Boss

👁 Image

A boss is a type of powerful hostile mob that displays a bossbar showing its health while alive. There are two boss mobs, the ender dragon and the wither.

👁 Image

The ender dragon spawns 1 second (20 ticks) after first entering the End, after which its boss bar displays at the top of the screen when in close enough proximity, and the song Boss begins playing. At the center of the island, the exit portal can be found in an inactive state. Ten End spikes surround the fountain on the outer edges of the island, on top of which sit ten End crystals, two of which are encased in iron bars. The ender dragon heals when in close enough proximity to one of these crystals, with a white beam connecting from the End crystal to the ender dragon when it is actively healing.

The ender dragon itself has 200HP👁 ❤️
× 100. It also reduces all incoming damage to it by ~75% unless the attack is hitting its head, giving it an effective 800HP👁 ❤️
× 400 if no attacks are dealt against its head. In Java Edition, due to a bug, the ender dragon's head has the same damage reduction as the rest of its hitboxes, giving no benefit to attacking its head.^[1] The ender dragon is immune to critical hits and all status effects.

The ender dragon has four methods of attacking:

• Melee
  • The ender dragon uses its melee attack if the player is too close to its head, or by charging at the player. In Java Edition, the ender dragon only charges at the player after it finishes perching and only if it was not attacked enough to make it stop perching early.^[2] In Bedrock Edition, the ender dragon can charge at the player periodically by swooping down at them.
  • This attack deals 0HP👁 🖤
    on Peaceful, 6HP👁 ❤️
    👁 ❤️
    👁 ❤️
    on Easy, 10HP👁 ❤️
    👁 ❤️
    👁 ❤️
    👁 ❤️
    👁 ❤️
    on Normal, and 15HP👁 ❤️
    × 7.5 on Hard.
• Wings
  • The ender dragon's wings deal damage and massive knockback to the player should the player run into them. Wing attacks are most likely to hit the player when the ender dragon is perching or if the player is flying with an elytra too close to it.
  • This attack deals 3.5HP👁 ❤️
    × 1.75 on Easy, 5HP👁 ❤️
    👁 ❤️
    👁 💔
    on Normal, and 7.5HP👁 ❤️
    × 3.75 on Hard.
• Dragon's breath
  • The ender dragon's uses its dragon's breath periodically when it is perching, in the direction that it is facing. Dragon's breath is released in the form of a lingering cloud, similar to a lingering potion of Harming, dealing damage and knockback every second if the player is standing in it.
  • This attack deals 3HP👁 ❤️
    👁 💔
    per second regardless of game difficulty.
• Dragon fireball
  • The ender dragon fires a dragon fireball periodically, as well as after each of the ten End crystals are destroyed. The fireball deals no damage or knockback on impact, but instead leaves a cloud of dragon's breath that deals heavier damage than the variant it breathes when it is perching.
  • This attack deals 6HP👁 ❤️
    👁 ❤️
    👁 ❤️
    per second regardless of game difficulty.

The ender dragon's behavior when flying around the arena differs between Java Edition and Bedrock Edition. In both editions, the ender dragon chooses a point in the arena to fly to and upon reaching it, chooses another point to fly to. However, due to a bug regarding its vertical movement, the ender dragon in Java Edition often fails to reach the point it chooses to fly to, causing it to fly back and forth repeatedly which makes it an easy target.^[3][4] This also causes it to shoot fewer dragon fireballs and not swoop down when it does so, and causes it to perch less often and fly much slower due to the constant turning around.

The ender dragon's behavior when perching differs between Java Edition and Bedrock Edition. In both editions, the ender dragon perches onto the exit portal periodically, where once it lands on the fountain it becomes immune to projectiles. Only in Java Edition, due to the aforementioned vertical movement bug, the ender dragon flops back and forth to slowly descend down to the fountain, making it an easy target.^[5] In Bedrock Edition, the ender dragon efficiently swoops down to the exit portal in an arc.

