Walking across your Minecraft world is lovely. Walking home from an adventure with a full inventory, three mountains in the way and no idea where you left your boat? Slightly less lovely.
Finding your first elytra changes how you travel in survival. It opens up gliding, rocket powered journeys and a whole new opportunity to misjudge the side of your own house.
This guide explains how to find elytra in Minecraft, prepare for End cities, make suitable rockets and keep your wings repaired. It covers standard Java survival mechanics.
The short answer
Find an End city with an End ship on the outer End islands. The elytra is in an item frame inside the ship, rather than inside a loot chest. Equip it in your chest slot, learn to glide and use rockets made without firework stars for boosting.
In This Guide
- Where to Find Elytra
- What to Bring to the End
- Reaching and Exploring the Outer Islands
- Collecting Elytra from an End Ship
- How to Fly with Elytra
- Making Rockets for Elytra Flight
- Best Elytra Enchantments
- How to Repair Elytra
- Common Flying Mistakes
- Frequently Asked Questions
Where to Find Elytra
In standard survival, elytra are found aboard End ships associated with some End cities. You cannot craft them at a crafting table.
| Structure | What to Know |
|---|---|
| End city | A tall branching structure on the outer End islands, guarded by shulkers |
| End ship | A floating ship that can generate with an End city; its treasure room contains an elytra in an item frame |
Not every End city has a ship. Finding the towers is a useful start, but check the surrounding area for the floating vessel before assuming your search is over.
On a multiplayer server, a ship may already have been looted. An empty item frame location does not mean every ship is missing its elytra; you may need to explore further or trade with another player.
What to Bring to the End
| Supply | Why Bring It? |
|---|---|
| Good armour and weapons | Protection while travelling and dealing with shulkers |
| Food | Supports health recovery and a longer journey |
| Plenty of building blocks | For controlled crossings, steps and safe access |
| Ender pearls | Useful for gateways and carefully chosen crossings |
| A water bucket | Can help with some falls and movement situations in the End |
| Slow Falling potions | Useful protection against ordinary falls while the effect lasts |
| An ender chest | Lets you secure valuable finds where you can access one |
| Recorded gateway and route coordinates | Help you retrace the journey |
| Plain firework rockets | Ready for your first flight after finding elytra |
Feather Falling is useful for accidental falls, but does not protect you from the void. Slow Falling also does not provide a way back up if there is nothing beneath you.
Prepare using our enchantments guide, food guide and potions guide.
Reaching and Exploring the Outer Islands
The outer End islands are separate from the central island where the Ender Dragon fight takes place. An End gateway is the usual route between them.
After defeating the dragon, a gateway appears around the central island. Carefully throw an ender pearl into its portal block to travel through. On a shared world, suitable gateways may already exist.
Once you arrive, record the coordinates and make the landing area easy to recognise. Explore the larger islands and look for the purple towers of an End city.
Bridge carefully between suitable islands or use ender pearls only when you have a clear landing target. Avoid guessing that an island is within reach from a difficult angle.
Plan the return journey before collecting the loot
Keep track of your route back to a gateway. You can use a return gateway to reach the central area, then the activated exit portal to leave the End. Do not make your only return plan an untested flight over the void.
Collecting Elytra from an End Ship
- Look around the city for a floating End ship.
- Build or travel to it using a controlled route.
- Deal with shulkers and secure the area before focusing on loot.
- Go below deck to the treasure room.
- Find the elytra in its item frame, break it free and collect it.
- Check your inventory and the elytra’s durability before deciding whether to fly away.
Shulker projectiles can apply Levitation, carrying you upwards and leaving you with a fall when the effect ends. Stay aware of ceilings, ledges and what is beneath you.
Make space in your inventory before collecting the elytra. It is much easier to organise your supplies on a safe floor than while a valuable item is lying beside a drop.
If you have brought an anvil and enchanted books, you can prepare the elytra before a longer flight. Otherwise, there is nothing wrong with returning by your established route and setting it up at home.
How to Fly with Elytra
Equipping and Starting a Glide
Place the elytra in your chest equipment slot. In standard survival this replaces your chestplate, so you lose the protection that chestplate would have provided.
While airborne, press the jump control to start gliding. On a standard keyboard setup that is the space bar. Practise over a safe area with room to land.
Looking down increases your speed and looking up trades speed for height. Pulling up too sharply or trying to climb without enough speed can leave you losing height.
Boosting with Rockets
- Equip your elytra and check its durability.
- Select suitable firework rockets in your hotbar.
- Jump and activate your glide while airborne.
- Use a rocket while gliding to boost in the direction you are looking.
- Keep a clear route ahead and avoid boosting straight into a wall.
A small slope or open practice area can make your first attempts easier. Do not choose an End island edge as the place to learn the controls.
