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This article is about damage in Minecraft. For information on health(bar), see Health.

Damage represents injury from attacks or natural causes.

Health

Main article: Health

Players and mobs have a supply of health points, which are reduced when they are injured. Each health point is "half a heart", shown as 1♥.

Players have 20♥ × 10 health points, but may vary by status effects. Mobs have varying numbers of health points, but these are not generally visible to players. However, when riding mobs, a player can see their mount's health, and a wolf's health is visible in its tail angle.

Damage

Damage from attacks or natural causes will subtract from a player or mob's current health. When their health reaches zero, they die. Players can also recover health naturally by having their hunger at least 18 (🍗 × 9) and /gamerule naturalRegeneration is true, or through status effects. Most mobs do not recover health except through status effects, but horses and dogs can be healed by feeding them.

Armor will absorb some of the damage that would have been done to its wearer, but will take damage itself in the process.

Damage to tools and armor can be viewed in the item's tooltip by pressing the debug key combination F3 + H.

Stored and displayed

Health and damage are stored as floating-point numbers in units of half-hearts. When displaying the HUD, fractional values are rounded up to the next integer.

Dealing damage

Players can deal damage by hitting most entities with targets at close (melee) range. An "unarmed" attack only does 1♥[Java and Legacy Console editions only] damage or 2♥[Bedrock Edition only][1], but weapons and certain tools do more:

  • Swords are crafted for this purpose. While swords do not extend attack range, they deal significantly more damage than any other item or tool except axes.‌[Java Edition only]
  • Axes, pickaxes, and shovels also deal more damage than bare fists. Also, axes deal the most damage, but have the slowest attack speed. ‌[Java Edition only]
  • Tridents can be used melee or ranged. They are a balanced weapon, but they can not be crafted.
  • Any other item is equivalent to fists and does the same damage. This includes hoes, and hitting something directly with a bow or held arrow.
  • While falling, melee attacks deal a critical hit (150% of the weapon's damage including potion effects, but before enchantments are applied, rounded down to the nearest hit point).

There are a few ranged weapons in the game:

  • Arrows are shot by holding and releasing use when wielding a bow, and deal a certain amount of damage, depending on the "charge" of the bow (see below).
  • Snowballs only inflict damage on blazes, while eggs don't deal damage to mobs. Both still knock mobs back as if they had been damaged.
  • Splash potions can be thrown, inflicting various effects depending on the potion.
  • Lingering potions can be thrown, creating a cloud that inflicts various effects depending on the potion.
  • Ender pearls don't deal damage to mobs or players.
  • Fishing rods cannot be used to damage mobs directly. However, fishing rods can knock entities back or reel them in.

The below values detail the damage dealt per hit using various weapons. Critical hits do extra damage. (The values listed here only apply to the Java Edition)

Tool Attack speed Attack damage Damage/Second (DPS)
Sword 1.6 4♥♥ 4♥♥ 5♥♥♥ 6♥♥♥ 7♥♥♥♥ 8♥♥♥♥ 6.4 6.4 8 9.6 11.2 12.8
Trident 1.1 9♥♥♥♥♥ 9.9
Shovel 1 2.5♥ × 1.25 2.5♥ × 1.25 3.5♥ × 1.75 4.5♥ × 2.25 5.5♥ × 2.75 6.5♥ × 3.25 2.5 2.5 3.5 4.5 5.5 6.5
Pickaxe 1.2 2♥ 2♥ 3♥♥ 4♥♥ 5♥♥♥ 6♥♥♥ 2.4 2.4 3.6 4.8 6 7.2
Axe 0.8 1 0.8 0.9 1 1 7♥♥♥♥ 7♥♥♥♥ 9♥♥♥♥♥ 9♥♥♥♥♥ 9♥♥♥♥♥ 10♥♥♥♥♥ 5.6 7 7.2 8.1 9 10
Hoe 1 1 2 3 4 4 1♥ 1 1 2 3[note 1] 4[note 1] 4[note 1]
Other 4 1♥ 4[note 1]
  1. a b c d Against a single target, DPS is effectively limited to 2 due to damage immunity.

Attack cooldown

Information icon
This feature is exclusive to Java Edition. 
AttackIndicatorCrosshair

Attack indicator (crosshair), empty and charged

AttackIndicatorHotbar

Attack indicator (hotbar), empty and charged

Attacking too quickly will reduce the strength of attacks. The base damage done (as a fraction of the full possible damage) depends on the time between attacks, which is also reflected in the height of the held weapon on screen and the attack indicator bar (which is configurable in the options menu):