The ender dragon can be respawned by placing four End crystals on the exit portal, one on each side. Upon placing the four crystals, beams will shoot into the sky, and a sequence begins where each of the ten End spikes reforms along with their End crystals. When all ten End spikes are reformed, the ender dragon respawns in the sky above the exit portal, and the exit portal closes again.

👁 Image

The wither spawns when the configuration shown is built, as long as one of the wither skeleton skulls is the last block placed, and air blocks are on both sides of the base soul sand or soul soil. The orientation of the skulls or the overall structure does not matter.

In Java Edition, the wither's health is 300HP👁 ❤️
× 150, regardless of difficulty.

In Bedrock Edition, wither's health depends on difficulty:

• 300HP👁 ❤️
  × 150 on Easy
• 450HP👁 ❤️
  × 225 on Normal
• 600HP👁 ❤️
  × 300 on Hard

The wither is immune to fire, lava, drowning, and freezing. Like other undead mobs, the wither is harmed by the Instant Health effect and healed by the Instant Damage effect as well as affected by weapons with the Smite enchantment. It is immune to all other status effects, and cannot be damaged by other undead mobs.

In Java Edition, the wither hovers above it and rapidly shoots black wither skulls. The wither always tries to fly 5 blocks above, and within 3 blocks horizontally from its target. Each head fires independently, allowing a wither to attack up to three different mobs/players at the same time. The wither skulls try to fly toward the middle of the target's eye height and its feet vertically and the middle of its hitbox horizontally.

The main head controls the wither's movement and fires a black wither skull toward its target every 2 seconds, with a 0.1% chance to shoot a blue wither skull instead of the default black one. When the line of sight to its target is blocked, the wither stops firing wither skulls but still pathfinds toward the target. Side heads find a new target and fire black wither skulls toward the new target.

The wither skulls from the main head spawn 3 blocks above its body vertically and the middle of its hitbox horizontally. The wither skulls from the side heads spawn 2.2 blocks above its feet vertically, 1.3 blocks offset from the middle of its hitbox horizontally.

In Bedrock Edition, the wither flies to a random location horizontally near the target, sometimes strafing a few blocks before settling, then hovers in place. It always attempts to be above the player's reaching distance (about 4 blocks). It shoots 3 black wither skulls and one blue wither skull before flying to another location. The time between each shot decreases when the wither reaches 500HP👁 ❤️
× 250 and 400HP👁 ❤️
× 200. At half health it fires skulls at the original rate, then once again shoots faster at 200HP👁 ❤️
× 100 and 100HP👁 ❤️
× 50. On Normal difficulty or higher, if the wither has targeted an entity but cannot find a location to pathfind to, it shoots random blue skulls in a random direction along with the skulls directed toward the target.

A blue wither skull can be deflected by hitting it or using a projectile. If a deflected blue wither skull hits the wither, the wither takes damage.

In Bedrock Edition, the wither can also spawn three wither skeletons when at half health.

Java Edition
1.0.0			Beta 1.9 Prerelease 4				👁 Image Added the ender dragon as a first boss mob.
							The ender dragon currently exists in the code, mostly functional, however, the dragon has not been enabled in-game yet and players are unable to damage it.
			Beta 1.9 Prerelease 6				The ender dragon has been officially implemented into the game. This includes a single ender dragon as a boss battle, spawning naturally when the player first enters the End.
1.4.2			12w34a				👁 Image Added the wither as a second boss mob.
1.19.3			22w44a				👁 Image 👁 Image Added spawn eggs for boss mobs, obtainable only via commands to prevent accidental destruction of Creative builds.

