The Nether dimension in Minecraft is easily one of the scariest areas in the game. It is home to some of the most hostile mobs and deadly spots. But, this dimension is also home to the Nether fortress, which offers one of the best loot spawns in Minecraft. It can be the biggest upgrade to your gear and skillset. With that, it’s time to learn how to find Nether fortress in Minecraft and conquer it to get some amazing resources. From mob hunting to spawning mechanics, there is a lot of ground to cover. So, without further ado, let’s dive in!
How to Find Nether Fortress in Minecraft (2022)
We will first cover the features of the Nether fortress, followed by its spawn locations. Use the table below to directly skip to the methods you can use to find it and collect loot easily.
What is a Nether Fortress in Minecraft?
The Nether fortress in Minecraft is a naturally generating structure that is made up of bridges, corridors, towers, and small forts. As the name suggests, the fortress only spawns in the Nether dimension and is made up of Nether bricks.
It has various exclusive features that don’t exist in any other in-game structure. Some of them are:
- Blaze mob spawners and Blazes only spawn in the Nether fortress
- Blocks like Nether brick stairs, Nether brick fence, and Nether bricks naturally generate in the structure of the fortress.
- Nether wart gardens are only limited to Nether fortresses and Bastion remnants.
- Wither skeletons, which are highly dangerous mobs, exclusively spawn in the Nether fortresses.
Structures Within a Nether Fortress
The Nether fortress doesn’t always generate as a complete structure. At times, you might only discover parts of the fortress. They include:
- Bridges
- Arches
- Lava well room
- Corridors with chests
- Stairs with Nether wart gardens
- Walkway with Blaze spawners
How to Find Nether Fortress in Minecraft
There are a variety of ways to locate a Nether fortress in Minecraft, from commands to natural hints in the game. We will go over each of them separately in detail, but here’s a quick overview:
- Commands: Using the “/locate” command
- Seed Analyzer: Finding all Nether fortress for each Minecraft seed
- Natural Search: Exploring the Nether dimension and finding the Fortress in common spots
Commands to Find Nether Fortress
You can use the “locate” command to find the coordinates of the nearest Nether fortress in your Minecraft world. Though, many players avoid doing it because it is considered cheating. However, if that doesn’t bother you, follow these use commands to find a Nether fortress in Minecraft:
1. First, you have to enable cheats in Minecraft to use commands. To do so, toggle the “Activate cheats” option in the world settings on the Bedrock edition. On the Java edition, it shows up in the LAN options in the pause menu.
2. After that, make a Nether portal in Minecraft and travel to the Nether dimension. The effects of some commands, including the “locate” command, change with dimensions.
3. Once you are in the Nether, open your chat and enter the following command in Minecraft:
/locate structure fortress (Minecraft 1.19+)
/locate fortress (Minecraft 1.11 to 1.18)
4. When the command gets executed, the game will show you the coordinates of the nearest Nether fortress. You can then teleport in Minecraft to reach these coordinates or travel to the location manually.
Using Seed Analyzer
Thanks to the huge community of Minecraft, there are various tools that players can use to make the most out of it. One such tool is called the “Minecraft Seed Analyzer,” which allows you to input any Minecraft seed and find out the location of key structures. Here’s how to use it to find a Nether fortress:
1. First, you need to know your seed code. If you are creating a new world, use one of the best Minecraft seeds from our dedicated guide. Otherwise, you can use the “/seed” command to check your world’s seed code.
2. Then, go to Chunkbase’s Seed Analyzer webpage and enter your seed code in the “seed” column. Make sure your game’s edition and version are accurate. Then, set the “dimension” as Nether.
3. After entering the seed, scroll down to the map of Nether for that seed. Here, all the locations marked by the Blaze’s face icon reflect a Nether fortress. Click on one to find its coordinates.
Once you have the coordinates, visit the Nether fortress in Minecraft using that seed when you create a world. But as efficient as it is, if you want an intended survival experience, this method is far from it.
