Tutorials/Nether survival

The Nether is a dangerous hellscape filled with Zombie Pigmen, Ghasts, Blazes and Magma Cubes. So, you are no doubt wondering, why even go to this place? Well, it has no Creepers and is home to useful and rare potion ingredients, not to mention Netherrack (which burns forever) and Soulsand. It can also be used for fast travel between far off areas. This guide will aid you in becoming a Nether dweller.

Preparing For The Nether
The first step of preparing for the Nether is to make sure you have enough materials to build, or dig out, a small home within the Nether. Digging out a home is much easier than building one; Netherrack can be mined quickly (about a half second) with any pickaxe (note that you can mine Netherrack in about 5 seconds by hand or with anything other than a pickaxe, but it will not drop a resource.) However, Netherrack is not blast resistant to any useful degree and so does not provide safety from Ghast fireballs. It is therefore recommended to build a small structure (preferably Cobblestone around your Nether Portal.)

After you are prepared to construct a shelter of your choice, you can begin to gather other necessities. Be sure to bring your Flint and Steel or some Fire Charges, as Nether Portals can be deactivated if hit by a Ghast fireball. If this happens, you can use your Flint and Steel to relight the portal. You should also bring a pickaxe, preferably Iron (Stone can be used, too), to dig an emergency shelter or to mine Netherrack or Glowstone. A shovel is also useful; again, Iron is preferable but Stone can be used.

For protection, be sure to wear a full set of Iron Armor. A Bow and plenty of Arrows (a stack is usually enough) are vital, as they are the only practical way to fight Ghasts. Don't forget a Sword, as one can save your life if fighting Magma Cubes or if you should anger a pack of Zombie Pigmen. Finally, Snowballs are also useful - unlike other mobs, the relatively rare Blaze take damage from them, meaning a few stacks of Snowballs can provide a practical way to harvest Blaze Rods, which are used for Potion Brewing.

You also want to bring a lot of Food; it is vital to keep your Hunger Bar filled at all times so that you can regenerate health. Bread is recommended, but if you have access to Melon, you may want to bring a stack of those along. As another option, mushrooms are abundant in the Nether, so if you remember to bring some Bowls along, you can easily craft the filling Mushroom Stew.

Torches are also useful; illumination is not much of an issue but they are very useful for marking paths to various points of interest. Finally, remember to bring a Crafting Table along. This is vital should your bow break while fighting Ghasts or you want to eat some Mushroom Stew (don't forget to bring some materials (such as Iron) along to make more tools and weapons.)

Your only real enemy for your first visit will be Ghasts. Ghasts are one of the hardest mobs to fight in Minecraft, mainly because of their floating ability and their long-ranged fireball, which does considerable damage (particularly in Minecraft 1.0 and later updates, where one direct hit can kill you.) As mentioned above, the best way to take them out is with a bow and arrows; however, you can repel their fireball back at them by left-clicking on it as it approaches you (note that the damage the fireball causes applies to the Ghast; if you should manage to hit them with their own fireball, they will be killed.) Be forewarned that this takes practice, so don't expect to use this method as your sole defense against Ghasts. A final note about Ghasts: aiming and hitting them can sometimes be challenging. Their hitbox is the bottom half of their model (their tentacles), so hitting their 'head' doesn't damage them.

Once you have these tools and supplies gathered, you will be ready to...

Enter The Nether
When you first enter the Nether, you may be awestruck by the amazing structure of it. Don't get too caught up in the scenery, though, as the Nether is a dangerous place. As mentioned above, you will want to begin by creating a small structure, preferably around or close to your Nether Portal, with a Crafting Table and a Chest. If you carried valuables with you into the Nether, it is recommended to drop them off in the chest. This way, if you die, you won't have lost too many resources. Once you have set up your base to your liking, you will be ready to explore...

Resources found in the Nether:


 * Netherrack, Soul Sand, Gravel, Lava, Glowstone.
 * Nether Brick, Nether Brick Fence, Nether Brick Stairs.
 * Red Mushroom, Brown Mushroom, Nether Wart.
 * Zombie Pigmen sometimes drop Rotten Flesh and Gold Nuggets. Since 1.2, they can drop Golden Swords.
 * Ghasts sometimes drop Ghast Tears and Gunpowder.
 * Blazes sometimes drop Blaze Rods.
 * Magma Cubes which drop Magma Cream.

