5 things you can do only after beating Ender Dragon in Minecraft

The Ender Dragon is inarguably one of the most important and iconic mobs in all of Minecraft. It has a large health pool, huge damage potential, and the exceptionally rare ability to break blocks. Despite the game's reputation as being entirely open world, there are a shocking number of features completely locked behind defeating this mob, which makes sense, as it's the final boss.

Here are five examples of things that can only be done once the dragon is defeated, along with what makes access to these features and mechanics so great.

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5 things you can only do after killing Minecraft's ender dragon

1) Use an elytra

A player flying with an elytra (Image via Mojang)

Minecraft's elytra is one of the most powerful and fun items to use in survival. It's a wingsuit that players can wear in place of a regular armored chestplate and can be used for safe gliding rather than deadly falling. The best way to use the item, though, is with firework rockets. These can be used to propel players forward, allowing for continuous flight.

These items are only found within the flying ships that sometimes spawn alongside end cities. It's essentially impossible to reach these Minecraft structures without defeating the dragon, locking players out of elytra flight until then.

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2) Make shulker boxes

A row of dyed shulker boxes (Image via Mojang)

There are few Minecraft items as useful as shulker boxes. These containers are the size of single chests but can store their contents even when broken, allowing players to carry an entire chest within a single inventory slot. Shulker boxes can only be crafted using shulker shells and a chest.

These shell items are the exclusive drop of shulker mobs, found within Minecraft end cities. Since surviving long enough to bridge out to the outer end islands is almost impossible, players will need to kill the dragon before shulker boxes can be made and used.

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3) Make an enderman XP farm

Efficient enderman farms are only really possible after the dragon is defeated (Image via Mojang)

XP is quite a powerful survival resource. It's used within anvils to repair items and can be spent at a Minecraft enchanting setup to buff tools, weapons, and armor. Being able to quickly gather huge amounts of XP is very important to long-term survival.

One of the best XP farms in the game, especially when compared to how long it takes to build, is a Minecraft enderman XP farm. Endermen can be tricked into falling into a pit using a trapped endermite, which they will attempt to attack. This fall leaves them with half a heart, where they can be killed quickly by players for quick levels.

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4) Collect a dragon egg

A dragon egg on the end portal frame (Image via Mojang)

There are only a few truly rare items in Mojang's blocky masterpiece. Most things considered "rare" can be collected in an infinite number, though it would require grinding for them. That's what makes the dragon egg such a unique item.

Only a single dragon egg will ever generate on a Java Edition world. This egg is placed on top of the end portal after the dragon is defeated and will not spawn until then. This means that players will need to beat this boss to use this item as decoration. Bedrock players are slightly better off, as a second dragon egg will generate the first time that the final boss is rematched.

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5) Farm ender pearls

Ender pearls are easiest to get in large numbers after killing the dragon (Image via Mojang)

Ender pearls are quite a useful utility item. Players can throw them to teleport short distances, at the cost of a bit of health. This makes them great for completing parkour courses or escaping dangerous situations. However, getting them in large numbers can be hard before defeating the ender dragon.

This is because endermen aren't very common outside of the End dimension. They also only have a 50% chance to drop a pearl on death. Even being lucky enough to find an enderman might not increase a player's stock of pearls. The only way to get these items in large numbers is by visiting the End, and the only way to do this safely is to defeat the dragon.