Tips to Find Nether Fortress
Leaving the cheats and third-party apps aside, let’s now go over tips and hints to easily find Nether fortress in survival mode:
- The fortresses generate in all biomes of Minecraft‘s Nether dimension. But most of the time, they are next to the lava ocean.
- Minecraft divides the Nether into different regions. Some of them generate bastions, while others generate fortresses. So, it’s best to avoid looking in the regions with a bastion in them.
- You can increase your render distance in video settings to see the fortress from a longer distance. But it may cause your game to lag or stutter.
- Blazes and Wither skeletons only spawn in the Nether fortresses. If you find them, you can also find the nearest Nether fortress.
- Lastly, because of the hostile mobs in the area, you should carry the best Minecraft potions to help you survive.
How to Loot the Fortress and Conquer It
Now that you know how to find the fortress, let’s go over what it spawns and how to loot it. Other than the mobs which drop precious items, the fortress is filled with rare loot chests. These chests can spawn with the following items (with a random spawn rate):
- Gold Ingot
- Iron Ingot
- Diamond
- Nether Wart
- Flint and Steel
- Obsidian Blocks
- Iron Horse Armor
- Golden Horse Armor
- Diamond Horse Armor
- Golden Sword
- Golden Chestplate
As for the mobs exclusive to this location, Blazes drop blaze rods, which are used to power brewing stands in Minecraft and create Eyes of Ender. Meanwhile, Wither Skeletons drop skulls, which you can use to spawn the Wither in Minecraft.
Items You Need to Survive in Nether Fortress
To take over a Nether fortress and survive at this location, you’ll first need to gear yourself to defeat the powerful mobs of the Nether. For that, make sure you have the following items:
- Diamond sword
- Iron or better armor (if possible, with armor enchantments)
- Piece of gold armor (to avoid Piglins)
- Shield
- Potion of Night Vision
- Potion of Fire Resistance
- A stack of bright light blocks (like Froglights or Glowstone)
- Iron or better pickaxe
- Crafting table
Steps to Safely Explore and Defeat the Fortress
With your gear ready, follow these steps to conquer the Nether fortress in Minecraft:
1. First, try to kill all the Wither skeletons that spawn on the outskirts of the fortress. It will be hard to take them all at once, so it’s best to use a shield and kill one mob at a time.
2. After killing the Wither skeletons, place some light blocks in each area to prevent more of them from spawning.
3. Then, if you notice a Blaze, then you know that a Blaze spawner must be nearby. Find the Blaze spawner and place multiple light blocks around it. Alternatively, you can also break the spawner.
4. At times, you might also notice zombified Piglins in the fortress. But, it’s best to not interact with them as they are not hostile until provoked.
5. With these easy steps in mind, you will be able to fend off the hostile mobs in the Nether fortress and gather all the amazing loot in this location.
Frequently Asked Questions
How rare is a Minecraft Nether fortress?
Due to the dangers and the hard-to-see environment of the Nether, the Nether fortress can be hard to find. But since they spawn after every 200 to 400 blocks, they are not that rare.
Do all Nether have a fortress?
All Minecraft seeds and Nether biomes can spawn a fortress.
Can Nether fortress spawn in Overworld?
Naturally, the fortress only spawns in the Nether dimension. But you can use the place command in Minecraft to spawn it in the overworld too.
How many fortresses are in the Nether?
There are an indefinite number of fortresses in the Nether. You can find them after every 200 to 400 blocks.
What is the fastest way to find a Nether fortress?
If you are not using a command, it’s best to travel in one direction to reach a Nether fortress.
Explore the Nether Fortress in Minecraft
With that, you are now ready to find, conquer, and take over a Nether fortress in Minecraft. But before jumping in, make sure that you are well equipped with the best Minecraft enchantments on your gear. Alternatively, you can also create a free Minecraft server and invite your friends over to help you. Irrespective of how you conquer it, what are you planning to use the Nether fortress for? Tell us in the comments below!
