Ruined Portal Finder

A ruined portal near spawn is the quickest way into the Nether without a diamond pickaxe. Paste the seed, set the version, and the map marks each broken portal around you. Twelve appear in the list below, nearest first; click a row to zoom to it and see whether it landed on plains, in a desert, in a jungle or out at sea.

Nearly one in every region

Ruined portals get one spot per 40×40-chunk region (640×640 blocks), somewhere in the first 25 chunks of each axis, so two of them are always at least 15 chunks apart. Unlike most structures they have no biome requirement: the biome only chooses the style. That makes them dependable. Almost every region has one, failing only in rare spots where the chosen height falls into a cave biome that does not allow it.

Styles, buried frames and giants

In the Overworld the biome picks one of six styles: desert, jungle, swamp (mangrove swamps included), ocean, mountain, and a standard style for everything else; the Nether has a seventh. Standard and mountain portals are buried half the time, so the frame can sit underground beside a patch of netherrack. About one portal in twenty is a giant version with a much larger frame. Netherrack and magma spread around the base, and some portals have a block of gold set among them.

The chest beside the frame usually holds gold tools or armor, obsidian, flint and steel or a fire charge, sometimes a golden apple and, rarely, an enchanted golden apple.

Fixing the frame for a fast Nether trip

Most frames are missing some obsidian, and crying obsidian in the frame does not count, so it has to be replaced. You need a complete 4×5 frame, corners optional. If you lack obsidian, cast the missing blocks in place by setting lava in a mold and pouring water over it. Note the Overworld coordinates before you light it: the Nether side opens near X/8, Z/8, and the nether fortress finder shows what is close to that point.

Frequently asked questions

What is the /locate command for ruined portals?

In Java, /locate structure #minecraft:ruined_portal finds the nearest one of any style. Single styles can be located by ID too, for example minecraft:ruined_portal_desert or minecraft:ruined_portal_ocean.

Does this page show the Nether ruined portals?

No, it maps the Overworld ones only. The Nether has its own ruined portals, placed separately with the same 40-chunk spacing in current versions.

Want a world that already has one close to spawn? Browse the Ruined Portal seeds in the seed library.