Minecraft wiki entry for Elytra, associated text: The singular form of elytra is an elytron.
In reality, elytra are not used for flight. They are the tough forewings of beetles and earwigs that cover the wings they actually use for flight. However, like Minecraft elytra, in beetles they can be used for gliding.
A flying player has a shorter hitbox than usual: A 0.6 block cube centered on the player's feet.
It is possible to glide while on a ladder, by pressing ⇧ Shift followed by space, causing the player to fall with a speed determined by the player's visual angle. This means that the player can descend fast on a ladder, but if the speed is too fast when hitting the ground, they can take fatal fall damage. Using a firework rocket can also speed up the player's descent.
In Java Edition if the player glides into deep water with elytra equipped, the animation does not stop, giving it the appearance of a swimming animation. The animation stops once the player touches the ground. Additionally, firework rockets can be used with elytra underwater with a short boost duration.
Elytra can be equipped onto some mobs using commands. This has no effect unless the mob has the FallFlying tag set to 1b. Mobs glide forward, unable to control the movement before landing, at which time they regain their AI.
Exceptions to this are squids as the squid's AI causes it to attempt swimming in midair, making it fall straight down because it conflicts with the elytra mechanics.
Because chickens fall slowly, they can move more distance.
Endermen, tamed wolves and tamed cats that are not sitting cannot teleport until they hit the ground.
Because mobs do not regain control until they hit the ground, vexes fall until they die or despawn as they cannot touch the ground.
Mobs capable of flying, such as parrots or vexes can steer in air, though they cannot travel up or down. Dolphins also have this ability.
4J Studios created an elytron-centered tutorial map for console edition when elytra were first introduced to this platform, this map is themed as "ruins of an ancient civilization of Minecraft worshipers" and showcases the new amplified terrain generation. This map can be seen behind the scenes.[1] On 28 March 2017, 4J Studios added an elytron-themed Mini Games for console edition called "Glide;" it consists of Time Attack and Score Attack mode.[2][3]
A player who jumps with both elytra and the Slow Falling effect travels slightly upward, which is a cheap but time-consuming alternative to fireworks and Riptide-enchanted tridents.
On May 5, 2019, Mojang tweeted 'The End never yields enough adequate resources, sadly,' along with a sad emoji.[4] The first letter of each word spells 'T E n y e a r s' (Ten Years). Attached was a picture of Steve and Alex wearing both a chestplate and elytra. The next day, they tweeted, "Have you noticed something suspic10us here lately?"[5]
Elytra do not deactivate when the player flies into lava.