Item Time (seconds)
0.00 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20 0.25 0.30 0.35 0.40 0.45 0.50 0.55 0.60 0.65 0.70 0.75 0.80 0.85 0.90 0.95 1.00 1.05 1.10 1.15 1.20 1.25
Sword 20.13% 21.15% 23.20% 26.27% 30.37% 35.49% 41.63% 48.80% 56.99% 66.21% 76.45% 87.71% 100%
Trident 20.06% 20.54% 21.51% 22.96% 24.90% 27.32% 30.22% 33.61% 37.48% 41.84% 46.68% 52.00% 57.81% 64.10% 70.88% 78.14% 85.88% 94.11% 100%
Shovel 20.05% 20.45% 21.25% 22.45% 24.05% 26.05% 28.45% 31.25% 34.45% 38.05% 42.05% 46.45% 51.25% 56.45% 62.05% 68.05% 74.45% 81.25% 88.45% 96.05% 100%
Pickaxe 20.07% 20.65% 21.80% 23.53% 25.83% 28.71% 32.17% 36.20% 40.81% 45.99% 51.75% 58.09% 65.00% 72.49% 80.55% 89.19% 98.41% 100%
Axe 20.03% 20.29% 20.80% 21.57% 22.59% 23.87% 25.41% 27.20% 29.25% 31.55% 34.11% 36.93% 40.00% 43.33% 46.91% 50.75% 54.85% 59.20% 63.81% 68.67% 73.79% 79.17% 84.80% 90.69% 96.83% 100%
20.05% 20.45% 21.25% 22.45% 24.05% 26.05% 28.45% 31.25% 34.45% 38.05% 42.05% 46.45% 51.25% 56.45% 62.05% 68.05% 74.45% 81.25% 88.45% 96.05% 100%
20.04% 20.36% 21.01% 21.98% 23.28% 24.90% 26.84% 29.11% 31.70% 34.62% 37.86% 41.42% 45.31% 49.52% 54.06% 58.92% 64.10% 69.61% 75.44% 81.60% 88.08% 94.88% 100%
Hoe 20.05% 20.45% 21.25% 22.45% 24.05% 26.05% 28.45% 31.25% 34.45% 38.05% 42.05% 46.45% 51.25% 56.45% 62.05% 68.05% 74.45% 81.25% 88.45% 96.05% 100%
20.20% 21.80% 25.00% 29.80% 36.20% 44.20% 53.80% 65.00% 77.80% 92.20% 100%
20.45% 24.05% 31.25% 42.05% 56.45% 74.45% 96.05% 100%
20.80% 27.20% 40.00% 59.20% 84.80% 100%
Other 20.80% 27.20% 40.00% 59.20% 84.80% 100%

The attackSpeed attribute controls the length of the cooldown time, with the time taken being T = 1 / attackSpeed * 20 ticks. The damage multiplier is then 0.2 + ((t + 0.5) / T) ^ 2 * 0.8, restricted to the range 0.2 – 1, where t is the number of ticks since the last attack or item switch.

Damage done by enchantments (Sharpness, Smite, and Bane of Arthropods) is also reduced, but not as severely (the multiplier is not squared):

Item Time (seconds)
0.00 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20 0.25 0.30 0.35 0.40 0.45 0.50 0.55 0.60 0.65 0.70 0.75 0.80 0.85 0.90 0.95 1.00 1.05 1.10 1.15 1.20 1.25
Sword 4.00% 12.00% 20.00% 28.00% 36.00% 44.00% 52.00% 60.00% 68.00% 76.00% 84.00% 92.00% 100%
Trident 2.75% 8.25% 13.75% 19.25% 24.75% 30.25% 35.75% 41.25% 46.75% 52.25% 57.75% 63.25% 68.75% 74.25% 79.75% 85.25% 90.75% 96.25% 100%
Shovel 2.50% 7.50% 12.50% 17.50% 22.50% 27.50% 32.50% 37.50% 42.50% 47.50% 52.50% 57.50% 62.50% 67.50% 72.50% 77.50% 82.50% 87.50% 92.50% 97.50% 100%
Pickaxe 3.00% 9.00% 15.00% 21.00% 27.00% 33.00% 39.00% 45.00% 51.00% 57.00% 63.00% 69.00% 75.00% 81.00% 87.00% 93.00% 99.00% 100%
Axe 2.00% 6.00% 10.00% 14.00% 18.00% 22.00% 26.00% 30.00% 34.00% 38.00% 42.00% 46.00% 50.00% 54.00% 58.00% 62.00% 66.00% 70.00% 74.00% 78.00% 82.00% 86.00% 90.00% 94.00% 98.00% 100%
2.50% 7.50% 12.50% 17.50% 22.50% 27.50% 32.50% 37.50% 42.50% 47.50% 52.50% 57.50% 62.50% 67.50% 72.50% 77.50% 82.50% 87.50% 92.50% 97.50% 100%
2.25% 6.75% 11.25% 15.75% 20.25% 24.75% 29.25% 33.75% 38.25% 42.75% 47.25% 51.75% 56.25% 60.75% 65.25% 69.75% 74.25% 78.75% 83.25% 87.75% 92.25% 96.75% 100%
Hoe 2.50% 7.50% 12.50% 17.50% 22.50% 27.50% 32.50% 37.50% 42.50% 47.50% 52.50% 57.50% 62.50% 67.50% 72.50% 77.50% 82.50% 87.50% 92.50% 97.50% 100%
5.00% 15.00% 25.00% 35.00% 45.00% 55.00% 65.00% 75.00% 85.00% 95.00% 100%
7.50% 22.50% 37.50% 52.50% 67.50% 82.50% 97.50% 100%
10.00% 30.00% 50.00% 70.00% 90.00% 100%
Other 10.00% 30.00% 50.00% 70.00% 90.00% 100%

Critical Hits

Crits

A critical hit performed on a shorn sheep.

