Health

The health gauge and monitor in Minecraft is based on a single row of 10 heart icons. Each full heart contains two halves, one hit point each (full health is 20 hit points).

Hearts

The healthbar.

The healthbar on hardcore.

Hearts make up the health meter for the player and mobs in the Survival, Hardcore (different texture), and Adventure modes. Each heart represents two hit points, for 20 hit points. Hit points are lost as a percentage of those hit points. As it appears on the health bar, you lose 1 () at a time.

Hit points can be lost by:

• Starving
• Fall damage
• Being attacked by a hostile mob (or another player if PvP is on)
• Being shot with an arrow
• Being on fire
• Touching lava
• Touching fire, a magma block or a cactus
• Drowning underwater
• Suffocating inside a block
• Falling into The void
• Taking poison damage or withering,
• Getting caught in an explosion
• Being struck by lightning
• Crashing into the ground or a wall at high speeds with an Elytra.
• Typing /kill in the chat bar if commands are enabled.

If the health meter shows or less, it will begin to shake violently, warning that the player's demise is imminent if health is not restored.

Health can be recovered through several means, both "naturally" and through status effects such as potions provide.

• The "Instant Health" potion effect will restore health immediately, the amount depending on the source and effect level.
• On Peaceful difficulty, the health meter will continuously refill over time.
• On other difficulties, health regenerates slowly when the player's hunger is at or above 18 ().
• The "Regeneration" effect makes health regenerate fairly quickly. Aside from potions of Regeneration, this is also provided by beacons and golden apples. The "basic" golden apple provides it (level II) only for 5 seconds, restoring a total of 4 (). The "enchanted" golden apple provides it for longer (20 seconds) and in total restoring about 16 (). Visually the hearts will bounce, although this is in more of a structured wave than the erratic shaking of near-death empty hearts.
• The "Health Boost" effect adds 4 () per effect level to the players total health, which is removed when the effect expires. After the effect expires, the player's health may remain above the normal maximum, but the extra health will not be recovered once lost to damage. This effect can only be gained through "cheat" commands, prepared command blocks, or mods. At the maximum level of 255, the player has 522 hearts.
• The "Absorption" effect likewise adds 4 () for each effect level. This special health cannot be healed or regenerated by normal means. Naturally, it will be removed when the effect expires. The "basic" golden apple provides it (level I) for 2 minutes, providing a total of 4 (). The "enchanted" golden apple provides it at higher level (level IV), providing a total of 16 ().

Damage is split between the health and armor bars. Each full armor point takes 8% of damage, to a maximum of 80%, rounded up.

On Hardcore mode, hearts have a different texture ().

The Poison and Wither effects will turn live hearts a sickly green color and black, respectively. On Hardcore, they will turn if poisoned and if withered.

In Creative and Spectator mode the player still has health, but it is hidden from the HUD, and the player is invulnerable to everything except falling into the void or /kill.

Death

Mobs leaving red corpses and fire (because of daylight and player-made lightning) in multiplayer.

Death can occur when all of a player or mob's hit points are depleted.

The /kill command will also instantly bring about death, and a parrot can be instantly killed by feeding it a cookie.

Mobs and players fall to their left side to the ground when killed, dropping any drops at the location they were when they took the fatal damage. Once their fallen body disappears, it will turn to dust, and drop experience at the location they disappeared. It is possible for the drops and the experience to appear in different places, if the dying body is in motion.

Being animals, corals are also capable of dying, however this is handled as a transition from one block type to another and not on a health value as with entities.

Player effects

Example of score in Hardcore

Shaking hearts when player is killed

For players, a "You died!" screen (or "Game over!" in Hardcore mode) appears that displays the player's score^{[Java Edition only]} , and a death message (see below). The view of the world will be tinted red, and the camera-view will tilt as if falling over, shudder, and zoom in somewhat. In Bedrock Edition, it will zoom in indefinitely. On that screen there are two options:

• Respawn: either in the last bed the player slept in, or at their default spawn point (their first spawn point in the game), or at the spawn point set by commands.
  • In Hardcore mode, the player can only respawn in Spectator mode, and cannot continue progress because cheats are disabled.
• Return to the title screen.
• If the player is holding a totem of undying in the main hand or off hand, the player will resurrect upon death without the death screen appearing.

