The Wither in Minecraft: Boss Stats and How to Beat It
The Wither has 300 health on Java and up to 600 on Bedrock Hard. Its exploding skulls, the half-health phase, where to fight it, and the Nether star.
The Wither is a three-headed flying boss that you summon yourself from soul sand and wither skeleton skulls. It has 300 health on Java (up to 600 on Bedrock Hard), fires exploding skulls that destroy terrain, and inflicts Wither II. Kill it and you get a Nether star, the one item you need to craft a beacon.
| Stat | Java | Bedrock |
|---|---|---|
| Health | 300 HP | 300 / 450 / 600 HP (Easy / Normal / Hard) |
| Armor | 4 | 4 |
| Half-health phase | Arrow-proof armor | Explosion, 3 wither skeletons, dash attack |
| Drops | 1 Nether star, 50 XP | 1 Nether star, 50 XP |
Summoning it
Build a T of four soul sand or soul soil blocks and place three wither skeleton skulls along the top. The Wither appears, grows for about 11 seconds while its health fills, then explodes with more force than a charged creeper. The full build, including safe placement, is in how to summon the Wither.
Its attacks
- Black skulls: fast and explode on impact, but only break weak blocks such as dirt, wood and netherrack.
- Blue skulls: slower and rarer, but they break almost anything, including obsidian.
- Wither II: each skull hit applies it (10 seconds on Normal, 40 on Hard). Your hearts go black and drain.
- Block breaking: when it takes damage it breaks blocks around itself, so a tunnel slowly opens up.
The Wither also regenerates 1 HP per second on Java, so slow damage doesn’t work. You need to out-damage that.
Below half health
On Java, the Wither gets wither armor: a blue shield effect that makes it immune to arrows and tridents. It drops lower to fight up close. This is where you swap your bow for a sword.
On Bedrock the second phase is meaner. It crashes down with a big explosion, summons three wither skeletons (not on Easy), becomes arrow-proof, and starts dashing at you through blocks.
Where to fight it
Not near your base. The usual options:
- Underground, in a long 1x3 tunnel deep in the stone, so it can’t fly around. Blocks still break, but it’s contained.
- The Nether, below the bedrock roof or in a remote area, if you don’t mind the terrain damage.
- On Java, the End exit portal trick. Summon it under the bedrock of the exit portal so its head is stuck; it can’t break bedrock. This works on Java but not reliably on Bedrock.
Gear checklist
- Netherite or diamond armor with Protection IV, and Blast Protection on at least one piece if you have it.
- A sword with Smite V, the strongest damage enchantment against undead.
- A Power V bow for the first half.
- Milk buckets to clear Wither II, plus healing potions (they work normally on you).
- Golden apples, and a totem of undying if you have one.
- Strength II and Regeneration potions make the fight much shorter.
Why bother
The Nether star is the only beacon ingredient you can’t mine. One beacon gives you Haste II for mining, Speed or Resistance, and once you’ve killed a Wither the next ones are much easier. On Bedrock the Wither always drops 50 XP; on Java you need to land the kill.
Other bosses are on the mobs hub.
Common questions
How much health does the Wither have?
300 HP on Java on every difficulty. On Bedrock it scales: 300 on Easy, 450 on Normal and 600 on Hard.
What's the best weapon against the Wither?
A sword with Smite V, since the Wither is undead. Use a Power bow in the first half of the fight, but switch to melee once it drops below half health, because arrows stop working.
What does the Wither drop?
One Nether star every time, plus 50 XP. The Nether star is the key ingredient for a beacon.
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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