Tutorials/Defeating the ender dragon

The Ender Dragon is one of two boss mobs found in Minecraft. It is encountered in The End, which is reached by entering a finished End portal. Defeating the Ender Dragon consists of destroying the Ender Crystals found on top of tall obsidian pillars scattered throughout The End, before finally killing it. It is considered to be the most difficult mob to kill, and is widely regarded as the final boss of Minecraft, despite the fact that achievements relating to the Wither are unlocked after those relating to the Ender Dragon. This guide covers the PC version of the Ender Dragon.

Preparations
Until the Ender Dragon is defeated, the player cannot leave The End without dying. In Hardcore mode, the player must defeat the Ender Dragon on their first visit, or die trying. Thus, great care must be taken when preparing for the fight.

Bow
The bow will be the player's main weapon; both for destroying the Ender Crystals, and against the dragon itself. It is recommended that the bow be enchanted with at least Power III. Once the Ender Crystals are destroyed, it will take twelve fully charged shots to the head to defeat the dragon. The Infinity and Unbreaking enchantments are useful, but not required. One thing to note is that a bow enchanted with Infinity will be able to take 385 shots before breaking, which is equivalent to roughly six stacks of arrows. The Punch and Flame enchantments have no effect on the dragon. However, the Flame enchantment can help in targeting the Ender crystals.

Sword
Despite the bow being the primary weapon, a sword can be used to deal with any provoked Endermen. While the bow is preferred, a sword can also be used to damage the Ender Dragon. If the sword is enchanted with Fire Aspect, any Endermen hit by it will be immediately pacified.

Armor
The Ender Dragon has an attack strength of 15 on hard difficulty; the highest of any hostile mob in Minecraft. Thus, it is recommended that the player wears at least iron boots, leggings, and a chestplate enchanted with Protection IV. Because of the dragon's knockback, and the potential for cliffs, Feather Falling is also recommended. The player may consider wearing a pumpkin, instead of a helmet. There are several factors to consider:

Pros: Cons:
 * Wearing a pumpkin prevents the player from accidentally provoking any nearby Endermen, allowing them to concentrate on the pillars and the dragon.
 * Less damage reduction
 * Pumpkins obstruct the player's vision, although this can be avoided with resource packs.

Potions
Even the most well-protected player is likely to take a great deal of damage during the fight if they lack experience. A combination of quick and long-term healing in the form of Splash Potions of Healing II, and extended Potions of Regeneration, respectively, are strongly recommended. Extended Potions of Swiftness are recommended, but not required.

An extended potion of Regeneration will heal a total of x 24 over the course of its two-minute duration. A splash potion of Healing II will restore x 4 instantly. Thus, while a single potion of Regeneration will heal more damage overall, it will take 47.5 seconds to fully recover from, whereas two splash potions of Healing II will recover x 8 as quickly as the player can throw them.

Because there is no benefit to drinking multiple Regeneration potions at the same time, the number that the player brings should be limited by how long the fight lasts. It should not last more than twenty minutes, so ten potions of Regeneration will allow the player to regenerate health for the full duration of the fight. After all other equipment is considered, any remaining spaces should be filled with splash potions of Healing II.

Pickaxe
Occasionally, the player will spawn underground. A pickaxe will be necessary to reach the surface.

Ender Pearls
It is possible for the player to spawn on a platform, away from the main island. The safest means of reaching the island is through the use of Ender pearls.

Food
There should never be a time when the player does not have food on them, if they can possibly help it. If possible, cooked meat and crops are the best possible food, cake is recommended but not required.

Enchanting Equipment
In order to take full advantage of the Ender Dragon's experience drop, the player should bring an enchanting table, fifteen bookshelves, and at least ten books. It is recommended that the player avoid bringing these until they are familiar with fighting the dragon.

The Portal Room
Because the trip to The End is one-way, it is recommended that the player avoid activating the End portal until all other preparations are complete. After reaching the portal room, the player should block off any adjoining hallways that they don't plan on using, and then either dig a shaft directly to the surface or construct a Nether portal, to use as a shortcut. Consider storing the needed Eyes of Ender in a nearby chest until they are required.

When the player is ready to activate the portal, they should place blocks outside of the portal ring, and stand on them when placing the Eyes of Ender. This is to prevent the player from falling into the lava, as well as from entering the portal before they are ready. A player playing on Survival mode should sleep in a bed near the portal, so that the can quickly return to The End in the event that they die.

Preparing on Survival Mode
In addition to the usual preparations, a Survival player should prepare for the possibility that they are defeated. This includes having a backup chest near the portal. It should contain the following:


 * Two full sets of iron armor
 * Two pumpkins (if being used)
 * Two backup bows with arrows. Enchanted if possible
 * Two backup swords
 * Ender Pearls
 * Backups of any potions used
 * Food

These are to allow the player to survive while they retrieve their items. In the event that the player falls into the void, they should consider returning to their base to regroup, unless all of the Ender crystals are destroyed, and the player is confident that they can defeat the dragon with the supplies in the chest.

Another possibility is to, if you have commands enabled, type into the chat bar "/gamerule keepInventory true" so you keep your items if you should be defeated.

Before Entering
When the player is ready, their hotbar should contain the following:


 * Bow (Enchanted)
 * Sword (Enchanted)
 * Food
 * Pickaxe
 * Ender pearls
 * A splash potion of Harming II (To throw at the dragon when it tries to head butt you)
 * A potion of Swiftness II (If being used)
 * A potion of Regeneration II
 * A splash potion of Healing II

After drinking the potions of Swiftness and Regeneration, those slots should be replaced with potions of Healing II. The player should have at least two potions of Healing II on their hotbar at all times.

