Elytra

| Rarity tier |
Epic |
|---|---|
| Armor |
0 () |
| Armor toughness |
0 () |
| Durability |
432 ‌ |
| Knockback resistance |
0 |
| Renewable |
No |
| Stackable |
No |
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"field": "0 (<span class=\"iconbar pixel-image nowrap\" style=\"--icon-offset:-1px;\" title=\"0 armor points\">(link to File:Empty Armor (icon).png article, displayed as 9px|link=|alt=🛡)</span>)",
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"field": "0",
"label": "(link to Knockback resistance article, displayed as Knockback resistance)"
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"field": "No",
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Elytra are endgame equipment found only in end ships, located in the outer islands of the End. While worn as torso armor, they allow for gliding by pressing jump while midair. Firework rockets can be used as propulsion while gliding, allowing for true flight.
Obtaining
Natural generation
Elytra are found only in end cities in item frames in the treasure room of the end ship. A shulker guards the elytra and the ship's two loot chests.
Usage
Elytra are equipped in the chestplate slot, either by placing the item directly in the slot, by pressing use item while held in hand, or by firing a point-blank dispenser at a target. They are gray in color by default, but they adopt the design of any cape the player is wearing. They maintain their in-world texture design even when they're broken or enchanted.
Flying
To fly, the player must press the jump key while in mid-air (e.g. while jumping or falling), and the elytra spread apart like a beetle's wings. The player can aim their view around to turn or adjust their pitch. Losing altitude increases speed, and gaining altitude decreases speed. Firework rockets can be used to increase speed. Additionally, speed is quickly lost from sharp changes in direction.
The player can take fall damage while flying unless they land at a shallow angle or a low enough speed. The critical, damaging angle is about 50°. Additionally, colliding with a vertical surface while gliding too fast causes damage to the player and their armor. When a player dies in this way, they receive the death message "<player> experienced kinetic energy". Note that colliding with a horizontal surface does not cause this type of damage, so the player takes no damage when flying into a ceiling. The amount of damage caused by a collision is determined by the formula:
A safe and simple cruise with the highest travel distance can be achieved by aiming directly at the horizon while at the glide's altitude limit. The player's speed is slow enough to allow them time to do other things during a long flight, like sort out their inventory.
In Bedrock Edition, a player in Creative mode or with the "mayfly" ability can alternatively hold the jump key to fly up while gliding with elytra. Double-pressing the jump key enters the regular Creative flight instead.
A player stops flying when colliding with a climbable block, such as ladders or vines (except for scaffolding in Bedrock Edition). Touching water also stops flight in Bedrock Edition. In Bedrock Edition, flight can be stopped at any moment by pressing the jump key.
Speed and altitude
Elytra have a minimum speed of about 7.2 m/s (obtained by gliding at the altitude cap with a strong upward pitch of 30°). If the diver drops to 0 speed, they quickly get accelerated back up to at least this minimum. The diver can increase speed by choosing to descend faster, but afterward, they do not regain nearly as much altitude. In the real world, drag increases with speed, and drag, in turn, slows the aircraft; Minecraft mimics this. To glide from cliff to cliff, a player's best bet is to aim slightly above the horizon.
Sharp turns are a fast way to lose speed. Quicker turns cause greater losses, while gentle movements have small effects. Making a hairpin turn can actually be used for making high-speed landings safe as well as for precise landings on small targets like rooftops. The player aims to glide just above the target, then as they're right over it they immediately reverse directions, then they make readjustments as necessary.
The lowest rate of altitude loss is about 1.5 m/sec, obtained by gliding at the altitude cap with a slight upward pitch (12° or 15°).
To get the best possible glide ratio (and thus the furthest distance out of their altitude), the diver pilot should aim directly at the horizon. This ratio is about 9.47 to 1.
Slow Falling potions greatly decrease the player's vertical (fall) speed, which also greatly decreases their horizontal speed (clearly, it depends on the vertical fall rate, as one might expect from flight modeling). The net result is that the player flies extremely slowly - but their elytra still takes durability damage at the usual rate (1 durability per second without Unbreaking). The Feather Falling enchantment does not affect elytra speed and does not reduce fall damage from hitting things with elytra.
It is possible to calculate the glide range by dividing the altitude by tan of the glide angle (altitude/tan(glide angle)). For example, if the player glides from an altitude of 64 blocks above ground with a glide angle of 15 degrees, they can glide for 237 blocks (assume that they are on superflat), since floor(64 / tan(15)) is 237.
Stalling
Trying for too high a pitch reduces the player's lift. At a pitch of 30° above the horizon, the player has the lowest possible airspeed of 7.2 m/sec. Above that, the player might be considered to be in a stall. Increasing the pitch gets closer to a free-fall, and stalled flight at 60° is enough to cause fall damage. Stalling at 90° is a true free-fall.
Recovering from a stall is done by readjusting to any safe pitch as quickly as the player likes. This can be just changing to look at the horizon.
Powered flight

