Every time you load up a new world in Minecraft, you always spawn somewhere new in a vast and seemingly unlimited world. With every seed unique from one other, you always feel you spawned somewhere else, but that is not the case. Every time you started a new Minecraft server you spawned in the Overworld. A beautiful realm filled with unique biomes that resemble real-world areas, filled with plants and animals all specific to them.
But what if I tell you, that there are more dimensions to Minecraft than just the diverse Overworld? The first dimension you will ever get access to is the Nether. You need to take the trip to the Nether if you plan on finishing the game, as it contains some materials and items that are essential to progressing to the next and final level of the game. You might be asking yourself how do you find a way to the Nether if the Overworld is basically unlimited? Don’t worry we got you covered right here!
What is The Nether?
The Nether is a dimension, which is best described as very hell-like. It is filled with fire, lava, fungus-like vegetation, dangerous mobs unique to the realm, and even some exclusive structures. The Nether has biomes as well, but they do not resemble anything the Overworld has to offer. But there is some correlation to the Overworld, as coordinates do correlate. Horizontal coordinates are not exactly the same as in the Overworld, but they are scaled down by a ratio of 8:1 for travel in the Nether. That is the reason why a lot of people decided to build Nether highways to travel a lot faster.
Bedrock covers the top of the Nether as well as the bottom, making the Nether 128 blocks high. But if we look in the horizontal direction, the Nether is infinite as well. There is no daylight cycle, just like there are no weather changes in the Nether. The only natural light sources that can be found are fire, lava, portals, shroomlights, and glowstone.
The majority of flora in the Nether is fungus-based, as you may find unique types of shrooms and even larger biomes consisting of giant shroom trees. There are also a lot of different mobs in the Nether, with most of them being hostile and extremely dangerous. It happened too many times that I accidentally hit a Zombie Pigman and got my ass handed to me.
How To Access The Nether?
If you want to access the Nether you will first have to build a Nether portal in the Overworld. It is not that difficult to put together, but it does require you to have some things to build it. You will need at least 10 pieces of obsidian to build an ‘’economy’’ portal, but it has no upper limit. So, if you have a place for a larger portal then the sky is the limit!
The most straightforward way to build it is to get yourself a diamond pickaxe, pour some water on lava, and mine the obsidian you need. But if you are in a hurry then all you need is two buckets. You can use a bucket of lava and quickly drop water near it to make obsidian and build your portal that way. Just make sure you don’t burn your base or yourself.
The portal allows most mobs to pass through, with the exception of boss-level mobs. Mobs are teleported to the corresponding portal in the Nether, and then back to the same portal. The portals always take you to the same portal in the other dimension, so you can’t land somewhere you are not planning to.
Unique Structures
Just like the Overworld, the Nether has some unique structures for you to explore. Both of these structures are very large and randomly generated, and they have essential loot you can collect if you are brave and capable enough.
The Nether Fortress
The most important structure in the Nether is definitely the Nether Fortress. Exploring the Fortress is necessary for every Minecraft player who wants to eventually make the trip to The End and try to defeat the Ender Dragon. It is a large structure consisting of dark intertwining corridors, filled with dangerous mobs and valuable loot. The most important item and the reason a lot of players even come to The Nether are blaze rods. They are absolutely necessary to progress to The End dimension and can only be found in the Nether Fortress by killing a mob named Blaze.
The Bastion Remnant
The Bastion Remnant is the main base operation of Piglins, one of the latest Nether mobs added to the game. These little guys absolutely love gold and will even attack you if you are not wearing any gold armor. So before going to The Nether, make sure you bring some gold armor. But if you are wearing the armor and even have some gold in your inventory you can trade gold to them for some loot.
If you decide to explore The Bastion Remnant then be careful, as it is filled with both Piglins and Hoglins. Navigating it can be extremely hard as you can fall in lava anywhere, with mobs trying to push you in at all times. But if you successfully make it through, there is a lot of valuable loot to be found, such as pretty loot chests and blocks of gold.
Final Thoughts
The Nether is a beautiful, yet probably the most dangerous place in Minecraft. There is a reason it is best described with only one word: ‘’hell’’. Even though the colorful biomes can seem alluring, don’t forget to keep your eyes peeled for hostile mobs that can ruin your day in a single moment. You might ask yourself why would you even enter The Nether if it’s so dangerous. True you might lose your life, but it is worth it. Some items can take your Minecraft experience to the next level, and the netherite material can only be found there. It’s time for you to put on a brave face, pick up your sword and conquer the Nether for you!
