How to Summon a Wither: Creative & Survival Modes

A complete guide on how to start a wither fight in Minecraft

Co-authored by Zac Churchill and Janice Tieperman

Last Updated: January 15, 2024 Fact Checked

Wither Summoning Codes

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How to Spawn a Wither Naturally

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Q&A

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Tips

The Wither is a challenging boss that can be spawned or summoned in any Survival or Creative mode game set to a difficulty of Easy or higher. In this article, we’ll teach you the spawn codes to automatically add this creature to your Minecraft Java or Bedrock game. We’ll also cover how to summon a Wither into your game naturally using soul sand and Wither skeleton skulls caught in the Nether.

Things You Should Know

Type /summon minecraft:wither if you’re playing Java or /summon wither if you’re playing Bedrock to spawn the Wither automatically.
Spawn a Wither organically by stacking 4 blocks of soul sand in a “T” shape and placing 3 Wither skeleton skulls on top.
Withers can only be summoned in Creative or Survival games set to Easy, Normal, or Hard. They can’t be summoned in Peaceful games.

Section 1 of 2:

Wither Summoning Codes

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Open up the chat bar and type in /summon minecraft:wither to spawn the Wither at your location.
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Bedrock: /summon wither Pull up the chat bar and enter /summon wither to spawn the Wither nearby automatically.
- Important note: The Wither is a hostile mob and cannot be summoned in any Java or Bedrock worlds set to Peaceful. If you’re having trouble summoning it, double-check your world settings.

Section 2 of 2:

How to Spawn a Wither Naturally

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1
Collect 3 Wither skeleton skulls and 4 soul sand blocks from the Nether. Head to the Nether and find a Nether Fortress, an extensive brick structure where Wither skeletons spawn. Fight and defeat enough Wither skeletons to collect 3 of their heads.^{[1]
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Research source} Then, collect at least 4 blocks of soul sand from a nether waste region, soul sand valley, nether fortress, or other part of the realm.^{[2]
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- Nether waste areas are your best bet for finding soul sand—they’re common areas that appear all over the Nether. You may have to dig underground a bit to find some soul sand, though (beneath Y=34, if you have your coordinates pulled up).
Go back to your Nether portal so you teleport back to your original location.
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Stack the soul sand blocks in a “T” shape. Place 2 soul sand blocks on top of one another. Then, stick 2 more blocks on the left and right sides of the upper block you’ve already set down. This creates a capital “T” shape.
- It's important to create the frame before adding the skulls, since the last block you place must be a skull for the Wither to spawn.
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Place 3 Wither skeleton skulls on top of the 3 soul sand blocks. Make sure the three wither skeleton skulls are on top of the T-shaped frame. Once you’ve placed the last skull, the Wither will spawn.^{[3]
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- The Wither takes a few seconds to fully spawn in your world, where it will then create a huge, powerful explosion. Be sure to keep your distance!
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Fight the Wither to get a Nether Star. Killing the Wither is no easy feat—it has anywhere from 300 to 600 total health (depending on the difficulty you chose) and can do damaging attacks that apply the Wither status effect (which depletes your health like a poison). Once you’ve defeated it, though, you’ll receive a Nether Star, which can be used to craft a beacon.^{[4]
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- Beacons are helpful tools that can be used to generate helpful status effects.

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Why would you want to spawn a wither boss?

Community Answer

Spawning a wither may seem like a foolish idea, but advanced players will make them in order to gather nether stars. These are used to make beacons.

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Will they kill any monster around them?

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Withers will attack any mob except for zombies, skeletons, zombie pigmen, wither skeletons, husks, strays, and other withers.

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Can you spawn a wither in creative mode?

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Yes, you can spawn withers in creative mode.

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Tips

Since the Wither is undead, it is harmed by Potions of Healing, and healed by Potions of Harming.^{[5]
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The Wither shoots wither skulls to attack the player and any living mobs (excluding undead mobs and phantoms). Its attack style differs between Java and Bedrock editions.^{[6]
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Snow golems can serve as a good distraction for the Wither, and can also force it backward.^{[7]
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Tips from our Readers

The advice in this section is based on the lived experiences of wikiHow readers like you. If you have a helpful tip you’d like to share on wikiHow, please submit it in the field below.

Go in creative mode, then grab bedrock. If Withers can't suck up bedrock, then you can make a little box around you, and then you can get your stuff to be ready. Then break the bedrock cage, turn yourself in survival, and go defeat that Wither!
It is easiest to kill the Wither in the End, as that is the only dimension where lava nor hostile mobs spawn naturally.
You can make a bunch of iron golems to distract the Wither while you get prepared or fight it.

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