End City & Shulker Box: Find Cities, Farm Shells, Never Lose Loot Again (1.21+)
Past the dragon, the outer End is a sea of floating islands hiding End Cities — towers of purple brick guarded by Shulkers. Clear them for loot and, most importantly, Shulker Shells: two shells plus a chest make a Shulker Box, the only container that keeps its contents when you break it. It's the single best quality-of-life item for hauling loot home.
Reaching the outer End
- Beat the Ender Dragon. An End Gateway portal opens on the main island's edge — throw an Ender Pearl in to teleport to the outer islands.
- More gateways appear as you go. Each gateway you pass through spawns another further out, so you can chain deeper into the islands.
- On Java, shortcut with
/locate structure minecraft:endcityto get the nearest coordinates.
Finding End Cities
End Cities are clusters of end stone brick towers with purple-purpur trim, often connected by long narrow bridges. Some have an End Ship docked beside them — that's where the elytra live (see our Elytra Guide).
- They generate across the outer islands with no special biome — just explore and bridge the gaps.
- Watch the silhouette against the void; cities are big and easy to spot once you're close.
- Bring blocks for bridging and end rods (or torches) for light — cities are dark inside.
Shulkers & shells
Shulkers hide inside cities, camouflaged against the purpur. Their missile inflicts Levitation — dangerous anywhere near the void.
- Each Shulker drops 1 Shulker Shell (~50% base chance; Looting raises it).
- You need 2 shells for one Shulker Box.
- Shulkers have 30 HP (15 hearts) and are easy to pop from range with a bow — do it away from edges so levitation doesn't fling you off.
- Vanilla Shulkers don't respawn, so for bulk shells either clear many cities or build a dedicated shulker farm.
Crafting the Shulker Box
Combine 2 Shulker Shells + 1 Chest in any crafting grid. That's it — no special station.
- Holds 27 stacks like a chest.
- Breaks with its contents intact — even by hand, even while it's in your own inventory. Break it to carry a full base's worth of stuff in one slot.
- No nesting: you can't store a shulker box inside another shulker box.
- Dye it by combining with any dye (cosmetic only).
- Works in every dimension — perfect for End trips, mining hauls and base organization.
Other city loot
- Chests: enchanted diamond armor and tools, beetroot seeds, and occasionally an elytra (in the attached ship's treasure room).
- End Rods: break them for light sources and redstone/beacon ingredients.
- Purpur blocks: a distinctive building material unique to the End.
What's actually in the loot
City chests and the attached ship are the real prize. Roughly what you'll find (Java 1.21):
| Item | Common? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Enchanted diamond armor / tools | Common | The bread-and-butter city loot. |
| Elytra | Ship only | Hangs in the End Ship's item frame — not in city chests. |
| Dragon Head | Ship only | Decorative trophy on the ship's bow. |
| Beetroot seeds | Common | A rare seed source this deep in the game. |
| End Rods | Common | Break for light, redstone and beacon fuel. |
| Purpur blocks | Abundant | Distinctive End building material. |
| Shulker Shell | From mobs | Drops from Shulkers, not from chests — 2 make a box. |
Survival tips
- Never fight Shulkers near an edge — their knockback plus levitation is lethal over the void.
- Bring a bow to kill Shulkers from range before they lock onto you.
- Light the interior so stray Endermen and the dark don't compound the danger.
- Carry multiple shulker boxes for the return trip — you'll fill them.
FAQ
How many shells for a box?
Two. Looting III improves the drop rate so fewer kills are needed.
Do Shulkers come back?
No, not in vanilla. Explore multiple cities or build a farm for volume.
Can I dye them?
Yes — combine with a dye for a colored variant; storage is unchanged.
Do they keep contents when broken?
Yes, always. That's the whole point, and why they beat chests for travel.