What is the end gateway?
The end gateway is the small portal block that appears after you beat the Ender Dragon for the first time. It sits on the edge of the main End island, shoots a tall purple beam straight up into the sky for a few seconds when it spawns, and stays there forever. You can’t break it in Survival, you can’t craft it, and you can’t move it. The only way to use one is to teleport through it with an ender pearl.
From the outside it looks like a single block, but the actual portal is smaller: a tiny dark window with a swirling animation that fills most of the block face. Throw an ender pearl into that window and you get launched roughly 1,000 blocks out to the outer End islands, where the rest of the End’s loot lives.
If you’ve killed the dragon and you’re staring at a wide expanse of dark stone with nothing to do, the end gateway is the next step. It’s the one-way door from the spawn island to everything else in the End.
How to spawn an end gateway
You don’t place an end gateway. You earn one by killing the Ender Dragon. Here’s the pattern:
- The first time you kill the dragon, one end gateway spawns on the edge of the central island.
- Every time you respawn the dragon (by placing four end crystals on the bedrock around the exit portal) and kill it again, another gateway appears.
- The game caps you at 20 gateways. After 20 dragon kills, no new gateways spawn, but the existing ones still work.
Gateways spawn at a fixed radius from world origin, roughly 75 to 96 blocks out from the center of the main island, evenly spaced around it. You’ll see them as a ring around the central pillar arrangement. The first one is closest to where the dragon died and works fine on its own; the rest just give you more entry points.
How to use the end gateway
The portal block is tiny, and you cannot walk into it. The only thing small enough to enter is an ender pearl. To use one:
- Stand a few blocks back from the gateway. The dark window in the center of the block is your target.
- Throw an ender pearl directly into that window. Aim slightly above center if you’re at the same height as the block.
- The pearl teleports you to the spot it lands. If you hit the gateway, the gateway then teleports you about 1,000 blocks out to a small obsidian platform on the outer islands.
The whole sequence is one motion: pearl lands inside the gateway, gateway flings you to the outer ring. If you miss the window, the pearl bounces or lands next to it and you take normal ender pearl fall damage. Try again.
The obsidian platform on the other side
When you arrive at the outer islands, you spawn on a small obsidian platform the game generates for you. The platform appears every time, even if you’ve been there before, so you can usually count on a safe landing. Look around before you move — the platform is often suspended over the void, and stepping off the wrong side ends the trip.
From here, the outer islands stretch outward for as far as the End generates. This is where chorus plants grow, end cities spawn, end ships dock, and shulkers wait inside the city towers. The good loot, the elytra, and the shulker shells all live out here.
How to get back home
The same gateway that brought you out also takes you back. The outer-side portal is at the same location you teleported into; it looks identical to the inner one. Throw another ender pearl into it and you’ll be flung back to the central island, near the gateway you originally entered.
A few practical notes before your first trip:
- Bring more ender pearls than you think you need. One for the trip out, one for the trip back, and a few spares in case you miss the window or fall.
- If you die on the outer islands and you didn’t set your spawn before coming, you respawn at world spawn in the Overworld. Your stuff stays in the End, which usually means a long re-trip.
- Set up a bed near the End portal in the Overworld before your first outer-island run. Don’t sleep in the End itself; beds explode in any non-Overworld dimension.
Mechanics and behavior
The end gateway is a unique block with a few quirks worth knowing.
It’s indestructible in Survival
The block has the highest blast resistance in the game, tied with bedrock and other unbreakable blocks. You cannot mine it, blow it up, or push it with a piston. The only way to remove one is with the /setblock command in Creative or a world editor.
It teleports anything, not only players
Other entities will teleport through a gateway if they hit it. That includes mobs, dropped items, and arrows. So if you toss a chest minecart full of loot at the gateway, it goes to the outer islands too. Most players don’t do this on purpose, but the option is there for moving bulk items.
The beam of light
When a gateway first spawns, it shoots a purple beam of light into the sky for about five seconds, then the beam fades. The beam is decorative; it doesn’t affect anything in the world. After the first spawn, the beam only fires again if the gateway is somehow recreated by commands.
One-way trips are fine
If you want to explore the outer End indefinitely without coming back through that specific gateway, you can. Some players build long bridges from the obsidian platform out to other islands, then never use a return pearl. The gateway you came through stays where it is, in case you change your mind.
Java vs. Bedrock
End gateways behave the same way on Java and Bedrock for basic use: kill the dragon, gateway spawns, throw a pearl, get teleported. A couple of small differences:
- The exact teleport coordinates on the outer side can vary slightly between editions, but you always land on an obsidian platform.
- The visual itself looks slightly cleaner on Bedrock because of how light is rendered, but the timing is identical.
For practical purposes, treat the two editions as identical when it comes to end gateways. If you’ve used one on Java, you already know how the Bedrock version works.
Tips and common mistakes
- Don’t try to walk into the portal. Only an ender pearl can enter; the block looks like it could be a door, but it isn’t.
- Stack pearls in your hotbar before approaching. The biggest waste of time on outer-island trips is going back for more pearls.
- Place a torch or banner near the gateway you used. Once you’re out, all the gateways look identical from the outer side, and a marker helps you find your return route.
- If you’re farming dragon kills for more gateways, remember the 20-gateway cap. Past that, dragon kills still give you experience, but no new portals.
- Don’t sleep in the End. The bed explodes and you’ll take heavy damage or die.
Frequently asked questions
How many end gateways can spawn?
Twenty. The game places them in a ring around the central End island, one per dragon kill, up to a maximum of 20. After that, killing the dragon again still gives you experience but no new gateways.
Can I make an end gateway with commands?
Yes. In Creative or a world with cheats enabled, run /setblock ~ ~ ~ end_gateway to place one. The block has no exit coordinates by default, so a hand-placed gateway won’t teleport you anywhere useful without editing its NBT data.
Why can’t I break the end gateway?
The block has the maximum blast resistance and isn’t included in any mining loot tables. It’s designed to be permanent, like bedrock. The only way to remove one in Survival is to never spawn it in the first place.
Do I lose my ender pearl when I throw it into the gateway?
Yes. The pearl is consumed the moment it teleports. Each trip costs one pearl out and one pearl back, so plan for at least two per round trip plus a few spares.
Where do I land when I go through?
On a small obsidian platform out on the outer End islands, roughly 1,000 blocks from the main island. The platform regenerates each time you use the gateway, so even if you broke it last visit, it’s there now.
Can I use a gateway without killing the dragon?
Not in vanilla Survival. Gateways only spawn as a reward for killing the Ender Dragon. If you find one in a test world or place one via commands, it works the same way.
What happens if I miss the portal with my pearl?
The pearl lands wherever it hits: the block’s outer face, the ground around it, or the void. You take the normal ender pearl fall damage on landing. Pick yourself up and try again. The gateway window is small, so missing once or twice is normal.
Where to go from here
The end gateway is the first sign that the End has more to offer than the dragon fight. Get to the outer islands as soon as you can, find an end city or two, and the rest of the dimension opens up. Bring enough pearls, mark your return route, and don’t sleep over there.
