How to Survive in Minecraft/Nether

The Nether is a dangerous but also rewarding place where you can get a variety of resources such as Blaze rods and quartz, but there are a lot of dangers such as lava, Ghasts, Blazes, falling, and more.

How to get in the Nether?

First of all, you either need some buckets or a diamond pickaxe to get the obsidian in the right positions to make the Nether Portal frame. Then you need to light it with a Flint and Steel. Nether portal frames need to be 4*5 or bigger to work.

Pickaxe method

Crafting recipe:

Diamond	Diamond	Diamond
	Stick
	Stick

This makes a diamond pickaxe.

A diamond pickaxe can be used to get obsidian for a nether portal frame and for an enchanting table. You only need 10 obsidian for a frame, as the corners can be removed and the portal will work just fine. Lava replaces air in caves past Y=-54, so bring some water there and spill it over, and you can mine the obsidian while the water protects you and the obsidian from the lava.

Bucket Method

With a few buckets, you can place lava in the correct spots for a nether portal frame then pour water all over the lava to make a bunch of cobblestone, stone, and obsidian. Mine out the stone and cobblestone, and that will also give you the frame needed.

Flint and Steel

After that, you can light the nether portal by right clicking an obsidian block inside the frame with the Flint and Steel, and it should activate. Crafting recipe:

Iron Ingot
	Flint

This makes A flint and steel.

What do you bring?

Of course, going to the Nether with no items will bring a quick death, but for your first time, you probably don't have fire resistance potions, an elytra, or other things. This is just a suggestion to what you should carry.

Armor

Gold Helmet
Iron/Diamond Chestplate
Iron/Diamond Leggings
Iron/Diamond Boots

Explanation

Of course, the iron/diamond pieces are for protection, but you may notice the gold helmet at the top. The gold helmet stops Piglins from attacking you on sight, as Piglins are greedy creatures and have gold as sort of a status symbol.

Wood logs	Iron ingots	Gold ingots					Some sort of marking block	Cobblestone (if available)
								Cobblestone
Diamond Pickaxe (optional)	Crafting Table			Flint and Steel	Arrows			Cobblestone
Iron Pickaxe	Iron/Diamond Sword	Iron/Diamond Axe	Iron/Diamond Shovel	Food (Salmon, beef, just any good one)	Bow			Cobblestone

Explanation

Tools

• Pickaxes are for mining.
  • The reason why an iron pickaxe is preferred to a diamond pickaxe is that a diamond pickaxe mines netherrack at the same speed as an iron pickaxe, which is almost instantly which can lead to wasting its durability.
• The rest of the tiered tools are self-explanatory.
• Flint and steel is for lighting fires, which can be useful if your portal is unlit by a Ghast.
• Bows and arrows are for fending off mobs from great distances
• A crafting table is for crafting of course.
• The food is to restore hunger after exploring.

Blocks

• The cobblestone is for building a Nether shelter around the portal to protect yourself.
• The marking block can be anything that is non-flammable and not found in the nether, such as our good old friend cobblestone.
• Wood logs are for making extra tools, sticks, and crafting tables
• Iron ingots are for spare tools, while gold ones are for trading with Piglins to get items.

Nether shelter

When starting out in the Nether, you do not have the time to build a super fancy shelter due to ghasts, skeletons, and mors so a durable, but simple one will have to do.

Do

• Use a blast-resistant block
• Use a block not found in the Nether
• Use a common block, so obsidian is not your best bet.

Do not

• Don't use a flammable block! They can catch on fire and destroy your base.

• Do not use netherrack, it is flimsy and blends into the nether.
• Do not use a block that blends into the surrounding landscape.

• Do not make your shelter huge, as Ghasts may spawn in there and tear up the shelter from the inside.
• Don't leave your portal partially exposed, as that would allow Ghasts to easily knock out your portal.

Considering all of these, the best block to use is cobblestone, as it is common (mined from stone), not from the Nether, rather blast-resistant, not flammable, and doesn't blend into the surrounding landscape.

Tips

• Have windows of glass so you can see what is outside without the outside seeing you.
• Doors are helpful to not let mobs wander in.

Exploration

When exploring in the Nether, it is important to consider a few things to stay safe and not get lost, the first of which is to find a Nether Fortress to get Blaze rods.

