NBT Tags for Wither Boss in Minecraft (Java Edition 1.10)

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) 1.10.

Background

In Minecraft Java Edition 1.10, the entity value for a wither boss is WitherBoss. The WitherBoss entity has a unique set of data tags that can be used in Minecraft commands such as: /summon, /entitydata, /give, /fill, /setblock, /testfor.

What are NBT tags (formerly called Data Tags)?

NBT tags allow you to set certain properties of an entity (such as WitherBoss). 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 WitherBoss in Minecraft Java Edition (PC/Mac) 1.10:

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 /entitydata
CustomName	name (The name to assign to the wither boss. If the name has spaces, you need to surrounded the name value in "".) Example {CustomName:Destruction} {CustomName:"The Destroyer"}	/summon /entitydata
Health	number (The number of health points the wither boss has) Example {Health:25.0f}	/summon /entitydata
AbsorptionAmount	number (The number of absorption health points the wither boss has) Example {AbsorptionAmount:2.0f}	/summon /entitydata
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 /entitydata
PersistenceRequired	0 (The wither boss will despawn naturally) 1 (The wither boss won't despawn) Example {PersistenceRequired:1}	/summon /entitydata
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 /entitydata
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 /entitydata
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 /entitydata
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 /entitydata
Air	ticks (The number of game ticks the wither boss has air left for) Example {Air:120}	/summon /entitydata
UUIDLeast	A number that specifies the right half of the UUID for the wither boss (use UUIDLeast and UUIDMost to target/find a particular wither boss in the game) Example {UUIDLeast:-6645587150281567948L}	/summon /entitydata
UUIDMost	A number that specifies the left half of the UUID for the wither boss (use UUIDLeast and UUIDMost to target/find a particular wither boss in the game) Example {UUIDMost:4420078606457655279L}	/summon /entitydata
id	WitherBoss (The entity value used to represent a wither boss in the EntityTag or Passengers tag) Example {id:WitherBoss}	/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 /entitydata

NBT Tag Examples

To summon a wither boss that is named Destruction:

/summon WitherBoss ~ ~ ~ {CustomName:Destruction}

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

/summon WitherBoss ~ ~ ~ {CustomName:Destruction, NoAI:1}

To summon a wither boss that has 4 custom drops (3 redstone, 1 gold horse armor, 2 iron ingot and 7 gold ingot). Use a command block to run this command:

/summon WitherBoss ~ ~1 ~ {ArmorItems:[{Count:3,id:redstone}, {Count:1,id:golden_horse_armor}, {Count:2,id:iron_ingot}, {Count:7,id:gold_ingot}], ArmorDropChances:[1.0f,1.0f,1.0f,1.0f]}

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=WitherBoss value, you can target wither bosses:

@e[type=WitherBoss]

You can also add a radius value to target wither bosses within a certain radius of blocks (for example, r=5 lets you target wither bosses within a 5 block radius of where the command is run):

@e[type=WitherBoss,r=5]

Target Selector Examples

To give all wither bosses the name Destruction with a 5 block radius:

/entitydata @e[type=WitherBoss,r=5] {CustomName:Destruction}

To test for all wither bosses within a 50 block radius:

/testfor @e[type=WitherBoss,r=50]

To kill all wither bosses:

/kill @e[type=WitherBoss]

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: