How to Beat Minecraft

Last Updated: November 3, 2025 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Pixlriffs. Pixlriffs is a Minecraft expert and YouTube content creator based in Brighton, UK. With over 11 years of experience, Pixlriffs is a gameplay commentator who has specialized in Minecraft tutorials and Let's Play series since 2014. On his channel, he shares explanations of Minecraft mechanics, build tutorials, showcases of upcoming and in-development features, and more. He also co-hosts The Spawn Chunks, a weekly Minecraft news and discussion podcast.

This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources.

This article has been viewed 691,187 times.

How do I beat Minecraft?

1. Step 1 Stockpile supplies.
   1
   Stockpile supplies. This is a pretty crucial step, and there are several very specific supplies you will need to locate the stronghold, and to access the end game.

   • For this tutorial you will need to have at least basic knowledge of the ins and outs of Minecraft.
2. Step 2 Mine ores.
   2
   Mine ores. You will need to find at least 5 diamonds, 64 iron, and several stacks of coal. You will need seven diamonds if you want a sword, pickaxe and an enchantment table, and even more if you want armor.^[1] Although, if possible, netherite is best.

   • This step could take a very long time.
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3. Step 3 Craft tools and armor.
   3
   Craft tools and armor. You will need at least 1 diamond sword, 1 diamond pick, 1 full set of iron armor, a bow, arrows, and several stacks of torches.^[2]
4. Step 4 Mine obsidian.
   4
   Mine obsidian. You will need it for the Nether portal.^[3] The easiest way to get obsidian is to pour lava next to water.

   • Only diamond picks can mine obsidian.^[4]
   • You can also use obsidian in the crafting of an enchantment table, which can help a lot when fighting the dragon or simply playing the game in general.
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1. Step 1 Build and light a Nether Portal.
   1
   Build and light a Nether Portal. To create a Nether Portal, you'll need at least ten obsidian blocks. Make a hollow standing rectangle, with an opening 3 blocks high and 2 blocks long (corners are not necessary; you can use any block as a stand-in). Then strike the inside of the rectangle with flint and steel. The empty inner space should turn purple and start to make interesting sounds.
2. Step 2 Enter the Nether.
   2
   Enter the Nether. Stand in the portal and wait 4 seconds to be transported into the Nether. Make sure you have your flint and steel for relighting the portal in case it breaks from a ghast and plenty of food to keep yourself well-fed.
3. Step 3 Find a Nether Fortress.
   3
   Find a Nether Fortress. A Nether Fortress is a structure in the Nether that contains Nether Wart and a Blaze spawner. They can be somewhat hard to find, so it could take a while.
4. Step 4 Kill Blazes and gather Nether Wart.
   4
   Kill Blazes and gather Nether Wart. Blazes drop Blaze rods, which are needed for making potions and getting to the endgame. You will need a lot of Blaze rods.^[5]

   • Nether Wart is a key ingredient in potions, and it only grows on Soul Sand, so collect some Soul Sand (it's brown with a face-like pattern) and try farming it in your base. Nether Wart can be found naturally occurring in nether fortresses in two small patches alongside stairs going upwards.
5. Step 5 Craft a brewing stand.
   5
   Craft a brewing stand. This will let you brew potions, which will help during the final boss fight.
6. Step 6 Gather Ender pearls.
   6
   Gather Ender pearls. Ender pearls can be gathered by killing endermen, or by bartering with piglins (1.16+). Ender pearls have several uses so gather at least 20 of them. Some of their uses are:

   • Teleportation. Right-click with an ender pearl selected to throw the ender pearl, and be teleported to its landing site. This can be quite useful in areas such as ravines, large caves, and the Nether.
   • Eye of Ender ingredient. You use ender pearls to craft eyes of ender.
7. Step 7 Craft Eyes of Ender.
   7
   Craft Eyes of Ender. These are crucial in helping you locate and unlock the endgame. You can craft an Eye of Ender by combining blaze powder and an ender pearl in the crafting grid.

   • This is a shapeless recipe, and the ingredients can be placed anywhere in the crafting grid.
   • Blaze powder is crafted by placing a blaze rod anywhere in the crafting grid.
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1. Step 1 Throw an Eye of Ender.
   1
   Throw an Eye of Ender. It will fly up and move in the direction of the nearest stronghold, a very rare underground structure. You throw an Eye of Ender by right-clicking while holding the Eye (or by tapping "Use" on Pocket Edition).
2. Step 2 Repeat the previous step until a stronghold is located.
   2
   Repeat the previous step until a stronghold is located. You will know you have found a stronghold when the Eye of Ender starts flying towards the ground.

