Editing Guide:Getting started (section)

=== 28. Preparing for the Nether. ===
You will want to gather plenty of food before going to the Nether, either by farming or hunting pigs. Make sure to always have several pieces of food in your inventory at once.

An important item to obtain before going to the Nether is a {{InvSprite|Bow}} bow and [[Arrow|arrows]]. Crafting a bow requires sticks and string.{{Crafting table|foot=y|RESULT=Bow|2=Stick|3=String|8=Stick|4=Stick|6=String|9=String|type=workbench}}

You can get string by killing spiders which spawn at night. They will try to jump at you and hit you like zombies. At this point, if you have iron armor and at least an iron sword as well as plenty of food, you should be mostly safe venturing out at night.

Next, you will need to craft {{InvSprite|Arrow}} arrows. Arrows require flint, sticks, and {{InvSprite|Feather}} feathers dropped from chickens to be crafted. Remember, you can get flint by digging out gravel. Additionally, you can get arrows by killing skeletons, which drop 0-2 arrows upon death.

{{Crafting table|Flint|foot=y|RESULT=Arrow,4|4=Stick|7=Feather|type=workbench}}

Next, you may want to obtain enough diamonds for diamond armor. Diamond armor gives you good general protection against everything, as well as high protection against fire damage. The Nether is full of fire and lava, so it may be a good idea to find enough diamonds for full diamond armor. It is crafted in the same way as iron armor, just with diamonds instead.

With your upgraded armor, bow and arrows, a few stacks of cobblestone for building, and plenty of food, you can finally step into your Nether portal and enter the Nether!