The bug
When using /locate ruined_portal
in the Overworld it sometimes leads to locations where no Ruined Portals are.
Reproduction steps
Use one of example seeds and coordinates provided below
Switch to Spectator mode
Give yourself Night Vision
Fly through the ground (possibly also remove some blocks using
/fill ... replace
) and search for the Ruined Portal
❌ There is no Ruined Portal nearby
Example seeds and coordinates
Note: Due to world generation changes a ruined portal could generate at one of these positions. Make sure to check the other examples in this case and possibly also try locating Ruined Portals in a world with a random seed.
Seed: 356317745171599556
/execute in minecraft:overworld run tp @s -1119.50 101.74 -287.50 275.40 85.65
/locate ruined_portal
Seed: 5488762045858212
/execute in minecraft:overworld run tp @s -384 ~ -1584
/locate ruined_portal
Linked issues
is duplicated by
Attachments
Comments

When I tried to use /locate on the new structures it worked fine but it teleported me around 50+ blocks away from the structure. I suggest you try to find it in spectator mode.

This does not involve using a portal or anything though:
Seed: 801626302320119608
/tp @s 144 ~ 19296
/locate Ruined_Portal

I would like to add to the above...
As a side note - between this ticket.... and this ticket: MC-179029
I could not find any other tickets related to a "missing ruined portal" using the /locate command. So posted on this one because I'm talking about 20w17a - newer, and because the map is newly generated, not "updated" from a previous map.
I can absolutely find no portal in the seed I am testing in 😞 (20w17a - newly created world in this snapshot)
NOTE: I have found other ruined_portals fine, missing portals is a rare but legitimate occurrence - from what I can tell 😉
seed: 681766937004248
coords:
/execute in minecraft:overworld run tp @s 1472.50 -1.16 -335.50 -180.60 -89.70
This view (must be spectator) is looking straight up in a warm ocean from level 0 @ bedrock, no ruined portal, nothing 😞 ... I've tried looking a few blocks away, still nothing. the command "/locate Ruined_Portal" produces this:
[CHAT] The nearest Ruined_Portal is at [1472, ~, -336] (0 blocks away)
Of course to add to the investigation, please see attached screenshots.
1st screenshot – spectator view using night_vision and the above /execute command on the seed.... No portal visible (even 'buried' portal - because you would see the chest or or lava in the majority of cases. Albeit, lava turns to magma under oceans, and chests occasionally don't spawn, so that's what the next screenshot is for :'P ).
2nd screenshot — full excavation. I used the /fill command to replace blocks (stone/andesite/gravel/dirt/granite/diorite/all-variants-coral-block/seagrass/sand/water). .... with AIR. Also built a glass wall around so that the water does not keep flowing and obstruct the view.
For screenshot 2... I then /tp to the presumed location of the ruined portal manually (/tp 1472 ~ -336), use the same /locate command ... and see the response:
[CHAT] The nearest Ruined_Portal is at [1472, ~, -336] (0 blocks away)
But looking down from above the ocean in the sky... missing netherrack is the first indication of a problem – no ruined portal is found 😞
Sorry for such a long post - thought it better to give too much, than too little information.

It would appear the problem is more frequent than I initially though 😞
Quite close to spawn chunks.
Different world seed : 356317745171599556
/execute in minecraft:overworld run tp @s -1119.50 101.74 -287.50 275.40 85.65
Missing a portal... used /tp to get there... ran "/locate Ruined_Portal" gives:
[CHAT] The nearest Ruined_Portal is at [-1120, ~, -288] (0 blocks away)
Picture attached (3) .... manual "fill" action to replace specific blocks with AIR... one block type at a time – NOTE: It isn't lined up with chunk borders.
All terracotta types... all ores (iron/gold/coal/redstone)... all stone-types (stone/diorite/andesite/granite)... all dirt, gravel, and water....
My /tp places me roughly in the center of the filled cavity.... no Ruined Portal or associated blocks.

I believe I may have discovered the reason (or something to the effect thereof) for the problem.
Albeit with my limited understanding of the development behind this, it counts as a guess 🙂
Seed: 356317745171599556
Using screenshot 4..... /execute in minecraft:overworld run tp @s -637.60 88.53 1010.16 494.55 81.45
If I stay in the chunk boundary .... and use "/locate Ruined_Portal" .... it will direct me to the very edge of the chunk in front of me (2 blocks away).
... No portal – /fill excavation of individual blocks confirming that.
(Screenshot 5... /execute in minecraft:overworld run tp @s -642.56 88.53 1005.17 495.45 86.70 — 4 blocks straight line diagonally from screenshot 4)
However, into the next chunk adjacent .... screenshot 5... and run the "/locate Ruined_Portal" command again.... notice the different result.... Different coordinates... and "668 blocks away".
My guess is... if there is no portal in the current Anvil region (see link below for region description - kudos to bdm68's great description on 20th April).... then it navigates you to the closest edge of the current region — to bring you closer to closest ruined portal belonging to another region.
I strongly believe this is related: MC-138887

Still present in latest snapshot.
Same seed as previous comment @ 23/Apr/20 4:16 PM : 356317745171599556
NEW Map created with that seed on 20w21a.
See screenshot 6 (missing portal - `/locate` shows 0 blocks away, `/fill` excavation of non ruined-portal blocks).
See Screenshot 7 (using `/locate`, 1 block west of screenshot 6 – ruined portal said to be 672 blocks away).
.

Anyone still noticing this issue in 20w22a?

Hi Christopher,
I tested today actually and confirmed for 20w22a but another seed and new map, just didn't have time to post.
However I did comment that 20w21a was still confirmed in my last post, and considering they haven't marked it as resolved, I presume it will remain present until they mark resolved? Unless my understanding is incorrect '🙂

@@unknown, we sadly don't have the capacities to test all reports and it is probably also not feasible for the Mojang developers to search for related reports every time they change something.
Therefore we rely on users to confirm now and then that the bugs are still happening. But you do not need to confirm a bug for every snapshot, confirming it now and then and if you know that similar parts of the game have changed suffices.

Ah, sorry about that, thanks Marcono for the correction, that makes sense.
I guess that's why we have community helpers 🙂 we don't mind assisting 👍
@Christopher – Still present in 20w22a 👍 🙂

Confirmed in 1.16 Pre-release 2.

Confirmed in 1.16 Pre-release 4.

Confirmed in 1.16 Pre-release 8.

Still present in 1.16.1. Player posted about it in r/MinecraftHelp; tried it myself in a new world. Seed 5488762045858212, coordinates -350, ~, -1565, went spectator and searched the entire area from sea level to bedrock, and found nothing resembling a ruined portal.

Still present in 20w29a 👍

Still present in 1.16.2 👍
Can confirm in 20w49a.

Can confirm in 21w14a
Used seed and /fill removals as per post 23/Apr/20 3:40 PM (this time added deepslate and ore variants, tuff, dropstone block and water)
Went as far as bedrock (-64) for this snapshot...
No ruined portal despite /locate showing 0 blocks away.

Relates to [MCPE-70691]

Can confirm in 1.17 Release Candidate 1.

Can confirm in 1.17.

I couldn't reproduce this in 1.19.4. For the first seed, the portal is partially overriden by an ocean ruin but the ruined portal still generates. I tried some random seeds and couldn't find any instances where the portal generates farther than a chunk away from the /locate coordinates.
Is this still an issue for anyone in the latest snapshot? We were unable to reproduce it.
Could you please provide the seed and coordinates?