How To Obtain An Elytra in Minecraft

Obtaining the elytra is every player’s ultimate goal in Minecraft. Unlocking the ability to fly and glide through the Overworld is pure bliss for a player who spent their entire life in survival mode walking. From locating the stronghold to using the elytra, here is everything you need to know about obtaining the elytra in Minecraft.

Minecraft—in all of its dimensions—is infinite. From the moment each player spawns, they have unlimited possibilities when it comes to creativity and exploration. Players may swim to the bottom of the deepest trench or reach the top of the highest mountain. Anything is possible in Minecraft. But as time goes on and discoveries of each new biome get further away from the base, players may find that walking can get tedious.

Some may even find climbing steep mountain tops is not worth the time and effort anymore. There is no way left other than to fly. But flying in survival mode is not something one can farm to obtain. In Minecraft’s survival mode, players must first beat the entire game to gain the ability to fly. And the only way to do that is to acquire an elytra.

The elytra is a pair of cape-like wings players can equip to glide and fly. Unfortunately, unless you use cheats, obtaining the elytra is not easy. To get one, you have to locate the stronghold, travel to the End, beat the Ender dragon, travel to the outer islands, climb an End city, and loot the End ship. Although this may seem like an arduous journey for players, the reward is more than worth the time and effort. Follow this guide to learn how to find and get your very own pair of elytra wings in Minecraft.

Locate A Stronghold

To obtain the elytra, you need to travel to the End. Unfortunately, there is only one way for players in survival mode to get to the End, and it is to first find a stronghold in the Overworld. Strongholds are massive underground structures in Minecraft that contain a special room called the portal room. The portal room is the ticket to the End. These strongholds are located deep underground and can only be found by using an Eye of Ender. Players must craft multiple Eye of Enders to reach the stronghold and open the portal. To locate a stronghold and reach the End, you must follow these steps:

1. Use the Eye of Ender by holding it in your hand and pressing the right-click mouse button. The Eye of Ender will float up in the sky towards the direction of the nearest stronghold. Keep doing this until you reach the stronghold.
   
2. Follow the direction that the Eye of Ender points to until it starts to sink in the ground. This will indicate that the stronghold is now underneath you.
   
3. Then, you must dig your way down until you find an entrance to the stronghold. Finding stone bricks underground is an indication that the stronghold’s entrance is close. You may either break the stone bricks until you get inside or find an opening to enter.
   
4. Explore the stronghold until you reach the portal room. The portal room will contain a silverfish spawner and an end portal.
   
5. Place the remaining Eye of Enders on the empty slots of the end portal frame. This will immediately activate the end portal.
   
6. When you are all set with your gear and equipment, jump into the End portal to travel to the End.
   

You may choose to create a nether portal inside the portal room for fast travel. You can use the nether portal to travel back to your base and prepare all the items you need before fighting the Ender Dragon, the final boss of Minecraft.

Beat The Ender Dragon

Once you reach the End, you have to beat the Ender Dragon to open up the exit portal that will transport you back to the Overworld and open up the End gateway portal that will take you to the outer End islands. The Ender Dragon is a gigantic flying hostile mob often considered the final boss of Minecraft. To defeat the Ender Dragon, you must be fully equipped with the best weapons and armor and carry enough resources to survive the fight. Here is a list of all the possible items to bring to beat the Ender Dragon:

• Sword: You must bring at least a diamond or netherite sword to fight the Ender Dragon. Ideally, your sword should have at least a Sharpness III enchantment or higher as it increases the damage on your sword. You will only use the sword once the dragon lands on its perch to deal damage to it.
• Bow: Bringing a bow and arrow is a must when trying to defeat the Ender Dragon. You will use the bow to destroy the End crystals as well as shoot the Ender Dragon while it is flying. Ideal bow enchantments include Infinity and Power V as infinity allows for unlimited use of arrows while power increases the bow’s damage.
• Armor: You must be equipped with a full set of either diamond or netherite armor when in combat with the Ender Dragon. The dragon deals the fourth strongest direct damage to a player of all the hostile mobs in the game (topped only by the vindicator, iron golem, and the ravager). Wearing a high-tiered armor allows you to survive most of its direct attacks especially the knockback. Your full set of armor should ideally be enchanted with Protection IV.
• Food: Food will be your main source of healing and regeneration during the fight. Bringing a sufficient number of food items will help you survive the fight especially when there’s no option to go back once you reach the End. Recommended food items to bring include cooked porkchop, steak, pumpkin pie, and rabbit stew. You may also carry golden apples as consuming one gives you the Absorption effect for a few seconds.
• Pickaxe: Carry at least an iron pickaxe when going to the End. Bringing a pickaxe is not necessary during the fight. However, you can use the pickaxe to dig the end stones in case you spawn underground.
• Potions: Potions are essential in fighting the Ender Dragon as its effects may help save your life and sustain you during battle. Ideal potions to bring in the End are potions of slow falling, potions of leaping, potions of strength, potions of healing, potions of regeneration, and potions of night vision.
• Ender Pearls: Bring at least one set of Ender pearls. The Ender pearls will be used to teleport in order to reach higher areas such as the End crystal pillars.
• Blocks: Carry a set of either dirt or cobblestone blocks to easily make a nerd pole going up the pillars to the End crystals.
• Water Bucket: A water bucket will be useful when jumping down from the End crystal pillars to prevent fall damage.
• Totem of Undying: Bring at least 1 totem of undying to save you from immediate death.

