Ruined Portal
Overworld & Nether
How to find it
- The most common structure in the game: generates in every biome of both the Overworld and the Nether (except deep dark), one per 640x640-block grid cell
- Underground, underwater or exposed; always surrounded by a patch of netherrack, so watch for netherrack in Overworld caves and shores
- /locate structure minecraft:ruined_portal (5% are giant portals, far more obsidian and loot)
Loot
- A guaranteed loot chest: gold ingots and blocks, golden tools and armor (often enchanted), golden apples, flint and steel, fire charges, obsidian, glistering melon slices and more
- The frame itself: enough obsidian to complete a full portal in most designs
- Gold blocks next to the frame - up to several, a real early-game haul
Dangers
- In the Nether, the portal can generate over lava lakes or inside basalt deltas with magma cubes nearby
- Each obsidian block in the frame has a 15% chance (20% in Bedrock) of being crying obsidian, which does NOT light - you may be a few blocks short
- Crying obsidian glows faintly: easy to miss at night that your rebuilt frame is not lightable
Tips
- A ruined portal plus its chest usually equals a free Nether trip: complete the frame with the chest obsidian and light it with the flint and steel or fire charge.
- Mine the crying obsidian too (diamond pickaxe): it makes respawn anchors.
- The netherrack patch is visible from far away at night thanks to the lava and glowstone accents - scan shores while boating.