Located in the eastern Hebron Hills to the east of Hebron at an elevation of 810 m (2,660 ft), it is organised as a community settlement and falls under the jurisdiction of Har Hevron Regional Council.

It overlooks the wilderness of Ziff and the Dead Sea Valley.

It was demilitarized when turned over to eleven families on 24 August 1983, after which it was renamed after the nearby Hever Stream.

In its early years, the only route leading to the village passed through the Palestinian town of Bani Na'im.

In 2009, Assaf Ramon, son of Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon who was aboard the fatal Columbia mission when the Space Shuttle exploded, was killed when the F-16 he was flying crashed in the vicinity of Ma'ale Hever.