How To Make An Ender Chest And Carry Your Loot Safely

Maia Kirlin 28 Aug 2025

Have you ever been deep in a mine, perhaps very, very far from your base, only to find your inventory completely full? Maybe you just found some rare diamonds or ancient debris, and then, a creeper explodes, and all your precious items scatter. That, is that a terrible feeling, isn't it? Well, there is a truly wonderful solution in Minecraft for these moments, and it is called the Ender Chest. This amazing item offers a personal, portable storage space that feels almost magical.

An Ender Chest works a bit like a magic trick, actually. Any items you put into one Ender Chest can be taken out of any other Ender Chest you place in your world, or even across different dimensions. It is a shared storage space, but it is unique to each player. This means your friend cannot access your Ender Chest contents, even if they place their own chest right next to yours. It is all yours, which is rather neat.

This guide will show you exactly how to make an Ender Chest, step by simple step. We will go over all the materials you need, how to gather them, and then how to put it all together. We will also talk about some practical things you can do with your new chest to keep your valuable items safe, helping you solve the problem of losing your hard-earned loot. So, let us talk about how you can make your inventory management simple.

What Is an Ender Chest?
Materials You Will Need
- Obsidian
- Eye of Ender
Gathering Your Materials
- Getting Obsidian
- Crafting an Eye of Ender
Crafting the Ender Chest
How to Use Your Ender Chest
Practical Tips for Ender Chest Use
Frequently Asked Questions

What Is an Ender Chest?

An Ender Chest, basically, acts like a special container for your items. What you put in one, you can get from another. This is very, very useful for keeping things safe, as I was saying.

It is a personal inventory, meaning only you can see and take out the things you put inside. This means you do not have to worry about other players taking your stuff, which is quite nice.

You can place many Ender Chests around your world. They all connect to the same personal storage space. This means you can store things at your base and then pick them up in a distant mine, or perhaps in the Nether, or even the End. It is almost like magic, you know?

Breaking an Ender Chest with a regular pickaxe will make it drop as obsidian. However, if you use a pickaxe enchanted with Silk Touch, the Ender Chest will drop itself. This is a pretty important detail for moving them around, as a matter of fact.

Materials You Will Need

To make an Ender Chest, you need just two main types of items. These items are a bit special, so getting them might take a little effort. But it is definitely worth it for the convenience you get, I mean.

You will need eight blocks of Obsidian. This is a very strong block that comes from water and lava mixing. It takes a while to mine, so prepare for that.

You also need one Eye of Ender. This item is crafted from two other things, and it is usually used to find Strongholds, but it is also key for our chest. So, it is pretty important.

Obsidian

Obsidian is a dark, rather purplish block that forms when water flows over a lava source block. It is one of the hardest blocks to break in Minecraft. You will need a diamond pickaxe, or a netherite pickaxe, to mine it. Any other pickaxe will not work, and you will just destroy the block without getting anything, which is a bit of a waste of time.

Mining obsidian takes about 9.4 seconds with a diamond pickaxe without any enchantments. So, you can see, gathering eight blocks will take a little while. It is a good idea to bring some extra pickaxes or Mending enchantments if you plan to gather a lot, just in case.

Obsidian is also very blast resistant, which makes it good for protecting things. This quality is part of what makes the Ender Chest so special and secure, actually.

Eye of Ender

The Eye of Ender is a small item that glows with a bright, green color. You cannot find this item naturally in the world. You have to craft it yourself, which is part of the process, you know.

To craft an Eye of Ender, you need two other items: one Ender Pearl and one Blaze Powder. These items come from two different, rather dangerous places in Minecraft. So, you will need to prepare for a bit of an adventure, basically.

The Eye of Ender is very important for making an Ender Chest. It is the core, almost the "magic" part, that makes the chest work the way it does. Without it, you just have a bunch of obsidian, more or less.

Gathering Your Materials

Getting these materials means you will have to explore a bit and fight some creatures. It is all part of the fun, really, and it makes the reward of having an Ender Chest even better. You will feel quite accomplished, I mean.

Getting Obsidian

To get obsidian, you first need to find lava. Lava lakes are quite common in the Overworld, especially in caves and at very low Y-levels. You can also find huge lava seas in the Nether, of course.

Once you find lava, you need to bring water to it. A bucket of water works perfectly. You can pour water directly onto a lava source block, and it will turn into obsidian. You can also make a small pool, then pour lava into it, or water into lava. This is a practical thing to do.

Remember to bring a diamond pickaxe. Without it, your efforts to mine the obsidian will be wasted. You need to be ready for the mining time, too, as I was saying.

A good trick is to bring several buckets. You can pick up lava in buckets, then place it where you want, and then pour water over it. This helps you make obsidian in a controlled way, which is rather useful, actually.

Crafting an Eye of Ender

Crafting an Eye of Ender involves two steps, really. First, you need to get Ender Pearls. Then, you need to get Blaze Powder.

Getting Ender Pearls

Ender Pearls are items dropped by Endermen. Endermen are tall, dark creatures that usually appear in dark places at night in the Overworld, or in the End dimension. They are rather common in the End, but you can find them in the Overworld too, just a little less often.

When you look at an Enderman, it gets angry and will attack you. They can teleport, which makes fighting them a bit tricky. A good strategy is to build a small shelter, like a two-block-high pillar, and hit them from safety. They cannot reach you there, so you can make do with less risk.

You usually need to defeat several Endermen to get enough Ender Pearls. They do not always drop a pearl, so it might take some time and a few fights. So, be patient, you know?

Getting Blaze Powder

Blaze Powder comes from Blazes. Blazes are flying, fiery monsters that only appear in Nether Fortresses. To get Blaze Powder, you first need to find a Nether Fortress, which can be a bit of a challenge in itself.