Any items and/or blocks that were in the player's inventory are dropped from their head, and scattered around the spot where the player died (unless /gamerule keepInventory true is typed in if commands are enabled). Like any dropped item, these drops will decay once five minutes pass while that chunk is loaded.

The player will also lose any experience accumulated, reverting the level back to 0 (unless /gamerule keepInventory true is typed in if commands are enabled) and will drop experience orbs with a total value of level * 7 (with a maximum of 100) to the ground. In Bedrock Edition, when a player dies, they drop only ¹⁄₂ of the experience.^[verify]

Despite the fact that dead players disappear like all other mobs, it is still possible for the player to see their own hand while in first-person mode.

Death messages

Death messages are broadcast to everyone upon the death of a player, and to the pet's owner on the death of a pet wolf, cat, or parrot^{[Java Edition only]} . These messages communicate how the entity died, and some are intended to be humorous.

Arrows

• [player] was shot by arrow
  • This message is caused by arrows shot from a dispenser or /summon
• [player] was shot by [player/mob]
  • Caused by mobs with projectile attacks or kills using a bow.
• [player] was shot by [player/mob] using [bow name]
  • Caused by mobs or players with a renamed bow

Cactus

• [player] was pricked to death
• [player] hugged a cactus
• [player] walked into a cactus while trying to escape [player/mob]
• [player] was stabbed to death
  • Legacy Console Edition only

Drowning and suffocation

• [player] drowned
• [player] drowned whilst trying to escape [player/mob]
• Note: You can also type /gamerule drowningdamage false to disable drowning damage. ^{[Bedrock Edition only]}
• [player] suffocated in a wall
  • Happens if the player took suffocation damage from their head being in a block.
• [player] was squished too much
  • Happens if the player took suffocation damage from the maxEntityCramming gamerule.

Elytra

• [player] experienced kinetic energy
  • Happens when you crash into a wall at high speeds and die from the amount of damage you took.
• [player] removed an elytra while flying

Explosions

• [player] blew up
  • Shows up if TNT is activated by redstone mechanisms, fire, dispensed out from a dispenser or if an end crystal killing the player
• [player] was blown up by [player/mob]
  • This message shows up only when TNT is activated by a creeper, skeleton (only if it shoot flaming arrows), a creeper killing the player or by a player using flint and steel, fire charges or an arrow shot from a bow enchanted with Flame
• [player] was killed by [Intentional Game Design]^{[upcoming 1.13][Java Edition only]}
  • Beds
  • Includes a click-event link to MCPE-28723

Falling

• [player] hit the ground too hard
  • Only caused if the player is killed by a short fall, ender pearl damage, or riding an entity that died due to fall damage. Always show up if the player dies by fall damage in Legacy Console Edition.
• [player] fell from a high place.^{[Java and Bedrock editions only]}
  • Caused by a fall greater than 5 blocks.
• [player] fell off a ladder
• [player] fell off some vines
• [player] fell out of the water
• [player] fell into a patch of fire
• [player] fell into a patch of cacti
• [player] was doomed to fall by [mob/player]
• [player] was shot off some vines by [mob/player]
• [player] was shot off a ladder by [mob/player]
• [player] was blown from a high place by [mob/player]
  • Only caused if knockback from a creeper explosion, a ghast fireball, or player-lit TNT causes the player to fall to their death.
  • Type /gamerule falldamage false to disable fall damage.^{[Bedrock Edition only]}

Falling blocks

• [player] was squashed by a falling anvil
• [player] was squashed by a falling block
  • This message appears if the player is killed by a custom falling block other than an anvil that is modified to inflict damage

