console Edition, the size of the Nether is limited, with bedrock walls surrounding it on all sides. The Overworld-Nether ratio varies depending on the world size: it is 1:3 for Classic and Small worlds, 1:6 for Medium worlds, and 1:8 (the same as Java and Bedrock editions) for Large worlds.
- The crimson and warped forest biomes are suggested to decontaminate the Nether environment from potential landfill pollution that coincides with the presence of Ancient Debris, as stated from an article from the official Minecraft website regarding netherite scrap.[7]
Gallery[]
The first screenshot released by Notch showing what the Nether would look like.
Brightened version of the previous screenshot.
Another early view of a nether fortress Jeb released in September 2011.
The Nether as it appeared prior to Beta 1.8.
View of a nether fortress.
View of a nether fortress in basalt deltas
View of nether fortresses with a blaze spawner.
A large, spreading stream of lava in the Nether.
Ghasts are not harmed by lava or fire.
Bedrock naturally exposed in the Nether.
Using a map in the Nether causes the player's position indicator to rotate, but any markers do not.
A hidden lava source block uncovered.
Mushrooms naturally generated above the Nether.
The magma block naturally generated in the Nether.
The Nether in the Overworld, generated using Buffet.
The junction of all biomes in the Nether.
The basalt deltas, one of the five new biomes in the Nether.
The Nether ceiling, which is a vast endless plane of bedrock with a red sky of the void.
Brightened version of the previous screenshot.
View of the basalt deltas.
View of the warped forest.
An intersection of four different nether biomes.
Historically there have been many glitches enabling water to be placed in the Nether.
The Far Lands in the Nether.
References[]
Environment