Marking

Marking every few dozen blocks allows you to make a trail to follow back to your shelter if you don't have enough supplies to continue. To do this, you can make a pillar 3 blocks tall out of cobblestone or a marking block if preferred.

Emergency Shelters

Netherrack Dig-in

Pros

• You gain resources
• Very easy to make

Cons

• Can dig into lava
• Is rather flimsy
• Blends in

The Dig-in is basically a sealed indent that protects you from mobs, but it requires mining to get in and out.

Cobblestone Cocoon

Pros

• Cobblestone is sturdier than netherrack
• Rather inexpensive
• Distinct from netherrack

Cons

• Takes some resources and time
• Mobs can attack you during building
• Non-native

Finding a Nether Fortress

A nether fortress is relatively recognizable via the tall nether brick pillars and bridge above, but finding one can be a game of cat and mouse and they use dark blocks that blend in. Using a Strider on a lava sea is able to cover more ground which is a higher chance for a fortress to be found. You may have to travel hundreds or thousands of blocks at times, but sometimes the fortress generates right next to you.

Nether Fortress

The nether fortress is one of the major structures of the Nether, and is made out of Nether bricks. Nether Fortresses are composed of long hallways connecting rooms, with chests and mobs spawning in between.

Hallways

Hallways are the connector between different rooms, and make up the majority of the fortress area. They are home to Wither Skeletons, Zombified Piglins, and lots of nether brick blocks. They also have chests that contain various items from Flame Charges to armor to arrows.

They may end in blaze Spawners, or just open out to the outside world.

Blaze Spawners

Blaze spawner rooms are end nodes of nether fortress, and contain a Blaze Spawner that spawns Blazes. They are 7 by 7 rooms with Nether Fences as walls, and can host many Blazes that can swarm you. They are essential for Blaze Rods which are used for Eyes of Ender or for Brewing Stands.

To deal with Blaze Spawner rooms, first wall them off with cobblestone or glass, so blazes cannot surround you. Then leave a little opening at the bottom for you to attack through with a sword. This allows you to grind blazes for blaze rods.

Crafting recipe:

	Blaze Rod

This makes 2 Blaze powder.

Nether Wart Farms

Nether wart farms are rooms housing Nether wart planted on soul sand. They also feature stairs going upwards to a different floor and two openings for hallways. Nether wart is used for brewing potions, which are helpful for various activities such as fighting, healing, or for fun.

Biomes in the Nether

There are 5 different biomes in the Nether, those being the Nether wastes, soul sand valley, crimson forest, warped forest, and basalt deltas. Each has different mobs and blocks.

Nether Wastes

The Nether Wastes are the most common biome in the Nether, and are basically the Nether before the Nether Update. The Nether Wastes house lots of Netherrack, gravel and soul sand plains, glowstone, and perilous cliffs leading to lava. Here, you can find Zombified Piglins, Magma Cubes, Striders, Ghasts, and more.

Soul Sand Valleys

These contain lots of Soul Sand and Soul Soil with basalt pillars, occasional nether fortresses and Bastions, soul fire (Blue fire that does double the damage of regular fire), and Nether Fossils. Skeletons, Magma Cubes, and Ghasts spawn here.

This is often considered one of the more dangerous biomes, as Soul Sand slows you down, skeletons and ghasts are ranged, and lava and fire still exist.

Crimson Forests

The Crimson Forests are a new biome in the Nether, and feature Crimson wood, a red new fireproof wood that can be used for anything that regular wood does. This also features Piglins, Hoglins, Endermen, mushrooms, and Crimson roots. This is a good place for getting supplies, as Crimson wood can replace regular logs, and hoglins give Porkschops when killed.

Crimson fungi also have shroomlights that light up the area.

Warped Forests

The warped forests are the counterpart to crimson forests, and feature warped wood, which is the alternative to crimson wood, being blue instead of red. There are no Piglins or Hoglins in this area, instead there are just Endermen, Striders, mushrooms, and more shroomlights. You can also get wood from here, but no meat.

Basalt Deltas

This biome features Basalt, Blackstone, and chaotic terrain. There are a lot of potholes filled with lava, and bastion remnants do not spawn in this biome. Magma cubes and ghasts are the two mobs that spawn in this biome.