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. (And rarely near portals in the real 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.