Traveling around the world of Minecraft is a major hassle. You either have to row your Minecraft boat for hours or spend even longer walking to your next exploration site. You could use horses or the recently added Camels in Minecraft 1.20, but they are not that better either. However, what if I told you there’s a way to fly in Minecraft? Yes, we are talking about Elytra, the most powerful yet underused mode of transport in Minecraft. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves and learn how to get Elytra in Minecraft with the easiest methods.
We have covered the basic mechanics, spawn locations, and uses of Elytra in separate sections. If you already know all about Elytra, we suggest moving to the steps to find and use this item to fly in-game.
- Method 1: Find Elytra Spawn and Obtain NaturallyMethod 2: Get Elytra from Creative InventoryMethod 3: Use Minecraft Commands to Get Elytra
What is Elytra in Minecraft and How Does It Work?
Elytra is a rare wearable utility item that provides you the only way to fly in survival Minecraft. It looks like wings and even opens up while you are flying, but is similar to a cape when you’re just walking about. You can equip the Elytra in the column of a chest plate in your inventory. So, in a way, Elytra is a part of your combat/ armor group. But since you need to replace your chest plate, it ends up decreasing your overall protection. Though, the flight ability more than makes up for the same, as you can escape sticky situations.
Even though Elytra is considered as “wings” for Minecraft players, it doesn’t allow them to go into flight mode out of nowhere. Instead, its main purpose is to allow players to glide in the air. So, you have to do a bit of manual work to get it going. Here’s how:
How to Get Elytra in Minecraft
Unlike other popular items, Elytra can’t be obtained from chests or by killing Minecraft mobs. Instead, it only spawns as a framed item in a particular location. Many players even consider it an “end-game” item, a reward for defeating the Ender dragon.
Method 1: Find Elytra Spawn and Obtain Naturally
As many Minecraft players might have guessed, Elytra only spawns within the End dimension of Minecraft, and that too exclusively within the End ship structures. These ship-shaped structures sometimes spawn on the outskirts of End cities in Minecraft. Follow these steps to get an Elytra in Minecraft:
Then, defeat the Ender dragon if you haven’t done it already.
Once the dragon is defeated, enter the End gateway portal, which spawns on the outskirts of the main End island. This portal is too small for you to directly walk into, so we suggest you throw an Ender pearl into it.
Then, you have to explore various End islands until you come across an End city with an End ship near it (see image below). You can use our guide to find End cities in Minecraft in no time.
Then, you need to enter the End ship and find the Elytra placed on an item frame in its main hall. You will have to break the frame with your left click or primary button to pick it up.
Method 2: Get Elytra from Creative Inventory
If you don’t wish to fight the Ender dragon and explore the End dimension in survival game mode, follow the steps below to get unlimited Elytras in creative game mode:
Then, use the following command to switch to the creative game mode in Minecraft. Alternatively, you can create a new Minecraft world with its game mode set as creative by default.
Finally, press the “I” key or your inventory key to open your creative inventory. Then, search for Elytra using the search bar. When it shows up, you can pick it up and place it in your inventory.
After that, you need to equip the Elytra in the chest plate slot (explained in the usage section below) of your player inventory. You can then use it to fly across the world.
You can use the following command in your Minecraft world to get an Elytra in your inventory. Just make sure to turn on the cheats, as we did in the previous section, in your Minecraft world before using this command.
With the Elytra in your inventory, follow the steps below to use an Elytra in Minecraft:
First, go to the top of a tall spot in Minecraft, like a mountain. You can use our best Minecraft mountain seeds to save some time.
Then, equip the Elytra by placing it in the chest plate slot in your inventory.
After that, jump from that spot and hold your “Space” key or jump key. The Elytra will activate, and you will start gliding in the air.
If you have fireworks rockets, you can equip and launch them while gliding to push yourself in any direction you are facing.
Find and Use Elytra to Fly in Minecraft
You can repair and restore the durability of the Elytra by combining it with phantom membranes on an anvil in Minecraft. This mechanic is directly related to the Potion of Slow Falling, which also requires the same ingredient for brewing. Further, you can also repair it by combining two weakened Elytras in the crafting table, and even by putting a weakened Elytra on a grindstone. However, the grindstone ends up removing all its enchantments.
You can use the following four enchantments on an Elytra in Minecraft — Unbreaking, Curse of Binding, Curse of Vanishing, and Mending.