Firework rockets can be used for propulsion during flight by placing it in either hand and using. Using a firework rocket while gliding quickly maximizes the player's speed for a time similar to the rocket's flight duration.
If the rocket is equipped with firework stars, it explodes at the end of its flight, inflicting damage based on the number of stars.
It is possible to gain altitude during powered flight. This makes it possible to glide for extreme distances and had been used extensively by far lands/World Border challenges.
Durability

Durability decreases by one point each second when gliding. A pair of elytra has 432 durability, allowing 7 minutes and 12 seconds of gliding time without enchantments, providing more than 10,000 blocks of transport distance. It is possible to apply the Unbreaking enchantment using an anvil and an enchanted book, which affects the elytra, in the same way it does to tools. Unbreaking III increases elytra's flight time to about four seconds per durability point, a total of 28 minutes and 48 seconds.
When the durability reaches 1, elytra stop working until they are repaired, adopting a tattered texture in the inventory. The damage ends at durability 1, so they can never fully break.
Repairing
Combining
| Ingredients | Crafting recipe | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Damaged | The durability of the two pairs are added together, plus extra 21 points of durability. |
| Ingredients | Grinding recipe | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Damaged Elytra | The durability of the two pairs is added together, plus extra 21 points of durability. |
Unit repair
| Ingredients | Anvil recipe |
|---|---|
| Damaged + Phantom Membrane |
A pair of elytra can be repaired in an anvil by adding phantom membranes, with each membrane restoring 25% of the elytra's maximum durability, rounded down. Two pairs of elytra can also be combined in an anvil. Both methods preserve the elytra's enchantments.
Enchanting
Elytra cannot be enchanted on the enchanting table, but on an anvil it can receive the following enchantments:
| Name | Description | Max level | Method | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unbreaking | Grants a chance to negate durability consumption. | III | 5 | |
| Mending | Repairs the elytra when obtaining experience. | I | 2 | |
| Curse of Vanishing | The elytra vanishes on death and does not drop as an item. | I | 1 | |
| Curse of Binding | Removes the ability to un-equip the elytra. | I | 1 |
Sounds
| Sounds | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sound | Subtitles | Source | Description | Resource location | Translation key | Volume | Pitch | Attenuation distance |
| ​Elytra rustles | Players | When a pair of elytra is equipped | item | subtitles​ | 1.0 | 1.0 | 16 | |
| ​Swoosh | Players | While flying with a pair of elytra | item | subtitles​ | 0.0-1.0 [sound 1] | 1.0 [sound 2] | 16 | |
| ​Item breaks | Entity-Dependent | When a pair of elytra's durability is exhausted | entity | subtitles​ | 0.8 | 0.8-1.2 | 16 | |
- ↑ Is a quarter of the player's velocity. If flying for less than 1 second, it is 0.0; otherwise, if flying for less than 2 seconds, it is between 0.0 and a quarter of the player's velocity (scaling up with time until 2 seconds)
- ↑ If the volume is greater than 0.8, 0.8-volume is added to the pitch
| Sounds | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sound | Source | Description | Resource location | Volume | Pitch |
| Players | When a pair of elytra is equipped | armor | 1.0 | 1.0 | |
| Players | While flying with a pair of elytra | elytra | 1.0 | 1.0 | |
| Players | When a pair of elytra's durability is exhausted | random | 1.0 | 0.9 | |
Data values
ID
| Name | Identifier | Form | Translation key |
|---|---|---|---|
elytra | Item | item |
| Name | Identifier | Numeric ID | Form | Translation key |
|---|---|---|---|---|
elytra | 564 | Item | item |
Achievements
| Icon | Achievement | In-game description | Actual requirements (if different) | Gamerscore earned | Trophy type (PS) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PS4 | Other | ||||||
| Super Sonic | Use to fly through a 1 by 1 gap while moving faster than 40 m/s | — | 30 | Gold | |||
Advancements
| Icon | Advancement | In-game description | Actual requirements (if different) |
|---|---|---|---|
![]() | Sky's the Limit | Find Elytra | Have a pair of in the inventory. |
History
| Java Edition | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.9 | October 5, 2015 | Tommaso Checchi tweets that Jeb is working on a secret feature for Minecraft Java Edition, saying "it's like Mario 64." | |||||
| October 6, 2015 | |||||||
| October 6, 2015 | Jeb tweets an image of folded wings, which replace the cape the player is wearing. | ||||||
| October 6, 2015 | Jeb tweets another animated GIF of his character with Mojang-themed elytra, gliding along a river through a taiga forest. | ||||||
| 15w41a | |||||||
| Elytra are currently repaired with leather when using anvil. | |||||||
