End cities are castle-like structures found on the outer islands of the End. They are inhabited by shulkers and hold loot among the most valuable in the game.

End cities naturally generate all over the End’s outer islands. They can easily be accessed by entering the end gateway portal, but it is possible to cross the gap between the islands in other ways. They always generate on the large islands, where chorus trees grow. If the end gateway portal teleports the player to a small island, the player can get to the nearest large island by building, using elytra, or throwing ender pearls.

End cities usually generate in flat areas, in “midlands” or “highlands” biomes, which are found on larger islands. One may find several cities clustered together, or travel for thousands of blocks before finding one. Unlike other structures, end cities are generated in a noticeable grid. They are only able to be located in chunks numbered 0-8 +- a multiple of 20. For example one possible “cell” for an end city to be generated in is x_chunks=0-8 and z_chunks=80-88 which is equivalent to the coordinates x=0-128 and z=1280-1408. There will never be an end city at for example z=961-1279 or z=1409-1599 because it is outside any “cell”.[note 1]

End cities consist of tall skyscraper-like towers constructed out of end stone bricks and purpur blocks. An end city may generate as a single tower by itself, or as a sprawling complex of inter-connected towers and pathways branching from a main tower. End rods and Ender chests are the only source of light. Many shulkers spawn around the city, and guard its various treasures. Decorative banners hang at the tops of some towers.

Several types of rooms can be found in an end city, and several different floors, including:

There are two types of towers:

For the ocean structure, see Shipwreck.

An end ship is a floating, boat-like structure found alongside end cities. It is relatively small, but holds even more valuable treasure than the city itself.

Each direction of every tower of the end city has a 50% chance of generating a bridge, and the bridge itself has a 12.5% chance to generate an end ship.

When generated, the stern of the ship always faces toward the city and the bow always faces away. It generates in front of a bridge with a gated arch at the end, from which one can throw an ender pearl to reach the ship, or build a bridge.

Main article: End City/Structure/Ship

The end ship is made of end stone bricks and purpur blocks, just like the city’s main towers. It is built similarly to classical pirate ships or Dutch colonial ships. Three shulkers spawn on the ship; one on the main deck, one behind the stern of the ship, and one in the treasure room.

The ship’s main deck amounts to less than half of the walkable space on the ship. A ladder leads up the mast to an empty crow’s nest, about 20 blocks high. There are no sails connected to the mast.

A dragon head sits at the bow of the ship, making this the only way to obtain the dragon head in Survival mode. There are two small staircases on the outside; one that leads up to the empty upper deck, and one that leads to the cabin below.

The aftercastle contains a brewing stand sitting on a small table, with two Instant Health II potions. Another staircase leads below deck to the ship’s “hotspot”; the treasure room.

The floor of the treasure room is lined with obsidian. There are four small windows on the sides. It contains two loot chests and an item frame holding a pair of elytra, which can be used to glide. A shulker guards the elytra and the two loot chests.

One may access the individual structures of an End city by utilizing structure blocks to manually load city structures from the data/minecraft/structures/end_city folder in minecraft.jar. To do so, set a structure block to Load mode, enter end_city/StructureName and press LOAD. The names of these structures and a small description is provided below:

Structure name

Description

Consists of

Images

end_city/base_floor

A small room with 2 Shulkers guarding the entrance. Forms the entrance of End cities as well as the “empty rooms” found higher up in the city.

68 Purpur Block
54 End Stone Bricks
12 Magenta Stained Glass
12 Purpur Pillar
2 Purpur Stairs
2 Shulker

end_city/base_roof

The roof generated on top of base rooms.

100 Purpur Block
44 Purpur Stairs
4 End Rod

end_city/bridge_end

The small arch that forms the end and start of bridges, pointing toward End ships, or connecting to other rooms.

21 Purpur Block
4 Purpur Slab
3 Purpur Stairs
2 End Rod
1 Purpur Pillar

end_city/bridge_gentle_stairs

Stairs on a bridge built at a small incline.

42 Purpur Block
22 Purpur Stairs
12 Purpur Slab
2 Purpur Pillar

end_city/bridge_piece

A straight piece of bridge.

