Stronghold in Minecraft: What's Inside and How to Survive It
A stronghold holds the only End portal in the Overworld, plus libraries, storerooms and chests. What's inside, silverfish, and Java vs Bedrock placement.
A stronghold is an underground stone brick maze that holds the only End portal in the Overworld. Besides the portal room, it has libraries full of enchanted books, storerooms and a chest corridor with ender pearls and diamonds. This page covers what’s inside; for the eye-of-ender triangulation method, see our guide to finding a stronghold.
Where strongholds generate
The editions place them differently:
- Java: 128 strongholds in eight rings around the world origin (0, 0). The first ring has three strongholds, starting about 1,280 blocks out.
- Bedrock: strongholds are scattered more randomly, at least about 160 blocks from origin, with no fixed total. Some generate below villages, so if you see a village, an eye of ender may point right under it.
Either way, the eye of ender flies toward the nearest one. When it starts diving into the ground, you’re on top of it.
The rooms
| Room | What you’ll find |
|---|---|
| Portal room | The End portal frames, a lava pool and a silverfish spawner |
| Library | Bookshelves, cobwebs, chests with enchanted books, paper, books, a compass and maps |
| Chest corridor | One chest on an altar with ender pearls, iron, gold, diamonds, iron gear and apples |
| Storeroom | A chest with food, coal, iron, gold, redstone, an enchanted book or an iron pickaxe |
| Prison cells, fountains, crossings | Mostly decoration, plenty of iron bars and doors |
Libraries come in small (one floor) and large (two floors with a chandelier and a balcony) versions. Grab the bookshelves too if you have Silk Touch; they’re a full enchanting setup. Stronghold chests can also hold the Eye armor trim template.
Silverfish
The stronghold’s main mob is the silverfish. They come from the spawner in the portal room and from infested stone bricks, which look exactly like normal bricks but break noticeably faster. Break one and a silverfish pops out. Hit a silverfish and nearby infested blocks release more.
Fight them on a block they can’t reach, or kill them fast with a sword. Don’t punch infested bricks while you’re low on health.
Getting around
Strongholds are mazes with dead ends. Mark your path with torches on one side, and bring a pickaxe to cut through walls when you hear the portal room lava. Zombies and skeletons also spawn in the dark corridors, so light the main routes.
Before you go to the End
Clear the portal room, deactivate the spawner with torches and sleep in a bed nearby to set your spawn. Then follow our step-by-step survival walkthrough for the Ender Dragon fight. The rest of the structures are on the structures hub.
Common questions
How many strongholds are there?
On Java Edition, 128 strongholds generate in eight rings around the world origin. On Bedrock, strongholds are placed more randomly, with no fixed total, and some generate under villages.
What is the best loot in a stronghold?
Library chests for enchanted books and the altar chest in chest corridors for ender pearls, diamonds and iron gear. The Eye armor trim template also comes from stronghold chests.
Why do stone bricks turn into silverfish?
Some stone bricks in strongholds are infested blocks. They look normal but release a silverfish when broken. Breaking them with Silk Touch avoids that.
Sources & verification
Facts on this page are checked against these references and in-game behavior for the stated edition(s). how we verify.
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