Fire

• [player] went up in flames
  • This message appears if the player died while in the source of the fire (unless the game rule firedamage has been set to false^{[Bedrock Edition only]} ).
• [player] burned to death
  • This message appears if the player died while on fire, but not in the source (unless the game rule firedamage has been set to false^{[Bedrock Edition only]} ).
• [player] was burnt to a crisp whilst fighting [player/mob]
• [player] walked into a fire whilst fighting [player/mob]

Firework rockets

• [player] went off with a bang

Lava

• [player] tried to swim in lava
• [player] tried to swim in lava while trying to escape [player/mob]

Lightning

• [player] was struck by lightning

Magma Block

• [player] discovered floor was lava
• [player] walked into danger zone due to [player/mob]

Players and mobs

• [player] was slain by [player/mob]
• [player] was slain by [player/mob] using [weapon]
  • Caused by kills using a renamed weapon.
• [player] got finished off by [player/mob]
• [player] got finished off by [player/mob] using [weapon]
  • Caused by kills using a renamed weapon.
• [player] was fireballed by [mob]
  • Only caused by blazes and ghasts

Potions of Harming

• [player] was killed by magic
  • Happens when the potion is shot from a dispenser, by drinking it, or with /effect
• [player] was killed by [player/mob] using magic
  • Caused by witches, guardians, evokers and kills using a splash potion

Starving

• [player] starved to death
  • Caused if hunger bar is at 0 and the resulting hunger damage leads to death; this can only happen in hard or hardcore

Thorns enchantment

• [player] was killed while trying to hurt [player/mob]
  • Can be caused by a mob if it is able to wear armor, and can also occur while fighting guardians

Trident^{[upcoming 1.13]}

• [player] was impaled by [player/mob]
• [player] was impaled by [player/mob] with [weapon]

Void

• [player] fell out of the world
  • Also shown if the player is killed by the /kill command
• [player] fell from a high place and fell out of the world
• [player] didn't want to live in the same world as [player/mob]^{[upcoming 1.13][Java Edition only]}
  • Appears when a mob/player pushes someone into the void or when a player uses /kill after being attacked by a mob or player.

Wither effect

• [player] withered away

Other

• [victim] was pummeled by [killer]
  • This message would appear when killed by a snowball, an egg, a wither skull or an ender pearl
  • This message is not possible to see in the case of snowballs, chicken eggs, and ender pearls, because they do not cause damage to players hit by them.
  • This message is only shown when the wither kills a player with a wither skull's impact.
• [player] died
  • Bedrock Edition only, used in some cases.

Mob health

Mob	Health
Playable	The Player 20 ()
Passive	Bat 6 ()	Chicken 4 ()	Cow 10 ()	Fish 3 ()[upcoming 1.13]	Mooshroom 10 ()	Ocelot 10 ()
	Pig 10 ()	Rabbit 3 ()	Sheep 8 ()	Squid 10 ()	Turtle 30 ( × 15)[upcoming 1.13]	Villager 20 ()
Neutral	Dolphin 10 ()[upcoming 1.13]	Cave Spider 12 ()	Enderman 40 ( × 20)	Polar Bear 30 ( × 15)	Spider 16 ()	Wolf (untamed) 8 ()
	Zombie Pigman 20 ()
Tameable	Cat 10 ()	Horses 15 () to 30 ( × 15)	Llama 15 () to 30 ( × 15)	Parrot 6 ()	Skeleton Horse 15 ()	Wolf (tamed) 20 ()
Hostile	Blaze 20 ()	Creeper 20 ()	Drowned 20 ()[upcoming 1.13]	Elder Guardian 80 ( × 40)	Endermite 8 ()	Evoker 24 ( × 12)
	Ghast 10 ()	Guardian 30 ( × 15)	Magma Cube (big) 16 ()	Magma Cube (small) 4 ()	Magma Cube (tiny) 1 ()	Phantom 20 ()[upcoming 1.13]
	Shulker 30 ( × 15)	Silverfish 8 ()	Skeletons 20 ()	Slime (big) 16 ()	Slime (small) 4 ()	Slime (tiny) 1 ()
	Vex 14 ()	Vindicator 24 ( × 12)	Witch 26 ( × 13)	Wither Skeleton 20 ()	Zombies 20 ()
Utility	Iron Golem 100 ( × 50)	Snow Golem 4 ()
Bosses	Ender Dragon 200 ( × 100)	Wither 300 ( × 150)
Unused	Giant 100 ( × 50)	Illusioner 32 ( × 16)	Zombie Horse 15 ()
Removed	Beast Boy 5 ()	Black Steve 5 ()	Human 20 ()	Rana 13 ()	Steve 5 ()
Education Edition	NPC 20 ()