20 Purpur Block
10 Purpur Stairs
4 Purpur Pillar

end_city/bridge_steep_stairs

Stairs on a bridge built at a steep incline.

24 Purpur Stairs
15 Purpur Block
2 Purpur Pillar

end_city/fat_tower_base

The entrance to the large towers. Preceded by an opening with a single slab.

84 Purpur Pillar
80 Purpur Block
4 End Rod
4 Purpur Stairs
3 Purpur Slab

end_city/fat_tower_middle

The center of the large tower, lined with the purpur slab and end rod spiral staircase.

164 Purpur Pillar
62 Purpur Block
8 End Rod
8 Purpur Slab
8 Purpur Stairs
4 Shulker

end_city/fat_tower_top

The “loot room” of the large tower, generated with 2 chests in the corner and a staircase to the roof.

352 Purpur Block
131 Purpur Stairs
106 End Stone Bricks
26 Magenta Stained Glass
18 Purpur Pillar
9 Purpur Slab
4 End Rod
2 Chest

end_city/second_floor_1

The second floor of the base tower, preceded by a purpur slab staircase. The room is otherwise empty.

95 Purpur Block
84 End Stone Bricks
44 Purpur Stairs
16 Magenta Stained Glass
12 Purpur Pillar
7 Purpur Slab
4 End Rod

end_city/second_floor_2

Begins with a small spiral staircase in the center, with a small “statue” made of stairs in the upper corner.

82 End Stone Bricks
70 Purpur Block
54 Purpur Stairs
14 Magenta Stained Glass
12 Purpur Pillar
9 Purpur Slab
4 End Rod
1 Shulker

end_city/second_roof

Similar in structure to base_roof, but slightly larger.

144 Purpur Block
52 Purpur Stairs
4 End Rod

end_city/ship

The End ship.

557 Purpur Block
175 Purpur Stairs
97 Purpur Pillar
36 End Stone Bricks
26 Obsidian
14 Ladder
7 Magenta Stained Glass
7 Purpur Slab
6 End Rod
2 Chest
1 Brewing Stand with two Instant Health II Potions
1 Dragon Head
1 Item Frame with Elytra
3 Shulker

end_city/third_floor

A purpur pillar structure sits in the center, surrounded by purpur stairs. Preceded by a purpur slab staircase.

140 Purpur Block
90 End Stone Bricks
64 Purpur Stairs
32 Magenta Stained Glass
18 Purpur Pillar
7 Purpur Slab
4 End Rod

end_city/third_floor_1

An unused room, preceded by two sets of ladders. Bizarre checkerboard-style flooring with 4 shulkers guarding this room.

140 Purpur Block
90 End Stone Bricks
64 Purpur Stairs
32 Magenta Stained Glass
18 Purpur Pillar
7 Purpur Slab
4 End Rod

end_city/third_floor_2

The second loot room, with a regular chest and an Ender chest.

132 Purpur Block
98 End Stone Bricks
56 Purpur Stairs
24 Magenta Stained Glass
12 Purpur Pillar
6 End Rod
1 Chest
1 Ender Chest
2 Shulker

end_city/third_roof

Similar in structure to base_roof and second_roof, but is even larger.

196 Purpur Block
60 Purpur Stairs
4 End Rod

end_city/tower_base

Entrance to the small tower with a ladder preceding it.

40 Purpur Block
39 Purpur Pillar
4 Purpur Slab
4 Purpur Stairs
3 Ladder

end_city/tower_floor

Similar in structure to tower_base, but the ladder entrance is replaced with a solid floor.

36 Purpur Pillar
28 Purpur Stairs
21 Purpur Block
3 Purpur Slab

end_city/tower_piece

The middle of the small tower, with a purpur slab spiral staircase.

36 Purpur Pillar
12 Purpur Block
4 Purpur Slab
4 Purpur Stairs

end_city/tower_top

The roof of the small tower, with banners hanging from the sides.

66 Purpur Block
56 Purpur Stairs
26 End Stone Bricks
12 Purpur Pillar
8 Magenta Banner
with Black Chevrons
6 Magenta Stained Glass
4 End Rod
2 Purpur Slab
1 Shulker