| 15w42a | Elytra now spread slightly when the player crouches. | ||||||
| The player can now take damage from gliding into walls, and crashing into a wall now has its own death message. | |||||||
| When flying with elytra, players are only 0.6 blocks tall. They, therefore, can now fit through 1-block gaps while gliding. | |||||||
| The player's point of view now shifts while gliding. | |||||||
| The player can no longer go higher than the starting point of the glide. | |||||||
| 16w04a | Players now keep their smaller hitbox when gliding into small spaces, allowing them to crawl. When they leave the space where they do not fit in with the larger hitbox, the hitbox increases back to normal.[1] | ||||||
| 16w06a | Elytra now recognize the player's cape and adopt a different design for every official cape (see Gallery). In addition, Jeb had stated that he was working on a feature to allow players to change the design like regular player skins. | ||||||
| 16w07a | Elytra are now activated by jumping mid-air. The player no longer glides automatically when falling. | ||||||
| The player no longer stops gliding when flying into water, lava or cobwebs. | |||||||
| The cape option in the options menu now also disables custom elytra textures. | |||||||
Added the game rule disableElytraMovementCheck. | |||||||
| 1.9.1 | pre1 | Sounds while gliding with elytra have been added. | |||||
| 1.11 | 16w32a | Elytra can now be placed on armor stands, just like any other chestplate. | |||||
| 16w38a | Elytra are now visible on zombies, skeletons, and armor stands. | ||||||
| 16w41a | Elytra now have their own sound when equipped. | ||||||
| 1.11.1 | 16w50a | Elytra can now be propelled through the air by using firework rockets. | |||||
| 1.13 | 18w07a | A smooth transition is now applied to the camera when the player starts or stops gliding. | |||||
| 18w14a | Elytra now require phantom membrane to be repaired, instead of leather. | ||||||
| 18w21a | The rarity of elytra has been changed from "Common" to "Uncommon". | ||||||
| 1.14 | 18w43a | ||||||
| 1.15 | 19w39a | The deployment animation of elytra causes player blinks when the deployment events has overlapped. | |||||
| 19w42a | The deployment and folding animations of elytra have been improved and become smoother. | ||||||
| Elytra can now start to glide immediately after a jump, not only during falls. | |||||||
| 1.18 | experimental snapshot 7 | Elytra no longer use up durability when gliding regularly. Durability is now consumed only when a firework rocket is used. | |||||
| Speed boosts from firework rockets are slightly weaker. | |||||||
| Now break when the item reaches 0 durability. | |||||||
| 21w37a | The elytra changes in experimental snapshot 7 have been reverted. | ||||||
| 1.19 | Pre-release 1 | Equipping elytra through the inventory now plays a sound.[2] | |||||
| 1.19.4 | 23w05a | Equipping elytra while held with an item already in the chestplate slot now swaps the two items. | |||||
| 1.21.2 | 24w33a | The rarity of elytra has been changed from "Uncommon" to "Epic". | |||||
| 1.21.4 | 24w44a | A subtitle for flying has been added as "Elytra swooshes". | |||||
| 24w45a | The flying subtitle has been changed to "Swoosh".[3] | ||||||
| 1.21.5 | 25w02a | Elytra flight now cancelled when flying into climbable blocks like ladders, scaffolding, vines etc..[4] | |||||
| Pocket Edition | |||||||
| 1.0.0 | alpha 0.17.0.1 | ||||||
| Bedrock Edition | |||||||
| 1.2.0 | beta 1.2.0.2 | Elytra can now be propelled through the air by using firework rockets. | |||||
| 1.2.3 | beta 1.2.3.3 | Elytra Wings have been renamed to Elytra. | |||||
| 1.6.0 | beta 1.6.0.5 | Elytra can now be repaired in an anvil using phantom membrane, instead of leather. | |||||
| 1.10.0 | beta 1.10.0.3 | ||||||
| 1.21.30 | Preview 1.21.30.21 | The rarity of elytra has been changed from "Common" to "Epic". | |||||
| Legacy Console Edition | |||||||
| Xbox 360 | Xbox One | PS3 | PS4 | PS Vita | Wii U | Switch | |
| TU46 | CU36 | 1.38 | 1.38 | 1.38 | Patch 15 | 1.0.1 | |
| Players keep their smaller hitbox when gliding into small spaces, allowing them to crawl. When they leave the space where they do not fit in with the larger hitbox, the hitbox increases back to normal. | |||||||
| TU53 | CU43 | 1.49 | 1.50 | 1.49 | Patch 23 | 1.0.3 | Elytra can now be propelled through the air by using firework rockets. |
| TU54 | CU44 | 1.52 | 1.52 | 1.52 | Patch 24 | 1.0.4 | Elytra can now be placed on armor stands, just like any other chestplate. |
| Equipping an elytra using the quick equip functionality in creative mode now duplicates the elytra, as in Java Edition. | |||||||
| TU69 | 1.76 | 1.76 | 1.76 | Patch 38 | Elytra are now repaired on the anvil using phantom membrane instead of leather. | ||
| A smooth transition is now applied to the camera when the player starts or stops gliding. | |||||||
| The elytra flight is now cancelled when touching water, as in Bedrock Edition. | |||||||
| 1.90 | |||||||
| New Nintendo 3DS Edition | |||||||
| 1.7.10 | |||||||
-

