Minecraft – How to survive in the Nether

There are six big dangers in The Nether:

1. Ghasts
2. Zombie Pigmen
3. Magma Cubes
4. Blaze
5. Lava
6. Fire

Ghasts

• These are the one danger that will actively seek you out and try to kill you, so they are the ones to watch out for. They are not really worth engaging unless you have a good supply of arrows (half a stack is good).
• They will only attack you if you are relatively close and in their line of vision. The easiest way to avoid Ghasts is to simply hide behind something.
• Their eyes and mouth are normally closed, but when they're shooting a fireball, they'll open wide. This is your cue to sidestep.
• It is possible to knock their fireball back with a well-timed sword attack or arrow. They can be killed if hit by their own fireballs, but it is very difficult to aim the fireball right back at them. (You may want to practice this tactic with an empty inventory for a while if you plan on using it.)
• The easiest way to kill a Ghast is by getting fairly close and spamming arrows.

Zombie Pigmen

• Zombie Pigmen are not hostile by default! This means you can pick your battles with them, as long as you're careful. They become hostile when you directly deal damage to them (by hitting them with something or shooting them with an arrow).
• Once you aggravate a single Pigman, all nearby Pigmen will also become hostile. They will never forgive you, but will eventually despawn.
• Ghast fireballs also make quick work of Pigmen.

Magma Cube

• In their passive state they move around every couple seconds and can be easily avoid, Magma Cubes will only attack you if you are in sight of them but can be easily out ran.

• Magma cubes are decently hard to kill considering their high amount of health and armor and when you do manage to kill one release 2-4 smaller versions of themselves. Keep in mind that these smaller versions have increasingly less health and armor and do less damage.

• Magma Cubes drop an item called Magma Cream which is a key ingredient in making Fire Resistance Potions allowing you a much easier time in the nether with the reduced damage it will give you.

• Arrows would definitely be the easiest way to kill these guys and once you get a couple Fire Resistance Potions the nether should be no problem.

Blaze

• Blazes can be incredibly difficult to combat considering their unblockable attacks and their ability to fly and shoot a 3 round burst fireball that sets you aflame. Luckily they only spawn in nether fortresses so long as you stay away from them till you are prepared you have nothing to worry about.

• To combat a Blaze it is almost necessary to have some sort of ranged attack, as throwing snowballs does damage Blazes. Having a Fire Resistance Potion will make this much easier as well.

• Stay clear of a Nether Fortress while you are building and you will be fine.

Lava and Fire

• Ghasts' fireballs cause a Creeper-like blast, but they also tend to light nearby netherrack on fire. They can also knock you back. Be careful to avoid cliffs with lava below, and try not to get in the fire while strafing/dodging. Carrying a bucket of water doesn't work in the Nether, because it will evaporate as soon as you pour it out. If you lit on fire, you're basically screwed.
• You can put out fire on a block by punching it with any item (left clicking). Unfortunately, there's no way to punch yourself in Minecraft.
• Aside from netherrack, lava and fire are the defining characteristics of the Nether. This may sound obvious, but watch where you're walking! It's generally pretty dark, so you'll either want a good supply of torches or some flint and steel to light up nearby netherrack. The flammability of netherrack is convenient for lighting your way, but it can also be a problem if you light a fire in enclosed spaces where you're likely to run back into it. Just because everything in the Nether is flammable doesn't mean you can't use torches.

Final Considerations

If you find yourself dying right out of the portal, you may have to give up on fighting and just run. Digging into the nearest cliff face just to get out of sight for a while is a good idea. Netherrack is very soft (one hit with a diamond pick), so you can dig-in pretty quickly, as long as you can get away from danger for a few seconds.

If there's a big group of Pigmen camping the portal, you might try a suicide TNT run - just drop it and punch it as soon as you're through! Hostile Pigmen will never stop being hostile, but will despawn if you get more than 128 blocks away while their chunk is loaded. This can be accomplished by entering the nether through a different portal (more than 1024 blocks away in the overworld) and walking towards where they were. When you get there, they will be gone.

If you absolutely have a terrible exit point, consider making another portal. Just don't build it too close to the first, as portals close to each other can "connect" to the same exit point in the Nether!