Critical hits are attacks that deal extra damage compared to regular attacks. Critical melee strikes, regardless of the weapon used, cause small star particles to fly out of the target who was critically hit. "Critical arrows", which occur when arrows are fired from a fully charged bow, leave a trail of the same small star particles as they fly through the air. Critical hits affect all damageable entities including players, mobs, paintings, boats and minecarts.

In melee, a critical hit occurs when a player attacks a mob while falling, including while coming down from a jump, but not while jumping up. The attack deals 150% of the attack's base damage (before enchantments or armor are applied).

The requirements for a melee critical hit are (not all can be done at the same time):

  • A player must be falling.
  • A player must not be on the ground.
  • A player must not be on a ladder/vine.
  • A player must not be in water.
  • A player must not be affected by blindness.
  • A player must not be riding an entity.
  • A player must not be sprinting.‌[Java Edition only]
  • A base attack must not be reduced to 84.8% damage or lower due to cooldown.‌[Java Edition only]

Immunity

After sustaining damage from any source, a mob/player will turn red in color for half a second. During this period, any other incoming damage will not be counted against the mob's total health. This immunity only seems to affect combat damage; for example, the player cannot avoid fall damage by taking combat damage just before landing.

For instance, if you attack a mob with a sword repeatedly hitting the attack button, the sword's rate of fire will exceed the mob's allowable rate of incoming damage, and several of the attacks will not damage the mob even if they land. It is recommended to wait for a mob to be hittable again before swinging your sword, making your hits more precise. The tool used won't lose durability after unsuccessful attacks.

However, if an entity is recovering from damage and then receives higher damage, it gets counted. Players are also subject to damage immunity.

Inflicted by Mobs

The damage mobs deal to players is affected by the difficulty of the game. The below values represent the amount of damage taken per hit.

  • This applies only to mobs attacking the player. Mobs attacking other mobs always deal the 'Normal' damage listed, regardless of difficulty.
  • Values for the creeper and ghast assume the player is directly adjacent to the explosion.
  • The damage of slimes and magma cubes depends on their size. Tiny-sized slimes, while hostile, are unable to do damage directly.
  • Mobs deal no damage to players on peaceful.
Mob Difficulty Status effect(s)ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ[edit]
Easy Normal Hard
Bee 2♥ 2♥ 3♥♥ Poison for 10 seconds on Normal difficulty and for 18 seconds on Hard difficulty
Blaze (melee) 4♥♥ 6♥♥♥ 9♥♥♥♥♥ No
Blaze fireball 9♥♥♥♥♥ + fire for 5 seconds No
Cave Spider 2♥ 2♥ 3♥♥ Poison for 7 seconds on Normal difficulty and for 15 seconds on Hard difficulty
Chicken Jockey 2.5♥ × 1.25 3♥♥ 4.5♥ × 2.25 No
Creeper explosion (normal) 22.5♥ × 11.25 43♥ × 21.5 64.5♥ × 32.25 When exploding: No

If having a potion effect when exploding, it leaves an effect cloud with the effect, like a lingering potion.

