Tutorial:Getting rid of a rogue wither

This tutorial documents how to limit the damage of and kill a rogue wither.

Withers will attack entities and destroy blocks even when they're not fighting you. To mitigate potential damage, it's advised to turn down your simulation distance in options, and avoid going near where the wither was. To be safe, avoid going anywhere where the wither's health bar is visible onscreen.

This section assumes you died and lost most of your useful items in a prior encounter with the wither. You may want to consider reviewing the tutorial for defeating the wither to see if you have any spare items that may be useful. Some tips if you have limited resources:

• If you have any spare enchanted books, you can use some of the experience you retained after dying to enchant some emergency gear. Especially useful enchantments may include:
  • Infinity on a bow, since it lets you shoot as many arrows as you want so long as you started with one arrow in your inventory.
  • Smite on a sword or other melee weapon, since the wither is considered undead and takes extra damage from smite.
• Gold is useful as an ingredient for food and other consumables. If you have spare gold, you might want to use it for one or more of these purposes:
  • You can use gold nuggets to make golden carrots, which are especially good at filling up your hunger bar.
  • You can use gold ingots to make golden apples, which provide multiple positive effects that will help you withstand wither skulls.
  • You can also use gold nuggets to make glistering melon slices, which aren't edible, but can be used on awkward potions in a brewing stand to make healing potions, which can immediately restore your health.

Taking on a rogue wither is significantly more dangerous, as you may have already been killed once and the wither you attempted to destroy is now running loose in an area potentially made highly dangerous. Withers can fly and will attack any living mob or player with their explosive skulls, and also heal over time, so take extra precaution when approaching. Expect to see it flying, bombarding living animals with its skulls, and surrounded by massive craters stretching deep into the stone, possibly freeing water and/or lava sources. It may be a surprisingly long way from where it originally broke free, so watch for its healthbar.

• Make walls or a fence to mark the danger zone, it is a key precaution to not enter as you risk leading it out into the safe zone.
• Try and contain the wither underground, there will be no mobs to attack and the surface is now a safe zone, however it is still a precaution to not enter the area, as it could go up to the surface and cause more carnage.

First off, prepare. The terrain is most likely a waste land, and most man-made structures, if still standing, will not help you. Second, slowly enter the danger-zone. If possible, bring friends with you to assist.

If the wither is still on the surface, it will notice you, so it is recommended to build a double layered wall and defenses, and build mini bases with underground tunnels to make an escape.

Fight the wither normally, if you fail, keep on trying.

• Build trenches for when the wither starts to shoot you.