Overview
An end gateway is a door, not a destination, and using it correctly is the difference between reaching an End city in a minute and spending an hour building a bridge over the void. Each time the ender dragon dies a new gateway appears in the ring above the central island, up to twenty of them, floating about 75 blocks up with no way to stand in one. You do not walk through: you throw an Ender Pearl into the beam, and the pearl carries you roughly a thousand blocks out to the outer islands. A matching return gateway generates next to wherever you land, so the way home is always a second pearl away — which is why you should carry at least four and never spend your last one. The arrival is the risk. You appear in mid-air over terrain that may not be under you, so hold blocks in your hotbar or a bucket of water and be ready to place immediately. Endermen crowd the arrival platform and will teleport to you the moment you look at one, so keep your crosshair low for the first few seconds after you materialise.
Transport to the outer End islands, which is the only practical route to end cities, shulker shells and elytra, and transport straight back again. The gateways also make the outer islands a repeatable destination rather than a one-way journey.
A small bedrock frame around a magenta beacon of light, created above the central island each time the ender dragon is killed, up to twenty of them. Throwing an ender pearl into one teleports you roughly a thousand blocks out to the outer End islands, where a matching return gateway appears next to your arrival point and sends you straight back to the centre. Gateways are the only practical route to end cities and elytra.
It is common in the The End, restricted to The End and End Highlands, and it generates floats around 75 blocks above the central island; the return gateway sits on the outer islands.
How to get it
Gateways appear automatically above the central End island each time the ender dragon is killed, up to 20 per world, floating around 75 blocks above the ground. The matching return gateway generates on the outer islands beside wherever you arrive.
Tips
- Throw an ender pearl into the gateway rather than trying to walk in; the frame is too small to stand in.
- Carry at least four pearls: one out, one back, and two for the mistakes you will make over the void.
- Keep blocks or a water bucket on the hotbar, because you arrive in mid-air with no guarantee of ground beneath you.
- Look at the floor for the first few seconds after arriving so the endermen crowding the platform do not aggro at once.
Version notes
Added in 1.9 with the outer End islands and end cities. Respawning the dragon with end crystals, introduced in the same update, is what makes it possible to generate more than the first gateway.
Properties
It generates in the End, which has no weather, no day-night cycle and no water, and which you leave by dying or by using the exit portal. In a world with cheats on, /locate structure minecraft:end_gateway gives the coordinates of the nearest one. Without cheats, an explorer map from a cartographer villager is the reliable route for the structures that have one; everything else is exploration.
- Biomes it generates in
- 2
- Notable loot items
- 0
Where it generates
End Gateway generates in 2 biomes: The End and End Highlands. Outside those it will not generate at all, however far you travel.
Mobs found here
Enderman generate here. Several of them spawn nowhere else, which is usually the reason to make the trip.
What to watch out for
3 things to prepare for before you go in:
- Arriving mid-air over the void on the far side
- The gateway sits high above the island and requires a pearl throw
- Endermen crowding the arrival platform
Guides and tools that cover this
Frequently asked questions
How do you use an end gateway?
Throw an ender pearl into the beam of light. You cannot walk into one, because the bedrock frame leaves no space to stand in.
How do you get back from the outer islands?
A return gateway generates beside your arrival point the first time you use one. Throw a pearl into that and you land back near the central island.
How many gateways can a world have?
Up to twenty, one created each time the ender dragon is defeated. They form a ring above the central island at roughly the same height.
How do I find End Gateway?
End Gateway generates in the The End, only in The End and End Highlands, and is common. /locate structure minecraft:end_gateway finds the nearest one instantly with cheats on.
What loot is in End Gateway?
End Gateway has no loot chests; its value is the blocks it is built from and what generates around it.
When was End Gateway added?
End Gateway was added in Java Edition 1.9.
Related pages
Structures that share End Gateway's loot, its mobs or its biomes — not simply the next few in the list.
