Creating a Nether portal using lava and water is a clever way to bypass the need for a diamond pickaxe to mine obsidian directly. It involves carefully placing lava and water sources to form the required obsidian blocks for the portal frame.
Required Materials
To build a Nether portal frame using this method, you will primarily need:
- Lava Buckets: You'll need many lava source blocks, so bringing multiple buckets or being near a large lava source is essential.
- Water Bucket: At least one water source is needed.
- Temporary Building Blocks: Easily breakable blocks like dirt, cobblestone, or wood are useful for building molds or platforms to control the lava flow.
- Flint and Steel or Fire Charge: To activate the completed portal.
Steps to Construct the Obsidian Frame
The core principle is to get a water flow to interact with lava source blocks to turn them into obsidian. Here's a common method:
- Prepare the Base: Start by creating a flat area or building a small platform of temporary blocks where the portal's base will be.
- Place Water: Place a water source block near where the first obsidian block will go, ensuring it flows correctly.
- Form the Base Layer: Place lava source blocks next to the water flow where the bottom row of the portal frame (4 blocks) should be. The interaction of water and lava will create obsidian. Use temporary blocks to contain the lava if necessary.
- Build the Sides: Construct temporary block columns upwards from the ends of the base row. Place a water source at the top of one column (or strategically elsewhere to flow down). As noted in the reference, you can then start filling in the frame by taking the lava with your bucket and placing it carefully around the temporary structure so it flows down into the water stream. Each lava source block that the water flows over or touches will become obsidian. Build up both sides of the 4x5 frame (3 blocks high above the base).
- Create the Top Layer: Build a temporary block structure across the top of the side columns. Use water if needed, then pour lava buckets onto this structure so the lava forms the top row of the frame (4 blocks). The water converts the lava to obsidian.
- Remove Temporary Blocks: Once the full 4x5 obsidian frame is constructed, remove all the temporary building blocks.
This process requires precision and careful placement to ensure you form obsidian in the correct locations without making cobblestone or stone unintentionally (which happens when water flows over flowing lava).
Portal Dimensions
A standard Nether portal requires 14 obsidian blocks to form the outer frame.
| Portal Side | Required Obsidian Blocks |
|---|---|
| Base | 4 |
| Sides | 3 on each side (6 total) |
| Top | 4 |
| Total | 14 |
The inner area of the portal is 2 blocks wide and 3 blocks high. Larger portals can be built up to a maximum outer size of 23x23 blocks.
Activating the Portal
Once the 4x5 obsidian frame is complete, the final step is to activate it. As the reference states, after that you can light your portal. Use a Flint and Steel or a Fire Charge on any of the inner obsidian blocks. This will fill the inner frame with a purple, shimmering effect, signifying that the portal is ready for travel to the Nether.