Achievements

Main article: Achievements

Icon	Achievement	In-game description	Actual requirements (if different)	Availability				Xbox points earned	Trophy type (PS)
				Xbox	PS	Bedrock	Nintendo
	Overkill	Deal nine hearts of damage in a single hit	Damage can be dealt to any mob, even those that do not have nine hearts of health overall.	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	30G	Bronze
	Cheating Death	Use the Totem of Undying to cheat death	Have the Totem of Undying in your hand when you die.	Yes	Yes	Yes	Wii U, Switch	30G	Silver

Advancements

Main article: Advancements

Icon	Advancement	In-game description	Parent	Actual requirements (if different)	Internal ID
	Postmortal	Use a Totem of Undying to cheat death	Monster Hunter	—	minecraft:adventure/totem_of_undying

Gallery

• 

  A preview of the health system seen on Notch's blog. Note how the sprite for the half-heart has a thick, black line in the middle.

History

Classic
August 18, 2009					Health bar and fall damage teased.
August 20, 2009					Health bar blinking when damaged, damage invulnerability, and health bar shaking teased.
0.24_SURVIVAL TEST					Added all of the above.
					Mushrooms now regain health.
					Enemies now fall over when killed.
Indev
?					Dead mobs would fall on their left side instead of other random directions. Before suffocation was implemented, players that were covered by blocks could see through dirt and stone. Suffocation was added after Notch discovered that players were abusing this exploit to find underground caves and hollowed carvings. The patch added suffocation damage and making the player unable to see anything when experiencing it. However, this glitch is not completely fixed and is still possible to be done even in the existing version of the game.
					In Survival mode, eating a red mushroom would deal the player 3 () of damage because they were poisonous.
Alpha
v1.0.4					Players no longer suffocate when riding in a minecart.
Beta
1.5					Unarmed damage was increased from 1 () to 2 ().
1.8			1.8 Pre-release		Added death messages
					Unarmed damage was decreased from 2 () to 1 ().
					Regeneration effect added, increasing health.
Official release
1.0.0			Beta 1.9 Prerelease 2		Mobs can now have armor points
					Hearts look different in Hardcore.
			RC1		The sound of the player taking damage was changed from a man saying "oof! or UGHH!", to a strange crunch. These were changed to remove the restriction that all avatars have a male voice, regardless of the gender of the character depicted in the skin.
1.3.1			12w25a		Removed the downwards knockback while drowning which essentially trapped drowning players in multiplayer underwater.
1.5			13w02a		Added additional death messages based on the cause of death.
1.8			14w32a		The health bar has a new animation for damage that shows how many hearts are lost.
1.9			15w31a		Death messages are now displayed on the death screen as well as in the chat.
1.11			16w39a		Added Totem of Undying, which can save a player from death.
Pocket Edition Alpha
0.2.0					Health bar added.
0.11.0			build 1		Added death messages.
Legacy Console Edition
TU1	CU1	1.0	Patch 1		Added the health bar.
TU5					Added death Messages.

References

Gameplay

View at: Template:Gameplay/content [edit]