Exploring The Nether
When exploring the Nether, there are a few things to remember,
 * Hostile mobs are incredibly common, and can spawn anywhere there is space. Luckily, what are perhaps the two most dangerous Nether mobs - Ghasts and Blaze - have special spawning needs. Ghasts require a 5*5*5 space to spawn, and Blaze only spawn from Blaze Spawners with light level < 13.
 * Compasses and clocks will spin wildly, (although the day/night cycle continues while in the Nether), beds explode when you try to sleep in them, (also leaving fire), and maps made in the overworld don't work either. Combined, this makes navigation in the Nether quite tricky. Some good suggestions, when exploring, include trying to keep going in one direction, and making sure you leave a trail of torches (or dirt, or some other easily recognizable Overworld block) along the path you have taken from your base. This will enable you to easily find your way back.
 * It is possible to create a map of The Nether by bringing the necessary supplies (paper and a compass) in with you and assembling them once inside the Nether. However, the map will only show the bedrock "roof", and the direction indicator spins randomly, so they're not very helpful.
 * If you encounter a blocked passage, a huge lava lake, or any other impassable obstacle, just follow your trail back to your base, and start off in another direction
 * This fact cannot be restated enough: Be sure to build a base. This way, if you accidentally attack a mob of Zombie Pigmen or have a Ghast on your trail, you won't run back to your base only to realize that it consists of a Nether Portal and nothing else. Again, as Ghast fireballs can blow large holes in Netherrack walls, you should construct your base out of cobblestone, stone, or, for a decorative look, stone bricks. Not only do these blocks have the necessary Blast Resistance of at least 20.17 to resist a Ghast fireball, they also are not found naturally in the Nether. This means it can be just that much easier to identify your base from a distance.

Nether Fortresses
If you are lucky enough to stumble upon a Nether Fortress while exploring, it is a good idea to make sure you have the necessary supplies to gather its many resources. So, head back to your base, or even back to the Overworld, and get, at a minimum, an Iron Pickaxe, an Iron Sword and lots and lots of food. There are a few things that are of the utmost importance when exploring a Nether Fortress:
 * Explore the Nether Fortress thoroughly. You might not find much, but every once in a while there will be a Nether Wart plantation, or a Blaze Spawner. These are great finds.
 * When exploring a Nether Fortress, always place torches to your right - that way when you want to get out you just make sure that the torches are on your left.
 * If you find a Blaze Spawner, make sure you place a lot of torches around it unless you want to farm Blaze Rods, Blazes can't spawn with light level > 12, so simply placing torches on the spawner won't stop them from spawning.
 * If you come across a Nether Wart plantation, collect as many (if not all) of them as you can, and then go back to your base and create a Nether Wart farm by planting it on top of Soul Sand. Placed Nether Wart does not grow in the Overworld, and you must be less than 150 blocks away in the Nether for it to grow.

You might even encounter a Magma Cube, which will give off Magma Cream if you have a hard time finding Slimes in the Overworld. Contrary to popular belief, Magma Cubes do not spawn more in Nether Fortresses - the opposite is actually true.

Surviving in the Nether
Turns out it wasn't enough for you to explore the Nether. You've decided it looks like a nice place to live. So, what do you need to survive here?

Food/Supplies
As of 1.1, Oak trees can drop apples, so a tree farm provides both wood and food. If you don't plan to return to the Overworld regularly, you will also need wood for tools and torches. However, trees need space to grow - and Ghasts need space to spawn. However, Ghasts, contrary to popular belief, spawn on blocks, and no mob can spawn on trasparent blocks. Since Ghasts are large, you can place blocks to inturrupt their spawning. You can place slabs, glass and glowstone all over the floor of your tree farm. You can plant saplings with glowstone adjacent and blocks with slabs on top of the diagonal blocks. You can do this in rows for max efficiency. Also, if you're low on glowstone, Jack o' Lanterns are useful, as are torches under glass. For the saplings to grow you need them to be well lit. You also need 4 blocks of air above the sapling. Using this method of tree farming, you can have a large enclosure for mass wood farming without Ghasts!

As of recent versions, pumpkins/melons can be grown from a stalk onto dirt. You can use pistons to make a large melon farm or pumpkin farm in the nether.

Wheat can be farmed in the Nether, but to do this efficiently, instantly place seeds after harvesting the wheat. Do this quickly so the farmland cannot degrade to dirt. Another good idea is to have a hoe on your hotbar to re-till any blocks that revert to dirt.

A good way to get eggs is to spawn chickens in a 1x1 tube with no corners. Chickens can't leave but you can gather the eggs by standing where the corners should be. You can use these eggs to grow/kill/cook chickens, or to make cakes if you brought milk.

Lava
Lava is most prevalent in the Nether, and is in huge lakes (a sea of lava is near the bottom) rivers, and falls from the ceiling. You must be very careful around lava as Water buckets will not work in the Nether, however, through inventory hacking, you can place ice, which will melt into water. Also, lava spreads much farther in the Nether (7 blocks from the source) than in the Overworld (3 blocks) A good way to get rid of lava is to use the Netherrack around you to direct lava away from you. Just remember, if you mine upwards, then watch for dripping red. It will not damage you, but if you mine there, lava will come out. If you wish to get rid of the lava flowing from the ceiling (fear of dying, in your way), you will have to block jump up to the source (or simply at the ceiling), and place a block of anything to stop the flow. One must be extremely careful about the placement of the block, however. If it were to be placed not at the source, the lava would simply use that block to spread even further, and you're left worse than you started. Most people would prefer to leave those alone. A good way of crossing the lava is to make a Potion of Fire Resistance. while this potion is active, you will be able to swim through lava without taking damage.

