How to fly in ‘Minecraft’ in either Creative or Survival mode

• There are two distinct ways to fly in “Minecraft,” in either Creative or Survival mode.
• In “Minecraft’s” Creative or Spectator modes, you can fly by double-tapping the jump button.
• In Survival mode, you’ll need to craft the Elytra item, which gives your character a pair of angel wings.
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“Minecraft” maps can be massive, so it’s no wonder that many players prefer flying to walking. Flying in “Minecraft” means faster and more efficient travel uninterrupted by mountains, trees and bodies of water.

There are a few different ways to fly when playing “Minecraft.” In Creative mode, flying is as simple as the tap of a key or button on console. In Survival mode, however, you’ll have to earn the ability to fly by finding an equippable item called Elytra.

Here’s everything you need to know about achieving liftoff in “Minecraft,” whatever your style of play.

How to fly in ‘Minecraft’ using Creative or Spectator mode

As you probably know, “Minecraft” has various different game modes and playstyles. In Creative and Spectator mode, you’re less like a player and more like an in-game god.

One part of this is your ability to freely fly anywhere at any time. Just quickly double-tap the jump button – on a computer, for instance, this will be the spacebar.

Once flying, you can press and hold the jump button to rise, and hold the crouch button to fall. You can also hold the sprint button in mid-air to fly faster.

Double-tap the jump button again to stop flying. Because you’re in Creative or Spectator mode, you won’t take any damage if you fall from a great height.

Just don’t fall into nothingness – say for instance, the voids between islands in The End – or you’ll die and have to respawn.

How to fly in ‘Minecraft’ using Elytra in Survival mode

For the brave and patient souls who dare not use Creative mode, flying is still possible in Survival mode. But it’s harder, and you can’t fly as freely.

To fly in Survival mode, you’ll need to find the rare Elytra item, located somewhere in an End Ship.

Finding the Elytra

End Ships are located in the far reaches of The End, the dimension where the Ender Dragon lives. Every time you defeat the Ender Dragon, two portals are created – one that will take you to the credits and then back home, and another that will take you to the outer End islands.

If you don’t want to face one of the game’s biggest baddies yet though, and are a patient builder, you can also build a bridge from the Ender Dragon’s lair to an End city. Just note that this can take a very long time, and will require a lot of resources – the nearest island is over 1000 blocks away.

If you take this route, place a bed near your portal to the End world to create a spawn point, since falling out of the world to your death will be a potential hazard.

However you get there, once you find an End City in the distant islands, your best bet to find the Elytra is to board an End Ship. A little more than half of End Cities feature one of these ships.

Within the ship, find a level inlaid with black Obsidian blocks. There, you’ll see the Elytra in an item frame, flanked by two chests – which you should definitely loot as well – and defended by a Shulker. Break the item frame to claim the Elytra.

Flying with the Elytra

Elytra works very differently from the sort of flying you do in Creative and Spectator mode. It’s more like gliding, and you can’t fly forever. However, you can hack that by equipping fireworks while you glide.

To use the Elytra, you’ll need to equip your wings to your character’s chestplate slot. From there, climb to a great height, fall, and press the jump key once to start flying.

While flying with Elytra, be mindful of real world physics. Flying at too sharp an angle can cause you to stall and fall from the sky. And colliding with the ground or a wall too fast might kill you.

When your legs begin to wobble when gliding with an Elytra, it’s an indication you’re losing altitude. If you’re not ready to go down just yet, equip a firework rocket in your hotbar and use the item. This will give you a big speed boost, shooting you back into the sky. You can, in theory, fly for as long as you have firework rockets to spend.

Just note that the Elytra also has its own durability, which will go down the more you fly. You can repair an Elytra by combining it with two phantom membranes at an anvil, or by combining two damaged Elytras.

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