Fly in Minecraft using Items, Commands, and Game Mode

In Minecraft Survival Mode, players spend the majority of their time interacting with the world from the ground. They can increase the movement speed by taming and riding horses, railways and Minecart systems, riding boats, and more, but they rarely travel through the air. Yes, there are some ways to remain airborne, although briefly, but this oftentimes requires building complex contraptions and isn’t flying in the full sense of the word. Thankfully, there are ways to see the world from a different perspective, with or without effects of the gravity. Without further ado, here’s how to fly in Minecraft.

1. Fly in Minecraft via Cheats or Commands

The first way to begin flying in Minecraft is to enable Minecraft cheats and then type a Minecraft command to grant yourself or other players that ability. This command is limited to Minecraft Bedrock Edition and Education Edition versions, however. With that in mind, do this to enable Minecraft flight via a command:

Press T to bring up the chat window.
If you want to give the ability to the nearest player (yourself), type this:
/ability @p mayfly true
Press the Enter button.
If you did it right, you’ll see this message in the upper left corner of your game window: “The ‘mayfly’ ability has been granted to you. Ability has been updated”.
Start flying using the instructions for Creative/Spectator mode below.

2. Flying via Minecraft Creative or Spectator Mode

Single-player Minecraft maps or Minecraft Realms with Spectator or Creative Mode allow players to fly innately. So, follow these steps to fly in Minecraft in Creative or Spectator Mode:

Take off the ground, e.g., start flying like this:
- On Java Edition (PC and Mac), Education Edition, and Windows 10 Edition, press the Space key on your keyboard two times (quickly).
- On PlayStation, Press the X button on your joystick two times (quickly).
- For Xbox, Nintendo Switch, and Wii U, press the A button on your controller twice (quickly).
- On Pocket Edition (PE), tap the JUMP button twice (quickly).
Fly higher by pressing the following buttons:
- For Java Edition (Mac and PC), Education Edition, Windows 10 Edition, Wii U, and Nintendo Switch, the controls are identical to those above.
- For PlayStation, press upward on the D-Pad or press and hold the A button on the joystick.
- On Xbox, press up on the D-Pad or press and hold the X button on the joystick.
- On Pocket Edition (PE), tap and hold the HIGHER button.
Fly lower like this:
1. On PlayStation and Xbox, press and hold down on the D-Pad.
2. For Nintendo Switch and Wii U, press and hold the down arrow on the gamepad.
3. On Pocket Edition (PE), tap and hold the LOWER button.
4. For Java Edition (PC/Mac), Education Edition, and Windows 10 Edition, press and hold the Shift on your keyboard.
Land, e.g., stop flying using these buttons:
1. For Xbox, PlayStation, Java Edition (PC/Mac), Education Edition, Windows 10 Edition, Nintendo Switch, and Wii U, the controls are identical to those for starting to fly.
2. On Pocket Edition (PE), tap the STOP button on-screen twice (quickly).

Facts about flight in Spectator or Creative Mode

These are some notable facts about this type of flying:

In Spectator Mode, you can pass through solid blocks, called “ghosting”.
While flying, you move at a speed of 10.92 m/s, e.g., close to 250% of the walking speed.
You can hold the Sprint button to boost the flying speed to 21.6 m/s. This doesn’t increase your hunger level, unlike sprinting on the ground.
Your field of vision increases by 10% in normal flight, and even more when sprint-flying.
You don’t slow down or sink while flying through fluids or cobwebs.
While flying, friction is reduced to the equivalent of gliding on ice.
Unlike walking or running, the Speed status effect doesn’t increase flight speed.
On Java Edition, once you stop flying, you’ll still drift for a few blocks. On other versions, you stop in place immediately.
You stop flying automatically if you touch any surface in Java Edition. In other versions, you keep hovering slightly above the surface.

3. Fly in Minecraft with an item

Here are 2 items that allow flying in Minecraft Survival Mode without cheats or commands:

1. Elytra

Elytra are rare wings players can find in end ships in the End dimension. More specifically, they’re inside item frames in the treasure room, guarded by Shulker hostile mobs. Here’s everything you need to know about flying with Elytra in Minecraft:

Elytra is equipped in the “chestplate” slot in your personal inventory.
The commands for taking off, flying up or down, and landing are identical to the ones above. You can also view around to steer.
Elytra loses speed as you gain altitude, and gains speed as you lose attitude.
Sharp turns reduce speed drastically, while slow, nuanced movements affect it slightly.
You can’t fall to the ground while using Elytra unless you land. If you slow down, even to a speed of 0, you rapidly get bumped up to the minimum gliding speed of 7.2 m/s.
For the lowest loss of altitude, of about 1.5 m/s, aim slightly upward, at an angle of between 10º and 12º.
Your Elytra loses 1 durability point for every 1 second of gliding. Unenchanted Elytra has 432 durability points, equal to 7 minutes and 12 seconds of gliding.
Enchanting Elytra with a top-level enchantment, Unbreaking III, makes it expend roughly 1 durability point per 4 seconds. This equals about 28 minutes and 44 seconds of gliding.
Elytra cannot break, since 1 durability point is its bottom-level value. At that level, it gains a tattered cloak appearance.
You can take off, boost Elytra’s speed, and fly a longer distance using a Firework Rocket. A rocket crafted with Firework Star will deal damage if you use it mid-flight. Also, 4 different types of Rockets provide 3 different flight duration boosts.

2. Trident

We demonstrated how to obtain a Trident in Minecraft, and taught you to use it for gliding through the air. To remind you; using a Trident with a Riptide enchantment propels you in the direction it’s thrown. However, it’s only usable in the Overworld and The End dimensions and biomes with precipitation. Also, you can only use it while standing in water.