Everything To Know About the End Dimension: End Cities, Ender Dragon, and More

Minecraft has three core dimensions: the Overworld, the Nether, and the End. If you have already explored the first two, it's time to shift your focus and prepare for the End dimension.

This is the game’s final destination. There’s no sky, no day-night cycle, and no trees here. It’s dominated by End Stone terrain, towering Obsidian pillars, swarms of Endermen, and the game’s ultimate boss: the Ender Dragon.

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Before entering this dimension, you need to be prepared, and it isn’t beginner level, which is why you should visit the Nether first and get your complete set of Netherite armor. If you’re looking to fully progress in Minecraft, both in survival and technical gameplay, the End is not optional.

Let’s check out everything there is to know about this dimension and why it is important to progress in the game.

Preparing For The End

Before you enter the End Dimension, you need to be prepared for what’s coming. This isn’t your average mining trip, but a high-stakes journey to another dimension. So, here is a detailed guide on everything you will need.

1. Armor: You need at least a complete set of Diamond armor, or the best option is to go with Netherite armor for better protection. Without this, the dragon will turn you into pixelated dust.

Other than this, some of the enchantments you will need are:

  • Protection IV: All-around defense
  • Feather Falling IV (boots): So you don’t break your legs when flung into the air by the dragon.
  • Unbreaking III + Mending: Helps your gear last longer in the fight

2. Weapons: Again, for the best performance, it's best to upgrade the weapons with Netherite.

  • Sword: Use Sharpness or Smite enchantments. Great for shredding the dragon during perch attacks and slicing through Endermen.
  • Bow: Use Power V and Mending.
  • Crossbow: Works perfectly well if you are comfortable with it, especially with Quick Charge III

Furthermore, make sure all your gears have Unbreaking and Mending enchantments at least, if not the ones above. These will keep them from wearing out for a longer period.

3. Blocks: You will need to carry a lot of blocks with you, such as Cobblestone, since they are pretty cheap. These come in handy when you want to escape the Endermen or reach out to the End Crystals.

4. Food: This is pretty basic. Anything that will keep you saturated for long will work. You may never know if you will get any kind of food in the End Dimension, so carrying cooked pork chops and Golden carrots will be your best bet.

5. Potions: These are extremely important for you. The best ones are Fire Protection (protects you from the Dragon’s fireball), Slow Falling (prevents any fall damage), healing potions, night potions, and whichever ones you find are necessary.

6. Water Bucket: Forget everything and just carry this. Kidding! But yes, you need this in your End journey. You can quickly place this to break your fall, it keeps Endermen away, and can even be used to avoid Ender attacks.

7. Rockets: Not many will tell you this. But trust us on this. And carry as many as you have.

Let’s Get You To The End

Now that we have everything we need and are prepared for the End, the only thing left to do here is find the End portal and get going. But it isn’t as easy as building the Nether portal.

Locate A Stronghold

To enter the End, you need to go through a Stronghold, which is a massive underground structure hidden somewhere in the Overworld. You’ll need Eyes of Ender to locate it.

1 Ender Pearl + 1 Blaze Powder = 1 Eye of Ender

Ender Pearls are found by killing the Endermen that can be found in the Nether biome and also in the Overworld biomes, such as Deserts or Plains. Similarly, Blaze Rods are crafted from Blazes found in the Nether. Although you need 12 Ender Pearls to activate the End Portal, it's best to carry 15-20 for emergencies.

Now, go to any open area and hold the Ender Pearl in your hand and make a right click. The pearl will float into the air and drift in the direction of the nearest Stronghold. Once the Eye starts hovering and dropping straight down, the Stronghold is directly below you.

Keep digging in the area straight down till you find the Stronghold. Search through halls, staircases, and rooms until you find the End Portal Room, which contains a lava pool with a portal frame and a Silverfish spawner above it.

2. Activating the End Portal

You will see multiple empty slots in the portal frame blocks where you have to place the Ender Pearls. Once you place all 12 Ender Pearls in the slots, the portal will be activated, forming a black, starry void in the center.

It is important to understand here that this is your one-way trip. Once you enter the portal, you have to defeat the Ender Dragon to move further. If you die in the End Dimension, you simply respawn in your Overworld bed.

The Ender Dragon Fight

The Ender Dragon is the only true boss in the base game, and defeating it requires preparation, patience, and smart tactics. Let’s break it down step-by-step.

Step 1: Destroy End Crystals

Before even getting to the dragon for a fight, you must destroy the End Crystals. They are the healing source of the dragon; hence, your damage will be undone in seconds. Your priority is to destroy all of them.

Most of the crystals on the obsidian towers are unprotected. To shoot crystals from afar, simply use your bow and arrow or the crossbow. Two other crystals are caged and need some planning to get to them.

You can choose to climb up these towers by either using a scaffolding or cobblestones. Make sure to use a water bucket before climbing up, which will eventually help you land safer and keep away the Endermen, too. Or you can even drink a Slow Falling potion to reduce fall damage.

