In Survival, you cannot craft End Portal Frames: find a stronghold portal room and use an Eye of Ender on each empty frame. In Creative, arrange 12 frames around an empty 3×3 center, make sure every frame faces inward, then put an Eye of Ender in each one. The portal opens when all 12 frames contain eyes.
Make an End Portal in Survival
Survival players complete a portal that has generated in a stronghold; they do not build the frame themselves. End Portal Frames generate naturally in stronghold portal rooms, and cannot be created or destroyed in Survival mode, according to Minecraft’s End Portal Frame guide.
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- Craft Eyes of Ender. Combine an ender pearl with blaze powder for each Eye. Eyes can guide you toward a stronghold and activate its portal. Bring enough for navigation and for any empty frames; up to 12 may be needed to activate the portal.
- Follow an Eye to a stronghold. Use an Eye of Ender and follow its direction, then search the stronghold for the portal room. The frames are above lava.
- Check the frames. Some may already contain Eyes of Ender. Minecraft’s article gives each generated frame a 10% chance of already containing an eye; fill only the empty frames.
- Activate the portal. Use an Eye of Ender on every empty frame. When all 12 frames have eyes, the portal activates.
Java and Bedrock strongholds
Minecraft’s guide says every Java stronghold has an End Portal, while only some Bedrock strongholds do. If you find a Bedrock stronghold without a portal room, you may need to search another one; the activation steps are the same in either edition.
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Use End Portal Frames from the Creative inventory or obtain them with commands. Place 12 frames in a 5×5 outline with the four corners left empty. The center should remain an empty 3×3 area:
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. F F F .
F . . . F
F . . . F
F . . . F
. F F F .Each F is an End Portal Frame; each dot is an empty block. All 12 frames must face inward toward the center. A practical way to orient them is to stand in the middle of the planned ring while placing the frames around yourself, turning as you go.
- Place the 12 frames in the pattern, keeping the center and corners empty.
- Check that every frame faces the 3×3 center.
- Use an Eye of Ender on each frame. The portal activates when all 12 contain an Eye.
Controls on PC, console, and mobile
The portal-building mechanic is the same across Minecraft’s supported platform families, including PC and Mac, Chromebook, iOS, Android, Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo, and Amazon Fire, as listed in Minecraft’s platform overview. Mac and Linux are Java Edition platforms. To insert an Eye, use the device’s equivalent of the interact or place action while targeting a frame. The exact button or touch prompt depends on your device, edition, and input settings.
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Common mistakes to avoid
- Trying to craft frames in Survival: Survival portals are found in strongholds; frames cannot be crafted there.
- Using an ender pearl instead of an Eye: The activation item is an Eye of Ender.
- Leaving a frame empty: Every one of the 12 frames needs an Eye, including frames in a Creative-built ring.
- Facing frames outward: In Creative, orient every frame toward the center or the ring will not activate.
- Expecting every Bedrock stronghold to have a portal: Some Bedrock strongholds do not contain one.
Minecraft’s December 2, 2021 article estimates that all 12 generated frames will already contain eyes only about once in a trillion times. Treat that as the estimate in that dated source, not a guarantee about any particular world.
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