If you’ve been grinding in survival mode for a few hours, you’ve probably hit the point where basic overworld resources just aren’t enough. You want netherite for better tools, blaze rods for brewing, or glowstone for fancy lighting builds. I still remember my first attempt at building a portal back in 2012: I wasted 12 obsidian blocks building a wonky frame that wouldn’t light, then spent another hour panicking when I spawned right next to a ghast nest on my first Nether trip. Learning how to make a nether portal in minecraft is one of the biggest milestones for new players, and it’s way simpler than you might think once you know the right steps.
What You’ll Need to Make a Nether Portal in Minecraft
Before you start building, you’ll want to gather all your supplies first, especially if you’re playing survival mode where every trip for extra resources costs you time and hunger. Creative mode players can skip the mining step entirely, but you’ll still need the same core items to activate the portal. Don’t worry if you don’t have a ton of rare materials, this build only requires two non-renewable items at minimum.
- 10 blocks of obsidian – you only need 10 for the minimum functional frame, not 14 like many outdated guides claim. We’ll break down where you can skip blocks later.
- A flint and steel or fire charge – flint and steel is cheaper for survival mode, made from one iron ingot and one piece of flint you get from digging gravel. Fire charges work too if you’ve got extra blazerods lying around.
- Optional: A diamond or netherite pickaxe – only required if you’re mining obsidian in survival mode. No other tool can break obsidian fast enough to collect it, and hitting it with anything else will just waste durability for no reward.
If you don’t have access to natural obsidian caves, you can make your own obsidian pretty easily early game. All you need is one water bucket and a pool of lava. Just place the water on a block adjacent to the lava flow, and the flowing lava will turn into obsidian immediately. Don’t pour water directly on the lava source block, or you’ll just get cobblestone instead.
Step-by-Step Build Process for Your Nether Portal
First, pick a spot to build. You’ll want a flat, open area that’s at least 5 blocks wide and 4 blocks tall, with no obstructions in the middle. Try to avoid building right next to flammable blocks like wood or wool, because the portal emits a light level of 11 that can catch nearby blocks on fire if you’re not careful. I usually build my first portal in a small stone enclosure away from my main base, just to be safe.
Next, build your frame. The functional part of the portal is the 2-block wide, 3-block tall empty space in the middle, so you don’t need to fill in the corners of the frame to make it work. Start by placing two obsidian blocks on the ground side by side for the bottom of the frame. Then stack three obsidian blocks on each end of the bottom row for the left and right sides. Finally, place two obsidian blocks across the top of the two side stacks to connect them. That’s your 10-block frame, no extra corners needed. If you want a more polished look, you can add the four corner blocks later, but they don’t affect how the portal works at all.
Once your frame is built, take your flint and steel and right-click on any of the bottom inner blocks of the frame. If you did everything right, the entire empty middle space will fill with the swirly purple portal texture almost immediately. If it doesn’t light, double check that your frame is exactly the right size, with no blocks sticking into the middle empty space, and no gaps in the obsidian frame. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve forgotten to place one of the top obsidian blocks and wasted 10 minutes trying to figure out why it wouldn’t light.
Common Mistakes to Avoid When Building Your Portal
The biggest mistake new players make is building their portal too close to their main base. When you first step through the portal, the game will generate a matching portal on the Nether side, and there’s a decent chance it will spawn near a ghast spawn area. Ghasts can shoot fireballs through portals, and a single fireball can burn down an entire wooden base in 10 seconds. Build your first portal at least 30 blocks away from your main base to avoid this risk entirely.
Another common mistake is not marking your portal once you get to the Nether. The Nether looks almost identical in every direction, and it’s super easy to get lost if you wander even 50 blocks away from your spawn point. Always mark your portal with a distinct structure you can spot from 100 blocks away. I usually stack 10 blocks of glowstone on top of my portal frame, or build a small cobblestone tower around it, so I can see it even if I’m exploring high up on a netherrack cliff.
Don’t make the mistake of breaking your portal while you’re in the Nether, either. If you don’t have extra obsidian and flint and steel with you, you’ll be stuck there permanently unless you can get a ghast to shoot a fireball at an empty frame to light it. That trick works, but it’s really risky, especially if you’re playing on hard mode where ghasts do extra damage. Always carry at least 10 obsidian and a flint and steel with you when you go to the Nether, just in case your portal gets broken by a mob.
Pro Tips to Optimize Your Nether Portal Setup
Most new players don’t know that 1 block in the Nether equals 8 blocks in the overworld, which means you can use portals for super fast long-distance travel across your world. Calculate your overworld coordinates first before building a second portal if you want to link it to a specific location. For example, if you want a portal that takes you to a mine that’s 800 blocks away from your base in the overworld, you’d build a portal 100 blocks away from your original Nether portal to link them perfectly.
You can also customize your portal frame to match your base aesthetic, especially if you’re playing in creative mode. I’ve built portals with frames made of blackstone, quartz, nether brick, even prismarine for ocean base builds. The only rule is that the inner empty space has to stay 2x3, and the frame has to be solid obsidian. You can add decorations around the frame as much as you want, as long as they don’t block the inner portal space.
If you’re playing on a multiplayer server, you can set up a portal hub near spawn to let all players travel to common locations easily. Just build a row of portals, each linked to different points of interest like a netherite mine, a blaze farm, or an end portal. Just make sure you mark each portal clearly with signs so no one accidentally steps through the wrong one and gets lost.
Building your first Nether portal is such a rewarding moment, because it opens up half the game’s content that you can’t access anywhere else. Don’t get discouraged if your first attempt doesn’t go perfectly – I’ve had portals that spawned me right next to a blaze spawner, portals that got blown up by ghasts before I even stepped through, and even portals that linked to the wrong location entirely. Taking the time to learn how to make a nether portal in minecraft is worth every bit of effort, whether you’re playing survival mode just to beat the ender dragon, or building fancy custom worlds in creative. Grab your obsidian and flint and steel, and give it a try this playthrough.