Creeper explosion (charged) 43.5♥ × 21.75 85♥ × 42.5 127.5♥ × 63.75
Dolphin 2.5♥ × 1.25 3♥♥ 4.5♥ × 2.25 No
Drowned No
Drowned trident (Ranged) 8♥♥♥♥ No
Drowned trident (Melee)‌[BE only] 5♥♥♥ 9♥♥♥♥♥ 12♥ × 6 No
Elder Guardian (Laser) 5♥♥♥ 8♥♥♥♥ 12♥ × 6 Inflicts Mining Fatigue III for 5 minutes on nearby players
Elder Guardian (Spikes) 2♥ 3♥♥
Elder Guardian Ghost (Spikes) 2♥ 3♥♥ No
Ender Dragon (Melee) 6♥♥♥ 10♥♥♥♥♥ 15♥ × 7.5 No
Ender Dragon (Wings) 3♥♥ 5♥♥♥ 7♥♥♥♥ No
Ender Dragon (Breath) 3♥♥ per second Area effect cloud of Instant Damage
Ender Dragon Dragon Fireball 6♥♥♥ per second
Enderman 4.5♥ × 2.25 7♥♥♥♥ 10.5♥ × 5.25 No
Endermite 2♥ 3♥♥ No
Evoker fangs 6♥♥♥ No
Ghast fireball (Impact) 6♥♥♥ No
Ghast fireball (Explosion) 7♥♥♥♥ 12♥ × 6 22.5♥ × 11.25 No
Giant 26♥ × 13 50♥ × 25 75♥ × 37.5 No
Goat 1♥ 2♥ 3♥♥ No
Guardian (Laser) 4♥♥ 6♥♥♥ 9♥♥♥♥♥ No
Guardian (Spikes) 2♥ 3♥♥ No
Hoglin[JE only] 2.5♥ × 1.25 to 5♥♥♥ 3♥♥ to 8♥♥♥♥ 4.5♥ × 2.25 to 12♥ × 6 No
Hoglin (baby)‌[JE only] 0.5♥ × 0.25 0.75♥ × 0.375 No
Hoglin[BE only] 3♥♥ 6♥♥♥ 9♥♥♥♥♥ No
Husk 2.5♥ × 1.25 3♥♥ 4.5♥ × 2.25 Hunger when attacking any mob for 7 × floor of RD seconds
Illusioner arrow 2♥ to 5♥♥♥ 3♥♥ to 5♥♥♥ Throws Blindness spells on the player, if regional difficulty is 2 or greater
Iron Golem 4.75♥ × 2.375 to 11.75♥ × 5.875 7.5♥ × 3.75 to 21.5♥ × 10.75 11.25♥ × 5.625 to 32.25♥ × 16.125 No
The Killer Bunny 5♥♥♥ 8♥♥♥♥ 12♥ × 6 No
Llama spit 1♥ No
Magma Cube (big) 4♥♥ 6♥♥♥ 9♥♥♥♥♥ No
Magma Cube (medium) 3♥♥ 4♥♥ 6♥♥♥ No
Magma Cube (small) 2.5♥ × 1.25 3♥♥ 4.5♥ × 2.25 No
Panda 4♥♥ 6♥♥♥ 9♥♥♥♥♥ No
Phantom[JE only] 2♥ 3♥♥ No
Phantom[BE only] 4♥♥ 6♥♥♥ 9♥♥♥♥♥ No
Piglin arrow[JE only] 3♥♥ to 4♥♥ 4♥♥ No
Piglin arrow[BE only] 1♥ - 5♥♥♥ No
Piglin (Melee with Sword)‌[JE only] 5♥♥♥ 8♥♥♥♥ 12♥ × 6 No
Piglin (Melee without Sword)‌[JE only] 3.5♥ × 1.75 5♥♥♥ 7.5♥ × 3.75 No
Piglin[BE only] 5♥♥♥ 9♥♥♥♥♥ 13♥ × 6.5 No
Piglin Brute 7.5♥ × 3.75 13♥ × 6.5 19.5♥ × 9.75 No
Pillager arrow 3♥♥ to 4♥♥ 4♥♥ No
Polar Bear 4♥♥ 6♥♥♥ 9♥♥♥♥♥ No
Pufferfish 2♥ 3♥♥ Poison for 5 seconds
Ravager (Melee) 7♥♥♥♥ 12♥ × 6 18♥ × 9 No
Ravager (Roar) 4♥♥ 6♥♥♥ 9♥♥♥♥♥ No
Shulker bullet 4♥♥ Levitation for 10 seconds
Silverfish 1♥ No
Skeleton arrow[JE only] 2♥ to 4♥♥ 3♥♥ to 4♥♥ 4♥♥ to 5♥♥♥ No
Skeleton arrow[BE only] 1♥ to 4♥♥, varies with proximity 1♥ to 5♥♥♥, varies with proximity No
Skeleton (melee) 2♥ 3♥♥ No
Skeleton Horseman arrow[JE only] Varies with skeleton bow enchantment No
Skeleton Horseman arrow[BE only] Varies with skeleton bow enchantment No
Slime (big) 3♥♥ 4♥♥ 6♥♥♥ No
Slime (medium) 2♥ 3♥♥ No
Slime (small) 0♥ No
Spider 2♥ 3♥♥ No, but can spawn with effects
Spider Jockey (spider) 2♥ 3♥♥ No, but can spawn with effects
Spider Jockey arrow[JE only] 3♥♥ to 5♥♥♥ No
Spider Jockey arrow[BE only] Damage varies with proximity No
Stray arrow[JE only] 3♥♥ to 5♥♥♥ Slowness for 30 seconds when their tipped arrow hits any mob (including another stray)
Stray arrow[BE only] Damage varies with proximity
Stray (melee) 2♥ 3♥♥ No
Trader Llama spit 1♥ No
Vex 5.5♥ × 2.75 9♥♥♥♥♥ 13.5♥ × 6.75 No
Vindicator 7.5♥ × 3.75 13♥ × 6.5 19.5♥ × 9.75 No
Warden (Melee) 16♥ × 8 30♥ × 15 45♥ × 22.5 No
Warden (Ranged) 6♥♥♥ 10♥♥♥♥♥ 15♥ × 7.5 No
Witch Deals damage by throwing potions Throws splash potions of Poison, Instant Damage, Slowness, and Weakness
Wither Skeleton 5♥♥♥ 8♥♥♥♥ 12♥ × 6 Wither for 10 seconds
Wither (birth explosion) 35.5♥ × 17.75 69♥ × 34.5 103.5♥ × 51.75 No
Wither Skull 8♥♥♥♥ 8♥♥♥♥ Wither II for 10 seconds on Normal difficulty and 40 seconds on Hard difficulty
Wither (dash attack)
[BE only]
15♥ × 7.5 No
Wolf (hostile) 3♥♥ 4♥♥ 6♥♥♥ No
Wolf (tamed) 4♥♥ No
Zoglin 2.5♥ × 1.25 to 5♥♥♥ 3♥♥ to 8♥♥♥♥ 4.5♥ × 2.25 to 12♥ × 6 No
Zoglin (baby) 0.5♥ × 0.25 0.75♥ × 0.375 No
Zombie 2.5♥ × 1.25 3♥♥ 4.5♥ × 2.25 No
Zombified Piglin 5♥♥♥ 8♥♥♥♥ 12♥ × 6 No
Zombie Villager 2.5♥ × 1.25 3♥♥ 4.5♥ × 2.25 No

Knockback

When receiving damage from players, mobs, or most projectiles, players and mobs will also be knocked back. The resulting disorientation and loss of control should not be underestimated, as it is possible to be knocked back over a cliff or into lava, both of which are potentially fatal.

