Last updated: 3 July 2026

How to Get Elytra in Minecraft

Elytra — the wing chest piece that turns Minecraft's flat traversal into full-on gliding — has exactly one source in Survival mode: the treasure room of an End Ship, found inside an End City. There is no crafting recipe and no other loot table that drops it. Here is the full route from beating the Ender Dragon to flying home with a pair on your back.

01Step 1: Defeat the Ender Dragon (If You Have Not Already)

End Cities only generate on the outer islands of the End, not the central island where you fight the Ender Dragon. To reach them, you first need access to that outer area, which opens up once the dragon is dead.

After the Ender Dragon falls, an End Gateway Portal spawns near the exit portal on the main island. Throwing an Ender Pearl into the gateway teleports you out to the End's outer islands, where End Cities generate.

02Step 2: Find an End City

End Cities are the tall, purple-and-black spired structures that generate on the large outer islands — the same islands where Chorus Trees and Chorus Fruit grow, so a Chorus Tree cluster nearby is a good sign you are close.

• Exploring manually: after teleporting out via a gateway, look across nearby islands for the distinctive purpur-block towers. You may need to gateway-hop (there are multiple End Gateways around the main island) to reach different clusters of outer islands.
• Using /locate (Creative or command-enabled Survival): run /locate structure minecraft:end_city to get the coordinates of the nearest one instantly.
• Bring blocks: Endermen are the only hostile mob you will regularly meet out here, but the terrain is broken up by void gaps — carry blocks to bridge and a way to survive fall damage.

03Step 3: Locate the End Ship

Not every End City has a ship — roughly just over half do, since the ship only generates on a bridge extending off the city, and not every city generates a qualifying bridge. If the city you searched has no ship attached, move on to the next End City rather than waiting around.

When a ship is present, it floats near the city, connected by a purpur bridge, usually higher up than the main structure. It looks like a small purple vessel with an obsidian prow — hard to miss once you spot the outline.

04Step 4: Clear the Shulkers and Grab the Elytra

End Ships contain three Shulkers total — one on the main deck, one at the stern, and one in the treasure room next to the item frame holding the Elytra. Clear the deck and stern Shulkers before heading into the treasure room; the levitation attack can send you off the edge into the void below.

1. Approach carefully — Shulkers are camouflaged as purple blocks until they open to attack.
2. Fight at range if possible, or keep your back away from open edges so a levitation hit does not send you falling.
3. Once the treasure-room Shulker is dead, break the item frame on the wall to collect the Elytra.
4. The treasure room also holds two loot chests — worth opening for enchanted armor and tools, saddles, iron and gold ingots. The ship also has a dragon head at its obsidian prow, collectible as a decorative block.

Elytra spawns as a single item per End Ship — there is only one per ship, so if you want a spare pair for repairing later, you will need to find a second ship.

05How to Fly Once You Have It

Equip the Elytra in your chest plate slot. To start gliding, jump off a high point (or fall) and press the jump key while in mid-air — the wings spread automatically and you begin gliding forward.

• Diving increases speed; climbing bleeds it off — pointing down builds speed fast, so alternate dives and gentle climbs to cover long distances efficiently.
• Firework Rockets give a speed boost. Right-click (or the equivalent button on console) while gliding to consume a Firework Rocket and rocket forward. Using a rocket for propulsion does not cost any Elytra durability — only the rocket itself is consumed.
• Gunpowder count controls boost length — a rocket with 1 gunpowder gives a short burst, 3 gunpowder gives the longest and is the standard choice for cross-map travel.
• Durability drains while gliding — one point per second, and a fresh, unenchanted Elytra has 432 durability (7 minutes 12 seconds of total flight time) before it breaks.

06Keeping Your Elytra Flying Longer

• Repair with Phantom Membrane: combine an Elytra with Phantom Membrane in an anvil — each membrane restores 25% durability (108 points), so four fully repair a broken pair.
• Enchant with Unbreaking: apply an Unbreaking book via anvil. Unbreaking III stretches total flight time to roughly 28 minutes 48 seconds before the durability bar empties, since each remaining durability point now covers about four seconds of use instead of one.
• Mending works too: an Elytra enchanted with Mending repairs itself using XP orbs picked up while worn, which combined with Unbreaking makes a pair last effectively forever with normal play.