Ender Dragon mob in Minecraft

How to reach the Ender Dragon

The dragon waits on the main island of the End. You get there through the End Portal hidden in a stronghold, found by throwing Eyes of Ender and following them. There is no way back until the dragon dies, so pack everything before you jump in.

What to bring

• A bow, plenty of arrows and a stack of blocks to reach the crystals.
• A water bucket and a Potion of Slow Falling: the dragon flings you into the air, and falls kill more players here than its attacks.
• A carved pumpkin on your head: the island is full of Endermen, and with the pumpkin you can look at them without angering them.

Destroy the End Crystals first

A ring of obsidian pillars surrounds the center of the island, each topped by an End Crystal. While a crystal stands, the dragon can fly close to it and heal through a beam. Shoot each one with an arrow; any projectile works, even a snowball. A crystal explodes when destroyed, so never break one from point-blank range. Two pillars protect their crystal with a cage of iron bars: build up, break a bar and hit the crystal from as far as you can.

How the dragon attacks

• Charges: it circles the pillars, then dives at you. Its body throws you up and away on contact.
• Fireballs: from the air it spits purple orbs that burst into a lingering cloud. Anything standing inside takes damage, so step out at once.
• Breath: when it perches on the bedrock fountain in the center, the exit portal, it sweeps the platform with the same purple breath.

When and where to hit it

The perching phase is your opening. Run in and strike the head with your best sword or axe: hits on the head deal full damage, while hits on the body and wings are heavily reduced. While it flies, aim your arrows at the head. Beds explode when used in the End: one set off next to the perched head hits hard, but hurts you just as much.

Also: walk into a breath cloud with an empty glass bottle to collect Dragon's Breath, the ingredient of lingering potions. The dragon smashes most blocks it flies through, but not End Stone, obsidian, iron bars or bedrock: build your towers and shelters from those.

What you get when it dies

The dragon drops no item, only a burst of experience, far larger on the first kill than on later ones. The exit portal turns on and takes you back to your spawn point. The first dragon also leaves a Dragon Egg on top of the portal. An End Gateway appears near the edge of the island: throw an Ender Pearl into it to reach the outer islands, where End Cities hide the Elytra. Each kill opens one more gateway, up to twenty.

How to pick up the Dragon Egg

The egg teleports away when you hit it or use it. Hit it once so it lands on nearby ground. Then dig in from the side, place a torch two blocks under the egg and break the block it rests on: the egg falls onto the torch and pops off as an item.

How to summon the dragon again

Craft four End Crystals from glass, an Eye of Ender and a Ghast Tear, then place one on each side of the exit portal. The crystals rebuild the pillars and a new dragon appears. It leaves no egg this time.

✓ Checked in Java Edition 26.3 · updated 1 November 2026