A sprinting attack causes extra knockback. A thrown egg or snowball also causes knockback, despite not damaging most mobs. Entities riding another entity never receive any knockback when attacked.

Natural damage

Besides mob attacks, players can take damage from several other sources.

Lightning damage

Lightning striking on or near the player will do 5♥♥♥ damage, which can be reduced with armor. Lightning strikes on the player are very rare, and only occur during thunderstorms. Players and mobs that get hit by lightning will be set on fire, but will be quickly put out from the rain during a thunderstorm.

Fall damage

Most mobs receive damage when falling from excessive heights. Armor itself does not reduce fall damage, however the enchantments and status effect Feather Falling and Protection, Slow Falling do. Below is a table which shows which mobs who are immune to fall damage or not.

Mob Immune to fall damage
Hostile and neutral mobs
Blaze

Chicken Jockey

Ender Dragon Snow Golem Ghast

Iron Golem

Magma Cube

Vex

Wither

Yes
Creeper

Enderman

Endermite

Evoker

Guardian

Silverfish

Skeleton

Slimes

Spider

Vindicator Human Witch

Zombie

Zombie Pigman

No
Shulker Teleports when the block it stands on gets removed
Passive mobs (animals)
Bat

Chicken

Ocelot

Parrot

Yes
Cow

Pig

Polar Bear

Rabbit

Sheep

Squid

Villager

Wolf

No
Horse Treat as all falls is half of the actual distance

Fall damage is calculated based on distance fallen rather than on velocity when hitting the ground. The distance is accumulated based on change in position each tick and rising does not reduce the accumulator, thus an entity bouncing in mid-air on the end of a lead will accumulate fatal amounts of fall distance despite never being more than a few blocks above the ground.

Fall damage is 1♥ for each block of fall distance after the third. Thus, falling 4 blocks causes 1♥ damage, 2♥ damage for 5 blocks, and so forth. Assuming full health (but no Feather Falling or relevant status effects), a 23 block fall should be fatal (23 - 3 = 20♥ × 10 of damage), but due to the way fall distance is calculated, a 23.5 block fall is required instead.[note 1]

Falling from smaller damaging heights (4-7 blocks) will play a thud; larger heights (8+) give a click/cracking sound.

In some cases, it is possible to avoid falling or otherwise survive a fall.

  • Sneaking will prevent the player from falling off a drop of one block or greater.
  • Entering or being in water (when not in a boat) resets fall distance.
    • This typically includes falling into water of any depth.
  • Being in the area of effect of cobwebs resets fall distance.
  • Being in lava reduces fall distance by half each tick.
  • Flying using elytra such that the vertical movement is upwards, level, or less than 0.5 blocks per tick downwards resets fall distance to 1 block.
  • Moving into a ladder or vine's area of effect resets the fall damage. This also applies to trapdoors acting as a ladder.
    • Falling onto the top of a ladder will not reset fall distance and counts as hitting the ground.
    • Horses are unaffected by ladders and vines, and so their fall distance is not reset.
    • Spiders climbing a block count the block as a "ladder" for this purpose.
  • An entity riding another entity does not accumulate fall distance. However, when the ridden entity takes fall damage it damages all riders for the same fall distance.
  • A minecart's fall distance is reset when landing on rails.
  • Boats do not accumulate fall distance while in water deeper than 1 block.
  • Teleporting due to a thrown ender pearl resets fall distance, however the teleportation itself causes 5♥♥♥ fall damage to players.
  • Wearing armor that is enchanted with Feather Falling or Protection reduces fall damage based on the level of the enchantment.
  • Having the Jump Boost status effect reduces the effective fall distance by 1 block per level, e.g. falling 5 blocks with Jump Boost II counts as having fallen only 3.
  • Slime blocks negate all fall damage, but will send the entity bouncing into the air.
    • This does not apply to players sneaking.
  • Hay bales decrease fall damage to 20% of normal.
  • Beds decrease fall damage to 50% of normal, and causes the entity to bounce into the air.
  1. The last tick of fall distance isn't added in when calculating fall damage. For certain heights, including 23-block falls, this discrepancy is enough to avoid an entire 1♥ of damage.

Drowning

Bubbles

The oxygen bar.

When a player runs out of air underwater, they will start drowning and will take approximately 2♥ per second.[note 1]

Mobs can drown as well, though they usually do not, as any mob that can drown in water will attempt to swim upward. A squid or any kind of fish will die in air instead of in water, while iron golems, guardians, turtles and drowned will not drown in any situation. Withers can drown, but break blocks around them (including water) upon taking damage. Normally, mobs can remain underwater for 15 seconds before their air supply fully depletes. They can remain underwater for 16 seconds before actually beginning to take damage. The Water Breathing status effect stops the air meter from depleting, and Respiration equipment adds, on average, an additional 16 seconds per level. Neither effect affects squids.[more information needed] A zombie will not take damage, but instead will begin the process of converting to a drowned mob‌[Java and Bedrock editions only] when continuously in water for 30 seconds, and these mobs do not drown.

