Overview
Finding a stronghold is a triangulation exercise, and doing it badly costs you eyes of ender you cannot easily replace. Throw one Eye of Ender, watch the direction it flies, walk several hundred blocks perpendicular to that line, and throw a second: where the two lines cross is your stronghold. Throwing eye after eye while walking the same bearing wastes them, and roughly one eye in five shatters on landing. Strongholds are generated in concentric rings around world spawn, 128 of them per world, and the nearest ring begins around 1,280 blocks out, so the first throw is almost never close. Inside, the layout is a genuine maze of stone brick corridors, spiral staircases, storerooms, prison cells and libraries, and the corridors are unlit, which means mobs accumulate behind you as you search. Mark your route — a trail of torches on the right-hand wall is the classic method. The portal room holds a twelve-frame End portal with some frames already carrying eyes, a silverfish spawner you should torch or break at once, and lava under the floor. Library chests are the traditional early source of enchanted books and often hold the first Mending a world sees.
The End portal — there is no other way into the End dimension — plus library chests full of enchanted books, and storeroom chests with diamonds, iron, gold, apples and ender pearls. The silverfish spawner is also a compact experience source if you cage rather than destroy it.
A sprawling underground maze of stone brick corridors, spiral staircases, storerooms, prison cells and libraries, and the only place the End portal exists. Strongholds generate in concentric rings out from the world spawn, 128 per world, and you find one by throwing eyes of ender and following the arc they trace. The portal room holds a twelve-frame portal, some frames already containing eyes, guarded by a silverfish spawner and flanked by lava. Library chests are the classic early source of enchanted books.
It is rare in the Overworld, and it generates underground, typically between Y=-30 and Y=30 depending on terrain.
How to get it
Every world generates 128 strongholds in rings out from spawn, underground between roughly Y=-30 and Y=30 and in any biome. Craft eyes of ender from blaze powder and ender pearls, throw 2 from widely separated positions, and dig where the bearings meet.
Tips
- Triangulate from two widely separated throws instead of chasing one eye; each eye has about a one-in-five chance of breaking.
- Torch or break the silverfish spawner the moment you enter the portal room, before you start filling frames with eyes.
- Place torches consistently on one side of every corridor so you can follow them back out of the maze.
- Check how many portal frames already hold eyes before crafting more — some portals generate needing only a handful.
Version notes
Present since 1.0.0, when the End and the ender dragon shipped. The count rose from 3 per world to 128 in 1.9, which is why strongholds stopped being a multi-hour search.
Properties
It generates in the Overworld, which is the only dimension with a day-night cycle and weather, and the one every distance in the game is measured against. In a world with cheats on, /locate structure minecraft:stronghold 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.
- Dimension
- Overworld
- Rarity
- Rare
- Y level
- underground, typically between Y=-30 and Y=30 depending on terrain
- Added in
- 1.0.0
- Notable loot items
- 9
Notable loot
Its loot includes Ender Pearl, Enchanted Book, Diamond, Iron Ingot, Gold Ingot, Apple, Redstone Dust, Iron Pickaxe, and End Portal Frame. These are the notable entries rather than the full loot table — the common filler (bread, coal, iron nuggets) is omitted, and in some structures the best of it comes from a vault or a spawner rather than a chest.
Mobs found here
Silverfish, Zombie, Skeleton, Creeper, and Spider generate here. Several of them spawn nowhere else, which is usually the reason to make the trip.
What to watch out for
4 things to prepare for before you go in:
- Silverfish spawner in the portal room and infested blocks in the walls
- Lava beneath the portal room floor
- Unlit corridors spawning mobs behind you
- Easy to get lost without marking your route
Guides and tools that cover this
Frequently asked questions
How many eyes of ender do you need for the End portal?
Twelve frames, but some already contain eyes when the stronghold generates. Count the empty frames first — a portal needing only three or four eyes is common.
How far is the nearest stronghold?
The innermost ring begins well over a thousand blocks from spawn, so expect a real journey. There are 128 strongholds per world spread across several rings.
Can you build an End portal yourself?
Not in survival. End portal frames cannot be obtained without commands, so the only way into the End is a stronghold portal you have activated.
How do I find Stronghold?
Stronghold generates in the Overworld, and is rare. /locate structure minecraft:stronghold finds the nearest one instantly with cheats on.
What loot is in Stronghold?
The notable entries are Ender Pearl, Enchanted Book, Diamond, Iron Ingot, Gold Ingot, Apple and 3 more.
When was Stronghold added?
Stronghold was added in Java Edition 1.0.0.
Related pages
Structures that share Stronghold's loot, its mobs or its biomes — not simply the next few in the list.
