Witch

The witch is an uncommon hostile mob that uses harmful splash potions as ranged weapons and beneficial potions on itself. They spawn in swamp huts along with a number of potion-related items and blocks. Witches also spawn during raids, and when lightning strikes villagers.

Natural generation
Solitary witches spawn in the Overworld at a light level of 7 or less. They can spawn in all land biomes except mushroom fields. Witches are the least common of the non-biome-specific monsters.

Swamp huts
Every swamp hut spawns a witch and a black cat inside during world generation, which never despawn. Otherwise, $$ only witches (which may despawn) spawn in the 7×7×9 (x×y×z) volume that is the hut. This is the size of the roof and one block over the porch, from one level below the floor of the hut to two blocks above the roof. $$, witches respawn on only one block within the swamp hut.

Villagers
When lightning strikes within 4 blocks of an adult villager or baby villager, it transforms into a witch. A witch transformed from a villager cannot despawn, and cannot be changed back into a villager.

Raids
Witches can spawn as part of raids starting from wave 4 $$, or wave 3 or 4 $$ depending on the world difficulty. They throw potions of healing at illagers.

Drops
Witches have the largest loot table of any mob in the game.


 * (12.5% chance)
 * (12.5% chance)
 * (12.5% chance)
 * (12.5% chance)
 * (12.5% chance)
 * (12.5% chance)
 * (25% chance)

They make 1–3 drops of 0–2 items each, for a maximum of 6 items total.

Each level of Looting increases the maximum items dropped by one for each of the 1–3 drops, leading to a maximum of 5 items per drop, and a maximum of 15 items total. No Looting averages 2 items per kill, Looting I averages 3, Looting II averages 4, and Looting III averages 5.

Potions
If a witch is killed while drinking a potion, the potion has a 8.5% chance of dropping, increased by 1% for every level of Looting.

They can drop one of the following:

Behavior
Despite being similar in appearance to villagers, witches cannot open doors or use cauldrons.

Witches target players within 16 blocks. They use potions in combat, throwing splash potions offensively and drinking normal potions defensively. These potions are the same as ones obtainable through brewing, i.e. they have the same potency and duration. They attempt to stay within 10 blocks of their target.

They are passive toward villagers and wandering traders.

$$, witches can locate targets even if they are behind blocks and are hostile to iron golems.

Offense
Each potion is thrown in a 3 second interval.


 * They throw a splash potion of slowness if the player is at least 8 blocks away and does not already have the Slowness status effect.
 * They throw a splash potion of poison if the player's health is at least and is not already poisoned.
 * They have a 25% chance of throwing a splash potion of Weakness if the player is within 3 blocks and does not already have the Weakness status effect.
 * If none of the above conditions are true, witches default to using a splash potion of harming, which does up to magical damage.

Defense
On each tick (0.05 second) when the witch is not already drinking a potion, it may choose to equip and drink a potion. Drinking the potion takes 1.6 seconds and slows down its walking speed. It does not attack during this time.


 * When ~80% under water and lacking water breathing, there is a 15% chance of drinking a potion of Water Breathing.
 * When on fire or the last damage taken in the past 2 seconds was fire damage, 15% chance of drinking a potion of Fire Resistance.
 * When not at full health, 5% chance of drinking a potion of Healing, which heals.
 * When 11 or more blocks from a target and lacking Swiftness, 50% chance of drinking a potion of Swiftness.

$$, witches are 85% resistant to some types of magical damage, including Poison, Instant Damage, evoker fangs, and the Thorns enchantment. They are also immune to their own thrown Harming potions.

$$, witches are immune to Poison and Fatal Poison.

Raids
$$, witches that participate in a raid seek out illagers and ravagers and throw splash potions of Regeneration (45 seconds), or Instant Health if they have or less.

$$, witches participating in a raid do not heal other illagers, but still attack the player and iron golems.

If the raiders kill all the villagers in a village, witches celebrate their victory by jumping and laughing.

$$, witches do not retaliate when attacked by evoker fangs, illager-inflicted arrows, harming potions from other witches and Johnny vindicators. Instead, they drink a healing potion.

Particles


Witches have a 1.5% chance every second to spawn 10–44 purple particles above their heads. These particles are named "Witch" $$ or "Witchspell" $$.

ID




Entity data
Witches have entity data associated with them that contains various properties.

Trivia

 * If a witch hits another witch with a potion, the witch who is hit becomes angry and targets the other witch, despite it being impossible for either witch to kill the other (without help from a player, or powerful mobs like iron golem, drowned with trident, piglin brute, vindicator, wither skeleton, enderman, ravager, ghast, or creeper) due to their use of healing potions and their resistance to each other's splash potions.
 * Witches do not use the equipment in their swamp huts, but they can be used by players.
 * The odds of a witch dropping the maximum amount of items possible (6 items total) without a Looting enchantment are 1 in 81 (1.2%).
 * Witches throw healing potions at illagers.
 * Witches are extremely difficult to kill via suffocation or cacti (though not impossible), due to their frequent use of healing potions.
 * When drinking a potion, a witch's nose lifts up and points forward.
 * Witches have small mouths hidden under their noses. During their potion-drinking animation, this mouth becomes visible from the side.
 * When the subject of witches dropping sticks was brought up, Dinnerbone jokingly replied that it's because witches are made of wood. He later explained that it was a reference to this scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
 * The witch is partly based on Baba Yaga, a witch from Slavic folklore who also lives in a swamp hut.
 * A witch's nose slightly wiggles when idle.
 * Despite being physically similar and appearing to be allied with them, witches are not considered illagers.
 * Witches have an unused purple hat layer in their texture file, similar to the illusioner's hat.
 * The same hat layer is also present in the vindicator and evoker's texture files, where it is also unused.
 * These hat models also used to exist in the nitwit, librarian, and priest's textures before the Village and Pillage Update.
 * In the Village and Pillage Update artwork banner, the witch in the picture has its arms unfolded like a pillager, despite this being impossible ingame.