Darkness in Minecraft

This Minecraft tutorial explains the Darkness effect with screenshots and step-by-step instructions.

Supported Platforms

The Darkness effect is available in the following versions of Minecraft:

Platform	Supported (Version*)
Java Edition (PC/Mac)	Yes (1.19)
Pocket Edition (PE)	Yes (1.19.0)
Xbox 360	No
Xbox One	Yes (1.19.0)
PS3	No
PS4	Yes (1.19.0)
Wii U	No
Nintendo Switch	Yes (1.19.1)
Windows 10 Edition	Yes (1.19.0)
Education Edition	No

* The version that it was added or removed, if applicable.
NOTE: Pocket Edition (PE), Xbox One, PS4, Nintendo Switch, and Windows 10 Edition are now called Bedrock Edition. We will continue to show them individually for version history.

Background

Darkness is a new status effect that was introduced in the Wild Update. This effect is inflicted by the Warden when you are nearby.

In periodic pulses, the Darkness effect will lower the overall brightness of the world so that the darkness creeps up against light sources.

There are levels of Darkness such as Darkness II, Darkness III, Darkness IV and so on. However, there currently doesn't appear to be any functional difference between the levels.

Status Effect	Darkness
Type	Harmful Effect
Description	In periodic pulses, the Darkness effect will lower the overall brightness of the world so that the darkness creeps up against light sources.
Effect Icon	(this icon is only seen if the effect was given using the /effect command)
Particles	Gray particles are seen if using the /effect command
Items that give Effect	Sculk Shrieker
Mobs that give Effect	Warden
Game Command	/effect command

Icon and Particle Effects

In normal game play, the Darkness effect happens without seeing the icon appear on the screen, but you will see the icon when you go to your inventory menu.

Using the /effect command

If you use the /effect command, you will see the following icon appear in the top right corner of your screen:

darkness icon

And you will also see the gray particle effects floating around you.

darkness particles

When the Darkness effect wears off, the icon and particle effects will disappear. You will be back to your normal status.

Duration

Depending on how you get the effect, the duration of the Darkness effect will be different. To see how much time is remaining for the effect, go to your inventory menu.

darkness icon

In this example, it says 0:10 under Darkness so this means that there is 10 seconds remaining of the Darkness effect.

Mobs that give the Darkness Effect

The following are mobs that give the Darkness effect:

Warden

Effect ID and Name

Java

Minecraft Java Edition (PC/Mac)

In Minecraft, Darkness has the following effect ID and Name values:

Icon	Status Effect (Minecraft ID Name)	ID	Platform	Version
	Darkness (minecraft:darkness)	33	Java Edition (PC/Mac)	1.19

Definitions

Icon is the image that will appear when you have this effect.
Status Effect is what the effect is called and (Minecraft ID Name) is the string value used in the /effect command.
ID is the Internal number for the effect.
Platform is the platform that applies.
Version is the Minecraft version number that the effect was introduced for the name and ID that is listed.

See a complete list of Minecraft Effects that is interactive and searchable.

Effect Command for Darkness

Java

Effect Command in Minecraft Java Edition

Darkness:

/effect give @p darkness 99999

Darkness II:

/effect give @p darkness 99999 1

Darkness (highest level):

/effect give @p darkness 99999 255

To remove all status effects including Darkness, you can either drink milk or use the following /effect command:

/effect clear @p

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