When the player is no longer submerged in water, their oxygen bar will gradually regenerate, taking a few seconds to become full‌[Java and Bedrock editions, and Minecraft Education only]. In the Legacy Console Edition, the player’s oxygen bar is immediately replenished to the brim once the player is not submerged in water.

Placing a torch[Legacy Console Edition only] or using an empty bucket on a water block creates a temporary air block, which can be used for the same effect.

In Pocket Edition Alpha 0.8.0, the player actually has 11 air bubbles but once submerged, the 11th bubble instantly disappears.

  1. Damage is taken when air supply value reaches -20. Usually air supply value decreases each tick, and resets to 0, after damaging player. Respiration gives a chance for air supply to not decrease itself per tick. Chance is x/(x + 1), where x is the level of enchantment.

Anvil

A falling anvil deals 2♥ per block fallen after the first (e.g., an anvil that falls 4 blocks will deal 6♥♥♥ damage). The damage is capped at 40♥ × 20, no matter how far the anvil falls. Wearing a helmet will reduce the damage by 25%, but reduces many points of durability on the helmet.

Thorns Enchantment

When a player or mob deals melee or projectile damage to a player or mob that is wearing Thorns-enchanted armor, the attacker will also be damaged. The amount varies with the enchantment level. (Level * 15% chance of inflicting 1♥–4♥♥ damage, or Level - 10 damage if level is over 10)

Suffocation

Suffocation occurs when a player or a mob is unable to breathe due to its head being stuck inside a solid block, causing the player or mob to receive 1♥ damage every half-second. When inside a block, the player can easily step out of it as the blocks do not prevent their movement.

The player's screen will be a darkened form of the block the player is suffocating in. When the player is in third person, the view will automatically switch to first person.‌[Java and Legacy Console editions only]

The usual ways a mob can get suffocated are:

  • Sand, gravel or concrete powder falling into the space the entity occupies.
  • Riding a pig, boat, or minecart, or throwing an ender pearl into a one-block-high space.
  • Riding a horse into a two-block-high space.
  • Standing where a tree just grew from a sapling, or where a huge mushroom just grew from a mushroom.
  • Standing where an end gateway appeared after killing the dragon.
  • Having a solid block pushed into the mob's head with a piston.
  • Sleeping in a bed surrounded by blocks and/or having a solid block above it.
  • Being teleported or filled into a block via commands.
  • When playing on a distant server, sometimes broken blocks can reappear due to lag, and if the player moves where the block respawned, it can provoke suffocation (for example, chopping down a tree by moving right below the trunk).
  • When water and lava meet, and create a cobblestone, stone, or obsidian block on the entity's head.
  • Standing where a world border getting into more than 5 blocks. (can be changed with /worldborder damage buffer)
  • Summoning an entity inside a block through spawn eggs, commands, or with a golem/wither structure laying down.

The maxEntityCramming gamerule defines the maximum number, above which a player or mob will take 3♥♥ suffocation damage every half-second, as long as that player or mob is pushing greater than that number of other entities. Pushable entities include players, mobs, boats and minecarts.

As of Pocket Edition Alpha 0.16.0, the player can "drown" in lava and while suffocating in a block (the oxygen bar appears); is affected by water breathing potion, however lava or suffocation will usually kill the player before oxygen runs out.[verify]

Starvation

When the hunger bar becomes empty (🍗🍗🍗🍗🍗🍗🍗🍗🍗🍗), the player will take 1♥ damage every four seconds. The player stops taking starvation damage when the player eats food or the health bar drops to 10♥♥♥♥♥ on Easy difficulty or 1♥ on Normal difficulty. In Hard difficulty and on Hardcore mode, the damage will not stop until the player starves to death or eats something.

Cactus

Players and mobs take 1♥ damage every half-second that they are touching a cactus.

Magma Block

Mobs without fire immunity and players take 1♥ damage every half-second if they are walking on magma blocks. This can be avoided by having the Fire Resistance effect, sneaking, or wearing a Frost Walker-enchanted boots.

Fire

Mobs and players without fire immunity take 1♥ damage every half-second if they are standing on fire, and take 1♥ damage every second if they are on fire but not standing on fire unless extinguished by water. This can be avoided by having the Fire Resistance effect.

Lava

Lava is a dangerous natural occurrence. Players and mobs will take damage from contact with lava at a rate of 4♥♥ every half-second, and stay on fire even if they exit it, causing 1♥ point per hit for 15 hits or more (15♥ × 7.5 total damage) unless extinguished by water or nullified by Fire Resistance.

Status effects

Main article: Status effect

Poison

Cave spiders will poison players when they bite (except on easy difficulty). Eating a spider eye, poisonous potato, or pufferfish; or drinking/being hit by a potion of Poison will give the same result. While poisoned, the hearts in the health meter turn from ♥ × 10 (♥ × 10 on Hardcore) to an olive green (♥ × 10)(♥ × 10 on Hardcore) and the player takes 1♥ every 25 ticks (1.25 seconds) on level I. See Status effect#Poison for a table for higher levels. The Poison itself cannot kill the player, but it can reduce them to half a heart (♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥), thus leaving them very vulnerable to damage from other sources.