Pocket Edition Alpha
v0.16.0			build 4				👁 Image Added the wither. It is significantly stronger than in Java Edition, with additional attacks and health scaling based on the selected difficulty.
Pocket Edition
1.0.0			alpha 0.17.0.1				👁 Image Added the ender dragon.
Bedrock Edition
1.19.60			Preview 1.19.60.20				👁 Image 👁 Image Added spawn eggs for boss mobs, obtainable only via commands to prevent accidental destruction of Creative builds.

Legacy Console Edition
Xbox 360	Xbox One	PS3	PS4	PS Vita	Wii U	Switch
TU9	CU1	1.00	1.00	1.00	Patch 1	1.0.1	👁 Image Added the ender dragon.
TU19	CU7	1.12	1.12	1.12			👁 Image Added withers.

New Nintendo 3DS Edition
1.3.12							👁 Image Added the wither.
1.7.10							👁 Image Added the ender dragon.

• 👁 Efe and Zuri fighting a wither.
  
  Efe and Zuri fighting a wither.

• Elder guardians were referred to as bosses during their initial implementation on Bedrock Edition, despite not being treated as bosses in-game.^[6] Jeb revealed that he personally thinks of them as mini bosses during a YouTube video dedicated to elder guardians.^[7]
• Ravagers were referred to as bosses in the fourth episode of Monsters of Minecraft on YouTube, despite not being considered bosses in-game and not being referred to this way before or since.^[8]