-
The first image of elytra, tweeted by Jeb. Click to play. -
Folded elytra, which resembles the cape the user is wearing. -
The minecon 2015 cape elytra. -
Dinnerbone flying upside down.
Data history
| Java Edition | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.13 | 17w47a | Prior to The Flattening, this item's numeral ID was 443. | |||||
Issues
Issues relating to "Elytra" are maintained on the bug tracker. Issues should be reported and viewed there.
Trivia
- In reality, elytra are not used for flight. They are the tough forewings of beetles and earwigs that cover the wings they actually use for flight. However, like Minecraft elytra, some beetles can use them for gliding.
- A flying player has a shorter hitbox than usual: A 0.6 block cube centered on the player's feet.
- In Java Edition if the player glides into deep water with elytra equipped, the animation does not stop, giving it the appearance of a swimming animation.[5] The animation stops once the player touches the ground. Additionally, firework rockets can be used with elytra underwater with a short boost duration.
- Elytra do not deactivate when the player flies into lava.[5]
- Elytra can be equipped onto some mobs using commands. This has no effect unless the mob has the
FallFlyingtag set to1b. Except for squids, mobs glide forward, unable to control the movement before landing, at which time they regain their AI.- Exceptions to this are squids as the squid's AI causes it to attempt swimming in midair, making it fall straight down because it conflicts with the elytra mechanics.
- Because chickens fall slowly, they can move more distance.
- Endermen, tamed wolves and tamed cats that are not sitting cannot teleport until they hit the ground.
- Because mobs do not regain control until they hit the ground, vexes fall until they die or despawn as they cannot touch the ground.
- Mobs capable of flying, such as parrots or vexes can steer in air, though they cannot travel up or down. Dolphins also have this ability.
- 4J Studios created an elytra-centered tutorial map for console edition when elytra were first introduced to this platform, this map is themed as "ruins of an ancient civilization of Minecraft worshippers" and showcases the new amplified terrain generation. This map can be seen behind the scenes.[6] On 28 March 2017, 4J Studios added an elytra-themed minigame for Legacy Console Edition called "Glide;" it consists of Time Attack and Score Attack mode.[7][8]
- A player who jumps with both elytra and the Slow Falling effect travels slightly upward, which is a cheap but time-consuming alternative to fireworks and Riptide-enchanted tridents.
- Mojang has considered the suggestion of combining elytra with a chestplate, but eventually decided against it, stating that elytra taking up armor is an intentional decision of game balancing.[9]
- In Minecraft is turning 15, Zuri can be seen wearing elytra. However, instead of the model, they're wearing the item itself, making the elytra disporportionately small.
Gallery
Renders
Worn
-
Alex gliding with elytra. -
Ari gliding with elytra. -
Kai gliding with elytra. -
Noor gliding with elytra. -
Steve gliding with elytra. -
Sunny gliding with elytra. -
Zuri gliding with elytra. -
Efe gliding with elytra. -
Makena gliding with elytra.
Capes
-
Classic Mojang Cape -