Wither

Withers and wither skeletons will inflict the Wither effect with their attacks. (The wither boss's skulls do not inflict the effect on easy difficulty.) This will darken the health bar to ♥ × 10 on Survival and ♥ × 10 on Hardcore, while inflicting damage over time. The effect deals 1♥ every 2 seconds (40 ticks) for the wither skeleton's attack (level I), and every second for the Wither's skulls. Unlike Poison, withering can kill on any difficulty level, and the darkened health bar makes it harder to keep track of the damage.

The Void

Main article: The Void

If one were to break through the bedrock barrier found at the bottom of worlds, the void can be seen. Players in the void below the Y-axis of -64 will take damage at a rate of about 4♥♥ per half-second. The player will usually die from falling in the void, even in creative mode‌[Java Edition only], but the player may be saved by throwing an ender pearl before they fall below the Y-axis of -64. In Pocket Edition, the player will take damage at any negative Y-axis.

Falling into the void in the End is more likely, and is the only way to access the void in survival mode, and in Legacy Console Edition (there the bottom bedrock layer is unbreakable, even in creative) so players must be cautious when entering the End.

By using /effect to give yourself Regeneration 5+ or Instant Health, you can fall infinitely into the void without dying until the game crashes.

Explosions

Main article: Explosion

Firework rocket explosion

Firework rocket explosions can deal damage to entities.

If a rocket has been crafted with a firework star, its explosion will deal damage within a radius of about 412 blocks. At the edge of the radius, it will deal only 1♥ damage, but this increases as you get closer until the explosion maxes out at its strongest: 5♥♥♥ damage at distances of 2 blocks or less.

If a rocket crafted with a firework star is used to provide a speed boost while gliding with elytra, it will explode as it is used, dealing 7♥♥♥♥ damage to the player.

Achievements

Icon Achievement In-game description Actual requirements (if different) Gamerscore earned Trophy type (PS4)
PS4 Other
Monster HunterAttack and destroy a monster.Kill a hostile mob or one of the following neutral mobs: an enderman, a piglin, a zombified piglin, a spider, or a cave spider.15GBronze
Sniper DuelKill a Skeleton with an arrow from more than 50 meters.Use a launched arrow to kill a skeleton, spider jockey, wither skeleton, or a stray from 50 or more blocks away, horizontally.30GBronze
OverkillDeal nine hearts of damage in a single hit.Damage can be dealt to any mob, even those that do not have nine hearts of health overall.30GBronze
The Beginning.Kill the WitherBe within a 100.9×100.9×203.5 cuboid centered on the Wither when it drops the nether star.40GSilver
ArcherKill a creeper with arrows.10GBronze

Advancements

Icon Advancement In-game description Parent Actual requirements (if different) Resource location
Advancement-fancy-rawReturn to Sender
Destroy a Ghast with a fireball NetherKill a ghast by deflecting a ghast fireball back into it via hitting or shooting a projectile at the fireball.nether/return_to_sender
Advancement-fancy-rawUneasy Alliance
Rescue a Ghast from the Nether, bring it safely home to the Overworld... and then kill it Return to SenderKill a ghast while the player is in the Overworld.nether/uneasy_alliance
Advancement-plain-rawInvicon Nether StarWithering Heights
Summon the Wither Spooky Scary SkeletonBe within a 100.9×100.9×103.5 cuboid centered on the wither when it is spawned.nether/summon_wither
Advancement-plain-rawMonster Hunter
Kill any hostile monster AdventureKill one of these 34 mobs: Only the riders of the chicken jockeys and skeleton horsemen are counted in this advancement. Other mobs may be killed, but are ignored for this advancement.adventure/kill_a_mob
Advancement-plain-rawTake Aim
Shoot something with an Arrow Monster HunterUsing a bow or a crossbow, shoot an entity with an arrow, tipped arrow, or spectral arrow.adventure/shoot_arrow
Advancement-fancy-rawSniper Duel
Kill a Skeleton from at least 50 meters away Take AimBe at least 50 blocks away horizontally when a skeleton is killed by an arrow after the player has attacked it once.adventure/sniper_duel

Video

Damage/video

Note: This video is outdated; as of 1.9, swords deal less damage, meaning that diamond swords now deal 11♥ × 5.5 damage (5 1/2 hearts) instead of 12♥ × 6 (6 hearts), like the video shows. Also, unlike what the video says, fully-charged bows do not always deal 10♥♥♥♥♥; they usually deal 9♥♥♥♥♥, and will only rarely deal 10♥♥♥♥♥.

