BlogIdea Nether Navigation Tunnels

"Do you want to easily travel long distances between two (or more) places? Have you considered using tunnels in the Nether for that purpose?"

Some Premises
As you might know 1 block in the Nether equals 8 blocks in the Overworld. This allows for traveling 8 times faster in the Nether, when compared to traveling on the flat surface of the Overworld. If combined with the fact that Overworld is not flat and could be filled with mobs or forests or hills or whatever, the speed increases even more.

But, you might argue, the Nether is a dangerous place and it's not very flat either. Partly true, but if you build a tunnel close to the top of the Nether, it is both flat and as good as free of enemies.

How to Do it
The trick is two-folded, you need to keep track of coordinates when navigating the Nether, and you need to dig the tunnels close to the top of the Nether.

Keeping Track of Coordinates
I've mentioned the Coordinates Unlocker Addon before, and this does come in handy here as well. This is by far the easiest way to keep track of coordinates. Now all you have to is divide you Overworld coordinates by 8, and then locate this spot in the Nether. I.e If you want to go to the Overworld coordinates, you divide each number by 8 and you'll get the Nether coordinates of. Notice how I ignore the  coordinate, as it doesn't correspond to something vital at this point.

If you don't have or want to use the Add On, there is a manual, labour intensive way, of navigating the Nether. First you need to find your current location (i.e. the position of your in the Nether, and translate the coordinates. Secondly, you'll find you find your destination coordinates, and translate these coordinates as well. Finally you'll calculate the distance you need to travel in the  and   direction.

These distances you'll divide by 6, and these your distance numbers, and you are ready to start digging. When you dig you'll stand still and dig the maximum length of your pickaxe in a 2x1 tunnel, which currently is 6 Blocks, and at the end you'll dig one block down (or to the side) and place a marker (i.e. Cobblestone). Repeat this in either direction until you've reached your distance numbers.

Digging the Tunnels
The Nether is around 128 blocks high depending on inclusion of the bottom and top layer, and close to the top there is a varying level of bedrock making it a rugged top. However, if you dig your way up towards the top you'll discover that this rugged layer is 4-5 blocks high, allowing you to safely dig just below that without encountering Mobs (with the possible exception of Zombie Pigmans which are passive until you attack them, so don't!).

If using coordinate you'll just create a stairway going upwards until the y coordinate is 121, and it not using coordinates you'll dig upwards until you hit bedrock, and then you clear out an area, i.e. 10x10, just to locate which is the highest level where you only encounter bedrock in the ceiling.

Depending on your ambitions you can now locate the x and z coordinates of your Nether Portal, clear out a suitable area and move the entire Nether Portal up here. If the x and z coordinates remain the same, you can destroy your original Nether Portal (in the Nether), move it, light it and it reconnects to the same Nether Portal in your Overworld.

When digging the tunnels, you can either dig a 2x1, which is the easiest, or larger dimensions. Larger dimensions does allow for running faster or possibly using minecarts if you want to do that. I've tended to only do the 2x1 tunnels. Placing markers every 6th block (which is optional if you've got the coordinates add on), is very useful for keeping track of progress. This can be combined with other markers or signs, as you see fit. I sometimes add torches to denote the 100's of blocks I've passed.

Resource wise you'll need a lot pickaxes. I tend to carry along a stack of Cobblestone, a stack of Sticks and a crafting bench. This gives me a renewable source of Stone Pickaxes, so every know and then I'll put down the Crafting Bench and make 3-5 Pickaxes before carrying on digging. It also allows for making swords, or other tools if needed. In addition I'll carry along a stack of Food (usually Carrots), some torches, and Obsidian and Flint & steel for the final Nether Portal.