v t e Entities
👁 Image Mobs Passive 👁 Image Allay 👁 Image Armadillo 👁 Image Axolotl 👁 Image Bat 👁 Image Camel 👁 Image Camel Husk 👁 Image Cat 👁 Image Chicken 👁 Image Cod 👁 Image Copper Golem 👁 Image Cow 👁 Image Donkey 👁 Image Frog 👁 Image Glow Squid 👁 Image Happy Ghast 👁 Image Horse 👁 Image Mooshroom 👁 Image Mule 👁 Image Ocelot 👁 Image Parrot 👁 Image Pig 👁 Image Rabbit 👁 Image Salmon 👁 Image Sheep 👁 Image Skeleton Horse 👁 Image Sniffer 👁 Image Snow Golem 👁 Image Squid 👁 Image Strider 👁 Image Sulfur Cube 👁 Image Tadpole 👁 Image Tropical Fish 👁 Image Turtle 👁 Image Villager 👁 Image Wandering Trader 👁 Image Zombie Horse BE & Edu only 👁 Image Agent 👁 Image NPC Neutral 👁 Image Bee 👁 Image Cave Spider 👁 Image Dolphin 👁 Image Drowned 👁 Image Enderman 👁 Image Fox 👁 Image Goat 👁 Image Iron Golem 👁 Image Llama 👁 Image Nautilus 👁 Image Panda 👁 Image Piglin 👁 Image Polar Bear 👁 Image Pufferfish 👁 Image Spider 👁 Image Trader Llama 👁 Image Wolf 👁 Image Zombie Nautilus 👁 Image Zombified Piglin Hostile 👁 Image Blaze 👁 Image Bogged 👁 Image Breeze 👁 Image Creaking 👁 Image Creeper 👁 Image Elder Guardian 👁 Image Endermite 👁 Image Evoker 👁 Image Ghast 👁 Image Guardian 👁 Image Hoglin 👁 Image Husk 👁 Image Magma Cube 👁 Image Parched 👁 Image Phantom 👁 Image Piglin Brute 👁 Image Pillager 👁 Image Ravager 👁 Image Shulker 👁 Image Silverfish 👁 Image Skeleton 👁 Image Slime 👁 Image Stray 👁 Image Vex 👁 Image Vindicator 👁 Image Warden 👁 Image Witch 👁 Image Wither Skeleton 👁 Image Zoglin 👁 Image Zombie 👁 Image Zombie Villager 👁 Image Ender Dragon 👁 Image Wither Mob types 👁 Image Animal 👁 Image Aquatic 👁 Image Arthropod 👁 Image Illager 👁 Image Monster 👁 Image Undead Other 👁 Image Baby 👁 Image Jockey 👁 Image Camel Husk 👁 Image Chicken 👁 Image Hoglin 👁 Image Ravager 👁 Image Skeleton Horseman 👁 Image Spider 👁 Image Strider 👁 Image Zombie Horseman 👁 Image Zombie Nautilus 👁 Image Mob variants
👁 EnvSprite projectile.png: Sprite image for projectile in Minecraft Other entities Player 👁 Image Alex 👁 Image Ari 👁 Image Efe 👁 Image Kai 👁 Image Makena 👁 Image Noor 👁 Image Steve 👁 Image Sunny 👁 Image Zuri Blocks Falling Blocks 👁 Image Anvil 👁 Image Concrete Powder 👁 Image Dragon Egg 👁 Image Gravel 👁 Image Pointed Dripstone 👁 Image Sand 👁 Image Red Sand 👁 Image Scaffolding 👁 Image Sulfur Spike 👁 Image Suspicious Gravel 👁 Image Suspicious Sand 👁 Image Primed TNT BE & Edu only Falling Blocks 👁 Image Deprecated Anvil 👁 Image Snow 👁 Image Primed Underwater TNT Vehicles 👁 Image Bamboo Raft 👁 Image Boat 👁 Image with Chest 👁 Image Minecart 👁 Image with Chest 👁 Image with Command Block 👁 Image with Hopper 👁 Image with TNT Java Edition only 👁 Image Minecart with Furnace 👁 Image with Monster Spawner Projectiles 👁 Image Fireball 👁 Image Small 👁 Image Dragon 👁 Image Launched Firework Rocket 👁 Image Llama Spit 👁 Image Shot Arrow 👁 Image Tipped 👁 Image Shulker Bullet 👁 Image Thrown Bottle o' Enchanting 👁 Image Thrown Egg 👁 Image Thrown Ender Pearl 👁 Image Thrown Eye of Ender 👁 Image Thrown Snowball 👁 Image Thrown Splash Potion 👁 Image Lingering Potion 👁 Image Thrown Trident 👁 Image Wind Charge 👁 Image 👁 Image Wither Skull Java Edition only 👁 Image Shot Spectral Arrow BE & Edu only 👁 Image Thrown Ice Bomb Stationary objects 👁 Image End Crystal 👁 Image Leash Knot 👁 Image Painting Java Edition only 👁 Image Item Frame 👁 Image Glow Miscellaneous 👁 Image Area Effect Cloud 👁 Image Armor Stand 👁 Image Evoker Fangs 👁 Image Experience Orb 👁 Image Fishing Bobber 👁 Image Items 👁 Image Lightning Bolt 👁 Image Ominous Item Spawner JE only 👁 Image Mannequin BE & Edu only 👁 Image Balloon 👁 Image Camera Technical objects JE only 👁 Image Display Block Item Text 👁 Image Interaction 👁 Image Marker Editor only Location Pointer Idle Location Pointer Selected 👁 Image Map Marker Ruler Idle
Unimplemented Unused JE only 👁 Image Giant 👁 Image Illusioner BE & Edu only 👁 Image Elder Guardian Ghost 👁 Image Old Villager 👁 Image Old Zombie Villager Mentioned 👁 Image Alpaca 👁 Image Barnacle 👁 Image Crab 👁 Image Firefly 👁 Image Glare 👁 Image Great Hunger 👁 Image Herobrine 👁 Image Iceologer 👁 Image Meerkat 👁 Image Minecart with Dispenser 👁 Image Moobloom 👁 Image Ostrich 👁 Image Penguin 👁 Image Pigman Bodyguard 👁 Image Rascal 👁 Image Red Dragon 👁 Image Shade 👁 Image Termite 👁 Image Tuff Golem 👁 Image Vulture 👁 Image Wildfire Removed 👁 Image Builder 👁 Image Giant Jockey 👁 Image 👁 Image MD3 Test Mob 👁 Image 👁 Image Mob 👁 Image Monster 👁 Image Shot Purple Arrow 👁 Image Sign Entity
Joke Mobs April Fools 2013 👁 Image Diamond Chicken 👁 Image Horse 👁 Image Pony 👁 Image Pink Wither 👁 Image Redstone Bug April Fools 2015 👁 Image Love Golem 👁 Image Friendly Wither 👁 Image Smiling Creeper April Fools 2019 👁 Image Nerd Creeper April Fools 2023 👁 Image Moon Cow 👁 Image Ray Tracing April Fools 2024 👁 Image Batato 👁 Image Mega Spud 👁 Image Plaguewhale Slab 👁 Image Poisonous Potato Zombie 👁 Image Potato mob category 👁 Image Toxifin Slab April Fools 2025 👁 Image Angry Ghast 👁 Image Spectator Villager 👁 Image Spectator Witch 👁 Image Traitor 👁 Image Warden (boss) Pet variants 👁 Image Pet Armadillo 👁 Image Pet Axolotl 👁 Image Pet Bee 👁 Image Pet Cat 👁 Image Pet Chicken 👁 Image Pet Cow 👁 Image Pet Creeper 👁 Image Pet Fox 👁 Image Pet Frog 👁 Image Pet Mooshroom 👁 Image Pet Polar Bear 👁 Image Pet Slime 👁 Image Pet Turtle 👁 Image Pet Wolf April Fools 2026 👁 Image Living Block Other entities April Fools 2013 👁 Image 👁 Image Pink Wither Skull April Fools 2015 👁 Image Obsidian Boat 👁 Image 👁 Image Friendly Wither Skull April Fools 2023 👁 Image Stencil Display April Fools 2024 Falling Block 👁 Image Gravtater 👁 Image Potato Eye April Fools 2026 👁 Image Crafting Grid 👁 Image Hovering Item Living Block Command

