Wither (effect)

| Sources |
See § Causes |
|---|---|
| Particle |
|
| Type |
Negative |
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Wither is a status effect that inflicts damage over time. It acts similarly to Poison, save for the fact that it acts slower, can do so against the undead, and can kill on any difficulty level. It also turns the player's health to black, making their health harder to track.
It can be cured by drinking milk.
Effect

The amount of damage inflicted to the affected entity is shown in the table below:
| Level | Ticks per HP | HP per second |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 40 | 0.5HP × 0.25 |
| 2 | 20 | 1HP |
| 3 | 10 | 2HP |
| 4[note 1] | 5 | 4HP |
| 5[note 1] | 2 | 10HP |
| 6+[note 1] | 1 | 20HP × 10 |
- ↑ a b c Due to damage immunity, the effective rate is 10 ticks (HP × 1 per second) at levels 4 and up.
The player's hearts turn black (HP on Survival mode or HP on Hardcore mode), making it more difficult, but still possible, for the player to see their health. Death is reported as "<player> withered away". Amplifiers outside the range 0–31 (corresponding to levels 1–32) use modulo 32.
Causes
| Cause | Potency | Length | Lifetime damage | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| II | 0:40 | 40HP × 20 | | |
| II | 0:40 | 40HP × 20 | | |
| II | 0:10 | 10HP | | |
| II | 0:05 | 5HP | | |
| II |
0:10 (normal difficulty) |
10HP (normal difficulty) |
When wither skulls make a direct hit on the target. Normal and Hard difficulty only. | |
| I | 0:10 | 5HP | Melee attack only. | |
| I | 0:02[note 1] | 1HP |
Only when in range (within the block) and if the difficulty is higher than Peaceful. | |
| I | 0:07 | 3HP | Must be made with |
- ↑ In Java Edition the effect is being refreshed every tick, causing it to apply damage at the same rate. Effectively this causes 1 (HP) damage every 10 ticks (instead of every 2 seconds) to living entities due to damage immunity while the entity touches the block.
Immune mobs
- Wither skeletons, withers and ender dragons are immune to wither.
- witches are 95% resistant to damage dealt by the wither effect in Bedrock Edition, and 85% resistant in Java Edition.
Data values
ID
| Name | Identifier | Numeric ID | Translation key |
|---|---|---|---|
wither | 20 | effect |
| Name | Identifier | Numeric ID | Translation key |
|---|---|---|---|
wither | 20 | potion |
Advancements
| Icon | Advancement | In-game description | Actual requirements (if different) |
|---|---|---|---|
![]() | How Did We Get Here? | Have every effect applied at the same time | Have all of these 33 status effects applied to the player at the same time:
The source of the effects is irrelevant for the purposes of this advancement. Other status effects may be applied to the player, but are ignored for this advancement. |
History
| Java Edition | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.4.2 | 12w34a | ||||||
| 1.14 | 18w43a | Wither Rose added, which inflicts the Wither status effect. | |||||
| Suspicious stew have been added, which can inflict the Wither status effect. | |||||||
| 1.20 | 23w12a | The Wither effect color has been adjusted from #352A27 to #736156 to make it more distinguishable. | |||||
| 1.21.4 | 24w44a | Bees are inflicted with Wither when they are fed a wither rose. | |||||
| 24w45a | Decreased the duration of Wither obtained from suspicious stew made with a wither rose from 8 seconds to 7 seconds. | ||||||
| Pocket Edition Alpha | |||||||
| v0.11.0 | build 1 | ||||||
| v0.12.1 | build 1 | The Wither effect is now obtainable from wither skeleton attacks. | |||||
| v0.16.0 | build 4 | The Wither effect is now obtainable from wither skull projectiles, and potions of decay as well as splash potion and tipped arrow variants. | |||||
| Pocket Edition | |||||||
| 1.0.0 | alpha 0.17.0.1 | The Wither effect can now be obtained from lingering potions of decay. | |||||
| Bedrock Edition | |||||||
| 1.11.0 | beta 1.11.0.5 | ||||||
| 1.13.0 | beta 1.13.0.9 | Added suspicious stew and wither roses, which can inflict the Wither effect. | |||||
| 1.18.30 | Preview 1.18.30.21 | The Wither effect is now mitigated by Protection to match Java Edition.[1] | |||||
| 1.21.50 | Preview 1.21.50.28 | Bees are inflicted with Wither when they are fed a wither rose. | |||||
| Legacy Console Edition | |||||||
| Xbox 360 | Xbox One | PS3 | PS4 | PS Vita | Wii U | Switch | |
| TU19 | CU7 | 1.12 | 1.12 | 1.12 | Patch 1 | 1.0.1 | |
| TU69 | 1.76 | 1.76 | 1.76 | Patch 38 | The wither effect can now be obtained from potions, splash potions, lingering potions and arrows of decay. | ||
| 1.91 | |||||||
| New Nintendo 3DS Edition | |||||||
| 0.1.0 | |||||||
Issues
Issues relating to "Wither (effect)" are maintained on the bug tracker. Issues should be reported and viewed there.
Trivia
- Wither is the only status effect that can harm both living and undead mobs.
References
- ↑ MCPE-40651 — Protection enchantment doesn't provide extra defense against magic attacks — resolved as "Fixed".
| Movement |
| ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Health |
| ||
| Combat | |||
| Hunger | |||
| Breaking | |||
| Spawns | |||
| Underwater | |||
| Visibility |
| ||
| Ominous Events | |||
| Unused |
| ||
| Joke | |||
