NBT Tags for Wither Boss in Minecraft (Java Edition 1.16/1.17/1.18/1.19/1.20)

This Minecraft tutorial explains the NBT tags (formerly called data tags) that you can use for a wither boss in Minecraft Java Edition (PC/Mac) 1.16, 1.17, 1.18, 1.19 and 1.20.

Background

In Minecraft Java Edition 1.16, 1.17, 1.18, 1.19 and 1.20, the entity value for a wither boss is wither. The wither entity has a unique set of data tags that can be used in Minecraft commands such as: /summon and /data.

What are NBT tags (formerly called Data Tags)?

NBT tags allow you to set certain properties of an entity (such as wither). The NBT tag is always surrounded in {} such as {NoAI:1}. If there is more than one NBT tag used in a game command, the NBT tags are separated by a comma such as {NoAI:1, CustomName:"\"Destruction\""}.

List of NBT Tags

Here is a list of the NBT tags that you can use for wither in Minecraft Java Edition (PC/Mac) 1.16, 1.17, 1.18, 1.19 and 1.20:

NBT Tag	Value (Description)	Works With
Invul	ticks (The number of game ticks until the invincibility shield for the wither boss wears off) Example {Invul:2000}	/summon /data
CustomName	name (The name to assign to the wither boss) Example {CustomName:"\"Destruction\""}	/summon /data
Health	number (The number of health points the wither boss has) Example {Health:25.0f}	/summon /data
AbsorptionAmount	number (The number of absorption health points the wither boss has) Example {AbsorptionAmount:2.0f}	/summon /data
Invulnerable	0 (The wither boss will take damage like normal) 1 (The wither boss will not take any damage from attacks or physical surroundings) Example {Invulnerable:1}	/summon /data
PersistenceRequired	0 (The wither boss will despawn naturally) 1 (The wither boss won't despawn) Example {PersistenceRequired:1}	/summon /data
NoAI	0 (The wither boss will have artificial intelligence and will move/behave like normal) 1 (The wither boss will have no artificial intelligence and will appear motionless) Example {NoAI:1}	/summon /data
Silent	0 (The wither boss will make its usual noises in the game) 1 (The wither boss will not make any noise in the game) Example {Silent:1}	/summon /data
Fire	ticks (The number of game ticks until the wither boss is no longer on fire - there are 20 ticks in a second) Example {Fire:60}	/summon /data
PortalCooldown	ticks (The number of game ticks until the wither boss can go through a portal again - there are 20 ticks in a second) Example {PortalCooldown:120}	/summon /data
Air	ticks (The number of game ticks the wither boss has air left for) Example {Air:120}	/summon /data
id	wither (The entity value used to represent a wither boss in the EntityTag or Passengers tag) Example {id:wither}	/summon /give
Passengers	The mob that is riding on the wither boss. Use the entity value for the passenger mob Example of skeleton as passenger Passengers:[{id:skeleton}]	/summon /data

NBT Tag Examples

To summon a wither boss that is named Destruction:

/summon wither ~ ~ ~ {CustomName:"\"Destruction\""}

To summon a wither boss that is named Destruction and has no artificial intelligence:

/summon wither ~ ~ ~ {CustomName:"\"Destruction\"", NoAI:1}

Target Selectors

Before we finish discussing data tags, let's quickly explore how to use the @e target selector. The @e target selector allows you to target entities in your commands. If you use the type=wither value, you can target wither bosses:

@e[type=wither]

Target Selector Examples

To change the name of the nearest wither boss to Destruction:

/data merge entity @e[type=wither,limit=1,sort=nearest] {CustomName:"\"Destruction\""}

To kill all wither bosses:

/kill @e[type=wither]

Next, learn how to use the game commands in Minecraft.

Command Examples

Here are some game command examples for a wither boss in Minecraft:

Command Generators

If you need help, you can use these tools to automatically generate commands for you: