STATUS EFFECT NEUTRAL NO POTION Present since 1.14 or earlier

Glowing effect in Minecraft

Glowing draws a bright outline around a mob or player that you can see through walls. In Survival it comes from Spectral Arrows, and ringing a bell during a raid makes nearby raiders glow.

At a glance

Type: Neutral
Sources: Bell, Spectral Arrow
Removed by: Milk, dying

How to get Glowing

Given byBell

Makes nearby raiders glow

UseSpectral Arrow

How to get rid of Glowing

Removed byMilk Bucket

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

Command

Give Glowing for 60 seconds/effect →

/effect give @s minecraft:glowing 60 0

Remove Glowing/effect →

/effect clear @s minecraft:glowing

How to apply Glowing

Craft Spectral Arrows from an Arrow and four Glowstone Dust, then shoot them with a Bow or a Crossbow. Whatever you hit glows for a while. During a raid, ringing a Bell does the same to the raiders close to it.

What it is useful for

Ending a raid. The last Pillager often hides behind a house or in a field; the outline shows you where.
Caves and water. Tag a mob before it vanishes into the dark or under the waves, and follow it.
PvP. The outline shows through walls, so the target cannot hide behind cover.

On a server with scoreboard teams, the outline takes the team color, which makes Glowing a cheap way to show who is on which side. It deals no damage and does not stop invisibility from hiding the body: the outline stays visible even then.

What does not give Glowing

Despite the name, the Glow Squid and its Glow Ink Sac have nothing to do with this effect: the ink only makes the text on signs glow. If you are the one outlined in PvP, drink a Milk Bucket to remove it.

✓ Checked in Java Edition 26.3 · updated 1 November 2026