Fighting the Ender Dragon will be tricky and challenging. You must be cautious and alert at all times as the Ender Dragon will not be the only enemy you will face, as Enderman will also attack you if you gaze into their eyes. To succeed, there are a few things that you must do to defeat the Ender Dragon.

1. Climb the pillars and destroy all the End crystals. The End crystals will heal the dragon no matter how much damage you deal so destroying the crystals must be your first priority. You can use the nerd pole strategy to climb the pillars. You can also try shooting at the crystals using your bow. For crystals that are caged in iron bars, use your pickaxe to break it open before destroying the End crystal inside.
   
2. Shoot the Ender Dragon with your bow while it is flying. Having an Infinity-enchanted bow will allow you to shoot at the dragon as much as you want without the risk of running out of arrows.
   
3. When the Ender Dragon is on its perch, use your sword to damage it. At this time, the dragon will be immune to arrows so using a Sharpness-enchanted sword will allow you to deal sufficient damage to it at this short amount of time before it flies off again.
   

Once you defeat the Ender Dragon, it will float in the sky, and bright purple beams of light will erupt from its body as it disintegrates and explodes. Experience orbs worth 12,000 will then rain down from the sky as soon as the dragon is defeated. A dragon egg will also appear on top of the perch as a reward, and two portals will activate.

Exit Portal

The exit portal will appear below the perch of the dragon. The exit portal will be your only way to get back to the Overworld. Once you jump into this portal, you will be treated to the end poem and the credits that signify the End of the game. After viewing the credits, you will spawn in your last save point, at which time you can safely go back to your base.

End Gateway Portal

The End gateway portal will appear on the edge of the island. This portal will only be one block in size and covered in bedrock from top to bottom. Hence players cannot simply jump or mine their way into the portal. The only way you can get in is to throw an Ender pearl into the portal and wait until you teleport to the End’s outer islands. The outer islands are where you will find End cities and, ultimately, acquire the elytra.

Find An End City

Once you reach the outer islands of the End, your main goal will be to look for an End city. End cities do not often generate, so you might need to search further into the outer islands to find one. You can travel from one island to the next using the Ender pearl’s teleportation ability. Be careful when traversing the End’s outer islands, as one wrong move might plummet you straight into the void below. Keep on going until you find an End city.

End cities are castle-like structures that hold some of the most valuable loot in the entire game. They are guarded by shulkers whose attack causes the player to acquire the Levitation status effect for 10 seconds. When affected, levitation will make the player float upwards continuously until the duration expires. This is especially dangerous when you get hit by a shulker attack in an open area as you will indefinitely float towards the sky until the effect wears off, at which point, you will either fall into the void or fall hard on the ground. Dealing with the shulkers should be a priority as you make your way to the top of the End city.

Obtain The Elytra

To obtain the elytra, you must climb to the top of the End city where you will find the End ship. The End ship is a boat-like structure found floating alongside the End city. The elytra will be inside the End ship displayed inside an item frame. Unfortunately, not all End cities generate an End ship. There is only a 50% chance to generate a bridge in an End city, and about 12.5% of those bridges may generate the End ship. This makes the elytra an extremely rare item in Minecraft.

Once you have reached the End ship, go to the lower deck towards the treasure room. The treasure room will contain two valuable loot chests and an item frame holding the elytra. A shulker will guard this room, so you must be cautious upon entering the treasure room. Once you have dealt with the shulker, loot the chests and retrieve the elytra from the item frame by pressing your left-click mouse button.

Equip the elytra by placing it in your chest plate armor slot. You can then use it by pressing the spacebar or jump key on your keyboard while falling. This will immediately spread the elytra apart, similar to a beetle’s wings during flight. Then you can control the elytra’s flight by aiming the direction with your mouse. The elytra will gradually lose speed and altitude while flying. To increase speed, you can use firework rockets. Take note that as you lose altitude during flight, your speed will increase and vice versa.