The Nether

The Nether is a dangerous, volcanic, fungal dimension resembling a hellish underworld. It contains fire that never goes out; vast oceans of lava; Nether fungi and normal mushrooms in place of plants; many unique mobs, mostly hostile in nature; and exclusive structures, resources, and biomes.

To access the Nether, the player must construct a Nether portal in the Overworld (portals created in the End do not activate). To create the portal, the player must first build a rectangular obsidian frame, ranging in size from a minimum of 4 blocks × 5 blocks to a maximum of 23 blocks × 23 blocks. Once the frame is completed, it can then be activated by placing fire within the frame, using flint and steel, fire charge, dispensers, or any material that is capable of igniting fire.

The portal allows most entities (with the exception of the wither and the ender dragon) to be transported to a corresponding portal in the Nether. In Survival, the player must stand in a Nether portal for 4 seconds to enter the Nether. The player can step out of a portal before it completes its animation to abort the teleport. The portal plays a sound effect while the player is inside it. If there is no corresponding portal, a new 4×5 portal is created. The portal can be destroyed by breaking the obsidian frame, by a nearby explosion, or by placing water in the Overworld or lava into it with a bucket or dispenser. Any of the blocks in the corners can be destroyed without destroying the portal.

The Nether could generate in the former Old‌^{[Bedrock Edition only]} world type, (with the same 256×256 borders as the Overworld) though Nether portals could not be created without using commands. Nether portals created in the Nether could spawn the player outside of the world barrier.

If cheats are enabled, players can also teleport to the Nether without using a Nether portal: the syntax is /execute in the_nether in Java Edition, and /execute in nether in Bedrock Edition.

Bedrock forms a rough 5 layer ceiling on top of the nether (starting at y-level 123 and ending at y-level 127) restricting the player from leaving the Nether. Just like in the Overworld, the player is protected from falling off the world by 5 bottom layers of bedrock (starting at y level 4 and ending at y-level 0) in a rough pattern. This makes the Nether 128 blocks high unlike the Overworld's 384. As with the vast Overworld and End dimensions of the Java and Bedrock Editions, the Nether is equally horizontally vast to the world border.

In Java Edition, build limit in the Nether is 256 blocks: if the player manages to get on top of the bedrock roof, they can build additional 128 blocks upward on it. In Bedrock Edition, the build limit in the Nether is 128 blocks, despite it being 256 in the End, and 320 in the Overworld.

The Nether has no daylight cycle and no weather. Natural sources of light include fire, lava, portals, shroomlights and glowstone. Even with a light level of 0, the Nether has a dim ambient light (roughly equivalent to light level 8 in the Overworld). Light otherwise functions exactly the same as it does in the Overworld and the End. The Nether is the only dimension without directional lighting in Vibrant Visuals, so there are no dynamic shadows.

The majority of "flora" in the Nether is fungus-based as opposed to plants. The Nether "grass" consists of specialized Nether mycelium (known as "nylium"). The Nether features its own unique fungi (including Nether wart), as well as equivalent huge fungi that serve as trees. The stems of the huge fungi function as logs. Also present are a number of native vines and roots.

Most creatures found in the Nether are hostile and potentially dangerous; the only Nether-exclusive mobs that are fully passive are striders.

Locations in the Nether correlate to Overworld coordinates, but horizontal Overworld distances are scaled down by a ratio of 8:1 for travel in the Nether. Therefore, traveling one block in the Nether means traveling eight blocks in the Overworld. For example, in a perfect scenario, a player who enters a portal in the Overworld at X=0, Z=0 and travels in the Nether to X=1000, Z=1000 returns to the Overworld at X=8000, Z=8000. This makes portals a useful tool for traveling long distances in the Overworld. This does not allow one to pass the Overworld World border.

Most items and blocks in the Nether function the same as they do in the Overworld, with a few notable exceptions:

