The first screenshot released by Notch, showing what The Nether would look like.
An image of of The Nether. In the top left you can see a Ghast.
A screenshot of a lavafall found next to a main lavalake. At a dangerous 1443 blocks away from portal.
Standard portal (Left), economy version (Right)
The Nether (Also referred to as "The Nexus" in Notch's Blog and was previously known as Hell and The Slip) is part of the Minecraft Halloween Update. It exists in a completely different world from the normal world above. The terrain is dimly lit, full of lava streams flowing from the ceiling, sudden cliffs, and lava lakes, making it extremely dangerous to explore. The ceiling and the base of the Nether are made of bedrock. Mushrooms are also commonly found. If the player dies in The Nether, they will be transported back to the spawn point on the surface world.
Portals and Fast Travel
The portals are made by creating a 4x5 (2x3 on inside) door frame out of obsidian and then lighting the inside of the frame on fire with Flint and Steel. The corners of the frame may be left out, using only 10 obsidian. When you stand inside the portal for the first time, it will create a portal in its equivalent area of the Nether. A loading screen will appear during the change of worlds.
A portal can be shut down if part of the obsidian frame is removed.
When re-entering the normal world, any distance covered in The Nether is multiplied by 8, effectively making The Nether a fast travel zone that allows for greater distances to be covered in a short amount of time in the normal world.
Walking through a portal will not teleport the player - in order to use them, the player has to stand still inside the purple haze. Currently, they will not transport mobs or minecarts. Attempting to go through a portal while in a minecart will result in the player needing to restart the game to continue.
Mobs
Mobs that spawn in the main world do not appear here. Instead, there are special mobs that appear only in the Nether (although Ghasts have an extremely small chance of spawning through a portal on the surface world.)
- Ghasts - Flying jellyfish-like monsters that shoot fireballs. They can be damaged by any conventional weapons, but they do not get hurt when on fire, only when touching it. A Ghast can fly into lava falls or lava lakes, but even if they burn they don't get damaged (As of the November 10th Update). The fireballs they shoot can be deflected back at them using a fist or any tool by hitting it just before impact (shooting an arrow or using the Fishing Rod on the fireballs works too). They drop sulphur, But is very hard to obtain, since they're always flying around over lava lakes. Creepers provide a better source of sulphur.
- Zombie Pigmen - Peaceful, humanoid creatures that turn hostile when attacked. They drop a cooked porkchop when killed. They carry gold swords, and do 2.5 damage. They often appear in packs of 4, and tend to stay together. If one Zombie Pigmen turns hostile, then so will every one in the range of 32 blocks. The only safe way is to fight a zombie pigman in a pack of: 1.
Planned Mobs
Notch is planning to add dragons to the game, which will probably end up in the nether. There's a small chance they will wind up in the overworld, though, and there's even a chance of that if it's even put in the nether. (Ghasts and Zombie Pigmen Can walk into the portal and warp to the overworld. (Probably dragons too.))
Blocks
Blocks can be brought to and from the main world. So far, there are three block types only found in the Nether:
- Netherrack - This block burns indefinitely, and is the main block type forming the Nether. Setting these on fire while traveling in the Nether is a great way to save on torches.
- Glowstone - A golden block that glows indefinitely, commonly found as stalactites on the ceiling of the Nether. These can be used as a light source underwater on the surface world, and the powder produced when it is mined is suspected to be an ingredient in making lanterns.
- Soul Sand - A brown block resembling a creeper face. When walked on, it slows the movement speed of the player and mobs that walk across it, and makes them sink down a tiny bit.
There are three blocks that spawn in both worlds: Lava, Gravel and Bedrock. Also found in both worlds are both brown and red mushrooms.
Water
Water cannot be placed from buckets normally in the Nether. Instead, it generates a steam effect and the fizz.ogg sound effect (the same used when lava destroys an object) is played. If an inventory hack is used to give the player a water block, they can place the block. The water block will behave and flow normally, and it will react with lava as usual, creating obsidian. Another way to place water in The Nether is to place a block of ice and break it; water will flow normally from it. Squid can also spawn in water placed in this way.
Because water is normally unplaceable in The Nether, if a player falls into a lava pit or otherwise catches fire, they are unable to put themselves out. [It has been noted that walking through the Portal whilst on fire extinguishes the fire once on the other side].
Planting & Growing
As water cannot be placed in the Nether, Reeds will not be able to survive. Wheat, however, can be grown on well-lit dirt blocks, albeit slowly. Using a sapling and a dirt block (don't forget a source of light), Trees will be able to grow. Its leaves will take a dead-looking brownish colour. Cactus blocks will also be able to grow normally, provided they are planted on Sand. In addition, flowers can survive in the Nether, but only with a light source nearby.
Naming
In the original announcement, Notch mentioned "a brand new Hell world". However, he's made it clear that he doesn't want to use religious names (as mentioned in this article), and prefers for Minecraft to be unique. When the preview was sent out on 29 October 2010 to a couple of gaming websites, the new dimension was called the Slip. This was changed to The Nether on the day of the update release. It has since been referred to as 'The Nexus' on his personal blog, although there has been no indication as yet that there will be another name change.
Ambience
The most common ambience in the nether is the ghast's sounds. It plays ghast.ogg which is a sound file which sounds like evil children screaming and crying for help. Zombie Pigmen usually oink and slurp.
Trivia
- When you warp from worlds, the direction you are facing is maintained (e.g., if you face east in the overworld and warp to the Nether, you will still be facing east).
- While inside the Nether, Clocks and Compasses will be unable to tell the time or direction and will flail back and forth.
- While inside the Nether, furnaces will stop smelting and plants will stop growing. However, the day/night cycle continues while in the Nether.
- It is possible, but very rare, for a Nether biome to be created on The Overworld. This is due to a bug.
- The idea for the Nether came from a transportation method used in the novel series The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan. Within this transportation system, the Ways, you could travel a massive amount of distance in a few days instead of weeks. Like the Nether, the Ways has many dangers.