How to find a Nether fortress and farm blazes in Minecraft

Blazes spawn only in Nether fortresses, and they are the only source of Blaze Rods. You need rods for a Brewing Stand and for the Eyes of Ender that open the End. Fortresses also hold Nether Wart, the base of almost every potion.

The Nether is divided into regions of 432 by 432 blocks (27 by 27 chunks). Each region holds either a fortress or a bastion remnant, never both. In Java Edition, a region has a 2 in 5 chance to try a fortress and a 3 in 5 chance to try a bastion. Bastions cannot generate in basalt deltas, so a fortress takes their place there: fortresses are most common in that biome. They can generate in every Nether biome.

Regions are aligned on X 0, Z 0 of the Nether. The four regions closest to the center meet there: northeast, northwest, southeast and southwest. If you find a bastion, that region has no fortress, so move on to the next one. In Bedrock Edition, regions are 480 blocks wide and the fortress chance is 1 in 3.

Fortresses are built from Nether Bricks: dark red blocks with a regular pattern that stand out against netherrack. Look for long straight bridges on tall pillars above lava seas, and corridors with windows of Nether Brick Fence. Every bridge runs straight north-south or east-west, so once you reach one, follow it to find the rest. Part of a fortress can be buried in netherrack; its corridors stay hollow.

You will cross plenty of Nether Quartz Ore and Nether Gold Ore on the way. The ore distribution guide shows where each one is most common.

In Creative, or in any world with cheats on, stand in the Nether and run /locate structure minecraft:fortress. The game prints the coordinates of the nearest fortress. The builder below fills in the syntax for you.

In Survival without cheats, search the four regions around the Nether center first.

One block in the Nether equals 8 blocks in the Overworld on X and Z; Y does not change. Build a Nether Portal near the fortress, note its coordinates, and convert them to find the matching Overworld spot. Build the Overworld portal there and the two link directly, which saves the long trip every time you need rods.

Fortresses have their own spawn list: blazes, wither skeletons, skeletons, zombified piglins and magma cubes. Ghasts from the surrounding biome can also reach the open bridges.

• Blazes: 20 health, they float and fire volleys of three small fireballs (5 damage each on Normal, and they set you on fire for 5 seconds). Fire Resistance blocks the fireballs but not their melee attack. They take no damage from fire, lava or falls, but a Snowball deals 3 damage and water hurts them.
• Wither Skeletons: their hits inflict Wither for 10 seconds. They are 2.4 blocks tall, so they cannot pass through 2-block-high openings: a low tunnel keeps them out.
• Ghasts: explosive fireballs from far away, mostly over open bridges. Hit the fireball back or put a wall between you.

Bring armor, a sword, a bow, food, blocks to wall off corridors and a few Potions of Fire Resistance if you have them.

A fortress has up to two blaze spawners, out on the bridges. Each sits in the middle of a small platform fenced with Nether Brick Fence, reached by three full-block steps. Outside spawners, blazes also spawn naturally anywhere in the fortress at light level 11 or less, in groups of 2 or 3.

Light the spawner up first. Blazes need light level 11 or less, so light level 12 or more everywhere in the spawn area switches the spawner off. A single torch is not enough. A dense 7×7 grid of Torches on the spawner's level works, and so do fewer light sources of level 15 such as Glowstone, Shroomlight or Jack o'Lantern, placed so that no spot in the area stays at 11 or below. Drink a Potion of Fire Resistance before you get close, and expect a fight while you place them.

Every blaze spawner farm then has the same parts. The exact layout depends on your fortress, so build around these rules rather than a fixed blueprint.

1. Enclose the spawn area. Blazes can spawn in mid-air anywhere in the 9×3×9 area and fly up when they target you. Wall it in and add a roof so none of them escape.
2. Bring them to one spot. In Java Edition, flowing lava pushes fire-immune mobs such as blazes, so a lava flow can carry them to a kill point. Lava gives off light level 15: keep it outside the spawn area or it switches the spawner off. Older designs push blazes with pistons triggered by pressure plates. The simplest option is to stand in a protected spot and let them come to you.
3. Weaken them, then finish them. Blazes take no fall damage, so drop traps do nothing. Classic farms suffocate them in blocks until they are down to half a heart, then you kill each one with a single hit.
4. Land the last hit yourself. Blaze Rods drop only when a player or a tamed wolf kills the blaze. Blazes killed only by suffocation, water or entity cramming drop no rods.

Stay within 16 blocks of the spawner while you farm. To switch the farm off, walk away or light the spawn area again.

Each blaze drops 0 or 1 Blaze Rod. Every level of Looting adds 0 to 1 more. A blaze also gives 10 experience points, so the farm doubles as an XP source. Looting goes on a sword: see the best sword enchantments.

• Brewing Stand: 1 Blaze Rod above 3 Cobblestone. Blackstone and Cobbled Deepslate also work.
• Blaze Powder: 1 rod gives 2. One powder fuels 20 brewing operations, and powder is the ingredient for Potions of Strength and for Magma Cream (with a Slimeball).
• Eye of Ender: 1 Ender Pearl and 1 Blaze Powder. An End portal has 12 frames, so you may need up to 12 eyes, plus spares for the ones that break when thrown. See how to find the End portal.
• Fuel: a rod smelts 12 items in a Furnace.

Nether Wart grows on Soul Sand in small gardens at the foot of the large staircases inside the corridors, and it also appears in fortress chests. Take the wart and the Soul Sand under it so you can replant it at home. Nether Wart turns water bottles into Awkward Potions, the base of most recipes in the potion brewing guide. Potions of Fire Resistance also make mining for netherite much safer.