Skip to content

Severoo is opening soon. Server creation is not open yet. See what is coming

Severoo

Free tool

Nether portal calculator

Type the coordinates of a portal in one dimension and get where its partner belongs in the other, plus how far the game searches for a portal in Java and Bedrock Edition.

Game edition
I am standing in

Stand inside your portal and read the numbers from the F3 screen in Java Edition, or from Show Coordinates in Bedrock Edition. Y is your height. Negative numbers start with a minus sign.

Build the other portal in the Nether at

X 150 Y 64 Z -105

  • Height: keep Y 64. Y is never divided or multiplied.
  • Nether X 150, Z -105 matches Overworld X 1200 to 1207 and Z -840 to -833.
  • When you arrive in the Nether, Java Edition looks for a lit portal up to 16 blocks from this spot along X and Z, at any height, and picks the closest. If it finds none, it builds a new one nearby.
  • Another Overworld portal within about 128 blocks of yours leads to this same Nether portal until you build it a partner of its own.

How to convert Overworld coordinates to Nether coordinates

One block walked in the Nether covers eight blocks in the Overworld, but only sideways. To find where a portal's partner belongs, change X and Z and leave the height alone:

Going from X and Z Y
Overworld to Nether Divide by 8, round down Stays the same
Nether to Overworld Multiply by 8 Stays the same

Round down means toward the lower number, so an Overworld X of -1 becomes -1 in the Nether, not 0. Each Nether block stands for a square of 8 by 8 Overworld blocks, and the calculator lists that square under the result. To read your coordinates, press F3 in Java Edition (Fn+F3 on some laptops) or switch on Show Coordinates in the game settings in Bedrock Edition.

Worked example

Your base portal stands at X 1200, Y 64, Z -840 in the Overworld.

  1. 1200 divided by 8 is 150, so the Nether X is 150.
  2. -840 divided by 8 is -105, so the Nether Z is -105.
  3. Y stays at 64.

Build the Nether portal at X 150, Y 64, Z -105. Now walk 100 blocks east in the Nether to X 250 and build another portal there. It comes out at Overworld X 2000, which is 800 blocks from home for 100 blocks of walking.

Portals are not saved as pairs. Every time you step through, the game converts your position and then looks around that spot in the other dimension for a lit portal. How far it looks depends on the edition:

Edition Arriving in the Nether Arriving in the Overworld
Java Edition 16 blocks 128 blocks
Bedrock Edition 128 blocks 128 blocks

The range runs along X and Z from the converted spot, and every height is searched. If several lit portals are in range, the closest one wins, and that distance counts height too. A portal 3 blocks to the side but 60 blocks above you loses to one 20 blocks away on your own level. If no portal is in range, the game builds a new one within 16 blocks sideways of the converted spot, at whatever height has room.

The 16 block figure dates from Java Edition 1.16.2. Before that, Java also searched 128 blocks in the Nether, which is 1024 blocks in the Overworld. That is why older guides tell you to keep Overworld portals 1024 blocks apart. On Bedrock Edition that spacing still applies, as of October 2026. The Minecraft Wiki documents the full search on its Nether portal page.

  1. Build and light the first portal, stand inside it and note X, Y and Z.
  2. Enter the numbers above and write down the result.
  3. Go through. You arrive at a portal the game found or built. A new one can be up to 16 blocks off to the side and at any height.
  4. Travel to the calculated X and Z, at the same Y if the terrain allows, then build and light a second portal there.
  5. If the game built a portal you do not want, break one obsidian block from its frame. Its purple blocks vanish, and a portal that is not lit cannot be picked.
  6. Test the trip in both directions. A Survival player has to stand in the portal for 4 seconds.

A portal on the exact converted spot is closer than any other portal can be. That is how you run several pairs close together, for example a base, a farm and a village all inside 128 blocks: give each one its own partner on the calculated coordinates, at a matching height.