Cobblestone Base
Making a small base around your portal is a must, but making it out of Netherrack is not safe, as Ghasts can destroy Netherrack quite easily. Probably the best thing to use is Cobblestone. Cobble is very common in the Overworld and is completely Ghast-proof. Later on, you can start to make nice houses and bigger bases in the Nether, but for now, a cobble room with the portal and a chest (probably a crafting table) is sufficient. The chest is important if you don't wish to lose too many of your items if you happen to die. The only necessities are a stone pickaxe, a sword (iron), food, bow and arrows, dirt or cobblestone for stopping lava, a flint and steel and maybe a shovel. The rest of the items, or extra food can be stored in the chest.

To prevent mobs from spawning in your Nether home/base, you can use transparent items or half-blocks as the floor. However, mobs can spawn on the Nether Portal.

Zombie Pigmen
See Zombie Pigmen

Zombie Pigmen are very common in the Nether and roam in packs of 4-10. They are neutral mobs, meaning that they won't attack unless you attack them. However, Zombie Pigmen have an interesting characteristic that make them unique from other neutral mobs. If you attack one Zombie Pigmen, the whole group will swarm you, which spells certain death for you. There is a set distance, around 14 blocks around the Pigman that is attacked, that designates the area in which other Zombie Pigmen will become hostile to you, if you are in that area. It is recommended to leave them alone, but if you want Gold Nuggets, or to increase your level (killing many Zombie Pigmen will give you a lot of experience), you can attack the Pigmen in various, safe ways. Also, if you have to attack the Zombie Pigmen, make sure there isn't much (or even better, no) lava or fire surrounding you. You will probably have to move around a lot to fight all of them at once, and distractions will only make it worse. NOTE, Zombie Pigman wield and carry golden swords, but they usually only drop Rotten Flesh and Gold Nuggets (although, very rarely, they will drop either Golden Ingots, Helmets, or Swords)
 * 1. Bow and Arrows- Using a bow, you can pick off Zombie Pigmen. One at a time at a safe distance.
 * 2. Separation- Isolate the pigmen and kill them, but make sure they are far away from any other pigmen, or else they will attack you. Time consuming, but safer than the bow-method.
 * 3. Diamond sword, diamond (or iron) armor, and full hunger bar- If you have a diamond sword (preferably enchanted with something like Knockback, which will help for fighting multiple), a full set of diamond or iron armor, and you are regenerating, you may be able to beat the whole group. NOTE, this is not recommended as, if you die, you lose a diamond sword, and a full set of armor.

Ghasts
See Ghast

As said before, they shoot deadly fireballs at you when you're in their sight of 100 blocks, so stay very far away from them. Cobblestone is effective in neutralizing their fireballs. In emergencies, one can change the Difficulty setting to "Peaceful" to avoid a Ghast attack. Pro tip: when the magma bomb is within Steve's reach, aim at the ghast and punch. As long as the fire ball is in your FOV you can hit the ghast. NOTE: If surrounded by multiple Ghasts, constantly hitting attack whilst aiming at a Ghast will throw all magma bombs in that direction, regardless of which direction they are coming from (they still need to be within reach).

Blazes
See Blaze

Although they are not common in the "general" Nether, there are Blaze spawners in Nether Fortresses. A great way to kill them is to use the nether brick from the dungeon and build a casing over the spawner so you can see through a one block hole and either pick them off with your bow and arrows or use a sword, preferably a sword enchanted with Knockback.

Magma Cubes
See Magma Cube

Magma Cubes are cube-like mobs that spawn in the Nether, generally near lava (hence the name Magma Cubes). They look like burnt slimes with yellow eyes, and seem to have springs under them (they jump fairly high and the "springing" is visible). Their properties are much like slimes, as killing a large one results in 4 medium-sized ones, once killed yield 4 small ones. The small Magma Cubes drop magma cream (since Minecraft update 1.1) and experience when killed. There isn't much you can do to prevent Magma Cubes from spawning inside your base, but you can reduce their ability to jump by giving your base a low ceiling. You can actually prevent magma cubes from spawning in your base. You can make the floor out of transparent blocks so they can't spawn.

Portal Travel
The Overworld and the Nether is linked by a factor of 8, meaning if you create another portal in the Nether and go back to the overworld, the distance you traveled in the Nether is multiplied by eight. Therefore, you can create multiple portals linked to portals in the Nether allowing you to "fast-travel". However, linking Nether portals has a trick and is explained in more detail in the Nether Portal page.