Witch

Witches are uncommon hostile mobs that use harmful splash potions as ranged weapons and beneficial potions on themselves defensively. While dangerous, they are a source of valuable potion ingredients.

Natural generation
Witches spawn in packs of 1 in the Overworld at a light level of 7 or less. It spawns in all land biomes except mushroom fields.

Spawn rate
Witches are the least common within the usual monsters, using a weight of 5.

Witch huts
Every swamp hut spawns a witch and a black cat inside during world generation, they 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.


 * Bedrock Editon

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.

Raids
Witches can spawn starting at wave 3 as part of raids.

Drops

 * (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 4 items per kill, Looting I averages 5, Looting II averages 6, and Looting III averages 7.

They drop when killed by a player or tamed wolf.

Potions
Witches have an 8.5% chance to drop a potion as an equipment drop. They do not have to be drinking the potion to drop it, because there is a delay between when they choose to drink a potion and when they actually are shown drinking it.

They drop one of the following: Looting increases the chance by 1% per level.

Behavior
Despite being "people" mobs, witches cannot open doors or utilize housing.

Witches use tier I splash potions offensively, remaining up to 10 blocks away from players and drinking potions defensively. They have a search radius of 16 blocks.

Offense

Each potion is thrown in a 2 seconds 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. This effect lasts for a maximum of 1 minute 29 seconds.
 * They throw a splash potion of poison if the player's health is at least and is not already poisoned. This effect lasts for a maximum of 44 seconds.
 * 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. This effect lasts for a maximum of 1 minute 29 seconds.
 * If none of the above conditions are true, witches default to using a splash potion of harming, that causes magical damage.

Defense

On each AI 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 under water and lacking water breathing, there is a 15% chance of drinking a potion of Water Breathing. This effect lasts for a maximum of 3 minutes.
 * When on fire or the last damage taken in the past 2 seconds was fire damage, and lacking Fire Resistance, 15% chance of drinking a potion of Fire Resistance. This effect lasts for a maximum of 3 minutes.
 * If damaged, 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. This effect lasts for a maximum of 3 minutes.

Witches are 85% resistant to some types of magical damage, including Poison, Instant Damage, Evoker Fangs, and the Thorns enchantment.

Raids
Witches that spawn during a raid heal illagers that have low health ( and below) with Regeneration (45 seconds) and healing splash potions.

If raiding witches or other mobs kill all the villagers in a village, they celebrate their victory by jumping and laughing.

Witches are immune to Poison and Fatal Poison. Witches can locate targets even if they are behind blocks and are hostile to iron golems.
 * Bedrock Edition

They are the only mobs that fight back against ghasts when hit by their fireballs. Witches can be attacked by undead mobs if they accidentally provoke them using splash potions of poison, weakness, slowness, and harming.

During raids, they spawn at wave 4.

Particles
Witches rarely (1.5% each second) spawn from 10 to 45 purple magic particles above their heads. These particles are named Witch or Witchspell.

Data values
Witches have entity data associated with them that contain various properties of the mob.

Trivia

 * If a witch hits another witch with a potion, the witch who is hit becomes angry and targets the other witch, however it is impossible for either witch to kill the other (without help from a player), 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 drops possible (6 items total) without a Looting enchantment are 1 in 81 (1.2%).
 * Witches throw healing potions at illagers even if they attack them.
 * 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.
 * The player can see the short mouth of a witch from the side, only if they are drinking a potion and lifting their nose.
 * 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 based on Slavic folklore called Baba Yaga, which is why it lives in a swamp hut.
 * A witch's nose slightly waves 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 hat layer is also seen in the vindicator and evoker's texture file but unused.
 * The hat models also used to exist in the nitwit, librarian, and priest's texture before the Village and Pillage update.