Building a Nether portal using a lava pool is a resourceful way to acquire the necessary obsidian without mining it, which typically requires a diamond pickaxe. This method primarily involves using water to convert lava source blocks into obsidian.
Creating a Nether portal frame requires 10-14 blocks of obsidian. While you can mine obsidian with a diamond pickaxe, utilizing a lava pool allows you to form the blocks in place or gather them if you have a diamond pickaxe. This guide focuses on forming the blocks directly at the lava pool site.
Materials Needed
Here are the essential items you'll need for this method:
- Empty Bucket(s): You'll need at least one, preferably two or more, to transport water. Using "just 4 iron" as mentioned in the video snippet is enough to craft one bucket.
- Water Source: A lake, river, or even a single water source block you can create or find.
- Lava Pool: A natural formation of lava, either on the surface or underground.
- Flint and Steel: Used to ignite the portal frame once it's built.
- Non-Flammable Blocks: Around 64 blocks (like dirt, stone, cobblestone) to help shape the lava and water flow.
- Optional: A diamond pickaxe if you want to mine and relocate the formed obsidian blocks.
Step-by-Step Guide
Here's how to build your Nether portal frame using a nearby lava pool:
- Locate a Lava Pool: Find a large pool of lava. Surface lava pools are easiest to work with, but underground ones also work.
- Gather Water: Fill your bucket(s) with water from a nearby water source.
- Shape the Area: Use your non-flammable blocks to build a structure around the lava pool where you want your portal frame to be. This structure acts as a mold for the obsidian blocks. You'll typically want to create a rectangular outline (at least 4 blocks wide by 5 blocks high internally for the frame, plus the mold blocks).
- Carefully Introduce Water: The key is to get water to flow over the source blocks of the lava pool where you want the obsidian.
- You can place water blocks directly adjacent to or above the lava source blocks using your filled bucket.
- Be cautious! Pouring water directly into a deep lava pool will likely create cobblestone or stone, not obsidian, unless the water flows specifically over lava source blocks.
- A common technique is to build a small structure above the lava pool and pour water from the top, guiding its flow over the lava.
- Form Obsidian: As the water flows over lava source blocks, they will turn into obsidian. Lava flowing onto water creates cobblestone or stone. You need water flowing onto lava source blocks.
- Repeat and Refine: Continue placing blocks and pouring water until you have created the necessary 10-14 obsidian blocks in the shape of a Nether portal frame (a 4x5 outer rectangle with a 2x3 inner opening).
- It might be easier to form solid obsidian blocks first and then remove the center using a diamond pickaxe, or carefully mold the hollow frame from the start.
- Build the Frame: If you formed solid blocks, mine out the 2x3 center area with a diamond pickaxe. If you molded the frame directly, ensure it has the correct 4x5 outer dimensions and 2x3 inner opening.
- Activate the Portal: Once the obsidian frame is complete, stand near it and use your flint and steel on any of the inner obsidian blocks. As shown in the video snippet, "And use your flint and steel to activate the nether portal."
- Enter the Nether: The portal will light up with a purple swirling effect. As the video snippet concludes, "Now you can enter the Nether."
Portal Frame Dimensions
A standard Nether portal frame requires a minimum of 10 obsidian blocks for the frame (the corners are optional). The required size is a 4 blocks wide by 5 blocks tall outer dimension, leaving a 2x3 inner opening.
| Side Length | Number of Obsidian Blocks |
|---|---|
| Base | 4 |
| Sides (x2) | 5 each (total 10) |
| Top | 4 |
| Total | 18 (including corners) or 14 (without corners) |
You need a minimum of 10 blocks to form the two base blocks, two top blocks, and three blocks high on each side (4 + 4 + 3 + 3 = 14 blocks, or 2 + 2 + 3 + 3 = 10 blocks if corner blocks are omitted). The lava pool method allows you to create these blocks.
By carefully using water flow with a lava pool, you can acquire the obsidian needed for your Nether portal frame efficiently. Remember to activate it with flint and steel before stepping through!
