Minecraft Nether Update: Respawn Anchors and Lodestones

The Minecraft Nether Update is in full swing, and players are taking advantage of the new ways to play the game and new areas to explore. One of the most exciting new additions is the Respawn Anchor. This little block allows you to defy the nature of death and respawn in the Nether instead of in the Overworld.

How exactly does the Respawn Anchor work, and how can you get your hands on it? Well, the answer is not as simple as it may seem. Right off the bat, Respawn Anchors are not the easiest to get your hands on. To craft a Respawn Anchor, you need to get your hands on six Crying Obsidian and three blocks of Glowstone. The Glowstone might not be particularly hard to get, but getting Crying Obsidian is a bit more of a challenge.

Crying Obsidian, a variant of the iconic Obsidian block, can only be found three ways: Inside of Ruined Portals, inside of Bastion Chests, and from Piglin Bartering.  If you’re unsure of how Piglin bartering works, check out my guide RIGHT HERE. For a brief summary, all you need to do is wear Gold Armor and throw Gold Ingots at them. Its a bit more complex than that, but if you can’t find any Crying Obsidian from Ruined Portals or from chests inside of Bastions, this is your only option.

Once you actually get your hands on a Respawn Anchor, you need to charge it. This is probably the easiest part of this entire ordeal. Simply take some Glowstone blocks and put them into the Respawn Anchor to charge it. A Respawn Anchor can hold up to four charges, and each time you respawn at one, it depletes a single charge. This means you effectively can use a Respawn Anchor to have five lives before being sent back to the Overworld.

The one thing you need to be careful of with Respawn Anchors is where you’re using them. You can place them anywhere, but trying to use Respawn Anchors in the Overworld or the End will turn them into powerful explosives, much like trying to use a bed in the Nether or the End. The explosion is much larger

Another addition which is very exciting to see is the Lodestone. Much like the Respawn Anchor, it isn’t particularly easy to make, but for the Lodestone you need to make a rather large sacrifice: A Netherite Ingot. These rare materials are generally going to be used to create Netherite tools, but for the advantages of a Lodestone, a Netherite Ingot is a worthy sacrifice.

A Lodestone changes the functionality of a compass. Instead of tracking back to your spawn-point, any compass linked to a Lodestone will poialways nt to that Lodestone as long as they are in the same dimension. A major boon that a Lodestone offers is that it functions in all three dimensions. Instead of only working in the Overworld, as per usual, a Lodestone can be placed in any dimension to enable a compass’s functionality.

With these two items in tow, Players will be able to tackle the new and improved Nether in an all new way. No longer does death need to be a fear. No longer must you worry about having lost your way. As long as you can afford it, the Respawn Anchor and the Lodestone are singlehandedly the two most vital items for exploring the Nether.

What are your favorite parts of the Nether Update? Will you use these two blocks on your journey across the new and improved Nether? Talk about it in the comments below!

Tyler Krasnai
Editor, NoobFeed
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