Minecraft is… well, Minecraft. It is the titan of voxel-based gaming,  the undefeated, undisputed heavyweight champion of sandbox games. Even with the franchise having turned eleven this year, it shows few signs of age or slowing down as it continues to pump out gigantic updates and release new spinoffs like Minecraft dungeons.

What is the Nether update

The Nether Update is one of the most highly anticipated updates to Minecraft, bringing with it a whole slew of new features to the dark world of the Nether. New blocks, mobs, items, structures and biomes and the Soul Speed enchantment — there’s a lot of newness.

That said, the Nether itself isn’t anything new. Players have been exploring and building in the Nether for quite some time — and therein lies a problem. Many players are worried that either the new Nether update will wipe everything they’ve created in their Nether-regions (horrific pun not intended) or they won’t be able to enjoy the new features because they’ve already loaded it up. Fortunately, neither is true.

Related: Minecraft Respawn Anchor: All You Need to Know

So, do you have to reset the Nether?

The answer is simple: no, you do not have to reset the Nether to access the new features. But you’ll probably want to.

The thing is, Mojang’s releasing the update so it won’t affect preloaded chunks of Nether in your world. The sections of nether you’ve explored already will remain exactly the same as age-old vanilla Nether. This is, for some, a good thing. It means previous constructions will remain in place.

For others, indeed for many, this is frankly annoying. While everything you’ve built is preserved, you now must get all the way to the outermost reaches of the Nether in order to start loading chunks of new Nether — only these chunks will have all of the new features you’re looking for.

So that can be pretty inconvenient. Especially if you’ve already explored a substantial swath of the Nether. But, if you, like us, don’t fancy a bit of a walk, what are your options?

Related: How to Reset the Nether Minecraft Bedrock

How to reset the Nether in Bedrock

Below, we will cover how to reset the Nether the Bedrock edition through the PC — but you can use this method to subsequently transport your world to other devices.

There is no in-game way to reset the nether. Instead, you need to download a world-edit software that allows you to edit the chunk-data of your world. By trimming the chunks you have previously generated in the Nether, you open it up to be refilled with the newer, fully-featured chunks post-Nether Update.

1. Make a few copies of your world.

The first thing you want to do before slicing into the chunks of your world is to make a couple of copies. The last thing you want is to do permanent damage to a world you actually care about. Make one or two copies, and title them appropriately.

2. Download MCC ToolChest

Head over to MCC ToolChest and download their MCC ToolChest PE (Bedrock Edition) that you should see at the top of the page. You might get a bump about the file, but it is safe. It’s been out for years and used by many players to edit world data.

3. Open a copy of your world

Once you’ve installed MCC ToolChest, run it and click on the Open Folder option in the upper lefthand corner. Find and open one of the copies you just made of your world. On the left, you should see a hierarchy of different level data like Players, Overworld, and more importantly, Nether.

4. Delete the Nether chunks

Clicking on Nether should show you a simple map of the generated Nether chunks — some of which you may never have seen but have nonetheless generated during your exploration. On the left, you should see a corresponding list of Nether chunks.

Now, if there’s nothing you want to save inside your previously explored Nether, go ahead and delete them all. This will reset your Nether completely. 

If there are things you absolutely do want to save, you will have to get the lay of the land by identifying in-game the regions you want to save. MCC ToolChest does not show you a list of individual structures or other data — it’s just a pretty simple overview of generated chunks. Head in-game, keep an eye on coordinates, and take note of areas you want to save and cross-reference them with your map. You can drag to select areas on the map to delete. 

Once you’ve selected the areas for deletion, go ahead and click delete. You have now reset the Nether. 

But we’re not done. Not yet.

5. Build a new portal in the Nether/Delete portal data

Now, if you were to go through one of your Overworld’s Nether Portals, you would be transferred right to where its corresponding Nether Portal was placed back when you had a Nether. Except you just nuked the whole thing. Should you go through the Nether Portal in survival mode, you’d be deposited into thin air over a lake of lava. And quickly die. This is because the portal files are separate from the chunks, and deleting the blocks doesn’t delete the former.

To restore your portals you have two options. You can either head into Creative Mode, go through your Overworld portal, and build a corresponding Nether Portal wherever you pop out on the other side. Or, alternatively, you can simply head back over to MCC ToolChest, look for the Portal data files on the left side, and simply delete them. This will not delete the actual portals in the Overworld. 

When you load back into the game, all you have to do is head through one of your Overworld’s Nether Portals — the game will automatically generate a portal on the other side as it would normally do.

Related: What is Soul Speed in Minecraft and Why is it Useful?

And there you go! You have successfully cleaned up your world to take on all the nightmarish goodness that comes with this massive update! If you want to transfer your world to another device, the Minecraft main website has its own short tutorial with a few options.

Now go! Go galavanting across the Nether at soul speed!

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