How to summon The Wither in Minecraft

Minecraft has some boss mobs that have made their place in the game very well known. The Ender Dragon rules over The End while the Warden pursues anyone who ventures into The Deep Dark. There is only one boss in Minecraft that you must actively summon that can wreak widespread destruction across the world. Here’s how to summon The Wither in Minecraft.

Related: How to find the Warden in Minecraft

How to summon and defeat The Wither in Minecraft

In order to summon The Wither, you must acquire four Soul Sand/Earth Blocks and three Wither Skeleton Skulls. Both items can only be purchased in the Nether. Soul Sand and Soil is scattered randomly across the realm, but you can find biomes filled with the stuff. If you find a Nether Fortress, you can grab it from under the Netherwart Gardens.

The Wither Skeleton Skulls will take the most time to acquire. Wither Skeletons appear in Nether Fortresses. When you find them, you must defeat them to stand a tiny chance of the item falling. You can increase it slightly with the Looting enchantment on your weapon, but it’s still less than a 6% chance.

When fighting wither skeletons, be careful they don’t touch you. When they damage you, your health bar turns black and slowly decreases until you die. Carrying a bucket of milk with you can eliminate the effect.

When you have the four Soul Sand/Earth blocks and three Wither Skeleton Skulls, you are ready to summon The Wither. Make sure you’re ready for a fight because this will be challenging. Place your soul blocks in a T and place the skulls on top. The Wither will appear and build up its health before causing an explosion around it and then attacking any players or NPC mobs in the area.

Defeating The Wither will be quite difficult. Whenever it glows blue, it charges a blast. It flies around and fires explosive skulls at you, so approaching it can be both challenging and dangerous. If you’re able to endure its attacks and defeat it, it will charge up for another big blast, always dropping a Nether Star that you can use to create a Flare.