   • The Eyes have a 1 in 5 chance of being destroyed after each use so bring a lot of them.
3. Step 3 Excavate the stronghold.
   3
   Excavate the stronghold. You will probably have to dig a bit to find the stronghold.
4. Step 4 Secure the area.
   4
   Secure the area. The stronghold will be full of mobs, so clear it out and light it up.

   • As usual, don't dig straight down, as the End Portal frame is suspended directly over a shallow lava pool! If you aren't above the frame itself, you could fall into a deep cave and take fall damage, along with a potential attack from various hostile monsters.
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1. Step 1 Locate an End Portal.
   1
   Locate an End Portal. Each stronghold has exactly one End Portal. This is what you will use to get to The End.
2. Step 2 Activate the Portal.
   2
   Activate the Portal. You activate the portal by filling the "frame" with Eyes of Ender. To do this, equip the eye, then use an empty block on the frame. Repeat this until all twelve blocks contain eyes. Each portal frame has a 1 in 10 chance to already have an eye in it. If you are extremely lucky, the portal might be completely filled when you get to it!
3. Step 3 Jump into the Portal.
   3
   Jump into the Portal. This will take you to The End.

   • You will not be harmed by the lava under the portal when you are jumping into an activated portal, but if it is not activated you will likely burn to death and lose all your equipment!
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1. Step 1 Get ready to fight the boss.
   1
   Get ready to fight the boss. The End boss is called the Ender Dragon. She (yes, she was officially confirmed to be female) flies around the End skies. You must kill her to beat the game.

   • Watch out for Endermen, they spawn heavily in this dimension. Looking directly at their face will cause them to turn hostile.
   • Saving, exiting, and reloading while in the End, if you have not yet killed the dragon, will cause a second dragon to spawn. Make sure you have enough time to finish the battle.
2. Step 2 Locate the dragon.
   2
   Locate the dragon. She may take a moment to appear, so take this time to prepare by sorting your inventory and such.

   • You may spawn underground. If this is the case, just dig your way out.
3. Step 3 Destroy the End Crystals.
   3
   Destroy the End Crystals. These crystals, located atop the obsidian towers in the End, heal the Ender Dragon.

   • You can destroy them with any attack, including a snowball. Using a close-range weapon is not recommended, since the crystals explode when hit. Some crystals are defended by iron bars.
4. Step 4 Kill the dragon.
   4
   Kill the dragon. You can damage the dragon using a sword, bow and arrows, or explosive items. The dragon is immune to lava, fire, and splash potions, but potions that buff your stats are very useful.

   • Since trying to sleep in the End or Nether results in an explosion, you can use beds to damage the Ender Dragon. Just place it atop the bedrock pillar, get somewhere safe, and then try to sleep when the dragon comes close.
   • In Java Edition, the dragon is invulnerable to arrows while it is perched on top of the portal.^[6]
5. Step 5 Collect the loot.
   5
   Collect the loot. The Enderdragon drops up to 70 levels of XP, and opens the exit portal.
6. Step 6 Explore the outer islands (optional).
   6
   Explore the outer islands (optional). End Cities spawn rarely in the outer end islands. These can have chests filled with valuable loot, such as:

   • Shulker shells: End cities spawn an exclusive mob, the shulker. Shulkers drop their shells when killed, which can be used to craft shulker boxes, a chest that can retain its contents when it's in your inventory.
   • Dragon head: 25% of end cities will have an end ship. The end ship has a dragon head on the bow. The dragon head is a purely aesthetic, but still rare and valuable, item that can be worn on your head.
   • Elytra: The end ship also has an item frame containing the Elytra. the Elytra is a rare item that can be equipped in the chestplate slot and allows you to fly by using firework rockets to boost yourself.
7. Step 7 Jump into the exit portal.
   7
   Jump into the exit portal.
8. Step 8 Beat the Game!
   8
   Beat the Game! Now you have "beaten Minecraft," you'll spawn in your world's normal spawn after the credits, with all of your gear and a large number of extra experience levels!

   • You can go back to the End whenever you want now, provided you can reach the portal. Several valuable things can be found there, such as the Endermen and their valuable Ender Pearls, and the Obsidian and End Stone blocks, which are some of the most blast-resistant blocks in the game that you can use.
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Tips

Tips from our Readers

• Bring at least 5 ender pearls. That way, if you fall off the island into the void, you can quickly teleport back up again and prevent yourself from having to get your diamond armor and other valuable stuff from scratch again!
• After you have defeated the Ender Dragon, you can get an Ender Pearl and go to the bedrock portal to go to the End City, which has an Elytra inside a ship floating outside of it.
• You can take the egg by destroying the block underneath the one directly below it. Add a torch under this block, destroy the block underneath the egg, and take the egg.
• You can also throw snowballs at the crystals on top of the towers and save your arrows for the fight with the dragon.
• If you can, make tipped arrows with Poison or Instant Damage. They can damage the Dragon a little more.

Warnings

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