The End

The End is a dimension with a stark, empty plane containing a single floating planet-like island.

Overview
The starless sky and the Void of the End are both composed of a blank, static pattern. The day-night cycle is absent in the End, similar to the Nether, being replaced by a constant dim light. Most items and blocks function in the End exactly as they do in the Overworld, with a few notable exceptions. Fluids may function as normal in the End, and plant growth is unaffected. Compasses will be unable to find the original spawn point, as it cannot be set to a place within the End, and clocks cannot determine the position of the sun and moon, because it is in another dimension. Maps don't seem to map correctly, only mapping static; as in the Nether, beds will explode and cause fire when used, and nether portals will not activate in the End.

The player must go through the process of finding, repairing and activating the end portal found within a stronghold in order to enter the End. Once they spawn in the End, they can spawn anywhere within a relative distance to the island.

Once one enters the End, there is no way out without dying, except to defeat the Ender Dragon. It will spawn naturally and float around above a number of obsidian pillars, each of which has an ender crystal on top of them. These crystals regenerate the Ender Dragon's health. To destroy these crystals, you need to shoot them with a bow and arrow. Once all of the Crystals are destroyed, the Ender Dragon will be vulnerable. Once defeated, the Ender Dragon will dissolve, and create an exit portal. On top of it there is a dragon egg. When the player goes through the exit portal, the "End Poem" and the credits will roll shortly afterwards, thus completing Minecraft and earning the player the "The End." achievement.

The player then re-spawns in the Overworld and may return to the End through the same portal. The End remains in the state as the player left after the ender dragon is slain, devoid of the ender dragon and featuring the portal back to the Overworld.

Traveling to the End


The player must collect up to 12 ender pearls by killing Endermen, and craft them into eyes of ender. Blaze powder is required to craft them, although an alternate method that the player can use is to trade with villagers for the eyes of ender.

Then the player needs to return to the Overworld and locate a stronghold. They can use an Eye of Ender to locate one by tossing it into the air and following the direction the eye flies towards until it lands on the ground to be recollected. The player is advised to craft a few extra eyes, as they will occasionally disappear or shatter to pieces. The eyes of ender will take you straight to the end portal frame blocks or the starting staircase of the stronghold. If a ravine or an abandoned mine shaft intersects with the room, some portal frame blocks may be missing and the end portal will not be usable. For the End Portal to activate, the player must insert an eye of ender on each of the empty frame blocks. Up to 12 Eyes may be needed, but some portals will require fewer than 12, as some may already be generated there.

An activated end portal allows the player to enter the End immediately, appearing on top of a 5×5 obsidian platform in the End.

Upcoming


In 1.9 (beginning in snapshot 15w31a), there were various changes made to the End.

The ender crystals now sit on top of a set amount of differently-sized pillars are arranged in a circular fashion. The tallest pillars have iron bars around their ender crystal, like in the Console Edition, which makes it so that you have to climb some of the pillars, making the fight harder. The exit portal is pre-generated, but without the dragon egg and portal blocks. There are also an infinite number of islands in the end, with the end gateway being used to transport to these islands once the ender dragon has been killed. On these other islands, end city dungeons generate. In addition, the ender dragon fight has been changed, and can be defeated an unlimited amount of times.

End-affected materials
Just like the Nether, compasses and clocks will spin randomly and beds will explode when the player tries to sleep. Maps created in the Overworld will not show the player's position in any other dimension. For Maps to display the End, they must be created there. Unlike maps in the Nether, the indicator will not spin wildly and point in random directions.

Nether portals cannot be activated in the End.

Fire burns indefinitely on bedrock in the End, but will not naturally spread to bedrock.

Naturally generated
Naturally generated includes blocks that are created through the world seed.

Structures ()
These blocks are generated as part of end cities, but only when the "generated structures" option is on.

Naturally created
Naturally created means a combination of events that cause a new block to be placed by natural causes, not the player.

File save location
The End is saved in the same way normal worlds are, but instead of mixing the world files inside the save folder, the files for the End are stored in *Minecraft Folder*/saves/*world name*/DIM1, whereas normal world files are in *Minecraft Folder*/saves/*world name*. Note that DIM1 does not contain its own level.dat, as the same level.dat in the upper folder is used for the Overworld, the Nether, and the End. Also, note that the Nether's folder is "DIM-1".'

Trivia

 * The End—an endless noised sky with a central mass of end stone—appears to be an inversion of the Nether, an endless cave filled with masses of air.
 * Occasionally, smaller islands generate along with the main island. These small islands can even include an Obsidian Pillar.
 * Lava flows faster in the End like it does in the Nether, but only to a distance of 3 like in the Overworld. Water flows at the same speed as in the Overworld.
 * Deleting the DIM1 folder will reset the end. All of the buildings there will be deleted and the Ender Dragon will respawn.
 * The End has its own soundtrack that you can only hear in the End.