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An Enderman is one of many Minecraft mobs, and one of the few that spawn in both the Nether and the overworld. While Endermen might seem like pretty hostile creatures, they’re actually neutral, meaning they don’t attack you unless aggravated.
As the source of Ender Pearls in Minecraft, a necessary item for reaching The End and defeating the Ender Dragon, you’ll need to encounter and defeat Endermen in your Minecraft World. In this article, we shall show you how to make your own Enderman farm with a simple step-by-step guide, and get all the Ender Pearls and XP you need.
What is an Enderman?

An Enderman is a tall, black and purple Minecraft mob. Based on the fictional horror character Slenderman, Endermen have long arms and legs, and are easily distinguishable from any other Minecraft mob.
When killed, an Enderman has a chance of dropping one Ender Pearl, which increases to up to four when killed with a Looting III sword. Ender Pearls are required to both find and open the End Portal, so you’ll need to defeat a few Enderman if you want to kill the Ender Dragon and visit The End.
Endermen are the only mob to spawn in the Nether, the Overworld and The End, making them a very unique mob. They spawn at light level 0, so you can try and force Endermen to spawn in dark areas or a specifically-built mob spawners, but there’s an easier way to farm Ender Pearls.
When do Endermen attack?
As we mentioned, the Minecraft Enderman is a neutral mob, only turning hostile when aggravated. This means, for the most part, you can live peacefully alongside the cute Endermen… as long as you’re careful where you look. You see, Endermen are sensitive creatures, and will get angry only if you look them in the eye, in other words, when your curser is directed at their face. If this happens, you’ll see their mouth open and the Enderman will start hissing, before teleporting to you quickly, and attacking.
This can be particularly troublesome in The End, when surrounded by Endermen all frustratingly getting in your line of sight. This is when a Carved Pumpkin can come in handy, as it will prevent an Enderman attacking if you look at it by mistake.
How to make an easy Enderman farm
While there are a few different designs for automated, high-output Endermen farms that you can build in various Minecraft locations, there is one simple, manual farm that is the quickest and easiest way of farming enough Ender Pearls for a normal, survival world. In the 2020 Minecraft Nether Update, Warped Forest biomes were added to The Nether, and this is the best place – before The End – to find plenty of Endermen en masse. below, you’ll find the easy method for farming Ender Pearls using what we’ve learnt above.
In the Nether Update, the underworld received a bunch of new and exciting biomes, from the fossil and Skeleton infested Soulsand Valley, to the dangerous, lava parkour of the Basalt Delta. One new biome, the turquoise-toned Warped Forest, gives a regular home to the Enderman, and is one of the locations you’ll be most likely to see them in larger numbers. As such, this is the biome you’ll need to find before you start your Enderman Minecraft farm.
When you’ve found an area in the Warped Forest in which you can see a few Endermen, you’ll want to build a platform at least five blocks square, and only two blocks above the ground (two air blocks beneath it). This is tall enough for you to fit under, but too small for Endermen!
Standing under your platform, in the centre, you’ll want to start looking around, aggravating nearby Endermen by looking them in the eye! By doing this, you’ll cause them to come to you to attack, but if you’re standing centrally under your platform, they won’t be able to reach you. Get your own sword, axe, bow, or crossbow out, though, and you’ll be able to attack the hordes of Endermen around you. Be careful to ensure you’ve got them all before you go and collect your rewards, though, as they can teleport away and back again when you’re least expecting it!
What are Ender Pearls used for?
Once you’ve farmed your Ender Pearls, you’ll want to turn some of them into Eye of Ender using Blaze Powder. Throw Eye of Ender into the air, and they’ll float in the direction of your nearest Stronghold. Then, you’ll need up to 12 Eye of Ender to fill the End Portal once you find it. Throw an Ender Pearl, on the other hand, and you’ll teleport to the location in which it lands. This is great for preventing a lot of fall damage or for getting somewhere quickly and easily, for example high up or over a body of water.
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