Render by Blockaria from the Minecraft: Java Edition models and textures (Mojang).

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HOSTILE Present since 1.14 or earlier

Witch mob in Minecraft

The Witch is a potion-throwing mob that spawns in the dark like other monsters, lives in swamp huts and joins raids. It throws harmful splash potions at you and drinks its own to heal or survive, so close the distance and finish it before it gets the chance.

Health: 2613 hearts
Behavior: Hostile
Main drop: Redstone Dust
Found in: 54 biomes

Witch stats

Health: 26 13 hearts
Behavior: Hostile
Main drop: Redstone Dust
Spawns in: 54 biomes
Size: 0.6 × 1.95 blocks
XP when killed: 5
Speed: 0.25
Detection range: 16 blocks

// Experience drops only when a player kills it. Speeds are the game’s internal values, not blocks per second.

How much damage Witch deals

Damage to a player without armor, by world difficulty. 1 ♥ = 2 damage points.

Ranged attack · Splash Potion

Explosion power 6: damage depends on how close you are to the blast.

Ranged attack · Splash Potion

Slowness: duration depends on the local difficulty

Poison: duration depends on the local difficulty

Weakness: duration depends on the local difficulty

// Armor, Protection and Resistance reduce these values. Base values read from the game code (26.3).

Where to find Witch

Biomes where it spawns naturally, with its share of the spawns in each group.

All 54 biomes

Spawning

Group size: 1
Light level: Block light 0and light 7 or less overall

Structures

StructuresSwamp Hut

Witch drops

Witch dropsFrom the loot table · chance per kill

Redstone Dust+1 per Looting level4–8

Stick+1 per Looting level · One of 6 rare items0–2

Glowstone Dust+1 per Looting level · One of 6 rare items0–2

Sugar+1 per Looting level · One of 6 rare items0–2

Spider Eye+1 per Looting level · One of 6 rare items0–2

Glass Bottle+1 per Looting level · One of 6 rare items0–2

Gunpowder+1 per Looting level · One of 6 rare items0–2

Health compared

Health vs other hostile mobshealth points

Breeze30

Guardian30

Shulker30

Witch26

Evoker24

Frostbite24

Pillager24

Traits

Properties set in the game files.

RaiderCan join raids on villages.

Advancements with Witch

Advancements whose criteria involve this mob, from the game files.

Monster HunterKill any hostile monster Monsters HuntedKill one of every hostile monster

Command

Summon a Witch/summon →

/summon minecraft:witch ~ ~ ~

Where Witches spawn

Witches spawn at night and in dark places across most of the Overworld, like zombies and skeletons, but in much smaller numbers. Two places give you far more of them:

Swamp huts. The hut has its own spawn list made only of Witches, so new ones keep appearing in and around it in the dark. This is the base of every witch farm.
Raids. Witches join the later waves next to Pillagers and Evokers.

A villager struck by lightning also turns into a Witch, which is one more reason to keep a lightning rod near your trading hall.

Potions it throws and drinks

A Witch attacks from a distance with splash potions of Slowness, Poison, Weakness and Harming. It keeps the better ones for itself: it drinks Water Breathing when it is underwater, Fire Resistance when it burns, Healing when it is hurt and Swiftness to catch up with you.

It also takes much less damage from magic than other mobs, so Harming potions and similar attacks do little to it.

How to fight a Witch

Close in fast. A Witch is weak in melee. It slows down while it drinks, which is the best moment to reach it.
Keep a milk bucket on your hotbar. Drinking it removes poison, slowness and weakness at once.
Skip fire. It just drinks Fire Resistance, so Fire Aspect and Flame are wasted on it.
Hit it while it drinks. If you kill a Witch while it holds a potion, that potion can drop.

What Witches drop

Witches are a good source of brewing and redstone materials: redstone dust, glowstone dust, sugar, spider eyes, glass bottles and gunpowder, plus sticks. A witch farm built over a swamp hut covers most of what a brewing stand needs.

✓ Checked in Java Edition 26.3 · updated 1 November 2026