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Beating the Ender Dragon in Minecraft technically marks the end of the game, as the credits will roll when you leave the area post-fight. However, there are several useful techniques and important mechanics that you need to know before you head into the fight with one of the strongest Minecraft mobs. Here’s how to find the Ender Dragon, how to beat it, and the rewards you’ll get for slaying it.

Items to bring to the fight

Before we get into the mechanics of the Ender Dragon fight, there are several items you should seek out and bring with you on the journey. You’ll want to read our dedicated Minecraft The End guide for information on how to find The End and how to get there, but in terms of items that will be useful, we’ve got you covered.

You’ll need three full stacks of scaffolding in order to reach the tops of the towers. You can bring normal blocks, but scaffolding allows you to go up and down at will, instead of relying on water buckets to break your fall from the top of the tower. If you’re anything like me, you’ve failed at the water bucket trick too many times to count, so scaffolding is the safer option. Having said that, do bring a water bucket to protect yourself from the many Endermen that spawn in the fight arena.

Suggested items to bring to the Ender Dragon fight.

Bring a full stack of golden carrots to restore health if you do get hit quickly. Also, bring three stacks of empty glass bottles with you to collect the Dragon’s Breath that pools on the floor. This is an important ingredient for several Minecraft potions, so it’s well worth collecting while the fight progresses. To collect it, right-click with a glass bottle equipped when it pools on the floor, taking care not to step directly in it.

Bring your best weapons. For the Ender Dragon, this is a Netherite sword with your preferred enchantments, and a bow with the infinity enchantment at a minimum, as this gives you unlimited arrows. You’ll also want full diamond or Netherite armor, with your preferred enchantments. If you’d prefer to avoid the Endermen completely at the sacrifice of limited vision, you can carve a pumpkin and wear it as a helmet. This way, the Endermen won’t attack you no matter how much you look at them.

Bring a bed and a chest with spare armor and weapons. Place the bed and chest next to the End portal, and set your respawn on the bed before jumping into the portal.

Finally, bring some stacks of building blocks, preferably cobblestone or something else similar to obtain, as the spawn into The End is random and you may find yourself on one of the area’s many standalone platforms with no way to reach the Ender Dragon. Should this happen after jumping through the portal, you can create a bridge across to the main area.

How to destroy the tower crystals and cages

When you spawn into the Ender Dragon fight, you’ll notice several pillars with End Crystals on top of them. Two of these towers will also have cages around the crystals. You’ll need to climb the towers to destroy the cages.

Some towers have cages at the top.

You can use your bow to shoot the crystals at the top of the towers. All of the crystals need to be destroyed, as they will heal the Ender Dragon. You can shoot the crystals from the ground, but if you’re finding it difficult then use your scaffolding to ascend the tower to get a better angle to hit it from.

Destroy the cages around the crystals with a pickaxe.

You will have to use the scaffolding to climb the towers to destroy the caged crystals, as the cages cannot be destroyed using projectiles. When you reach the top, use a pickaxe for the most efficient way to destroy the cage. Remember that there are two towers with cages. When the cage and crystal are destroyed, head down the scaffolding or use the water bucket to create a safe space to jump into.

If you destroy a crystal while the Dragon is tethered to it–signaled by a white beam between the Dragon and the crystal–it will cause the Ender Dragon to take more damage when the attack phase begins.

How to avoid being killed by Endermen

As mentioned above, you can carve a pumpkin and wear it as a helmet to avoid Endermen attacking you. However, the limited visibility this provides often isn’t worth it. Instead, try to avoid looking at them directly.

An Enderman can’t attack if you’re stood in water.

If you accidentally do look at one for too long it will become hostile. Use your water bucket and stand in the middle of where the water was placed. If you stay in this safe area, the Endermen will not get closer and therefore cannot hit you with their melee attacks. However, the Ender Dragon can still use its Dragon’s Breath attack, so keep an eye out for it as it will still do damage over time while you’re standing in water.

How to kill the Ender Dragon

You can now begin to damage the Ender Dragon. Use your bow and aim for it as it circles in the air, keeping an eye out for its Dragon Breath attacks. Remember not to look at the Endermen during this time too, as if you anger one, they’ll all become hostile and can actually prove more deadly than the Dragon itself at times.

The Ender Dragon has several hitboxes on its head, body, wings, and tail. Hitting it in the head causes the most damage.

Shoot the Ender Dragon with arrows when it’s in flight.

When the Ender Dragon lands on the perch made of Bedrock in the center of the arena, it’s time for the next stage of the fight. Again, hitting it on the head will cause the most damage, but be careful of its flapping wings, as they’ll cause damage.

The Ender Dragon dying

It will still be using its Dragon’s Breath attack, so use the glass bottles in your inventory to quickly bottle it up, or move away from it. As the Dragon’s health depletes, it will periodically return to the sky to fly around before landing again on its perch. Keep attacking it with arrows in the air, or melee attacks when it’s on its perch, until it’s killed.

Ender Dragon Drops

For defeating the Ender Dragon, you will receive several items. Firstly, you will get 12,000XP in orbs, so run around and collect them all for a huge amount of level boosts. It’s enough to raise your level to 68 from zero, to put that into context. If you resummon the Ender Dragon and defeat it again, it will only drop 500XP.

Secondly, the Dragon Egg will spawn. To safely get it without destroying it, follow these steps:

• Hit the egg once so it falls from the portal.
• Mine underneath the egg and place a torch underneath the block it is sitting on.
• Break the block it is sitting on, and it’ll fall on the torch.
• You can now pick up the egg and have it in your inventory.

This also grants The Next Generation achievement. There is only one Dragon Egg in each Minecraft world, and there is no way to get more than one without using Minecraft mods.

How to pick up the Ender Dragon Egg.

Finally, defeating the Ender Dragon opens a portal to the End Islands, which gives access to things such as Elytra and Shulker boxes. The portals appear in random locations, and look like a cluster of blocks. There can be up to 20 portals around the main island, and teleport you large distances to the End Islands.

How to resummon the Ender Dragon

You’ll need four End Crystals to summon the Ender Dragon for a repeat of the fight. Place one End Crystal on each side of the perch where the Ender Dragon usually rests during the fight, on the central block. This will cause four beams to shoot up, one from each crystal, which will take it in turns to point to the top of each obsidian tower to create a new End Crystal, and the Ender Dragon will respawn when all of them have spawned.

Resummoning the Ender Dragon.

Now that you know all about the Ender Dragon, check out our Minecraft guides hub for more tips and tricks. We’ve also got everything you need to know about the Minecraft Warden–while he’s not a boss, he’s certainly a formidable force that you’ll want to be familiar with.

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