Nether Fortress



Nether Fortresses, first introduced in the 1.9 Pre-Release, are structures that are generated in the Nether. They include bridge structures constructed of Nether Bricks, Nether Brick Fences, and Nether Brick Stairs. They often contain Blaze spawners, and are the only place that Nether Warts can be naturally found. A common misconception is that Magma Cubes spawn more frequently in Nether Fortresses. The reverse is actually true, because the confines of the structure and the lack of large flat surfaces reduces the chances of a Magma Cube to spawn.

Structure
Nether Fortresses are very large complexes made mainly of Nether Bricks. Nether Fortresses can often tunnel through Netherrack, and the inside of the tunnels will be cleared of Netherrack by the terrain generator. However, at broken bridge sections, the terrain is not cleared, which may create a tunnel that leads straight into a flat wall of Netherrack. Their main structure takes a shape of bridges with supporting pillars outside and corridors inside, both which have 3-blocks wide walking space. The bridges can be broken at the end. The interior of the structures have 1x3 windows with Nether Brick Fences as the windowpanes. The fences also form gate-like structures at the entrances of some rooms and corridors. The rooms include:
 * Lava well rooms
 * Rooms with Nether Brick Stairs in the center and Soul Sand at sides of the stairway with Nether Wart growing on it.
 * Rooms with Blaze spawners. Nether Brick Stairs can lead up to them. The rooms have Nether Brick Fences.
 * Rooms with four exits. Some of them could lead only to Netherrack.

Trivia

 * Nether Fortresses are fairly safe from Ghasts, because they are enclosed (so Ghasts can't spawn inside) and are made out of materials that Ghast fireballs can't destroy.
 * Occassionally a Nether Fortresses has rooms that are large enough for Ghasts to spawn inside.
 * Nether Fortresses will still be generated even if the "Generated Structures" option is turned off.
 * When first announced, many fans were upset, stating that fortresses and other features of the 1.0 update were turning Minecraft into an RPG.