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)


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


 * Special mob types:
 * Ghasts - hostile, flying, jellyfish-like monsters which shoot fireballs and are immune to fire.
 * Zombie Pigmen - peaceful, humanoid creatures. Currently they won't serve a purpose.

New block types
There are 6 new block types in the Halloween update. It's not yet sure how much of these will be used in Hell. Only one of these is currently known:


 * Red Mossy Cobblestone (The moss was often mistaken for blood. Burns indefinitely)

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


 * unnamed golden block that emits light apparently infinitely (PCGamer has nicknamed it 'Australium')


 * unnamed grey block with faces resembling those of creepers.


 * colored portal block (Each portal will have its recognisable color. It's unknown if this will be a seperate block or just an effect not counting as a block at all)

Portals and Fast Travel
The portals are made by creating a 4x5 (2x3 on inside) 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 its equivalent Hell area.

When re-entering 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.