This simple bug started in 1.9 and hasn't been fixed for 7+ years.
Issue
The eyes of ender point to the 0,0 chunk coordinate and not the 4,4 chunk coordinate (The stairs are at 4,4).
Reproduce
Open a new world on any version between 1.9 and the latest and follow the eyes of ender to the stronghold. Open the f3 debug menu and you will see the eyes of ender will converge on the 0,0 chunk coordinate (Corner of the chunk) in 1.19- 23w46a, and to the 8,8 chunk coordinate in 1.9-1.18.2. The stairs are always at the 4,4 chunk coordinate.
Possible Solution
The solution is either moving the coordinates the locate stronghold structure returns, or by moving the location the eyes of ender point at by 4 blocks on both axes
(second option is a little janky but easy, and won't mess up its spawning. I know this because I made a fabric mod to fix this issue)
Why is this an issue?
Digging straight down at the eye of ender was intended to lead to the stairwell as shown in the 1.9 betas from 15w49 - 1.9 pre2 when the eye of ender was changed to point to the 4,4 chunk coordinate at the stairwell instead of the end portal.
In the 1.9 betas, the eyes were slightly bugged because they kept pointing to the end portal until you re-logged, then they would point to the stairwell at the 4,4 starting chunk coordinate. In the process of fixing it, the eyes of ender were set to the middle of the chunk (8,8) causing players to miss the stronghold if it is facing north or west. Following the release of 1.19 to present, eyes now point to the 0,0 chunk coordinate which will cause players to miss if the stronghold is facing east or south.
Images attached to visualize all the information given
Related but this ticket resolves that.
Linked issues
Attachments
Comments 5
They are saying it should be put back to the 8,8 chunk coordinate and I am saying it should be put back to 4,4 (where it was in the 1.9 betas) because that is what the eye of ender mechanics appear to be designed for. The eyes of ender shouldn't be a guessing game when you dig down and they weren't for the first 5 years in the game because they are meant to lead you to the stronghold.
That ticket is just unaware that 8,8 instead of 0,0 was an issue on an issue.
well, I would argue that I am reporting a different issue because they are saying a change from 8,8 to 0,0 recently is a bug and I am saying a change made 7 years ago from the portal room to 8,8 of the starting chunk instead of 4,4 is a bug. The issue I am reporting is much older and I feel it should trump the older report because of the added detail and reasoning behind it.
Basically resigning all my evidence to the comments of an abandoned thread makes me think this will be left to rot for another few years as the other thread has.
The other ticket is actually not being very well maintained. This reduces the chances of getting a bug fixed. You can request ownership of the other issue, as the current reporter has been inactive for 1+ year.
You can then update and maintain the issue accordingly, i.e. add new affected versions, keep the info up-to-date, etc. I can transfer ownership of MC-253394 to you if you request it there in a comment. I cannot do more for you at the moment, sorry, but keeping both issues separate is not really feasible.
What makes your ticket different from MC-253394? This ticket will automatically reopen when you reply.