The Nether

**The Nether** is a dangerous dimension containing fire, lava, fungus-based vegetation, many hostile mobs, and exclusive structures.

## Acessing

To access the Nether, the player must construct a nether portal in the Overworld (portals created in the End do not activate). To create the portal, the player must first build a rectangular obsidian frame, ranging in size from a minimum of 4×5 to a maximum of 23×23. Once the frame is built, it can then be activated by placing fire within the frame, using flint and steel, fire charge, dispensers or any material that is capable of igniting fire.

The portal allows most entities (with the exception of the wither, the ender dragon, and entities riding or being ridden by another entity) to be transported to a corresponding portal in the Nether. In Survival, the player must stand in a nether portal for 4 seconds to get to the Nether. The player can step out of a portal before it completes its animation to abort the teleport. The portal generates a sound effect while the player is inside it. If there is no corresponding portal, a new 4×5 portal is created. The portal can be destroyed by breaking the obsidian frame, by a nearby explosion, or by placing water in the Overworld or lava into it with a bucket or dispenser. Any of the blocks in the corners can be destroyed without destroying the portal.

In the Old world type, it is impossible to construct a nether portal. The portal block must be placed using cheats. When done, the Nether has the same 256×256 borders as the Overworld, and if a nether portal is then made in the Nether, it can spawn the player outside the world barrier.

## Traits

Bedrock comprises the top (below layer 127) and bottom 4 layers in a rough pattern, essentially making the Nether 127 blocks high unlike the Overworld's 256. In the infinite worlds of the game, the Nether is also horizontally infinite.

The Nether has no daylight cycle and no weather. Natural sources of light include fire, lava, portals, shroomlights and glowstone. Even with a light level of 0, the Nether has a dim ambient light (roughly equivalent to light level 8 in the Overworld). Light otherwise functions exactly the same as it does in the Overworld and the End.

The majority of flora in the Nether is fungus-based as opposed to plants. The Nether "grass" consists of specialized Nether mycelium (known as "nylium"). The Nether features its own unique fungi (including nether wart), as well as equivalent huge fungi which serve as trees. The stems of the huge fungi function as logs. Also present are a number of native vines and roots.

Most creatures found in the Nether are hostile and potentially dangerous.

Locations in the Nether correlate to Overworld coordinates, but horizontal Overworld distances are scaled down by a ratio of 8:1 for travel in the Nether. Therefore, traveling one block in the Nether means traveling eight blocks in the Overworld. For example, in a perfect scenario, a player who enters a portal in the Overworld at x=0, z=0 and travels in the Nether to x=1000, z=1000 returns to the Overworld at x=8000, z=8000. This makes portals a useful tool for traveling long distances in the Overworld.

Most items and blocks in the Nether function the same as they do in the Overworld, with a few notable exceptions:

* Bed explodes and cause fires when a player attempts to sleep in one. It has an explosion power of 5. The explosion is larger than that of TNT, which has an explosion power of 4. They cannot be used as a respawn point.
* One has to use a powered respawn anchor to respawn in the Nether, but when it runs out of charges, the player once again respawns in the Overworld.
* There is no way to place liquid water in the Nether without the use of commands, except inside a cauldron. These can be used to put out a player on fire, but are difficult to center oneself in.
	+ Using water buckets produces steam particles and a hissing sound, leaving the player with an empty bucket.
	+ Ice that is melted or smashed in the Nether does not produce water.
	+ A wet sponge instantly becomes a regular sponge when placed.
	+ If somehow placed using cheats or when placed inside a cauldron, water takes on a reddish-brown color.
* Lava flows twice as far (eight blocks) and six times as fast in the Nether compared to Overworld, basically water's equivalent flow characteristics from the Overworld.
* Grass blocks and leaves take a dead-looking brownish color because the Nether is dry and hot.
* Maps generate a brown-gray static pattern. The player's direction indicator spins randomly; its location is still relative to the player's location in the Nether, except in the New Nintendo 3DS Edition, where it is always in the center of the map. Usable significantly for lava ocean travel via strider. Putting the map in the off-hand minimizes the map to help see one's strider footing.
* Clocks spin wildly, making it impossible to tell the time while in the Nether. Compasses also spin wildly unless connected to a lodestone, which they then point toward.
* Snow golems rapidly take fire damage and die, due to the Nether being dry and hot. However, they can survive if they have the Fire Resistance status effect.‌

## Mobs

The Nether is home to its own share of mobs, most of which are fire- and lava-proof. Skeletons, chickens, and endermen are the only Overworld mobs that can naturally spawn in the Nether.

Other Overworld mobs do not naturally spawn in the Nether but can be teleported through portals (with the exception of withers and ender dragons).

* Blaze
* Enderman
* Ghast
* Hoglin
* Magma Cube
* Piglin
* Piglin Brute
* Skeleton
* Strider
* Wither Skeleton
* Zombified Piglin

## Trivia

* The numbers for the 3 dimensions are -1=the Nether, 0=Overworld, 1=the End. This contributes to a misconception that the Nether is "below" the Overworld, although Dinnerbone confirmed that they are simply separate dimensions.
* The crimson and warped forest biomes are suggested to decontaminate the Nether environment from potential landfill pollution that coincides with the presence of Ancient Debris,