• Beds cannot be used as a respawn point; they instead explode and cause fires when a player attempts to sleep in one. It has an explosion power of 5. The explosion is larger than that of TNT, which has an explosion power of 4.
  • Villagers, if brought into the Nether, can still use beds safely during night time in the Overworld.
• The player may use a powered respawn anchor to respawn in the Nether, but when it runs out of charges, the player once again respawns in the Overworld.
• There is no way to place liquid water in the Nether without the use of commands, except inside a cauldron. These can be used to put out a player on fire.
  • Using water buckets produces steam particles and a hissing sound, leaving the player with an empty bucket.
  • Ice that is melted or smashed in the Nether does not produce water.
  • A wet sponge instantly becomes a regular sponge when placed.
  • If placed using cheats or when placed inside a cauldron, water takes on a reddish-brown color.‌^{[Bedrock Edition only]}
• Lava flows twice as far (eight blocks) and three times as fast in the Nether compared to Overworld, with the same flowing distance and half the flowing speed of water in the Overworld.
• Grass blocks, most plants, and leaves take on a dead-looking brownish color because the Nether is dry and hot.
• Maps generate a brown-gray static pattern. The player's direction indicator is colored red‌^{[BE only]} and spins randomly; its location is still relative to the player's location in the Nether, except in the New Nintendo 3DS Edition, where it is always in the center of the map.
  • Using an Overworld map in the Nether displays the player's relative coordinates.‌^{[Bedrock Edition only]}
• Clocks spin wildly, making it impossible to tell the time while in the Nether. Compasses also spin wildly unless connected to a lodestone, which they then point toward.
• Eyes of ender cannot be thrown, since no strongholds generate in the Nether.
• Snow golems rapidly take fire damage and die, due to the Nether being dry and hot. However, they can survive if they have the Fire Resistance status effect.
• Stalactites produce lava particles instead of water particles, and do not convert mud above them into clay.^[1]
• Because there is no daylight cycle, certain blocks and mobs behave differently:
  • Creaking hearts do not spawn creakings when placed between two pale oak logs.
  • Eyeblossoms do not change between open and closed states depending on the time of day.
  • Bees work without resting as if it never turns night. Villagers still continue their routine following the Overworld daylight cycle.

The Nether features unique cave-like terrain with no sky. Lava and fire are common hazards everywhere in the Nether. Areas distant from the player are shrouded in fog of red or blue, depending on the biome, and some biomes are filled with particles in the air. The shape of the terrain in the Nether is independent of the biome distribution; instead, the biomes alter the surface material and add terrain features to the netherrack terrain.

The Nether is divided into several biomes just like the Overworld, each featuring unique terrain, mobs, structures, ambience, etc. There are five biomes in the Nether:

The Nether contains a variety of unique generated structures. Though equally vast, it contains far fewer types of generated structures than there are in the Overworld.

There are 4 generated structures in the Nether:

The Nether has a lot of different terrain features that generate within the biomes of the Nether.

There are currently 5 terrain features in The Nether:

The Nether is home to numerous of mobs, most of which are unique to the dimension and immune to fire and lava. Skeletons, endermen, and chickens (as chicken jockeys with baby zombified piglins on them‌^{[Java Edition only]}) are the only Overworld mobs that naturally spawn in the Nether.

Other Overworld mobs do not naturally spawn in the Nether but can be brought in through portals (except for the wither and ender dragon).

There are currently 12 in Java Edition, or 11 in Bedrock Edition, mobs that spawn in this dimension, with 3 additional associated mobs:

• 👁 Image
  Blaze
• 👁 Image
  Wither Skeleton
• 👁 Image
  Skeleton
• 👁 Image
  Ghast
• 👁 Image
  Hoglin
• 👁 Image
  Magma Cube
• 👁 Image
  Piglin
• 👁 Image
  Piglin Brute
• 👁 Image
  Strider
• 👁 Image
  Zombified Piglin
• 👁 Image
  Warm Chicken‌^{[JE only]} (from zombified piglin chicken jockeys)
• 👁 Image
  Enderman

Associated: The following mobs are associated with the Nether, but do not spawn naturally without player interaction.^[2][3]

• 👁 Image
  Happy Ghast
• 👁 Image
  Wither
• 👁 Image
  Zoglin

Naturally generated blocks includes those that are created through the world seed.

Naturally created blocks are created through a combination of events that lead these blocks to be placed by natural causes, not by the player.

These blocks are only generated as part of Nether fortresses, Nether fossils, bastion remnants and ruined portals, when the "generated structures" option is on.

In Java Edition, the Nether is stored in .minecraft/saves/worldname/dimensions/minecraft/the_nether. Deleting this folder resets the Nether, so that all player-made changes and buildings in that dimension are undone.

In Bedrock Edition, the com.mojang/minecraftWorlds/world ID/db folder contains several collections of chunks. Some of these files are used for the Nether, but it is impossible to tell which ones simply by reading the file name.

There is a tab dedicated to the Nether in the advancement system, all involving visiting the Nether in some way in order to advance.

Issues relating to "The Nether" are maintained on the bug tracker. Issues should be reported and viewed there.

• Upon entering the Nether as a single player, the passage of time freezes in the Overworld and resumes when the player returns unless the /forceload command is used. This is due to the spawn chunks no longer being ticked, and not chunks loading and unloading as some players believe. The spawn chunks are kept loaded when there are no players in the Overworld, but most things other than basic redstone stop working.
• Names considered for the Nether included "Inferno",^[8] "the Ways",^[9] "the Nexus",^[10] and "the Core".^[11] During development, the names "Hell" and "the Slip" were used as placeholders.
• The numbers for the 3 dimensions are -1=the Nether, 0=Overworld, 1=the End. This contributes to a misconception that the Nether is "below" the Overworld.
  • Notch described the "Nether" as a metaphorical name, rather than a reference to the actual physical location of the dimension.^[12]
  • Dinnerbone has also confirmed that they are simply separate dimensions.^[13]
• In Bedrock Edition, if a section of the bedrock ceiling is removed (e.g., through commands) mobs can spawn directly below where the ceiling should be, despite the surface density cap in the Nether being 0.
• In Legacy Console Edition, the size of the Nether is limited, with bedrock walls surrounding it on all sides. The Overworld-Nether ratio varies depending on the world size: it is 1:3 for Classic and Small worlds, 1:6 for Medium worlds, and 1:8 (the same as Java and Bedrock editions) for Large worlds. This can cause issues when converting classic, small, or medium Legacy worlds to Bedrock, as their ratios may persist.
• The crimson and warped forest biomes are suggested to decontaminate the Nether environment from potential landfill pollution that coincides with the presence of ancient debris.^[14]

