How to find a stronghold in Minecraft
Strongholds hold the end portal, so finding one is the gateway to the end game. Their placement rule is unusual, and understanding it saves a lot of walking.
Strongholds are placed in rings
Unlike most structures, strongholds do not use a region grid. Since Minecraft 1.9 a world contains 128 strongholds arranged in eight concentric rings centred on the world origin at 0, 0. The innermost ring holds the first few strongholds a few thousand blocks out; each subsequent ring holds more strongholds at a greater distance.
Within a ring, the game spaces strongholds evenly by angle and then moves each one to the nearest suitable biome. That last step is why stronghold positions cannot be derived from the seed alone with simple arithmetic — they depend on the biome layout of the world.
Triangulating with eyes of ender
- Throw an eye of ender and note the direction it flies. Press F3 and record your coordinates and the angle it travelled towards.
- Walk several hundred blocks perpendicular to that direction.
- Throw a second eye and note the new direction.
- Where the two lines cross is the stronghold. Walking along the second line until eyes start flying downward puts you on top of it.
Eyes have a chance to break on each throw, so bring at least a dozen. You also need twelve eyes to fill the portal frame — although some frame blocks often already contain one.
Digging in
Strongholds generate underground, typically well below sea level. When the eye drops straight down, dig a staircase rather than straight down, and listen for silverfish. The portal room contains a lava pool below the frame, so approach from the side.