STATUS EFFECT HARMFUL NO POTION Present since 1.14 or earlier

Bad Luck effect in Minecraft

Bad Luck lowers your luck, a hidden stat that, in the vanilla game, only changes what you catch when fishing. Nothing gives it in Survival in Java Edition: it only comes from commands.

At a glance

Type: Harmful
Sources: Commands only.
Removed by: Milk, dying

How to get Bad Luck

Commands only.

How to get rid of Bad Luck

Removed byMilk Bucket

Drink a Milk Bucket: it clears every effect. Dying also removes it.

Command

Give Bad Luck for 60 seconds/effect →

/effect give @s minecraft:unluck 60 0

Remove Bad Luck/effect →

/effect clear @s minecraft:unluck

What luck changes

Luck is a hidden player value. The fishing loot table uses it to weigh its results: more luck means more treasure and less junk on the end of your Fishing Rod. Treasure is where the good catches are, like enchanted books, a Name Tag, a Saddle or a Nautilus Shell. Bad Luck lowers your luck by one per level, the exact opposite of the Potion of Luck, and the two cancel each other out.

Bad Luck and Luck of the Sea

The Luck of the Sea enchantment raises your fishing luck as well, so a rod with it partly makes up for Bad Luck. Chest loot in the vanilla game does not use luck at all, so the effect changes nothing when you open a chest or a vault.

How to use it

With no Survival source, Bad Luck is a tool for map makers and servers: a cursed island where the sea only gives junk, a penalty in a fishing contest, or a balance tweak for a custom loot table that uses luck. A Milk Bucket removes it.

✓ Checked in Java Edition 26.3 · updated 1 November 2026