I. Introduction
If you’re a Minecraft player who wants access to ender pearls, shulker shells, and other valuable resources, you’ll need to build an enderman portal. This portal is a gateway to the End dimension, where players can fight the Ender Dragon and collect rare items. In this article, we’ll provide a step-by-step guide for building an enderman portal, as well as explore different materials, design variations, advanced techniques, and collaborative ideas to inspire your Minecraft creations. Let’s get started!
II. Step-by-Step Guide
To build an enderman portal, you’ll need a few materials: 12 end portal frames (crafted with ender pearls and blaze powder), and 12 eyes of ender (crafted from blaze powder and ender pearls). Here’s how to build it:
- Choose a location for the portal. Enderman portals can be built on any flat surface, but many players choose to build them in a secure, underground location.
- Place one end portal frame, standing upright, in the center of where you want the portal to be.
- Place three end portal frames going out to the north, south, east, and west sides of the center frame.
- Place the remaining eight portal frames in the diagonal gaps between the outer and inner frames.
- Insert the eyes of ender into each of the 12 portal frames by right-clicking with the eye in your hand.
- The portal should activate and show the swirling animation when all twelve eyes have been inserted.
- Once the portal is built, throw an ender pearl into the center portal frame to enter the End dimension.
Some tips to keep in mind while building your enderman portal:
- Make sure the portal frames are all facing the correct direction (the “inward” purple side of the frame should face the center of the portal).
- If you’re building your portal in survival mode, make sure you have enough blaze powder and ender pearls to craft all the necessary portal frames and eyes of ender.
- To avoid accidentally ruining your portal, be careful not to break any of the portal frames or knock out any inserted eyes of ender while building.
III. Video Tutorial
If you’re a visual learner, you might find it helpful to supplement the written guide with a video tutorial. Luckily, there are plenty of YouTube tutorials available that demonstrate the process in real-time and provide additional tips and tricks. Here’s one video tutorial to get you started:
IV. Build Variations
While the basic enderman portal design is simple, there are plenty of ways to customize it to fit your personal style and building goals. Here are a few design strategies and variations to consider:
- Building the portal on a raised platform or incorporating stairs, to give it a more impressive presence
- Using different materials for the portal frames, such as obsidian or variant types of stone to add contrast and variety to the design
- Creating multiple portals in a row (for example, if you’re sharing the End dimension with a group of players) to make accessing the portal more efficient
- Using different lighting methods, such as sea lanterns or glowstone, to add visual interest and make the portal stand out
By experimenting with different design ideas and building techniques, you can create a customized enderman portal that suits your needs and reflects your personal style.
V. Building Materials Guide
When building an enderman portal, you have several options for materials to use. Here’s an overview of some of the most popular materials, along with their pros and cons:
- Obsidian: The classic material for enderman portals, as it is the only material that can withstand being exploded by the Ender Dragon. However, obsidian is time-consuming and resource-intensive to mine and can be tricky to obtain in large quantities.
- End Stone: This material matches the aesthetic of the End dimension and is a bit easier to mine than obsidian. However, it can be difficult to obtain large quantities of End stone without a Silk Touch pickaxe, and it is not blast-proof.
- Nether Brick: This material provides a consistent color and texture, and it’s easy to obtain in large quantities if you have access to a Nether fortress. However, it is not blast-proof and can be a little dull aesthetically compared to other materials.
- Quartz: This material provides a clean, white aesthetic that can contrast nicely with other building materials. It’s also blast-proof. However, quartz can be difficult to obtain, as it is only found in the Nether, and it can be resource-intensive to collect in large quantities.
Depending on your priorities (whether it’s blast resistance, aesthetics, or availability), you can choose a material that suits your needs for building an enderman portal.
VI. Advanced Techniques
Once you’ve mastered the basic technique of building an enderman portal, there are plenty of advanced techniques and tricks to take your portal-building skills to the next level. Here are a few to consider:
- Using perimeter walls around the portal to help prevent Endermen from teleporting away when they’re hit, making it easier to kill them and collect pearls
- Building a double-layered portal to help prevent accidental damage from the Ender Dragon’s attacks
- Guiding ender pearls through the portal by using a water elevator or other transportation method, so that players can easily collect them on the other side
- Synchronized portal-building with other players to help reduce the resource and time burden of building multiple portals
By learning and implementing some of these advanced techniques, you’ll be able to build a more efficient and effective enderman portal.
VII. Collaboration Ideas
Building an enderman portal can be a fun and rewarding collaboration project with other Minecraft players. Here are a few collaboration ideas to consider:
- Building a shared portal hub for a community of players to access the End more easily
- Hosting a build competition for who can create the most impressive enderman portal design
- Working together to gather resources for building multiple portals (e.g. divvying up the tasks of gathering obsidian, blaze rods, or ender pearls among a group of players)
- Assigning specific roles to different players during the build process (e.g. one player focuses on the frame structure, another player places the eyes of ender, etc.)
By collaborating with other players, you can build stronger relationships with your Minecraft community and create something truly impressive together.
VIII. Inspirational Examples
Need some inspiration for your enderman portal design? Check out these incredible builds from other Minecraft players:
- The End Portal: A sleek, modern portal design with a red and black color scheme
- End Survival: Fog Cannon: A design that incorporates a Fog Cannon, a water elevator, and a sleek black and gray aesthetic
- Stairway to the End: An impressive stairway that leads up to the portal, featuring a blue and white color palette and a double-layered portal design
By examining the techniques and design choices of other players, you can adapt them to suit your own style and create something truly unique and impressive.
IX. Conclusion
In this guide, we’ve explored everything you need to know to build an enderman portal in Minecraft, as well as tips and tricks for customizing and expanding upon the basic design. Whether it’s collaborating with other players to build a portal complex or experimenting with different materials and designs to create something unique, there’s no limit to what you can achieve with your Minecraft building skills.