How to Get Elytra in Minecraft
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Minecraft
How to Get Elytra in Minecraft
Tips
Elytra is the single most impactful item in late-game Minecraft — it transforms travel completely, making horses and boats obsolete overnight. Once you have Mending on it and a stack of firework rockets, you can cross entire biomes in minutes. Getting a second pair for a backup is worth doing on any serious survival world.
⚡ Quick Answer
Step-by-Step: How to Get Elytra Fast
To get Elytra in Minecraft, you must first defeat the Ender Dragon, then travel through the End gateway portal to the outer End islands. Elytra spawns inside End Ships, which are rare structures attached to End Cities. Look for an item frame in the ship’s treasure room — that’s where Elytra is found.
1
Defeat the Ender Dragon. This opens the End gateway portal — a small bedrock portal that appears near the edge of the main End island after the Dragon dies. You need to reach it to access the outer islands where End Cities spawn.
2
Reach the End gateway portal. It spawns near the edge of the main island but is surrounded by the void. Use an Ender Pearl to throw yourself into the portal — walk to the edge, aim at the portal opening, and throw. It teleports you to the outer End islands roughly 1,000 blocks away.
3
Find an End City. Explore the outer islands by bridging between them or using Ender Pearls. End Cities look like tall purple towers with magenta and yellow banners. Not every End City has a ship — keep searching until you find one with a vessel floating beside it connected by a bridge.
4
Clear the End Ship of Shulkers. The ship contains several Shulkers — they shoot homing projectiles that cause levitation. Kill them carefully before exploring the ship interior. Shulker shells are also valuable for crafting Shulker Boxes later.
5
Find the treasure room at the front of the ship — it contains two chests with loot and an item frame on the wall with the Elytra inside. Right-click the item frame to take it. There is one Elytra per ship, so each End Ship you find gives you one pair.
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Bring plenty of Ender Pearls for navigating the outer islands — bridging over the void is slow and dangerous. Ender Pearls let you cross gaps quickly and escape Shulker levitation by teleporting to solid ground.
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Elytra has durability — repair it with Phantom Membranes at an anvil or combine two damaged pairs. Enchant it with Mending to repair it automatically using XP while flying.
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Fireworks rockets boost your speed while gliding — hold a rocket in your hand and use it mid-flight for a speed burst. Stack rockets with 3 gunpowder for maximum duration per rocket.
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Use the /locate structure minecraft:end_city command in Java Edition to find the nearest End City instantly if you’re struggling to find one by exploration.