Elytra are rare wings found in end ships. They are the only item that lets you fly in Minecraft's Survival mode. In this article, we will introduce ways to get Elytra in Minecraft, as well as how to use it effectively.

1 - How to get an Elytra in Minecraft?

The Elytra wings are a high-end item that only spawns in end ships, which in turn can be found hovering over end cities. Those cities are on the outer end islands, 1000 blocks away from the central end island. The player can get to the outer end islands through the End gateway, which can only be accessed after defeating the Ender Dragon.

An End Ship
An End Ship in Minecraft

However, you can try to get an Elytra without defeating the final boss. Just get lots of blocks and begin to build a bridge to the outer island - this is Minecraft after all. You might need to create some type of shelter occasionally if the Ender Dragon notice and attack you, but that is fairly uncommon.

After reaching the outer end island, find an end ship. The Elytra is in item frames in the treasure room of the end ship. A shulker guards the elytra and the ship's two loot chests.

Minecraft Elytra
The Elytra along with the 2 treasure chests

2 - How to use an Elytra in Minecraft?

Elytra are equipped in the chest slot. They are grey by default but will adopt the design of any cape the player is currently wearing. Their in-world texture design cannot be changed, even when broken or enchanted.

To fly an Elytra, players need to press the jump key while falling. By doing that, the Elytra spread apart like a beetle's elytra. To turn, players can aim their view around or adjust their pitch. Gaining altitude decreases speed and losing altitude increases speed. Furthermore, firework rockets can be used to increase fly speed in Minecraft as well.

Elytra
Flying using an Elytra

3 - How to repair an Elytra in Minecraft?

Durability of Elytra

The Elytra's ability to fly depends on its durability, as it decreases by one point each second when gliding. A pair of Elytra has 432 durability, which equates to 7 minutes and 12 seconds of gliding. This results in about 10,000 blocks of distance.

Minecraft enchanting is the key. It is possible to enchant the Elytra with Unbreaking using the anvil and an enchanted book. This increases the Elytra's flight time to 4 seconds/durability point, effectively quadruples its flight time to 28 minutes and 44 seconds.

End City
Players flying in End City using an Elytra

 

How to repair an Elytra

When its durability runs out, the Elytra stops working until it is repaired. The damage ends at 1 durability, so the wings can never fully break. You can repair them by using the Mending enchantment, combining two pairs in a grindstone, or using an anvil to combine it with phantom membranes (drops from phantom). Each piece of membrane gives the Elytra 108 durability points, which means you need 4 to fully repair one.

Interested in more of our articles related to Minecraft? Please check out this post to find out more about Top 5 Best Structures To Find Rare Loot In Minecraft.