Common mistakes

  • Dividing Y. Height is never scaled. Below the Nether's bedrock ceiling, a full portal frame fits between Y 6 and Y 119, because bedrock sits at Y 0 to 4 and Y 123 to 127. If your Overworld portal is lower or higher than that, the calculator gives the nearest height that fits. Lava seas fill the Nether at Y 31 and below, so dig toward a low spot carefully.
  • Rounding negative numbers toward zero. -100 divided by 8 is -12.5, which rounds down to -13, not -12.
  • Lighting a second portal nearby and expecting a new exit. Inside the ranges in the table, it reuses the portal that is already on the other side.
  • Trusting the portal the game built. It can sit far enough from the converted spot that the trip back finds a different portal. Rebuild it on the exact coordinates.
  • Standing in a portal on a server and nothing happens. On a Java server the Nether can be switched off. As of October 2026 that is the game rule allow_entering_nether_using_portals, so an operator runs /gamerule allow_entering_nether_using_portals true. If the command is not recognized, your version spells the rule allowEnteringNetherUsingPortals, the name it had when it was added in 1.21.9. Servers older than 1.21.9 set allow-nether=true in server.properties instead, the file the server.properties generator writes for you.

More calculators and generators for server owners are on the tools page.

Sources

The data and rules in this tool were last checked on against:

Frequently asked questions

How do you convert Overworld coordinates to Nether coordinates?

Divide the Overworld X and Z by 8 and round down. Leave Y as it is. A portal at X 1200, Y 64, Z -840 belongs at X 150, Y 64, Z -105 in the Nether. To go the other way, multiply the Nether X and Z by 8. Rounding down means toward the lower number, so -100 divided by 8 is -12.5 and becomes -13.

Why does my Nether portal take me to the wrong portal?

The game does not remember pairs. Each trip it converts your position, searches around that spot in the other dimension and sends you to the closest lit portal it finds, counting height as well as X and Z. If another portal is nearer than the one you meant, you get that one. Build a portal on the exact converted coordinates at the same Y, then break a frame block of the portal you do not want so it switches off.

How far apart do Nether portals need to be so they do not link to the same portal?

In Java Edition, a second Overworld portal within about 128 blocks of the first on both X and Z finds the same Nether portal, because the game searches 16 blocks around the converted spot in the Nether. In Bedrock Edition the Nether search is 128 blocks, so the distance is about 1024 Overworld blocks. You can put portals closer than that if you build each one its own partner on the exact converted coordinates, since the closest portal always wins.

Does the Y level matter when linking Nether portals?

Y is not divided or multiplied, and the game searches every height. Height still counts when more than one portal is in range, because the closest portal is measured in all three directions. A portal directly above or below the converted spot but 60 blocks away loses to one 20 blocks to the side. Matching the Y of both portals avoids that.

Is portal linking different in Bedrock Edition?

The 8 to 1 ratio is the same. The search is wider: Bedrock Edition looks 128 blocks along X and Z in both dimensions, while Java Edition looks 128 blocks in the Overworld but only 16 in the Nether. In practice Overworld portals up to about 1024 blocks apart can share one Nether portal on Bedrock, so building the Nether side by hand matters more there.

Why do older guides say portals must be 1024 blocks apart?

Before Java Edition 1.16.2 the game searched 128 blocks around the converted spot in the Nether, which is 1024 blocks in the Overworld. Version 1.16.2 cut that Nether search to 16 blocks, so the figure for Java is now about 128 Overworld blocks. Bedrock Edition still uses 128 blocks in the Nether, so 1024 is still right there.

Do I have to build the Nether side portal myself?

No. If no lit portal is in range when you step through, the game builds one for you within 16 blocks sideways of the converted spot, at whatever height has room. That is fine for a first trip. Build it yourself when you want the exit in an exact place, or when other portals are close enough to be picked instead.

Put it to work on a free server

Create a server, paste in what you just made, and invite your friends.

Create free server More tools