Finding a stronghold
An eye of ender is one ender pearl plus one blaze powder. Throw it and it flies toward the nearest stronghold for a short distance, then either drops or shatters. Roughly one throw in five breaks the eye, which is why you want a buffer. Walk a few hundred blocks in the direction it flew, throw again, and keep going. When the eye starts diving downward instead of flying flat, the stronghold is under your feet.
Dig down carefully when the eye points below you. Strongholds are stone brick rooms and corridors, and the fastest way in is usually to find a cave or ravine that already cuts through one rather than to tunnel blindly from the surface.
Lighting the End portal
Deep inside the stronghold is a portal room with a silverfish spawner on the wall. Break the spawner or wall it off first, then fill all 12 frame slots with eyes of ender. The frame blocks face inward and only accept eyes on the correct face, so if an eye will not go in, you are aiming at the wrong side of the block.
Once the portal is active, stepping in takes you to the End and there is no way back except dying or killing the dragon. Put a bed next to the portal and sleep in it first. If the fight goes wrong, you respawn right there and can walk straight back in.
Gear list
- Enchanted diamond or netherite armour, Protection IV ideally, and a Sharpness sword.
- A bow and at least two stacks of arrows, or a bow with Infinity. You need it for the crystals.
- A lot of building blocks for climbing pillars and bridging over the void.
- A water bucket. Endermen will not enter water, and a bucket also saves you from a fall.
- Slow Falling potions, or a carved pumpkin. A pumpkin on your head stops endermen reacting to your gaze entirely.
- Golden apples, cooked food, and a few potions of healing and strength.
Fight order: crystals first, dragon second
- Destroy the ten end crystals on the obsidian pillars. The dragon heals from any crystal still standing. Most can be shot from the ground. Two are caged in iron bars and need you to climb, break the bars, then break the crystal. Build a safe platform or place water below before you climb, because the explosion is powerful and the fall is worse.
- Wait for the dragon to perch on the central portal. It dives at you and breathes dragon's breath, but when it lands on the bedrock fountain you get a clean window for sword damage.
- Stay out of the purple breath clouds. They damage over time. You can also bottle them with glass bottles to brew Lingering potions later.
- Do not look at endermen. There are many on the main island. Watch the floor, wear the pumpkin, or keep water under your feet.
Killing a crystal while it is actively healing the dragon also damages the dragon, which is a nice bonus if you time the last one well. If you cannot reach a caged crystal, TNT on top of the cage also works and saves you the climb.
After the dragon dies
You get a large experience payout: 12,000 points on the first kill, which takes a player from level 0 to about level 68. That is enough for more than ten level 30 enchantments, so spend it soon rather than carrying it around and losing it to a fall.
The exit portal activates in the centre of the island, and a dragon egg appears on top of it. The egg teleports when you hit it, so either push it with a piston or place a torch two blocks below it and break the block under the egg so it drops as an item.
An end gateway also appears at the edge of the island. Throw an ender pearl into it and you are teleported to the outer islands, which is where the real rewards are.
Useful things to do while you are there
Bring glass bottles and collect dragon's breath from the purple clouds the dragon leaves behind. One bottle fills from one cloud, and dragon's breath is the ingredient that turns a splash potion into a lingering one, which is how you make Lingering potions of Harming or Slow Falling for later fights.
If you plan to use Slow Falling, remember it needs phantom membranes, and phantoms only spawn after you have gone several in game days without sleeping. Either brew the potions before you go or accept the carved pumpkin as your enderman solution instead.
Outer islands: end cities and elytra
The tall purple towers out there are end cities, and some of them have an end ship floating alongside. The elytra hangs in an item frame at the bow of the ship, and the ship's cabin holds a dragon head.
- Shulkers fire homing projectiles that apply Levitation. If you get hit high up, do not panic: drink milk to clear the effect, or carry Slow Falling potions for exactly this.
- End city chests often contain enchanted diamond gear, so search every one you find.
- The elytra only flies properly with firework rockets. Paper plus gunpowder makes rockets, and a stack of paper is a cheap price for flight.