What Does Respawn Anchor Do in Minecraft? & How to Use It

With the introduction of the Nether update, the inhospitable Nether realm has become more accessible. With new features and items, exploring this lava hell is easier than ever before. But what does the Respawn Anchor do in Minecraft and how should you use it?

The Respawn Anchor acts like a bed for the Nether realm, allowing you to respawn in locations of your choosing. It is crafted by using six Crying Obsidian and three glowstones and needs to be charged with glowstones every four usages.

If you’re unsure how to best use the Respawn Anchor, read this handy guide that will explain how they work, how to get the most out of them, where to get the materials and also some tips and tricks regarding their usage.

What Does the Respawn Anchor Do in Minecraft?

The Respawn Anchor is a quality of life improvement that aims to make Minecraft more enjoyable when exploring the Nether/Lava realm. 

The Nether realm has brought some amazing gameplay, items and challenges, but due to its length and tough survival conditions, players find themselves dying, only to be sent back to the Overworld.

This means a long journey back to where you were, and this can be frustrating and feel very grindy.

However, the Respawn Anchor is a craftable item that allows you to teleport back to where you were. Only usable in the Nether region, it enables a player to create a custom spawn location wherever in the Nether that you want.

This update recognizes the reality that beds, the traditional spawning point for Minecraft, couldn’t be placed in the Nether realm, meaning you were out of luck should you want to make your own spawn point in this inhospitable realm.

Not only does this remove the requirement to trudge all the way back through the areas you have already explored, but it also allows much easier picking up of any dropped loot that came out of you when you died.

How To Get and How to Use Respawn Anchors in Minecraft

While beds are portable and can be moved easily to a more desirable location, Respawn Anchors are not operating in quite the same way.

You’ll instead need to destroy a Respawn Anchor via either a Diamond or Netherite pickaxe.

This isn’t too much of an issue, as you needed a diamond pickaxe to harvest the obsidian blocks vital for making the Nether portals in the first place.

The mechanics of the Respawn Anchor mean that a player doesn’t respawn directly on top of the Respawn Anchor, but instead slightly to the side.

This means that you should put it in a safe location as well as leaving enough space around the item to allow you to spawn in correctly.

The reality is that you’re mainly going to be using the Respawn Anchor when you die, so it may be worth having a chest of emergency equipment right near it full of some good backup gear, which will make the journey back to your main gear all the easier.

Another major difference between the beds and Respawn Anchors is that Respawn Anchors require charges to be used, whereas beds do not. Respawn Anchors use Glowstones, which you can charge a Respawn Anchor with by holding it, then using the Respawn Anchor.

There is a visual cue which shows the amount of charges remaining out of four. A Glowstone is another great item to be put in the chest of provisions you have next to the Respawn Anchor.

A pick with Silk Touch will also allow you to harvest a respawn anchor and keep its remaining charges.

You’re still able to shift the placed Respawn Anchor, but this has to be done with a diamond pickaxe. Of course, once you’ve moved it, it will have to be put down somewhere else and then charged up in order for you to start using it again.

Don’t forget to place down the chest of needed backup armor and glowstones, particularly if you anticipate spending a long time in the Nether realm.

Crafting Respawn Anchors

You’ll need to grab some Crying Obsidian in order to craft a Respawn Anchor. These are best obtained from Ruined Portals, as they consist almost entirely of Crying Obsidian.

You can tell the difference between Crying Obsidian and regular Obsidian because Crying Obsidian has a distinctive purple liquid coming out of it.

There are structures called Bastion Remnants in the Nether that contain chests from which you have a chance to loot some Crying Obsidian. This is not as easy as it sounds, as not only are they heavily guarded, but they’re very hard to find as well.

Look for a massive castle-like building, and generally the chests are going to be right at the center of the building.

The inhabitants of the Nether include the Piglins, and certain Piglins will barter gold ingots for Crying Obsidian. The chance of this happening is quite low, and you’re looking at about a 10% chance to drop the coveted item that you need. 

Piglins are all over Bastion Remnants, so if you can’t fight through them all, try trading instead.

To create a Respawn Anchor, you will need a total of six Crying Obsidian. These have to be arranged in a pattern of three on the top crafting row, and a matching three row on the bottom.

In the middle row, put a row of three glowstones and then you should see the Respawn Anchor appear on the right.

Glowstone is a lot easier to find, as it can be obtained from trading with standard villagers or even from wandering traders. There is also the option to craft it from glowstone dust, often found after defeating witches