Wither in Minecraft

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

Supported Platforms

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

Platform	Supported (Version*)
Java Edition (PC/Mac)	Yes
Pocket Edition (PE)	Yes
Xbox 360	Yes
Xbox One	Yes
PS3	Yes
PS4	Yes
Wii U	Yes
Nintendo Switch	Yes
Windows 10 Edition	Yes
Education Edition	Yes

* 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

The Wither effect is a status effect that does damage to your health every 2 seconds and turns the hearts in your health bar to black.

Unlike the Poison effect, the Wither effect can kill you if you run out of health before the effect wears off.

There are levels of Wither such as Wither II, Wither III, Wither IV and so on. The higher the level of Wither, the faster you will take damage.

Status Effect	Wither
Type	Harmful Effect
Description	Damages your health every 2 seconds and turns the hearts in your health bar to black. Unlike the Poison effect, the Wither effect can kill you if you run out of health before the effect wears off.
Effect Icon
Particles	Brown particle effects appear floating around you
Items that give Effect	Suspicious Stew Suspicious Stew (Wither) Arrow of Decay (0:05 Wither II) Potion of Decay (0:40 Wither II) Splash Potion (0:30 Wither II) Lingering Potion (0:10 Wither II)
Mobs that give Effect	Wither Boss Wither Skeleton
Game Command	/effect command

Icon and Particle Effects

When you have the Wither effect, the following icon will appear in the top right corner of your screen (in older versions of Minecraft, the effect icons only appears when you are viewing the inventory menu):

wither icon

You will also see particle effects floating around you. In the latest version of Minecraft, these particle effects will be brown.

wither particles

When the Wither effect wears off, the icon and particle effects will disappear and the hearts in your health bar will return to their original red color. You will be back to your normal status.

Duration

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

wither icon

In this example, it says 4:55 under Wither so this means that there is 4 minutes and 55 seconds remaining of the Wither effect.

Items that give the Wither Effect

The following are items that give the Wither effect in Minecraft:

How to make Suspicious Stew

How to make Suspicious Stew (Wither)

How to make an Arrow of Decay (0:05 - Wither II)

How to make a Potion of Decay (0:40 - Wither II)

How to make a Splash Potion of Decay (0:30 - Wither II)

How to make a Lingering Potion of Decay (0:10 - Wither II)

Mobs that give the Wither Effect

The following are mobs that give the Wither effect when they attack:

Wither Boss

Wither Skeleton

Effect ID and Name

Minecraft Java Edition (PC/Mac)

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

Icon	Status Effect (Minecraft ID Name)	ID	Platform	Version
	Wither (minecraft:wither)	20	Java Edition (PC/Mac)

Minecraft Pocket Edition (PE)

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

Icon	Status Effect (Minecraft ID Name)	ID	Platform	Version
	Wither (minecraft:wither)		Pocket Edition (PE)	1.0.5

Minecraft Xbox One

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

Icon	Status Effect (Minecraft ID Name)	ID	Platform	Version
	Wither (minecraft:wither)		Xbox One	1.4.0

Minecraft PS4

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

Icon	Status Effect (Minecraft ID Name)	ID	Platform	Version
	Wither (minecraft:wither)		PS4	1.14.0

Minecraft Nintendo Switch

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

Icon	Status Effect (Minecraft ID Name)	ID	Platform	Version
	Wither (minecraft:wither)		Nintendo Switch	1.5.0

Minecraft Windows 10 Edition

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

Icon	Status Effect (Minecraft ID Name)	ID	Platform	Version
	Wither (minecraft:wither)		Windows 10 Edition	1.0.5

Minecraft Education Edition

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

Icon	Status Effect (Minecraft ID Name)	ID	Platform	Version
	Wither (minecraft:wither)		Education Edition	1.0.18

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 Wither

Effect Command in Minecraft Java Edition (Current)

Wither:

/effect give @p wither 99999

Wither II:

/effect give @p wither 99999 1

Wither (highest level):

/effect give @p wither 99999 255

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

/effect clear @p

Effect Command in Minecraft Java Edition (PC/Mac) 1.11 and 1.12

Wither:

/effect @p wither 99999

Wither II:

/effect @p wither 99999 1

Wither (highest level):

/effect @p wither 99999 255

To remove all status effects:

/effect @p clear

Effect Command in Minecraft Pocket Edition

Wither:

/effect @p wither 99999

Wither II:

/effect @p wither 99999 1

Wither III:

/effect @p wither 99999 2

Wither IV:

/effect @p wither 99999 3

Wither (highest level):

/effect @p wither 99999 255

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

/effect @p clear

Effect Command in Minecraft Xbox One Edition

Wither:

/effect @p wither 99999

Wither II:

/effect @p wither 99999 1

Wither III:

/effect @p wither 99999 2

Wither IV:

/effect @p wither 99999 3

Wither (highest level):

/effect @p wither 99999 255

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

/effect @p clear

Effect Command in Minecraft PS4 Edition

Wither:

/effect @p wither 99999

Wither II:

/effect @p wither 99999 1

Wither III:

/effect @p wither 99999 2

Wither IV:

/effect @p wither 99999 3

Wither (highest level):

/effect @p wither 99999 255

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

/effect @p clear

Effect Command in Minecraft Nintendo Switch Edition

Wither:

/effect @p wither 99999

Wither II:

/effect @p wither 99999 1

Wither III:

/effect @p wither 99999 2

Wither IV:

/effect @p wither 99999 3

Wither (highest level):

/effect @p wither 99999 255

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

/effect @p clear

Effect Command in Minecraft Windows 10 Edition

Wither:

/effect @p wither 99999

Wither II:

/effect @p wither 99999 1

Wither III:

/effect @p wither 99999 2

Wither IV:

/effect @p wither 99999 3

Wither (highest level):

/effect @p wither 99999 255

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

/effect @p clear

Effect Command in Minecraft Education Edition

Wither:

/effect @p wither 99999

Wither II:

/effect @p wither 99999 1

Wither III:

/effect @p wither 99999 2

Wither IV:

/effect @p wither 99999 3

Wither (highest level):

/effect @p wither 99999 255

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

/effect @p clear

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