How to Ride a Strider in Minecraft

Last Updated: June 13, 2021 References

Striders are a new Nether mob introduced in Minecraft for the 1.16 Nether update. They are able to walk on lava without taking damage or sinking, and you can ride them as long as you have the necessary equipment. Their ability to walk on lava makes them very useful for traversing the Nether, which is full of dangerous lava lakes. This article will show you how to get to the Nether, how to get the materials necessary to ride a Strider, and how to ride one.

Part 1

Part 1 of 3:

Making a Nether Portal

1
Obtain 10 blocks of obsidian. Obsidian blocks form when water meets a lava source block. Obsidian can be mined using a diamond or netherite pickaxe. Mining it with any other type of pickaxe will drop nothing. It can also be found in chests in ruined portals, villages, nether fortresses, and bastions^{[1]
X
Research source}.
2
Make a flint and steel. You'll need an iron ingot and a piece of flint to make a flint and steel. Flint can be obtained by breaking gravel blocks. Iron ingots can be obtained by smelting iron ore, which is found from Y-levels 0 to 63^{[2]
X
Research source}. Once you have an iron ingot, open a crafting table and place the flint and iron ingot anywhere in the crafting grid.
- Flint and steels can also be found in chests in ruined portals and nether fortresses^{[3]
  X
  Research source}.
- Flint can also be found in chests in ruined portals and villages, and fletcher villagers may offer it as a trade.
- Iron ingots can also be found in most loot chests, including ones in mineshafts, dungeons, shipwrecks, desert temples, buried treasure, jungle temples, pillar outposts, villages, strongholds, bastions, and nether fortresses^{[4]
  X
  Research source}.
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3
Build the portal frame. Place 2 blocks of obsidian next to each other horizontally where you want the portal to be. Then, place a non-obsidian block next to each of the obsidian blocks. Place 3 obsidian on top of each non-obsidian block, then place a non-obsidian block on the top pieces of the obsidian pillars. Next, place the remaining 2 obsidian blocks across the top^{[5]
X
Research source}.
4
Light the portal. Take the flint and steel in your hand and light one of the bottom obsidian blocks on fire. This should create a purple, swirling portal inside the frame.

Part 2

Part 2 of 3:

Gathering Equipment

1
Find a saddle. Saddles cannot be crafted, but they can be found in chests in mineshafts, dungeons, villages, desert temples, end cities, jungle temples, strongholds, nether fortresses, and bastions. Saddles may also be obtained from fishing, killing ravagers, or by trading with master level leatherworker villagers^{[6]
X
Research source}.
2
Craft a fishing rod. To make a fishing rod, you need 3 sticks and 2 string. To craft a fishing rod, open a crafting table and place the 3 sticks in a diagonal line starting from the bottom left corner. Then, place the 2 string below the top right stick, placing 1 string in each of the 2 slots below.
- Sticks are crafted by placing 2 wooden planks on top of each other in a crafting space.
- String can be obtained by killing spiders, breaking spider webs, or by looting chests in dungeons, desert temples, pillager outposts, woodland mansions, and bastions^{[7]
  X
  Research source}.
3
Obtain a warped fungus. Warped fungi can be found in Nether forest biomes, but most commonly in warped forests. Warped fungi may also be generated by using bonemeal on warped nylium ^{[8]
X
Research source}. Once you find a warped fungus, you can break it with your hands to get it.
4
Craft a warped fungus on a stick. Open a crafting table and place the fishing rod and warped fungus in the grid. The warped fungus should be diagonally below the fishing rod in order to craft it.

Part 3

Part 3 of 3:

Riding a Strider

1
Find a strider. Striders are red, passive mobs that spawn on lava lakes in any Nether biome, so look around large patches of lava until you find a strider. If you cannot find one, wait for one to spawn. The game makes an attempt every 400 ticks to spawn a strider^{[9]
X
Research source}.
2
Use the saddle on the strider. Face the strider while holding the saddle in your hand and use it on the strider. If done properly, you should see a saddle appear on top of its head.
- You may need to use blocks to bridge out to the strider to get close enough. Bring plenty of cheap blocks like dirt or cobblestone.
3
Mount the strider. Face the strider and right-click it to mount it.
- Press the 'mount' button if playing Pocket Edition.
- Press L2 if playing on a PS3 or PS4.
- Press LT if playing on an Xbox.
- Press ZL if playing on a Wii U or Nintendo Switch.
4
Hold the warped fungus on a stick. Hold it in your hand and face in the direction you want to go in. You control where the strider goes by changing the direction you are facing^{[10]
X
Research source}.
- Right-click or use the warped fungus on a stick while riding a strider to walk faster. Using the item depletes its durability by 1 point per use.
5
Press shift to dismount. When you want to get off the strider, press the ⇧ Shift key.
- Press the crouch/sneak button twice if on Pocket Edition.
- Press the right stick if on a console.

Community Q&A

Question

I have found a strider, but it is a blue-purple color. What happened?

Seasalt25

Top Answerer

Striders will turn a blue-purple color when they are out of lava. They will also shiver and walk much slower than normal. You can push it back into some lava to make it go back to normal.