With the Ender pearls selected, enter the portal.

The Fight
After arriving in The End, the player will be on a 5x5 platform of obsidian. If the platform is away from the main island, an Ender pearl should be used to teleport there. If the platform is underground, the player should mine towards the surface.

Healing
The player should have a reasonable idea of how well their armor and enchantments will protect them from the dragon. With the suggested armor, on the hard difficulty, the player can expect to take an average of each time they are hit by the dragon. If the dragon manages to close, they can expect to be hit one to two times, and may take additional damage from falling after being knocked back.

If a player heals needlessly out of fear, they may burn through their healing supplies more quickly than they need to, and be left without a means of healing themselves later on. On the other hand, being too conservative with their healing can get them killed. Thus, a player should let regeneration take care of any minor wounds, and save their splash potions of Healing for when they are at risk of being killed outright.

Terrain
Because falling into the void will not only kill the player, but destroy any items they are carrying, they should stick to the center of the island, except to destroy Ender crystals. They should also be aware of any holes in The End, and avoid them. Due to the dragon's knockback ability, the player should stay at least ten blocks away from any edge. If the player falls off an edge, they should immediately throw an Ender pearl up onto the ledge. If they are quick enough, and very lucky, it is possible for a player to teleport out of the void and back onto the island.

Managing the Endermen
If the player is wearing a pumpkin, they cannot provoke the Endermen by looking at them, and they become a non-issue. Because the player will spend most of their time looking up, first from shooting at the crystals, and then at the dragon itself, it is possible to go the entire fight without provoking a single Enderman, even without a pumpkin, or making an active effort to avoid doing so.

Managing the Dragon
The dragon is able to pass through any block, and will destroy any block that isn't End stone, obsidian, bedrock, or Ender crystals on contact. As such, there is no point in constructing shelters.

The player should be listening and looking for the dragon at all times. When the dragon's health bar is visible, it means that the dragon is nearby. If the dragon charges the player, it can be repelled by shooting it. If the player hears that the dragon is close, but doesn't see it, they should sprint, then make a 90° turn and repeat until they can see the dragon.

Occasionally, the dragon will swoop down to try to head butt you. Either give it a good whack in the head with a sword or quickly throw your Splash Potion of Harming at it.

Sword Pros


 * Hitting the dragon's head with a sword while it tries to head butt you is a pretty good idea overall.
 * It is the easiest method against the head butt.

Sword Cons


 * The sword might not do as much damage as the splash potion.

Splash Potion of Harming Pros


 * The splash potion does a bit more damage because after you throw it once, the dragon will get hurt every few seconds afterwards.
 * You should more likely bring at least 5 to make the Harming effect last longer.

Splash Potion of Harming Cons


 * You might miss the throw and the head butt might be a success.
 * You could accidentally throw the potion and miss more than 1 time, wasting them.
 * As mentioned above, this is a harder method against the head butt.

Destroying the Ender Crystals
The Ender crystals heal the Ender Dragon. With all of the crystals active, the dragon will recover faster than a player could ever hope to damage it. An important thing to note is that the dragon does not appear to actively seek healing. Instead, the dragon is merely less likely to receive healing, the fewer Ender Crystals remain. Thus, it is possible to defeat the Ender dragon while some Ender crystals remain, provided the dragon spends enough time away from them.

Climbing
Attempting to climb the obsidian pillars is a terrible idea. Even if the player builds platforms from a dragon-proof material, the dragon can easily knock them off while they are climbing, and they will need some kind of delay, such as TNT to avoid being damaged by the crystals' explosions. If the player absolutely must climb the towers, hollowing out the inside with an enchanted diamond pickaxe and using End stone to pillar jumping is the safest method. This, however, is an unimaginably slow process, and there is nothing preventing the dragon from damaging the player inside the pillar.

Shooting
The best method for destroying the End crystals is simply shooting them. The player should position themselves so that the crystal is at least partially visible. They should aim above the crystal, pay attention to where the arrow hits the pillar, and adjust their aim accordingly. The Flame enchantment helps to make the arrows more visible. Be aware that the crystal may have been destroyed, even if an explosion was not seen. Alternatively, snowballs could be used instead to save on arrows, if the bow does not have the Infinity enchantment.

The player should destroy crystals as they find them. Remaining crystals can be located by following the healing beam they emit when the dragon is nearby.

Defeating the Dragon
Once the majority of the crystals have been destroyed, the player can attempt to defeat the dragon. At a distance, the dragon is nearly impossible to hit, and the majority of shots will miss. Thus, it is best to conserve ammunition by only firing when the dragon is at point-blank range.

While shots to anywhere other than the head only deal one-quarter of the normal damage, hits to the body will add up over time. While the dragon is flying, the player should keep it in sight. When it charges, the player should charge up their bow, line up their shot, and then shoot it in the head. When the dragon recoils, they should attempt a quick second shot. When it flies away, the player should follow. When it flies low while fleeing, it will most likely charge. It is important that the player be patient, and not lose track of their health. Once the player has inflicted x 100 damage, the dragon will explode, dropping experience orbs, and causing an exit portal to appear.

Experience
Once defeated, the Ender Dragon will drop enough experience orbs to reach level 78. However, there is a much more efficient use for them. While the Ender Dragon's death animation is playing, the player should place their enchanting table, and surround it with bookshelves. The player should then carefully collect just enough orbs to reach level 30, and quickly enchant one of their books. Repeating this process allows for at least nine level 30 enchantments, as opposed to the two that could be gained from collecting the orbs all at once.

Dragon Egg
To collect the Dragon Egg, the player should simply position a single piston behind the egg, and a redstone signal next to the piston. This will cause the egg to be knocked down where the player can grab it as an item drop.