Overview
Elytra turn the whole map into something you cross in minutes instead of hours. Worn in the chestplate slot, they let you glide from any height, and a Firework Rocket used while gliding gives real thrust — level flight at roughly 30 blocks per second, which is faster than a Nether-portal tunnel for anything under a few thousand blocks. Gliding itself is free: jump, press jump again in mid-air, and you trade about one block of height for every ten travelled. The cost is the chestplate slot, so you fly with no chest armour unless you swap gear on landing. Durability is 432 and it ticks down one point per second of flight, not per block, so slow circling wastes more of an Elytra than fast rocket-boosted travel does. At 1 durability left the wings simply stop working rather than breaking, which means an Elytra can always be repaired. Two membranes on an anvil or Mending on the wings themselves keep a pair alive forever. The only supply is the End: every end ship carries exactly one pair, in an item frame above the treasure room, guarded by a shulker. Once you have them, everything about how you play the Overworld changes.
Long-distance travel, safe descent from any height, and reaching places without building a path — a mountain peak, an ocean monument roof, or the far side of a ravine — for the price of one rocket.
Elytra is an armour item in Minecraft Java Edition 1.21.4. Durability is 432. An anvil plus Phantom Membrane restores it; two worn copies can also be merged.
It can be enchanted, which is usually worth doing before heavy use. It is unstackable. Look for it in the loot of End Ship.
It is not used in any crafting recipe.
How to get it
There is no recipe. Beat the dragon, take an end gateway to the outer islands, find an end city with a ship attached, and take the 1 pair of Elytra from the item frame on the ship's deck. Roughly 1 in 3 end cities has a ship.
Tips
- Repair with Phantom Membrane on an anvil, or put Mending on the wings and let flying experience do the work.
- Firework rockets with no star are cheapest at three rockets per gunpowder and paper, and a duration-3 rocket boosts hardest.
- Crashing into a wall at speed can kill you outright; keep a Totem of Undying in your off hand while learning.
- Take them off before a fight — 8 armour points from a Diamond Chestplate beats wings you cannot use indoors.
Properties
Elytra lasts 432 uses before it breaks, and Phantom Membrane repairs it on an anvil. Two worn copies can also be merged, on an anvil or a grindstone. Unbreaking III roughly quadruples the lifespan, and Mending replaces the repair cost with experience. Its enchantability of 1 decides how good the enchanting table's offers are: the higher the number, the more often a level-30 table offers the top-tier enchantment rather than a weak one. Elytra does not stack — each one occupies an inventory slot of its own.
- Stack size
- 1
- Durability
- 432
- Enchantability
- 1
- Repaired with
- Phantom Membrane
- Category
- Armour
Found in
Elytra is in the loot tables of End Ship.
- End Ship — A flying purpur galleon that generates alongside roughly one in four end cities, hovering in the air with no bridge to it, so reaching it means building out or using an ender pearl.
Enchantments it can take
3 enchantments can be applied to Elytra: Curse of Binding, Mending, and Unbreaking.
Curse of Binding and Mending are treasure enchantments and never appear at an enchanting table — they come from loot chests, fishing or villager trades only.
Guides and tools that cover this
Frequently asked questions
Where do you find Elytra?
Only in end ships, which generate attached to some end cities on the outer End islands. One ship holds exactly one pair.
How is durability used up?
One point per second of flight time, so 432 durability is a little over seven minutes of continuous gliding.
Can Elytra break permanently?
No. They stop functioning at 1 durability but never disappear, so a repair always brings them back.
How do you make Elytra in Minecraft?
Elytra has no crafting recipe; it is obtained from mobs, chests or trading.
What is the stack size of Elytra?
Elytra does not stack at all. Every one you carry takes an inventory slot of its own, which is the practical limit on how many you take on a trip.
How much durability does Elytra have?
Elytra has 432 durability, and can be repaired on an anvil with Phantom Membrane.
Can Elytra be enchanted?
Yes — 3 enchantments apply to it, at an enchanting table with fifteen bookshelves, or from an enchanted book on an anvil. Mending is usually the one worth hunting for, because it removes the repair cost entirely.
