An alternate world where everything is aflame, the Nether is a world wherein players can find all things burning, strange, yet elusive. While the Nether poses a lot of dangers, it also offers a lot of opportunities to gain some valuable items for your crafts and adventures such as Ancient Debris, Nether Gold Ore, and Blaze Rods.
But entering the Nether isn’t as easy as it sounds. You’ll have to build a Nether Portal which will be your entryway to the Nether. Building a Nether Portal isn’t that difficult as you just have to gather some particular materials to make it.
If you already made your Nether Portal and still want to decorate it, you’ve come to the right place. We’ve prepared some recommended Minecraft Nether Portal designs you can try making so your portal stands out more.
What is a Nether Portal?
Before getting into decorating your Nether Portal, you should first know more about it.
The Nether Portal is your doorway between the Overworld and the Nether.
It’s characterized by its Obsidian Block-made frame and purple particles. When you make a Nether Portal, it will signify a major part of your game progression in Minecraft. This is because the Nether itself contains rare resources and structures you can only get there such as Ancient Debris to make Netherite Armor and Blaze Rods for crafting the Eyes of Ender and making Potions.
The mobs in the Nether are quite different too. They’re also more dangerous. You’ll encounter Ghasts, Piglins, Blazes, Wither Skeletons, Piglins, and Hoglins which are all challenging mobs to face. With that in mind, you’ll have to be prepared with enough food, good armor, and weapons if you plan to tread through the Nether.
Another layer of difficulty added to the Nether is that you can’t even place beds to create a spawn point as placing a bed and trying to sleep on it will make it explode. This makes it risky for you to die in the Nether, especially being surrounded by lava.
How do Nether Portals work?
For how a Nether Portal works, you simply have to stand within the frame for around 4 seconds and then you’ll be taken to the Nether. You’ll be able to step out of the portal before and after the Minecraft loading screen transfers you to either the Overworld or the Nether.
You should also know that coordinates work a bit differently between the Overworld and the Nether. This is due to the game’s scaling system.
Mainly, when you move 1 block in the Nether, you’ll have traveled 8 blocks in the Overworld. This pretty much makes a 1:8 ratio so you can use the Nether as a shortcut to travel major distances across the Overworld by traveling through the Nether.
How do you make a Nether Portal?
Now that you know how a Nether Portal works, we can get to learning how to make one. ‘
Building a Nether Portal doesn’t just take making a frame of Obsidian. There are some crucial steps you’ll have to keep in mind when you build your portal. Here’s a step-by-step guide to making one:
Step #1: Prepare some Flint and Steel
The Flint and Steel will allow you to ignite your portal when you make it. You can craft this item by combining Flint and an Iron Ingot on your Crafting Table.
Keep the Flint and Steel within your Inventory since you’ll be using that later.
Step #2: Collect 10-14 Obsidian Blocks
The crucial step to building your portal is making its frame. You’ll have to collect 10-14 Obsidian Blocks and these can only be mined with a Diamond Pickaxe. Be sure to have that as well before you go looking for Obsidian.
However, if you can’t find any Obsidian, you can make your own by placing a Water Bucket over some Lava.
These will create Obsidian which you can then mine.
Step #3: Build your Obsidian Frame
After collecting your Obsidian Blocks, you can then make your Obsidian frame. It’s made with a minimum size of 4×5 blocks.
There are two versions of the frame you can make with the corners or no corners. Making a version with no corners will cut down the amount of blocks you need from 14 to 10.
Step #4: Ignite your Nether Portal
After you’ve made your Obsidian Frame, you can then ignite it with the Flint and Steel. Simply right-click on the inner portion of your frame and then the purple portal will appear.
Step #5: Enter the portal
With that, you’ve already completed your portal and can enter it. You might spawn in a random biome within the Nether such as the Crimson Forest, Warped Forest, Soul Sand Valley, Nether Wastes, or Basalt Deltas.
You’re free to add a bed by the side of your portal in the Overworld and even a chest so that you have a nearby spawn point in case you die within the Nether and want to immediately retrieve your items.
If you need more details on making a portal, we have a full guide here on How to Make a Nether Portal which covers specific steps such as making an Iron Ingot, finding Flint, making a Water Bucket or Lava Bucket, and more.