-

-

-

-

-

-
Scrapped elytra design for MINECON 2015 cape -

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-
Vanilla Cape‌ -
One Vanilla cape‌ -
![Cherry Blossom Cape‌[Java Edition only]](./_assets_/27a9111969a727295fed495d17168595.png)
-
Cherry Cape‌ -
Follower's Cape ‌ -
Follower's Cape ‌ -
![Purple Heart Cape ‌[Java Edition only]](./_assets_/eb4ed0ef08efa784cb18339fee5870ca.png)
-
Purple Heart Cape ‌ -
![15th Anniversary Cape ‌[Java Edition only]](./_assets_/d5cd057290b089a07e0d90a3cc74c0be.png)
-
15th Anniversary Cape ‌ -
![MCC 15th Year Cape ‌[Java Edition only]](./_assets_/3646b36f0cfb1d654a802a47c443d70c.png)
-
MCC 15th Year Cape ‌ -
![Minecraft Experience Cape ‌[Java Edition only]](./_assets_/47f6761de486ea01f65bcecd47d6c256.png)
-
Minecraft Experience Cape ‌ -
![Mojang Office Cape ‌[Java Edition only]](./_assets_/ffb0ebffcb751ab8ec5f6e006999382f.png)
-
Mojang Office Cape ‌ -
Home Cape ‌ -
Home Cape ‌ -
Menace Cape ‌ -
Menace Cape ‌ -
Yearn Cape ‌ -
Yearn Cape ‌ -

Item
-
A pair of enchanted elytra.
Screenshots
-
Elytra in an end ship. -
A player wearing elytra. -
A player using elytra. -
Elytra with only 1 durability. -
A player gliding while blocking with a shield.
In other media
-
Screenshot of Glide mini-games. -
Another screenshot of Glide mini-games. -
Official elytra themed tutorial map. -

-
Glide launch poster. -

-
Makena flying with elytra. -
Zuri wearing the elytra item, not the elytra model. -
Elytra concept art for A Minecraft Movie. -
Elytra appearing in A Minecraft Movie.
References
- ↑ MC-90594
- ↑ MC-94060 — Equipping armor/elytra through inventory or dispenser doesn't play sounds — resolved as "Fixed".
- ↑ MC-277945 — Incorrect verb form in "Elytra swooshes" subtitle — resolved as "Fixed".
- ↑ MC-90212
- ↑ a b MC-97190 — While gliding into water or lava, player continues gliding — resolved as "Works As Intended".
- ↑ "Learning To Fly" – Minecraft.net.
- ↑ "Glide Mini Game on Consoles Tomorrow" – Minecraft.net, March 23, 2017.
- ↑ "Mini Game Masters Glide onto Console" – Minecraft.net, March 28, 2017.
- ↑ "Part of the tradeoff of having an Elytra is it takes up half your armor." – Minecraft Feedback, July 12, 2018.
External links
- Taking Inventory: Elytra – Minecraft.net on December 14, 2019
| Pickaxe | |
|---|---|
| Shovel | |
| Axe | |
| Hoe | |
| Miscellaneous | |
