Freeform portals

A Nether portal can follow the shape of an arch, ring, or cave mouth. The frame may use obsidian, crying obsidian, or both. The open space still needs a complete border in one vertical plane.

Build and light a frame

1. Enclose a connected open area with obsidian and/or crying obsidian. Build it upright, along either the north-south or east-west axis.
2. Use flint and steel or a fire charge on the top of a bottom-edge frame block. The fire must appear inside the opening, directly above obsidian or crying obsidian.
3. Walk through once the open area fills with portal blocks.

The frame can bend and vary in width, but disconnected pockets will not light as one portal. A portal can fill at most 441 interior blocks. If a very large design stays dark, try a smaller enclosed opening and check every edge for a gap.

The shape changes the entrance, not the destination rules. Nether travel still uses the 1:8 horizontal distance ratio, and nearby portals may link to the same exit. Test the round trip before moving valuables through a new pair. Nether portals covers the coordinate math.

See also

• Nether portals for linking and hub routes
• Waystones for named travel stops
• Travel overview for other routes