7 Most Stylish Minecraft Nether Portal Designs
As you’re well-equipped by now to make a Nether Portal, we can get to finding some stylish Minecraft Nether Portal designs. The design of your Nether Portal can pretty much decorated with anything.
Hilltop Nether Portal
Here we have a Hilltop Nether Portal design by Ei Nakira. You’ll find the Nether portal propped up on an elevated staircase, surrounded by a roof and some lanterns.
What makes this portal stylish is how it gives an ancient ambiance with the use of Stone Brick Stairs and some Wooden Slabs. There’s just a hint of history that comes with this design that makes it quite cool, especially across the plains.
Overgrown Tower Nether Portal
Next is this Overgrown Tower Nether Portal made by Foxel. Created with a more vertical design, this tower gives an abandoned feel which makes the journey going through it quite fantastical.
This tutorial covers the materials, layout, and the step-by-step build itself. It’s also pretty easy to follow, making it a good tutorial for newbies to decorative building. You’ll certainly have fun with this build too, especially if you plan to use it for roleplaying servers.
Cherry Wood Nether Portal
If you thought you couldn’t make a Nether Portal design with Cherry Wood-based blocks, think again. There’s a video tutorial made by Craftxing that does just that. Their tutorial blends natural elements with a magical aesthetic.
You’ll find the tutorial pretty easy to follow, especially with the video running for around 3 minutes. There are some leaves, lanterns, and chains surrounding this design. But you can also customize it further, adding surrounding Cherry Blossom flowers and perhaps adding Water and Lily Pads to elevate it further.
Mountainside Nether Portal
If you’re eyeing to make a portal illusion that goes through a structure such as a mountain, then maybe you can consider building this Mountainside Nether Portal made by DevilMC. Made entirely out of wood, this portal doesn’t use many materials for its design. Plus, it has a circular doorway which stands out from other designs.
The video guide for this portal is also simple to follow. You’ll mainly have to figure out the orientation of Stairs and Slabs to create that circular doorway for your portal. Nonetheless, the design creates a more immersive feel of traveling to an alternate dimension.
Sword Nether Portal
For this Sword Nether Portal, you’ll mainly use blocks from the Nether itself. The design for this portal is more complicated, taking you several blocks high when building it. However, the design is intricate and its view is cool from afar once you’ve built it, making it a unique landmark in your server.
Created by Goldrobin, his guide uses a lot of Deepslate blocks, some Crimson Blocks, and uniquely, some Amethyst for the center core of the sword. The tutorial is also pretty straightforward to follow with you only having to worry about the materials to gather.
Futuristic Nether Portal
Then there’s this Futuristic Nether Portal created by AdieCraft. Another one of the more resource-heavy Nether Portal designs, this design uses a lot of Quartz Blocks, Stained Glass Panes, and other uncommon blocks in Minecraft.
Gathering the resources for this design will be worth it though because of how sleek the portal looks. You’ll find complementary structures on the sides of the portal and floating-like stairs going up to it. Following the tutorial shouldn’t be too hard too since the video guide takes you through each structure of the portal.
Skull Nether Portal
Last on the list is this Skull Nether Portal. Built by Eli’s Art, this portal has a unique style, combining elements from the Nether and the Overworld. You’ll find the skull’s horns made of Mossy Cobblestone and the rest of the design made with Warped Planks, Slabs, and some Quartz.
While the materials to get for the portal seem easy enough to gather, it’ll take more time to build the actual skull design. You can see there are different directions some parts of the skull are facing such as the lower area rounding inwards. Despite the level of complexity, the video guide breaks down the design into several parts.
Designing your Nether Portal is something you as a player should enjoy. You have the freedom to customize your portal and search for design ideas from a variety of sources whether that may be videos, social media platforms, or other websites, you have a lot of places to take inspiration from for your Nether Portal designs.
Furthermore, once you return home from exploring the Nether, you can continue to refine your portal design further. Each new decoration or detail you add will make your portal more noticeable, stylish, and unique. It will showcase the personality of you and your server.
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Renee is a freelance writer with a passion for gaming and pop culture content. While she mainly writes about games, she also does graphic design and illustration work from time to time. With a passion for the creative arts, she blends her skills to tell stories across various mediums.
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