Updated 25 October 2026. Facts on this page come from minecraft.wiki, minecraft.net and the live Artemis PvP server; sources are listed at the bottom.
End Ships in Minecraft: How to Find Elytra
An End ship is a floating purpur ship next to some End cities, and it is the only place to find elytra, hanging in an item frame inside. It also holds a dragon head on its bow and two treasure chests below deck, guarded by shulkers. Each tower bridge of an End city has a small chance to lead to a ship, and a city has at most one.
How do you find an End ship?
Take an End gateway after killing the dragon, explore the outer islands for End cities, then look for a ship floating off a bridge with a gated arch. Bridges have a 50% chance to form and each has a 12.5% chance of a ship, so many cities have none. See End gateways and End cities.
What is on an End ship?
How do you deal with shulkers?
Shulkers hide in the ship and shoot bullets that make you float with Levitation. Kill them for shulker shells, which make shulker boxes, and drink milk or block with a shield if Levitation lifts you too high. Slow Falling potions help. See shulker boxes.
Tips for the trip
Bring ender pearls, blocks to bridge and Slow Falling potions: falling into the void below the islands is the real danger. Once you have elytra, fireworks let you fly to more cities; see fireworks.
Frequently asked questions
Where do you find elytra?
In an item frame inside an End ship.
Sources
Every fact on this page was checked against these pages; the wording is ours.