Abstract: Coal mining causes movement, deformation, and damage of the overlying rock, generating in fissures of different forms. The determination of the height of vertical thorough fissures is the basis for ensuring safe mining in coal mines, such as setting protective water barrier pillars and formulating measures to prevent roof water damage. This height is also an important parameter required for the application of green mining technologies such as water-preserved mining, gas extraction, and isolated overburden grouting filling. This article summarizes the main theoretical methods for predicting the height of fractured water-conducting zone. By comparing the prediction methods under different mining conditions, the need to consider the differences in rock structure to determine the height of fractured water-conducting zone is confirmed. The structure of overburden key strata will have an impact on the developmental characteristics of the height of water-conducting fissure zones. Determination based on the location of key strata, which can avoid the shortcomings of lithological homogenization treatment and reflect the differences in engineering conditions, thus has been widely applied in terms of theory and practice. Theoretical prediction methods can serve as reference and guidance for pre-mining safety design and engineering detection schemes. However, due to the differences in mining conditions and the complexity of post mining conditions in China's coal mines, different detection methods are needed to more accurately obtain data of height of fractured water-conducting zone and guide engineering practice. This article introduces the different methods and main principles of direct and indirect detection of height of fractured water-conducting zone, and analyzes their advantages and disadvantages. Based on the current theoretical calculation methods and commonly used engineering detection methods, problems to be solved and expected development directions for determining the height of fractured water-conducting zone are proposed, such as accurate determination based on new features of detection data in coal measure strata that are rich in water, key technologies for determination under mining with large depth and thickness of coal, research on the correlation between rock strata fracturing and displacement deformation vibration, multi-purpose detection of one hole with collaborative analysis and processing of information. This article can provide some reference and inspiration for peers to understand the method for determining the height of water-conducting fissure zones and its future directions.