Inside a Nether Fortress, you will find Blaze spawners. These spawners will create Blazes, which you can then defeat to get Blaze Rods. Blazes shoot fireballs, so bring a shield and some fire resistance potions if you have them. This makes the fight much easier, more or less.

Once you have Blaze Rods, you need to turn them into Blaze Powder. One Blaze Rod will make two Blaze Powder in your crafting grid. You only need one Blaze Powder for your Eye of Ender, but it is always good to have extra for other things, too.

Crafting the Ender Chest

Now that you have all your materials, it is time to put them together. This is the fun part, really, where you make your new, useful item. It is a simple recipe, actually.

You will need a crafting table for this. Place the crafting table down and open its crafting grid. This is where you will combine your obsidian and Eye of Ender, you know.

In the crafting grid, you should place the Eye of Ender in the very center square. This is the heart of the recipe, so to speak.

Then, you will surround the Eye of Ender with your eight blocks of obsidian. Place one obsidian block in every other square of the 3x3 crafting grid, leaving only the center square for the Eye of Ender. This forms a full border of obsidian around the Eye of Ender, basically.

Once you have placed all the items correctly, the Ender Chest icon will appear in the result slot. Just take it out, and you have successfully crafted your very own Ender Chest! It is quite satisfying, I mean.

It should look like this in your crafting table, more or less:

Obsidian | Obsidian | Obsidian
Obsidian | Eye of Ender | Obsidian
Obsidian | Obsidian | Obsidian

This pattern is very specific. If you do not place the items exactly like this, the Ender Chest will not appear. So, double-check your placement, just to be sure.

How to Use Your Ender Chest

Using an Ender Chest is very straightforward. Once you have crafted it, you can place it down just like any other chest. Right-click on it to open its inventory. You can put any items you want inside, as long as they fit, of course.

The magic happens when you place another Ender Chest somewhere else. It could be in a different cave, in the Nether, or even back at your base. When you open that second chest, you will see the exact same items you put in the first one. This is the main benefit, actually.

This means you can always have access to your most important items, no matter where you are. It is a fantastic way to avoid losing valuable gear if you happen to, say, fall into lava or get ambushed by a mob. You can just put your best stuff in there, and it is safe, basically.

Remember what I said about breaking them? If you break an Ender Chest with a regular pickaxe, it will drop eight obsidian blocks and the Eye of Ender. This means you will have to craft it again if you want to use it elsewhere. But, if you use a pickaxe with the Silk Touch enchantment, the Ender Chest will drop as a whole item. This allows you to pick it up and place it again without needing to re-craft it. This is a very useful tip for moving them around, you know.

Practical Tips for Ender Chest Use

Ender Chests can really change how you play Minecraft. Here are some practical things you can do to get the most out of them. These tips can make your adventures much smoother, more or less.

Emergency Kit: Keep an emergency kit inside your Ender Chest. This could include a spare diamond pickaxe, some food, torches, and maybe even a few blocks for building. If you die far from home, you can just craft a new Ender Chest, grab your kit, and keep going. This helps you make do with less frustration.
Valuable Haul: When you are mining or exploring and find something very valuable, like diamonds, emeralds, or ancient debris, put it straight into your Ender Chest. This way, if something unexpected happens, your most precious finds are safe. It is a simple way to protect your progress, I mean.
Portable Base: Carry an Ender Chest with you when you go on long expeditions. You can place it down whenever your inventory gets full, store your excess items, and then pick it up again with Silk Touch. This is a rather clever way to extend your carrying capacity, you know.
Nether and End Exploration: These dimensions are very dangerous. Keeping an Ender Chest at the entrance of a Nether Fortress or an End city can be a lifesaver. You can quickly deposit rare loot and then continue exploring without fear of losing everything. It really helps you feel more secure, actually.
Shared Storage (Not Really): While the inventory is personal, you can use Ender Chests to pass items to other players in a roundabout way. You put items in, tell your friend what you put in, then they can put their items in for you. This is not direct sharing, but it is a way to coordinate item transfers if you are on a server, sort of.

Using these tips, you can truly make the most of your Ender Chest. It is a tool that helps you stay organized and safe, letting you focus more on exploring and building, which is what Minecraft is all about, right? You can learn more about Ender Chest mechanics on our site, and also check out this page for more Minecraft crafting guides.

Frequently Asked Questions

People often have questions about Ender Chests, so let us answer a few common ones here. These are questions many players ask, actually, so it is good to go over them.

Can other players open my Ender Chest?

No, other players cannot open your Ender Chest and see your items. Each player has their own unique Ender Chest inventory. So, if your friend places an Ender Chest, it will show their items, not yours. This makes it a very private and secure storage option, which is rather important for multiplayer servers, you know.

What happens if I break an Ender Chest without Silk Touch?

If you break an Ender Chest using a pickaxe that does not have the Silk Touch enchantment, the chest will not drop as an item. Instead, it will break down into its crafting components: eight blocks of Obsidian and one Eye of Ender. You will then need to re-craft it if you want to use it again, which is a bit of a hassle, so it is good to remember this, I mean.

Can I put an Ender Chest inside another Ender Chest?

No, you cannot put an Ender Chest inside another Ender Chest. This is a rule for many container blocks in Minecraft. You also cannot put a Shulker Box inside an Ender Chest if that Shulker Box contains another Ender Chest. The game prevents this to avoid certain technical issues, basically. It is a good thing to keep in mind when organizing your storage, you know.

This information should help you make and use your Ender Chests with confidence. They are a truly practical addition to any player's toolkit, letting you keep your valuable items safe and accessible across your world, more or less. Happy crafting, and good luck with your adventures, as a matter of fact, today is October 26, 2023, and these tips are still very much relevant!

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