1- Nether Portals sink together if they are within 1024 blocks of each other on the OverWorld. Hence why everyone within 1024 blocks of each other (A LOT OF YOU) with a portal at their base are linking up to Cloud’s base. His is the center of that radius. If his were deactivated, everyone would link to the nearest center once again within that same radius. If there’s to be one main portal that everyone’s gonna link to, it oughta be at spawn. The alternative is to only have one portal in a 1024 radius.

2- Ghast fireballs destroy any block with a direct hit that has a blast resistance of less than 20. The surrounding area will be hit by a force equal to resistance 17. Several blocks have a superior blast resistance.
*Nether Brick: I love nether brick. It has a blast of 30! Additionally it is completely fire resistant as well. It can be mined from a fortress in less than one second (stone pick) or simply made in a furnace smelting netherrack (which has a blast res. of 2 FYI). Pros- Incredibly durable, fantastic material. Can make fences, slabs, stairs and blocks out of it. Versatile. Cons- must be smelted in furnace. Uses fuel resources. Materials must be harvested in hostile territory.
*Obsidian: Completely useless in the game, other than Nether Portals and enchantment tables. It’s a pain in the butt to harvest (Punch tree, make wooden pick, find stone, make stone pick, find iron, make iron pick, find diamond (HA HA), make diamond pick, find obsidian, mine obsidian for 30 minutes…). But, it’s the champ when it comes to blast resistance. Obsidian has the highest resistance in the game, next to bedrock, which I don’t think is even practical or realistic to try to mine or use except in creative mode. Pros- The toughest mother on the block. Cons- Timely to harvest. Wastes very expensive tools. No other purposes. Only one block type
*Cobble- Yes cobble believe it or not has a blast resistance of 30!!! WOW, right. This crappy block in the game that we get from smooth stone, that we’re all completely bored of looking at, is a tough sonofabitch. Not only that, it’s so flipping easy to find. I guarantee every single player on the server has at least 1 piece of cobble somewhere, if not an entire stack. The stuff is in the ground below your feet. Kick that dirt outta your way, look down, that shit’s waiting for you to hit it and turn it into cobble! Additionally, the block can be crafted into nearly every dimensional shape in the game for building and cobble also doesn’t burn. Pros: A work horse. Can do it all. Easily found. Abundant. Can even be generated by machine to eliminate walking and climbing around. Can be mined with anything, even your fist if you’re patient. Cons: So f***ing boring.
*Stone- Blast of 30 as well. Pros: Blast tolerant. Cons- Has to be smelted from other materials. Uses fuel. Alternate method of Silk Touch ruins tool durability over time on a non-precious block. Only one block type
*Clay- Same as above except colors.
*Quartz- A beautiful block that is one of my personal favorites. Native to the nether, but not the overworld for some reason… 30 Blast Res. Pros: Gorgeous, versatile block with many options of shapes. Durable. Cons: Dangerous terrain to harvest. Limited supply on surface of Nether without strip mining (btw, leave strip mining the nether to the pros, there are hidden pockets of lava blocks everywhere that you can’t see. Dangerous stuff). Hard to find in safe locations.

Note, there are a few more blocks, but these are the bread winners. Pointless to even mention diamond. My suggestion for making a Nether Hub Rail System, walking path, or horse path is to use cobble like crazy and Nether Brick for accents and flair. The cobble is not only your easiest block to come by, with the most amount of building options, its color also contrasts the dark reds and purples of the nether, making it stand out more from a distance. Any amount of prolonged damage, even with a bare fist, will eventually break one, meaning no special tools are required. It can be found in every single biome as well. There will never be a shortage of cobble. The Nether Brick I believe is also a good choice, but too much of it will disappear in the dark of the nether and won’t be seen well from a far. Additionally, someone may get confused and think it’s a way into a fortress and get themselves turned around, lost, or even killed. The only other thing is that you need to cook Nether rack, so it’ll use up some furnace fuel, but the Nether is full of lava… If Nether Brick were used just as accent blocks, maybe just on the roof or something, it would work well. The combination of nether brick and cobble would be fantastic, because both blocks can be made into a variety of other block types. IMO

3. Ghasts will not fire at you through glass. Many mobs won’t for that matter. Lining a path with glass is a safe, secure way of keeping your eyes on your surroundings and establishing a safe passage.

4. Ghasts can track you and fire from up to 100 blocks away with accuracy.

5. Light levels in the Nether are just as important as on the OverWorld. The place may seem bright, but it’s not. My brightness is maxed when I play, so I see fine, I don’t know about the rest of you. You think the Nether’s bright, you say? Check your F3. That shit is light level 0. Crazy, right?? Problem is, if you plan on building a track, you had best light it up or you’ll have zombie pigmen (hate ’em) blocking your path, bumping into you, and sending you back the way you came. All 800 blocks of it. What are you gonna do? Jump out and fall into lava? For this I suggest pumpkins. They’re brighter than torches, easily made, and won’t use up valuable glowstone.

