The Nether



Hell is part of the Minecraft Halloween Update. Not much is known about it; only these things are sure:


 * Used for fast travel (More about this in the section below).


 * Much more dangerous than normal Minecraft landscapes (higher mob spawning rate, special mobs).


 * The only way to get in or out of it is by using portals, players can't just mine straight down and hit hell.


 * Ghasts will be added as very powerful mobs that shoot fire balls at you and fly, which only appear in the hell world.

New block types
There are 6 new block types in Hell. Only one of which is currently known:


 * Hell dirt (The Word of Notch)

Other block types are visible in the picture released by Notch, visible to the right of this page. These include:


 * un-named golden block that emits light apparently infinitely


 * un-named grey block with faces resembling those of creepers.

Portals and Fast Travel
The portals are made by creating a 2x3 door frame out of obsidian and then lighting the inside of the frame on fire. When you walk through the portal for the first time it will create a portal in it's equivalent Hell area.

When reentering the normal world any distance covered in the hell world is multiplied by 16 times. Effectively making the hell a fast travel zone that allows for greater distances to be covered in short amount of time in the normal world.