Minecraft Nether Portal Design Tips & Tricks

Most Minecraft players make simple nether portals, like the one the photo above. However, there are so many ways other ways you can design your portal. Nether portal designs can be so much larger than the standard 5×4 shape (up to 23×23 in any rectangular shape, in fact) and it’s easy to decorate around them with blocks.

Minecraft nether portal designs are a fun way to make your base look cool!

Nether Portal Rules

Nether portals have to follow these Minecraft rules:

The portal must be rectangular. If you want a different shape (like a circle), you must use multiple rectangular portals to make the shape.
The smallest Minecraft nether portal size is 5×4 blocks, and the maximum size is 23×23.
Only obsidian can be used to construct the nether portal frame.
Corners are not required on the nether portal frame, you can leave air or put any block you’d like in the corners.
Nether Portals are activated by using flint and steel to set a fire inside the frame. Nether portals can’t be activated in the End.

Size

How big do you want your nether portal to be? Large ones usually need to be outdoors due to their size, but small ones can be either outdoors or in a decorated room. Here are some examples of both big and small nether portal designs:

Large Nether Portals

PHOTO: A large quartz nether portal inside a survival base. Source

PHOTO: A large outdoor nether portal decorated in a nether style. Source

Small Nether Portals

PHOTO: A small portal room decorated in nether style. Source

READ MORE: 34 Cool Things to Build in Minecraft When You’re Bored

PHOTO: A small nether portal in a cozy underground room, with a bridge leading to the portal over water. Source

Nether Portal Locations

Next, you will need to decide where to build your nether portal. Here are some ideas:

Having a nether portal near your storage room can be convenient. This way, when you return from the nether you can drop off all your items in your chests.
Nether portals can be blended into the environment in or around your base. For example, you can put a nether portal in a cave, the side of a mountain, in the forest, or even in hill of sand or snow.
A small nether portal can be put in a decorated underground room, or a decorated building above ground as well. This can provide protection if any mobs go through your nether portals as they will be locked inside this room.
A large nether portal will typically have to be somewhere outdoors, unless you have a building large enough to put it in. Don’t forget to decorate the area around it.

Examples of Locations

PHOTO: Nether portal integrated into a cave. Source

PHOTO: A nether portal integrated into the side of a hill in a forest. Source

PHOTO: A storage room with a nether portal designed into it. Note that mobs can walk through nether portals, you should have a door between your chests and the portal. Source

More Nether Portal Design Tips & Tricks

Nether portals need to be rectangular, but you can still place blocks in front of the portal to help change the shape.
Multiple nether portal frames can be placed next to each other to create different shapes.
Build around the obsidian frame using blocks that are nether-themed such as quartz, glowstone, netherrack, lava, fire, webs, obsidian, and nether brick. Personally, I like using quartz and glowstone to decorate my portals.
And last but not least, don’t forget to decorate the other side of the portal (in the nether) too! Be careful of making large portals in the nether though, as ghasts can fly through large nether portals into your base.