6. You can’t bring water of any kind into the Nether. A water bucket will immediately evaporate. Ice brought to the nether will no longer melt into water. Plants requiring water to grow, will not. Ironically, any plant that can be grown without water (ie. trees, flowers, cactus) will grow on dirt if some is placed. If there is a light level requirement for their growth, they will grow anywhere, except for underneath naturally occurring glowstone and under a lava block. Don’t get that one myself, but whatever. Snow Golems made in or brought into the Nether will melt and die. So, if you need to eat in the nether and wanna start a farm, I suggest not being a vegetarian. Although, with enough bone meal, water isn’t even required

7. Nether Wart, used for brewing can ONLY be found inside of a Nether Fortress and even then, only in the “Stair Corridors”. If you’ve found a Nether Fortress, be nice to your neighbor. Take some Wart, and replant it. It’s a very, very hard to come by item for other players if it’s all been taken. I’d suggest taking a few, replanting what you’ve found, hunt for Soul Sand to take home, and start your garden on the OverWorld. Sell it, or share it with your neighbors. If farmed, it produces up to 4 wart per plant at full growth. Plenty to go around if we just share and be thoughtful.

8. Compasses, beds and clocks do not function properly in the nether. Since it’s an alternate dimension, there is no way for a compass to point you to your spawn point. Since there is no sun, clocks won’t function. Without a day/night cycle, you can’t sleep. I don’t even think you can place a bed in the Nether. If memory serves, they explode (yes, you will take damage).

9. Lava flows twice as fast and twice as far in the Nether. Accidentally punching a hole into a lava flow above you can end your happy day pretty quick if you’re not careful.

10. Maps are kinda useless in the Nether. Although, they will load, it shows an aerial view, which is almost always obstructed by the vertical cliffs and Netherrack. You’re character will actually spin in circles on a map if you look at it.

11. The Void above the Nether is actually the safest place in the dimension. No mobs spawn there at all, and it’s free of any fire or lava, as well as being completely flat. No jumping over cliffs or lava required to traverse it. It’s actually impossible to get through the bedrock in the ceiling of the Nether, unless you know a few glitch tricks to get there. I know a few, but rarely ever use them because of the danger involved to do so (ie. suffocation and ender pearl damage). Regardless, if you wanna exploit a coding error (sorry Dinnerbone) it is possible. Once there, traveling through the Nether is a breeze.

12. Travel in the Nether is monumentally faster than the OverWorld, but 3 times as dangerous. For every 1 block you move in the Nether, you move 8 blocks in the OverWorld. To find a location you wish to go to, simply take your X and Z coordinates and multiply them by 8 to see where you would be on the OverWorld. Do the opposite on the OverWorld if you wanna find your coords in the Nether. Your Y Coordinate can easily be changed by moving your portal up or down, but these aren’t in multiples of 8. A Y of 60 in the Nether is a Y of 60 in the OverWorld. (citation required)

13. EVERYTHING in the Nether wants to kill you. Well, except Zombie Pigmen, but I attack every zombie on sight regardless of their hostility, so they get hostile pretty quick. Do not under estimate zombie pigmen. If one is attacked close by another, they mob. You will gain aggro from multiple enemies simultaneously. With 1.6 update, zombie pigmen babies are a menace! Fast moving little shitheads. Also, Zombie Pigmen hit pretty damn hard on our current Hard Difficulty. Best to just leave them alone. Personally, I kill the fuckers. Free, infinite gold supply as well as a quick snack. Yes, I eat zombie flesh. 90% of my diet consists of it.

All of these facts were found through my research and all facts can be found on the internet via Minecraft Wiki or the like. Some even came from youtubers whose only job is to play MineCraft. Any suggestions, were merely my own opinion, not based on any facts whatsoever, only my own experience with single player. The suggestions for the Nether Build (ie. cobble, nether brick, pumpkins) were my own. I’m a builder and I love making things pretty, but a build of this size and the time involved in finding and making resources for this project is far more important than this builds looks. I don’t care if it’s pretty (did i just say that???), I only want the damn thing safe, to work properly and not cost everyone an arm and a leg to make.

Comments? Always welcomed. I know I post constantly on the forums. But, I love keeping up with you guys and sharing ideas and plans. So, please, if you have something to add, do so! Let’s get this ball rolling.

Watch your back for creepers and keep stacking blocks!
~TCS