Landing
Approach an open landing area with time to slow down. Ease out of a steep dive and avoid trying to stop at the last second beside a wall or doorway.
Keep a chestplate available for situations where you are travelling on foot or expecting combat. Remember to equip the elytra again before attempting another flight.
Making Rockets for Elytra Flight
Craft plain rockets using paper and gunpowder. Leave out firework stars: they add explosions that can damage you while boosting.
| Ingredients per Craft | Output | Flight Duration |
|---|---|---|
| 1 paper and 1 gunpowder | 3 plain rockets | 1 |
| 1 paper and 2 gunpowder | 3 plain rockets | 2 |
| 1 paper and 3 gunpowder | 3 plain rockets | 3 |
The recipe is shapeless. Higher flight duration gives a longer boost, but uses more gunpowder. Duration 1 is a straightforward choice for practising and ordinary short boosts.
The flight duration number is not a precise count of seconds. It identifies the rocket variant.
Check unfamiliar rockets before flying
Decorative fireworks and flight rockets are not always interchangeable. Use rockets with no explosion effects for ordinary elytra boosting.
Best Elytra Enchantments
| Recommended Enchantment | Level | Benefit |
|---|---|---|
| Unbreaking | III | Reduces how often use consumes durability |
| Mending | I | Repairs the elytra using collected experience |
Apply enchanted books with an anvil. Elytra cannot normally be enchanted directly on an enchanting table.
Unbreaking and Mending are the two upgrades we would prioritise for a pair you intend to keep. They work together, but they do not remove the need to watch durability.
How to Repair Elytra
Elytra lose durability while gliding. When they become too damaged, they stop working until repaired rather than disappearing like a fully broken ordinary tool.
| Repair Method | How It Works | What to Remember |
|---|---|---|
| Mending | Collect XP while wearing or holding the damaged elytra | An ordinary inventory slot does not qualify |
| Phantom membranes | Combine the elytra with membranes in an anvil | Preserves enchantments, but uses materials and anvil levels |
| Combining pairs in an anvil | Combine damaged elytra to restore durability | Uses a second pair; inspect the output before taking it |
A phantom membrane repairs about a quarter of an elytra’s maximum durability. Repeated anvil work can make future anvil operations more expensive, which is one reason Mending is convenient for frequent flying.
For Mending, either wear the damaged elytra or hold it in a hand while collecting XP. If several equipped Mending items need repairs, they can share the incoming experience.
Our XP guide covers practical sources and common Mending problems.
Common Flying Mistakes
| Mistake | A Better Habit |
|---|---|
| Leaving with almost no durability | Check and repair before a long journey |
| Running out of rockets over a gap | Carry a reserve and turn back before supplies are low |
| Using explosive fireworks | Keep plain flight rockets separate from decorative ones |
| Forgetting the elytra replaces a chestplate | Switch equipment to suit flying or combat |
| Practising above the void | Learn the controls over safer terrain |
| Diving into a building at full speed | Choose an open approach and slow down early |
Give terrain time to become visible ahead of you. If the world is loading slowly, reduce your speed or land rather than boosting into an area you cannot see.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Every End City Have Elytra?
No. Elytra are found on End ships, and not every End city generates with a ship. On multiplayer servers, a ship may also have been looted already.
Where Exactly Is the Elytra in an End Ship?
It is in an item frame in the treasure room below deck, near the loot chests. It is not an item you find by searching inside those chests.
Can You Craft Elytra in Standard Survival?
No. Find it aboard an End ship, or obtain one through player trading or a server feature that provides it.
Do I Need Rockets to Use Elytra?
No. Elytra can glide without rockets, using height and momentum. Plain firework rockets provide boosts and make sustained travel much more convenient.
Why Do My Rockets Hurt Me?
They may contain firework stars and explosion effects. Craft ordinary flight rockets using only paper and gunpowder.
Can Elytra Break Permanently from Flying?
They stop working when their durability becomes too low, but the item remains and can be repaired. That does not prevent losing it through death, despawning or other hazards.
Can You Wear a Chestplate and Elytra Together?
Not in the same chest slot under standard survival mechanics. Equipping elytra replaces your chestplate; additional server features may behave differently.
What Are the Best Elytra Enchantments?
Unbreaking III and Mending are our recommended combination. Apply them with enchanted books at an anvil.
Take Your Next Adventure Further on TogetherCraft
Your first elytra is an exciting milestone. Set it up properly, practise the controls and keep a return plan so you can enjoy the view without making every landing an emergency.
If you would rather trade for equipment or supplies, browse the TogetherCraft Shop Directory and check individual shops for current stock. Follow the server rules and respect other players’ belongings while exploring.
TogetherCraft is an adult Minecraft server for builders, explorers and players who enjoy a shared survival world. If you are looking for a Hermitcraft like server, our server guide and joining information is a good place to start.