How to spawn and defeat Wither in Minecraft (2023)

The Wither is an optional Minecraft boss that can be summoned and defeated on a player's terms. While beating this powerful creature isn't required to complete Survival Mode's story, doing so does make the entity drop precious nether stars, which are required to build beacon blocks.

Since the Wither offers this precious resource, and because beacons are so beneficial to gameplay, it's no surprise that Minecraft players wish to take down this optional boss. However, that's easier said than done, as the Wither sports an incredibly high health total and many different ways to deal damage to gamers.

Furthermore, depending on the edition of Minecraft being played, the Wither may have different attacks and patterns accessible to it. If Minecraft players are willing to battle this mighty creature, they'll need to summon it first.

Summoning and battling the Wither in Minecraft

Minecraft players will need specific materials to summon the Wither (Image via Mojang)

Before taking on the Wither in Minecraft, you will need to summon it through the use of soul sand/soul soil and three wither skeleton skulls. For Survival Mode players, this means they'll need access to the Nether, as well as a Nether fortress. This is because wither skeletons only appear in fortresses, though soul sand/soul soil can be easier to find.

Gamers in Creative Mode can bypass entering the Nether by collecting the aforementioned blocks from the Creative Inventory instead.

Summoning the Wither as of Minecraft 1.19

Gather four blocks of either soul soil or soul sand. The latter can be collected from the Nether wastes biome at the height level Y=34 or below. It can also be found in ancient city structures in the overworld. Meanwhile, soul soil can be spotted within the Nether's soul sand valley biome.
Collect three wither skeleton skulls. The mobs that drop the items appear in Nether fortresses and have a 2.5% chance of offering a skull when killed. Since these odds are super small, you may want to consider killing the skeletons with a weapon enchanted with Looting to increase the overall chances of picking up skulls.
Once you have your materials, put down your soul sand or soul soil in a T-shaped structure. Then, place the three wither skeleton skulls across its top. The Wither should appear afterward. Be sure to back away from the summoning structure after you've placed it, as the Wither will create an explosion when it appears that is quite large and extremely damaging.

Once the Wither has been summoned, it'll begin fighting the Minecraft players immediately. Each head of the Wither will fire skulls, which detonate on impact, similar to a ghast's fireball. You will need to do your best to dodge these attacks while hitting the monster at close range or from a distance.

However, once the Wither hits half health, it will gain the Wither Armor effect and will be immune to projectiles like arrows and thrown tridents. You will have to close in with melee weapons to finish the creature off.

In Minecraft: Bedrock Edition, the Wither is significantly more dangerous. It can float to randomized locations and fire clusters of skulls faster as the Wither continues to lose health. At half health, the boss will summon three to four wither skeletons to aid it in battle while gaining Wither Armor, firing one additional skull per burst, and acquiring the ability to charge the player. However, the monster won't summon the fodder mobs on Easy difficulty.

It's highly advised to battle the Wither underground if at all possible. While this makes the battle more difficult when it comes to dodging its attacks, the boss can't gain a height advantage.

There is also an exploit where you can summon the Wither underneath the portal back to the overworld on the main island in the End. If this method is used, the boss spawns and creates an explosion but can't destroy the bedrock blocks that form the portal. The Wither then gets its heads stuck in those blocks and can be easily dispatched.

Whatever the case may be, once a Minecraft player has beaten the Wither, it's time to run. Once this monster dies, it explodes in an attempt to kill all enemies near it. However, once the creature detonates, it will leave behind a nether star and 50 experience points for the player's trouble.