The Nether



The Nether is part of the Minecraft Halloween Update. Not much is known about this world, which looks like hell; 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 cannnot hit the Nether by mining straight down.


 * The ceiling and the base of the Nether are made of bedrock.


 * Mushrooms are commonly found.


 * Special mob types (at least 2):
 * Ghasts - Hostile, flying, jellyfish-like monsters which shoot fireballs and are immune to fire.
 * Zombie Pigmen - Peaceful, humanoid creatures, that turn hostile when attacked. They drop pork.


 * Special block types (at least 6):
 * Red Mossy Cobblestone - burns indefinitely, the main block type forming the Nether.
 * Brittle Gold ("Australium") - a golden block that glows indefinitely. Australium is not the official name, it was nicknamed so by PCGamer.
 * Mud - an unnofically named "muddy block" or "slip-mud"; grey block resembling a creeper face, slows the player down when walked on and sinks down a tiny bit.


 * In addition, to the special block types, gravel can also be found in the Nether.

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 stand inside the portal for the first time, it will create a portal in its equivalent area of the Nether.

When re-entering the normal world, any distance covered in the Nether is multiplied by 16 times, effectively making the Nether a fast travel zone that allows for greater distances to be covered in short amount of time in the normal world.

Portals can be walked through. In order to use them, the player has to stand still inside. Currently, they won't transport mobs or minecarts.

Naming
In the original announcement, Notch mentioned "a brand new Hell world". However, he's since stated that he doesn't want to use religious names, and prefers for Minecraft to be unique. When the preview was sent out on 29 October 2010 to a couple of gaming websites, the new dimension was called the Slip. This was changed to The Nether on the day of the update release.