When was the nether reactor added in and removed from Minecraft PE?

The nether reactor was one of the most important contraptions in early versions of Minecraft Pocket Edition when some of the most integral features were yet not added. However, after the Pocket Edition was about to be completed, the nether reactor was completely removed from the game and was only kept as a decorative piece. Even today, many veteran players fondly remember the nether reactor.

In short, it was added in the 0.5.0 alpha version and removed in the 0.12.0 version.

Here is the entire timeline of the nether reactor in Minecraft PE, including how it used to work.

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Minecraft PE nether reactor timeline and its mechanics

When was the nether reactor added and removed from Minecraft Pocket Edition?

Back in 2012, when Mojang Studios was still working on the Pocket Edition, the alpha versions of it did not have the Nether realm. Since the Nether was an essential realm for players to explore and gather resources that allow them to head to the End realm, the developers paved a unique way to get Nether-related blocks and items.

This gave birth to the nether reactor and the nether spiral, a special mechanic and structure that allowed players to receive all kinds of useful resources to progress forward in the game. The nether reactor was added in the Minecraft Pocket Edition 0.5.0 alpha version.

Fast forward three years and Mojang Studios released another alpha version 0.12.0 for Pocket Edition in 2015. By this time, they were able to create the entire Nether realm for the Edition that players can enter through a nether portal. Since the entire realm was accessible, there was no point continuing to keep the nether reactor and the spiral structure in the game.

Hence, in the 0.12.0 alpha version, the developers removed the ability to create a nether reactor and summon the spiral structure filled with nether-related resources. Though the nether reactor block remained in the game, it had no features and was merely a decorative block.

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How did the nether reactor work in Minecraft Pocket Edition prior to the 0.12.0 alpha version

The nether reactor block needed to be set up in a certain way to summon the nether spire (Image via Mojang Studios)

To build the nether reactor in Minecraft, players first needed to create its core block. The nether reactor core was crafted with six iron ingots and three diamonds. The nether reactor structure required one nether reactor core, four gold blocks, and 14 cobblestone blocks. Additionally, the reactor structure has to be built between Y levels 4 and 96.

Finally, players had to stay close to the reactor and on the same Y level to activate it. Following activation, a gigantic Nether Spire structure would spawn in the Overworld. The cobblestones would turn into glowing obsidian blocks. The structure would start summoning rare Nether blocks and items. It would even spawn zombified piglins.