Overview
End portal frames are the twelve blocks that ring an end portal in a stronghold, and they are the only route to the End. Each frame has a socket, and an eye of ender placed into a socket locks in permanently — once all twelve are filled the portal activates and the black starfield appears in the middle. The important detail is that strongholds generate with some sockets already filled at random, usually one to three of the twelve, so the number of eyes you actually need is often fewer than twelve. Eyes of ender are made from an ender pearl and blaze powder, and thrown they fly towards the nearest stronghold before either falling to be picked up or shattering, at roughly a 20 percent shatter rate — which is why the standard advice is to bring at least fifteen. The frames themselves cannot be obtained in survival: no pickaxe collects them, they cannot be pushed by pistons, and their blast resistance is effectively infinite. Once the portal is lit, stepping into it is a one-way trip until you kill the dragon or die.
The only way into the End dimension. Filling all 12 sockets with eyes of ender activates the portal, which leads to the ender dragon, elytra and every shulker box you will ever own.
Minecraft classifies End Portal Frame as an End block. It is indestructible outside of Creative mode. Light level 1 is decorative rather than functional — mobs can still spawn beside it.
Its blast resistance of 3,600,000 shrugs off creeper explosions. Nothing on the crafting grid is made from it.
How to get it
End portal frames cannot be mined or crafted in survival. They generate only in the portal room of a stronghold, 12 to a portal, with 1 to 3 sockets usually already filled with eyes.
Tips
- Check which sockets are already filled before crafting eyes — strongholds usually generate 1 to 3 for free.
- Bring 16 or more eyes: roughly 20 percent shatter when thrown during the search for the stronghold.
- Set your spawn point and store your gear before stepping through; the trip back is through the dragon or death.
- See how to beat the ender dragon for what to carry through the portal.
Properties
With 3,600,000 blast resistance End Portal Frame holds up to a creeper or TNT at point-blank range. It is fully opaque and glows at light level 1. One inventory slot holds 64, the normal full stack. It is not renewable: every one in the world is finite.
- Transparent
- No
- Required tool
- Any
- Renewable
- No
Where it generates
- Found in
- Stronghold
Guides and tools that cover this
Frequently asked questions
How do you get End Portal Frame in Minecraft?
End Portal Frame generates naturally in the world and does not drop anything without Silk Touch.
What tool do you need to break End Portal Frame?
No specific tool is required — End Portal Frame can be broken by hand.
Is End Portal Frame blast resistant?
End Portal Frame has a blast resistance of 3,600,000, so it survives creeper and TNT explosions.
How many End Portal Frame fit in one stack?
64 per stack, so a double chest holds 3,456 End Portal Frame.
Is End Portal Frame renewable?
No. The End Portal Frame a world generates is all there is; anything you spend is gone permanently.