Step 2: The Ender Dragon Battle

It's time for the Ender Dragon fight. Once the crystals are gone, the dragon will be flying all over you. The best way to attack an aerial enemy is by using a bow and arrow, and ensure you are aiming for the head. This would give you the most damage.

However, it is also important to keep dodging and moving around while attacking to avoid fireballs and dragon breath attacks. There is another way to attack the dragon when it lands on the portal in the center. Use your melee weapon and keep hitting it. Repeat this till you defeat the dragon.

Step 3: Gather the Loot

Once everything is done, you will get the best loot ever. The first Dragon death drops up to 12,000 XP, enough to take you from level 0 to over 60. Not only this, you also get to collect a Dragon Egg that appears on top of the portal fountain. It is only meant for decoration, but worth it.

Moreover, after the Dragon dies, a Bedrock portal opens in the End Fountain. Jumping in sends you back to the Overworld with the end credits and your XP.

The End Gateway & Exploring Outer End Islands

Even though you might have seen the credits roll on your screen after you have defeated the dragon, there is so much more to the End Dimension.

As soon as you defeat the dragon, you will see a portal appear above you. This is the End Gateway. Since it's floating in the air, you will have to reach out to it using cobblestones. This portal teleports you thousands of blocks away to the Outer End Islands, where you can find End Cities, Shulkers, and the prized Elytra.

Now, you cannot directly enter the gateway since it is only one block tall. For this, the best method is to throw an Ender Pearl in the portal, and it will teleport you to the other side.

Once you pass through the gateway, you will enter the void filled with multiple floating islands, an entirely new biome. Everything is different here, and not like the overworld. There is no day-and-night cycle or even weather changes; your watch or even the compass does not work here. Similar to the Nether world, if you try sleeping in the bed, it will explode, so stay clear of that.

Let’s explore the End Islands and everything it has to offer.

1. End Cities

This is what you are here for. Once you enter the Outer End Islands, you will come across the End Cities. These are huge tower-like structures made of Purpur Blocks and End Stone Bricks. They mostly generate on larger islands and are pretty random. Some of the loot you will find here is Shulkers, Loot Chests, Blocks for building, and much more.

Shulkers

The only mob found in the End dimension apart from the Endermen is the Shulkers. They appear as purple boxes camouflaged as part of the structure.

Shulker’s fire projectiles that inflict the Levitation effect (you float upward uncontrollably), which can be good for transporting from one place to another, but once the effect wears off, you can fall into the void. Since they have a harder router shell, you need to use ranged weapons to attack them.

These mobs, when killed, drop Shulker Shells. Using 2 Shulker Shells + 1 Chest, you can craft a Shulker Box. Shulker Box is an exceptionally useful chest or container that stores items even when broken, can be accessed instantly, and much more.

Loot Found In End Cities

Now, let’s talk about all the loot you can get here. You will find multiple chests here, including the Ender chests.

These can give you some valuable loot such as Enchanted Diamond Gear, Enchanted Tool, Enchanted Weapons, Gold Ingots, Iron Ingots, Emeralds, Beetroot Seeds, Saddles, and much more.

2. End Ships

End Ships are the most OP structures in the entire game. If you find one, consider yourself lucky since they spawn very randomly and rarely.

To reach them, you need to have blocks, but make sure to carefully craft towards the ship. Another option is to throw an Ender Pearl, but this can be risky since if your aim is not right, you will be teleported into the void.

Here are a few things you will find in End Ships:

1. Elytra: The glider wings are mounted in an item frame in the center of the ship. This is the only place you can find Elytra, making it extremely valuable. To collect this, use Silk Touch or break the frame. Equip the Elytra in your chestplate slot and use Fireworks to fly. Furthermore, you can only find 1 Elytra per End Ship, so explore more cities for duplicates.

2. 2 Loot Chests: Same high-tier loot as the main city.

3. Dragon Head:  Mounted on the bow (front) of the ship. Break it carefully: it’s the only place to get one in Survival. It can be worn on the head or can be out down like a trophy at your base.

Since each End Ship has only one Elytra, you will have to find and raid multiple of these to get as many Elytra as you can for flying, which makes traveling much easier.

Leaving the Outer End Island and End Dimension

Now, if you are done raiding the End cities and collecting all the loot possible, it's time to fly back to the overworld.

Firstly, you need to find the End Gateway that will help you exit the Outer End Islands, the ones we spoke about above. Now, if you have come too far away from the gateway, you can use Chunkbase to locate the coordinates for it. Or else, you can simply go back in the game direction and look for the purple beam of light.

Once located, you can throw an Ender Pearl in the End Gateway and teleport back to the End Dimension. This is where you fought the Ender Dragon. Here, go to the center of the palace where you found the Dragon egg, you will find the End Exit Portal.

To exit, simply jump into this portal, and you will be back in the Overworld. And that is all. The journey to the End dimension ends here. You will have all the loot and inventory with you once you come back.

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