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A Nether portal frame made entirely from crying obsidian will not activate in vanilla Minecraft. Use ordinary obsidian for the frame instead; crying obsidian has a different documented use in crafting a respawn anchor.
Why a crying obsidian frame will not work
Although it looks similar to ordinary obsidian, crying obsidian does not serve as Nether portal-frame material in vanilla Minecraft. If you build a frame from crying obsidian and try to light it, it will not create an active portal. The portal-frame guidance cited here comes from a secondary gameplay guide, not a first-party mechanics reference, and does not establish behavior for every game version.
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The guidance also does not establish what happens with a frame that mixes ordinary and crying obsidian, so avoid relying on that combination. For a standard portal, use ordinary obsidian throughout the frame.
How to make a standard Nether portal
- Build a vertical rectangular frame from ordinary obsidian. A secondary gameplay guide gives 4 blocks wide by 5 blocks high as the common minimum; it does not present this as a version-by-version guarantee. Portal-frame guide
- Ignite the opening with flint and steel, as described in the same guide. Portal-frame guide
If you need ordinary obsidian, Mojang’s player guide illustrates making it by pouring water over lava. Mojang’s guide to crying obsidian and respawn anchors
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What crying obsidian is for
Crying obsidian is used to craft a respawn anchor, rather than to make a vanilla Nether portal. Mojang’s guide gives the recipe as six crying obsidian and three glowstone. It says crying obsidian can be mined with a diamond or netherite pickaxe, and can also be obtained through piglin bartering. Mojang’s guide to crying obsidian and respawn anchors
To use the anchor, charge it with glowstone before setting a Nether respawn point. Mojang says it can hold up to four charges, with one charge consumed each time you respawn there. Mojang’s guide to crying obsidian and respawn anchors
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- Explore randomly-generated worlds and build amazing things from the simplest of homes to the grandest of castles
- Play in Creative Mode with unlimited resources or mine deep into the world in survival mode, crafting weapons and armour to fend off the dangerous mobs
Vanilla behavior versus modified gameplay
This answer concerns vanilla Minecraft. Mods, data packs, or server plugins can change game behavior; a 2020 community post describes a configurable data pack that allowed crying obsidian, but that old example does not establish what any current add-on supports. 2020 community post about a configurable data pack
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