How to Beat the Ender Dragon in Minecraft

The Ender Dragon is Minecraft's final boss and the gateway to the End's outer islands, elytra and shulker boxes. Beating it the first time is a milestone every survival player works toward. This guide covers gear preparation, crystal destruction, combat strategy and how to respawn the dragon for repeat fights.

Gear you need before entering the End

Minimum recommended loadout for a comfortable fight:

• Diamond or netherite armor, full set with Protection IV on every piece. Feather Falling IV on boots helps with pillar falls.
• Diamond or netherite sword, Sharpness V. You will melee the dragon when it perches on the fountain.
• Bow, Power V, Infinity or enough arrows (at least 64). A crossbow works but is slower.
• Pickaxe, for mining into caged end crystals on top of the obsidian pillars.
• Slow Falling potions, 4 to 8 minutes each. Brew awkward potions with phantom membranes. These prevent lethal falls and dragon knockback deaths.
• Ender pearls, at least 16. Useful for teleporting to pillar tops or escaping the void.
• Building blocks, a few stacks of cobblestone or end stone for pillaring up.
• Food, golden carrots or cooked porkchops, at least a stack.
• A carved pumpkin (optional), wearing one prevents endermen aggro, but limits visibility.
• Beds, place one near the End portal and set your spawn before jumping in.

Phase 1, Destroy the End Crystals

The dragon heals from end crystals sitting on top of the obsidian pillars. There are 10 pillars and 10 crystals. Two of them are inside iron bar cages. You must destroy every crystal before dealing meaningful damage to the dragon.

For uncaged crystals, shoot them from the ground with your bow. Aim for the crystal itself, it explodes on hit. Stand back because the explosion deals heavy damage at close range.

For caged crystals, you need to climb the pillar. Either pillar up with blocks on the outside (risky if the dragon charges) or throw an ender pearl to the top. Mine through the iron bars with your pickaxe, then hit the crystal with your sword or place a block next to it and step back. Drink Slow Falling before climbing so a dragon swipe does not launch you to your death.

Phase 2, Attacking the dragon

Once all crystals are gone, the dragon cycles between two behaviors:

• Circling, the dragon flies around the ring of pillars. Shoot it with your bow whenever it passes overhead. Aim slightly ahead of its flight path.
• Perching, the dragon swoops down and hovers over the exit fountain in the center of the island. This is your best damage window. Sprint to the fountain, stand at the base, and melee the dragon's head with your sword. The head takes double damage compared to the body. Do not stand in the purple dragon breath clouds, they deal lingering magic damage. You can collect dragon breath with glass bottles during this phase for brewing later.

Avoid hitting endermen. If one aggros, look away immediately or equip your pumpkin. Fighting endermen during the dragon fight wastes health and attention.

Phase 3, Finishing the fight

The dragon has 200 health points (100 hearts). With Sharpness V on a netherite sword, each critical hit to the head deals roughly 20 points. Three to four perch cycles of solid melee hits will finish the fight. The dragon explodes into experience orbs (12,000 XP the first kill, 500 on respawns) and the exit portal opens in the fountain.

A dragon egg appears on top of the portal after the first kill. Do not punch it directly, it teleports. Place a torch two blocks below it, break the block it sits on, and it drops as an item onto the torch.

Collecting the elytra

After the dragon dies, an end gateway portal spawns at the edge of the island. Throw an ender pearl through the small bedrock frame to teleport to the outer End islands. Fly or bridge between islands until you find an End city with an End ship. The elytra sits in an item frame on the ship's bow. Grab it, pair it with firework rockets, and you have flight.

Respawning the Ender Dragon

Place four end crystals on the exit portal's bedrock rim, one on each cardinal side. The crystals reignite the pillar crystals, rebuild any destroyed obsidian pillars, and the dragon respawns. Subsequent kills drop less XP and no egg, but each kill spawns a new end gateway, useful for spreading outer island access.

End crystals are crafted from one Eye of Ender, one ghast tear and seven glass blocks.

Want to see all this in action? Astroworld MC runs a custom-built economy survival server with custom bosses, eternal enchants, crates and an auction house. Join at astroworldmc.com, IP play.astroworldmc.com, Java + Bedrock crossplay.