Critical hit/video

History

classic
August 18, 2009First showcased fall damage.
0.24 (August 25, 2009)You can now only hold your breath underwater for 15 seconds. At this time, the oxygen bar had a different look than it does currently, displaying as "Oxygen: 100%."
Lava now causes damage.
0.24 (August 27, 2009)Fall damage is now much harsher.
0.24_SURVIVAL_TESTMobs and the player now jump back when damage is taken.
Added arrows which cause damage when they hit a player.
0.25 (September 3, 2009)Arrows deal more damage.
indev
?Before suffocation was implemented, players that were covered by blocks could see through dirt and stone. Suffocation was added after Notch discovered that players were abusing this exploit to find underground caves and hollowed carvings. The patch added suffocation damage and made the player unable to see anything when experiencing it. However, variations of this glitch are still possible to perform even in the current version of the game.
In Survival mode, eating a red mushroom would deal the player 3♥♥.
infdev
?The oxygen bar changed it's look from "Oxygen: 100%" to "Bubbles".
alpha
v1.0.4Players no longer suffocate when riding in a minecart.
beta
1.5Unarmed damage was increased from 1♥ to 2♥.
July 26, 2011Notch first teased how knockback would work.
1.8?Unarmed damage was decreased from 2♥ to 1♥.
The Adventure Update extended the combat system with critical hits, sprinting (for knockback) and blocking.
Hunger system added: Health is no longer restored directly by eating. Instead, it recovers slowly when well-fed, but is lost if starving.
Poison added, which deals damage, until the player or mob's health is 1♥.
release
1.0.0Beta 1.9 PrereleaseArmor no longer prevents certain types of damage.
Beta 1.9 Prerelease 3Sword damage was decreased (a diamond sword went from 5 hearts to 3.5 hearts damage).
Beta 1.9 Prerelease 4Enchantments added, some of which increase damage you deal or decrease damage dealt to you.
RC1The sound of the player taking damage was changed from a masculine oof to painful crunching sound. These were changed to remove the restriction that all avatars have a male voice, regardless of the gender of the character depicted in the skin.
1.3.112w25aRemoved the downwards knockback while drowning.
12w30aExplosions damage the player different amounts in different difficulties, and the player doesn't take any damage from explosions on Peaceful.
1.3.2?Mobs no longer shove the player when moving into them.
1.4.212w32aMobs can hold weapons, making them deal more damage. Also, the crunching noise from 1.0.0 was changed, sounding more like a slap rather than a bone-breaking punch. The fall damage noise was also changed from a crunch to a dull, thumping noise.
12w34aWither effect added, which deals damage. Unlike Poison, withering can kill players or other mobs.
1.6.2?Instead of replacing the barehanded damage (1♥), swords, shovels, pickaxes and axes now add their damage onto the barehanded damage, which results in all tools doing 1♥ more damage than before.
1.814w32aThe health bar has a new animation for damage that shows how many hearts are lost. (Not new, merely a revived feature that was lost after 1.2.5).
1.915w34aAdded attack cooldown.
15w34cTool damages and cooldowns adjusted.
Item Damage
Swords 5♥♥♥ 6♥♥♥ 7♥♥♥♥ 8♥♥♥♥
Axes [note 1] 4♥♥ 5♥♥♥ 6♥♥♥ 7♥♥♥♥
Pickaxes [note 1] 3♥♥ 4♥♥ 5♥♥♥ 6♥♥♥
Shovels [note 1] 2♥ 3♥♥ 4♥♥ 5♥♥♥
  1. a b c dealing damage with an axe, pick, or shovel decreases its durability by 2.
15w35aTool damages and cooldowns adjusted again.
15w47bAdded sounds for critical hits, fully-charged and not-fully-charged attacks, blocked attacks, sweep attacks and dealing knockback.
16w02aCooldown damage reduction formula adjusted, reduction is now linear 50%–100% rather than quadratic 0%–100%.
16w05aCooldown damage reduction formula adjusted again, reduction is now quadratic 20%–100%.
1.1318w07aAdded a new weapon: tridents. These can be either thrown or used in melee combat, and will deal 9♥♥♥♥♥ damage.
Pocket Edition Alpha
0.2.0Added Survival mode and mobs, making damage possible.
0.12.1build 1Added critical hits.
Punch damage is now added to damage from swords, axes, pickaxes, and shovels.
build 12Critical hits now have more particles.

Trivia

  • Critical hits can be done while reflecting a ghast fireball, but won't change the damage or speed of it.
  • In Creative mode, attacking a mob while flying after having descended will score a critical hit.
  • In Console Edition, the player can only take void damage in the End.
  • Quitting the game will reset the fall damage that will be dealt to the player.
  • Maximum damage dealable by player in survival is 35♥ × 17.5: 9♥♥♥♥♥ from a stone, iron, or diamond axe + 6♥♥♥ from Strength II, all × 1.5♥ × 0.75 with critical, + 12.5♥ × 6.25 damage from Smite V on an undead target, or Bane of Arthropods V on an arthropod. The maximum on a non-undead non-arthropod target is only 25.5♥ × 12.75: 9♥♥♥♥♥ from a stone, iron, or diamond axe + 6♥♥♥ from Strength II, all × 1.5♥ × 0.75 with critical, + 3♥♥ damage from Sharpness V. A full set of Protection IV diamond armor would reduce the 25.5♥ × 12.75 damage to 4.1769♥ × 2.08845.
  • With all possible reductions to fall damage currently available in Survival (landing on a hay bale, Feather Falling IV boots, Protection IV on other armor pieces, and Resistance II from a beacon) the maximum height the player can fall while surviving without Absorption is a little over 800 blocks.
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