How to Find a Nether Fortress in Minecraft

If you’re looking for a Nether Fortress in Minecraft, there are some things that you can do to increase your chances of finding one. They have a chance to spawn diagonally from where you enter the Nether.

How to Increase Your Chances of Finding a Nether Fortress

Think of where you spawn in the Nether as the middle of a 4-way intersection. Your Nether Portal marks a central spot where the world generates around you. In all 4 compass directions; north, east, south, and west, are “roads” where no structures can spawn. However, between all of these roads, there are big squares of space that either a Nether Fortress or a Bastion Remnant can spawn. These big squares of space are actually the 4 main sections of the chunk you spawn in.

To put it simply, the best way to find a Nether Fortress is to travel diagonally away from your Nether Portal when you spawn into the Nether. You should try looking in all 4 possible chunk sections for the highest odds of coming across a Nether Fortress. By default, a Bastion Remnant will spawn in each chunk section, though they can be overwritten by Nether Fortresses that the game generates.

In the Java Edition of Minecraft, there is a 40% chance of a Nether Fortress spawning in place of a Bastion Remnant. However, in the Bedrock Edition of the game, you only have a 33.3% chance of getting a Nether Fortress to spawn. It’s also possible for Nether Fortresses to spawn inside of the terrain, so keep your eyes peeled for any dark red Nether Brick structures poking out of some Netherrack.

What to Do if No Nether Fortresses Spawn

If no Nether Fortresses spawn in the areas diagonal to your Nether Portal, you can head back into the overworld to try again.

First, break your Nether Portal from the overworld side to collect all of the Obsidian blocks. Then, go to another chunk and set up your Nether Portal again. When you enter a Nether Portal in a new chunk, you will spawn in a different part of the Nether. This means that you can search the areas that are diagonal from this new Nether spawn location for another 4 chances of finding a Nether Fortress.

What Blocks You Can Find in a Nether Fortress

Nether Fortresses are made of many kinds of blocks that can only be found in them. These can be used to create interesting and novel structures back home in the overworld as well as for other reasons.

Nether Bricks and Other Nether Brick Blocks

These are purely decorative blocks but are unique in appearance. If you want a dark red building of some kind, gather up a bunch of these blocks. In addition to basic Nether Brick blocks, there are Nether Brick Fences and Nether Brick Stairs–both of which share the same dark red color and brick pattern.

Nether Wart

You can sometimes find Nether Wart in the stairwells of Nether Fortresses. This type of red fungus can be harvested by breaking it. However, before you do so, you should know that Nether Wart has 3 growth stages–with the last one giving the most Nether Wart as drops. The final growth stage will look like thick, short, red bushes and you won’t be able to see much of the Soul Sand beneath it.

You can use Nether Wart for all kinds of potions, so, if you want the be the best alchemist, be sure to search Nether Fortresses to find this otherworldly mushroom.

Soul Sand

Beneath the Nether Wart that can spawn in some Nether Fortress stairwells, there will be Soul Sand. This brown block will slow you, and anything else, that tries to walk across it. Furthermore, in addition to being used to grow Nether Wart, Soul Sand can be used to create Soul Campfires and Soul Torches. These items are variations of regular Campfires and Torches, but with bluish-green fire. This alternate color of fire looks beautiful, though it also produces less light than regular fire.

Finally, Soul Sand can be used as part of the structure that you need to build in order to summon the Wither: a powerful mob with 3 heads that can shoot exploding projectiles.

What Mobs You Can Find in a Nether Fortress

Besides the Zombie Piglins, Skeletons, and Magma Cubes that can be found elsewhere in the Nether, there are a few special mobs that only spawn in Nether Fortresses. A couple of these rarer mobs have unique drops that are needed to make some late-game items.

Blazes

These floating beings of fire are yellow and orange. Blazes hover around the upper areas of Nether Fortresses, usually close to a Blaze Spawner, and will shoot fireballs at you the moment they see you. They spawn in groups of 2 to 3, so make sure to bring armor with some resistance to fire as well as a few potions. This mob has a chance to drop a Blaze Rod, which can be crafted into Blaze Powder: an ingredient needed to make an Eye of Ender. Eyes of Ender are the only way to get into the final possible visitable dimension, which is known as the End.

Wither Skeleton

Wither Skeletons are darkly colored versions of regular Skeletons, however, they attack you with swords instead of using bows. These undead enemies will spawn in groups of 5 and can be found on the open bridges of Nether Fortresses. In addition to possibly dropping a few common items like Bones and Coal, Wither Skeletons can drop a Wither Skeleton Skull. Along with Soul Sand, you will need Wither Skeleton Skulls to make the structure used to summon the Wither.

Zombified Chicken Jockey

One of the more odd creatures that you can find in Minecraft, the Zombified Chicken Jockey is a combination of a couple of different entities. Firstly, there is a Zombified Piglin sitting atop their small steed. Secondly, is the steed is a Zombified Chicken. Together, this little undead cavalier will aggressively charge at you while wielding a golden sword. They have a very small chance of spawning, and, when they do, they appear by themselves instead of in a group like the other Nether Fortress mobs. If you manage to defeat a Zombified Chicken Jockey, you will have a chance of getting 1 Rotting Flesh, 1 Gold Nugget, 1 Gold Ingot, or even the jockeys Golden Sword.

Items That Can Be Looted From a Nether Fortress

There is a ton of rare loot that can be obtained from a Nether Fortress. Pretty much everything that you find in a Nether Fortress Chest will be valuable, so be sure to check every nook and cranny of a Nether Fortress for these Chests.

Nether Fortresses spawn with many different kinds of rooms and configurations. Some of the generation mechanics can get a bit messy and spawn parts of the structure inside of Netherrack or other parts of the terrain. As such, this will mean that there are times when complete rooms will appear underground or within walls. This includes rooms with Chests laden with loot as well, so it can be worth digging into these buried chambers.

Items That Are Lootable From Nether Fortress Chests