• 👁 The loading screen displayed while teleporting to the Nether.
  
  The loading screen displayed while teleporting to the Nether.
• 👁 Spawning in the Nether through a Nether portal
  
  Spawning in the Nether through a Nether portal
• 👁 A warped forest and a crimson forest
  
  A warped forest and a crimson forest
• 👁 A ghast shooting at the player
  
  A ghast shooting at the player
• 👁 Piglins hunting a hoglin
  
  Piglins hunting a hoglin
• 👁 Bartering piglins
  
  Bartering piglins
• 👁 The inside of a bastion remnant
  
  The inside of a bastion remnant
• 👁 Nether fortress in a warped forest
  
  Nether fortress in a warped forest
• 👁 The player getting attacked by blazes
  
  The player getting attacked by blazes
• 👁 Ghasts are not harmed by lava or fire.
  
  Ghasts are not harmed by lava or fire.
• 👁 Lava springs flooding the terrain
  
  Lava springs flooding the terrain
• 👁 Under the lava sea, there is normal terrain
  
  Under the lava sea, there is normal terrain
• 👁 Bedrock naturally exposed in the Nether
  
  Bedrock naturally exposed in the Nether
• 👁 Using a map in the Nether causes the player's position indicator to rotate, but any markers do not.
  
  Using a map in the Nether causes the player's position indicator to rotate, but any markers do not.
• 👁 Mushrooms naturally generated above the Nether
  
  Mushrooms naturally generated above the Nether
• 👁 A Nether canyon
  
  A Nether canyon
• 👁 Gravel in the Nether
  
  Gravel in the Nether
• 👁 The junction of all biomes in the Nether
  
  The junction of all biomes in the Nether
• 👁 The unique water colors in Bedrock Edition
  
  The unique water colors in Bedrock Edition

• 👁 Historically there have been many glitches enabling water to be placed in the Nether.
  
  Historically there have been many glitches enabling water to be placed in the Nether.
• 👁 The Far Lands in the Nether
  
  The Far Lands in the Nether
• 👁 The Nether with ray tracing. Note that there are no ray tracing effects because of the lack of daylight, but Nether fog is disabled.
  
  The Nether with ray tracing. Note that there are no ray tracing effects because of the lack of daylight, but Nether fog is disabled.

• 👁 The first screenshot released by Notch showing what the Nether would look like.
  
  The first screenshot released by Notch showing what the Nether would look like.
• 👁 The first screenshot released by Jeb in September 2011 of nether fortresses
  
  The first screenshot released by Jeb in September 2011 of nether fortresses
• 👁 Another early view of a nether fortress Jeb released in September 2011
  
  Another early view of a nether fortress Jeb released in September 2011
• 👁 The Nether as it appeared prior to Beta 1.8
  
  The Nether as it appeared prior to Beta 1.8

• 👁 Artwork of Alex in the Nether
  
  Artwork of Alex in the Nether
• 👁 Sunny using a piglin head on a note block in a crimson forest
  
  Sunny using a piglin head on a note block in a crimson forest
• 👁 Nether Wastes as they appear in Minecraft Dungeons
  
  Nether Wastes as they appear in Minecraft Dungeons
• 👁 Efe in the Nether, from Minecraft Annual 2025
  
  Efe in the Nether, from Minecraft Annual 2025
• 👁 A Lego Minecraft Micro World set of the Nether
  
  A Lego Minecraft Micro World set of the Nether
• 👁 A minifigure-scale LEGO Minecraft set of the Nether
  
  A minifigure-scale LEGO Minecraft set of the Nether
• 👁 The Nether as seen in A Minecraft Movie
  
  The Nether as seen in A Minecraft Movie
• 👁 Image
  

• "Visit the Nether!" by Duncan Geere – Minecraft.net, October 11, 2019.
• "Nightmares in the Nether" by Kelsey Howard – Minecraft.net, June 9, 2020.
• "The Nether and I" by Sofia Dankis – Minecraft.net, June 14, 2020.
• "A brief-ish history of the Nether" by Sofia Dankis – Minecraft.net, March 8, 2021.
• "Minecraft: The Great Wild | The Nether" – Minecraft on YouTube, August 26, 2023