Minecraft wiki entry for End_Crystal, associated text: According to Jeb, the reason behind the current crafting recipe using glass as opposed to chorus fruit or any materials introduced in 1.9 is as a means for players to craft end crystals in older worlds that the dragon has already been killed in.[1]
A historical rendition of the beacon block featured an animated entity within it, which resembled a yellow miniaturized end crystal. The bedrock platform of the end crystal entity would also render below the beacon, though this would normally be hidden within the block below.
Using a piston to push an end crystal's fire into an end portal block deletes the end portal block. However, natural portal blocks regenerate if the end crystal is moved.
The symbols on the end crystal layout if put in the correct order spell out "Mojang", the company behind Minecraft.[2][more information needed]