v t e Environment
Geography	👁 Image Altitude 👁 Image Biome 👁 Image Chunks 👁 Image Daylight cycle 👁 Image Feature 👁 Image Light 👁 Image Nether roof 👁 Image Structure 👁 Image Terrain features 👁 Image Void 👁 Image World 👁 Image World border 👁 Image World boundary 👁 Image World generation
Weather	👁 Image Rain 👁 Image Snowfall 👁 Image Thunderstorm
Dimensions	👁 Image Overworld 👁 Image The Nether 👁 Image The End
World types	👁 Image Default 👁 Image Superflat 👁 Image Single Biome JE only 👁 Image Amplified 👁 Image Debug mode 👁 Image Large Biomes Editor only 👁 Image Void
Player constructions	👁 Image Beacon pyramid 👁 Image Conduit frame 👁 Image Enchanting library 👁 Image Nether Portal Pre-generated 👁 Image End portal
Matter	Blocks 👁 Image Solid 👁 Image Liquid 👁 Image Gas 👁 Image Opacity Placement 👁 Image Entities 👁 Image Mobs 👁 Image Player 👁 Image Items 👁 Image Non-renewable resources 👁 Image Renewable resources
Sound	👁 Image Music Ambience
Joke	Dimensions Bridge 👁 Image Generated dimensions 👁 Image Hub Mine 👁 Image The Moon 👁 Image Potato Player constructions 👁 Image Funky Portal 👁 Image Other Portal Pre-generated 👁 Image Lunar Base
Bugs	Distance effects Bedrock Edition Java Edition Removed 👁 Image Far Lands
Removed	Java Edition only 👁 Image Custom 👁 Image Map theme 👁 Image Map shape 👁 Image Map type 👁 Image Infinite Map Visualizer 👁 Image Old Customized 👁 Image Winter mode Bedrock Edition only 👁 Image Old 👁 Image Nether Reactor LCE & New 3DS only 👁 Image Amplified Worlds 👁 Image World size

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