Creating and Using Basic Portal Keys

A Blank Portal Key is made from a single Blaze Rod and a Name Tag.

• Place them together in a crafting table.
• The exact shape does not matter as long as both items are present.
• You will probably want to craft several keys at once.

A freshly crafted key does nothing on its own. First it must be “attuned” to a dungeon, which is done using an End Portal Frame in a Stronghold.

Steps:

1. Locate a Stronghold in the Overworld.
2. Find the End Portal Frame room.
3. Look for an empty End Portal Frame block (no Eye of Ender in it).
4. Right–click the top face of that frame with your Blank Portal Key.

Aim at the dark square in the middle of the block.

When this succeeds, the key becomes linked to a randomly generated dungeon and is now ready to be used.

Once the key is activated:

• Go to your portal frame (see the “Creating the Basic Portal” page).
• Right–click the keyhole block with your activated key to insert it.
• If the frame is built correctly, a golden dungeon portal appears.
• If the frame shape is wrong, the portal will immediately break.

Dungeon portals can be created in any dimension. When you leave the dungeon and return, you are placed on the block directly in front of the portal frame that currently holds your key – even if the physical portal blocks were destroyed while you were away.

Sometimes the Stronghold End Portal is already fully lit:

• All twelve End Portal Frames are filled with Eyes of Ender.
• The vanilla portal to The End is already open.

You can still use this room to activate keys:

1. Right–click an occupied End Portal Frame (one with an Eye installed) with a Blank Portal Key.
2. The key acts like a crowbar, popping the Eye out.
3. The Eye is destroyed and the frame becomes empty again.

The 3×3 End portal area in the center stays formed, so you do not lose access to The End. This trick can also repair a portal that was messed up with liquids or other blocks: as you remove and replace Eyes, the portal area is recalculated and restored.

Portal Keys behave as follows:

• A Blank Portal Key can only be written once.
• After activation, that key is permanently linked to one specific dungeon.
• You can use the same activated key to open that dungeon as many times as you like.
• Good dungeons are worth keeping their keys safely stored at your base.

You can rename a key on an anvil without changing where it leads. The actual destination is stored in the key’s NBT data when it is first activated and does not change, even if the item’s display name does.

This page describes only basic keys and behavior.