Witch in Minecraft: Potions, Drops and Witch Huts
Witches throw Poison, Slowness, Weakness and Harming potions, then drink their own to heal. How to beat one, what witches drop, and where witch huts are.
Witches are hostile spellcasters that throw splash potions at you and drink potions to save themselves. They have 26 health, shrug off most magic damage, and drop a pile of brewing materials: redstone, glowstone, gunpowder, sugar, spider eyes and glass bottles. If you brew potions, a witch kill is a small supply run.
| Stat | Value |
|---|---|
| Health | 26 HP (13 hearts) |
| Attack | Splash potions every ~3 seconds within 10 blocks |
| Spawns | Light level 0 anywhere, swamp huts, raids, lightning-struck villagers |
| Drops | 4-8 redstone, plus random brewing items |
| XP | 5 |
What it throws
The witch picks a potion based on you:
| Potion | When |
|---|---|
| Slowness | You’re 8-10 blocks away and not already slowed |
| Poison | You have at least 8 HP and aren’t poisoned |
| Weakness | Sometimes, when you’re close and already hurt or poisoned |
| Harming | Everything else, 6 damage per hit |
In raids, witches throw Regeneration and Healing at their illager allies instead, which drags out the fight.
What it drinks
When it’s on fire it may drink Fire Resistance, underwater it drinks Water Breathing, and when you’re far away it may drink Swiftness. When hurt it sometimes drinks Healing. While drinking it can’t throw, and you’ll see it raise a bottle: that’s your opening.
How to beat one
Rush it. A witch’s potions hurt most at mid-range, and it has to stop to drink. Close the gap fast, ideally with a shield up to catch the splashes, then hit it while it’s drinking. A sword with Sharpness is ideal.
Don’t bother with your own harming or poison potions. Witches take 85% less magic damage on Java and 95% less on Bedrock. Arrows work fine.
Bring milk if you’re fighting several. One drink clears poison, slowness and weakness at once.
Where they spawn
- Anywhere in the Overworld at light level 0, like other night mobs (not in mushroom fields or the deep dark).
- Swamp huts. Each hut in a swamp generates one witch and keeps spawning more inside the hut’s area. Witch farms are built around these.
- Raids. Witches show up in mid-to-late waves.
- Lightning. A villager struck by lightning becomes a witch that never despawns.
Drops and witch farms
Every witch drops 4-8 redstone dust, more with Looting. On top of that, it rolls one to three times on a pool of glass bottles, glowstone dust, gunpowder, spider eyes, sugar and sticks. Sticks come up most.
That redstone floor is the reason witch farms exist. A farm built on a swamp hut gives a steady stream of redstone and glowstone without mining, though finding redstone ore deep underground is still faster for most players. Gunpowder and glowstone are the real bonus, since both are annoying to get otherwise.
Edition differences
- Magic resistance: 85% on Java, 95% on Bedrock.
- Potion drop chance when killed mid-drink: 8.5% on Java, 25% on Bedrock.
- Java witches can join illager patrols; Bedrock witches don’t, but attack iron and snow golems.
The mobs hub lists the rest of the swamp’s residents.
Common questions
What does a witch drop?
Always 4-8 redstone dust, plus a random handful of glass bottles, glowstone dust, gunpowder, spider eyes, sugar and sticks. If it dies while drinking a potion, that potion can drop too.
Do witches spawn in witch huts forever?
Yes. A swamp hut keeps spawning witches inside its bounds, which is what makes witch farms possible.
Why is my witch not taking damage from potions?
Witches resist magic damage. Poison, instant damage and Thorns do 85% less to them on Java and 95% less on Bedrock. Use a sword or arrows.
Sources & verification
Facts on this page are checked against these references and in-game behavior for the stated edition(s). how we verify.
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