Teleport Gate

A Teleport Gate in Sword Art Online is a feature of every floor in Aincrad. Located the central plaza of the main settlement of each floor, a Teleport Gate allows free teleportation to any other floor where a gate is active.

Teleport Gates have an appearance of arch made of neatly stacked stones. It has no doors or bars, but the empty space in the middle of the arch is distorted like a portal.

In the world of Aincrad, Teleport Gates are the primary means of travel, as physically travelling from floor to floor via dungeon mazes are dangerous and time-consuming.

Gate Activation and Town Openning
Once a floor boss is defeated, the victorious party can activate the gate of the next floor by merely entering the main settlement and touching the surface of the portal.

This causes a blue light to spread everywhere, marking the floor as accessible for teleportation to any other existing floor.

The event is known as a «Town Opening».

In the event that the victorious party does not manage to activate the gate after reaching the floor, the Teleport Gate will automatically activate after a two hour period.