Damage type

Damage types are JSON files located in data packs that define different kinds of damage that entities can take. They control which attributes the damage has as well as which death message is used when an entity dies due to that type of damage.

Additionally, the built-in damage type tags control many aspects of how damage is applied by the game.

Custom damage types can be applied only by using the /damage command.

JSON format

Damage types are stored as JSON files within a data pack, at the path data/<namespace>/damage_type/<name>.json.

• [NBT Compound / JSON Object] The root object.
  • [String] message_id: Used as part of the death message translation key if [String] death_message_type is set to default, as shown below.
  • [Float] exhaustion: The amount of hunger exhaustion caused by this damage type.
  • [String] scaling: Whether this damage type scales with difficulty. Possible values: never, always, or when_caused_by_living_non_player. See below for more detail.
  • [String] effects: Optional field controlling how incoming damage is shown to the player. Possible values: hurt (default), thorns, drowning, burning, poking, freezing. See below for more detail.
  • [String] death_message_type: Optional field that controls the kind of death messages to use. Possible values: default (default), fall_variants, intentional_game_design. See below for more detail.

For example, here is JSON for the built-in minecraft:arrow:

{
	"exhaustion": 0.1,
 	"message_id": "arrow",
	"scaling": "when_caused_by_living_non_player"
}

List of damage types

Damage type	Sources
arrow	Any kind of arrow hitting something A spectral arrow or tipped arrow hitting something
bad_respawn_point	A bed or respawn anchor exploding
cactus	Touching a cactus
campfire	Touching a campfire or soul campfire
cramming	When too many mobs are in one place
dragon_breath	Unused
drown	Ticking damage while drowning Snow golems, blazes, endermen, and striders in water/rain Bees underwater Fish, tadpoles, dolphins and squid are out of water for too long
dry_out	When dolphins and axolotls are out of water for too long
ender_pearl	Teleporting with an ender pearl
explosion	When an end crystal takes damage and blows up Damage to the ender dragon when the healing end crystal is destroyed A wither fight starting A minecart with TNT exploding, either from a flaming arrow or another reason TNT exploding when its fuse runs out A creeper exploding when its fuse runs out An explosion caused by a ghast fireball or wither skull Explosions from the dragon respawn animation
fall	Any entity taking fall damage Riding a entity that took fall damage
falling_anvil	A falling anvil hitting something
falling_block	A non-anvil, non-dripstone falling block hitting an entity
falling_stalactite	Falling pointed dripstone hitting something
fireball	A ghast or blaze fireball with an owner hitting an entity directly
fireworks	A firework exploding
fly_into_wall	Hitting a wall or world border while flying using elytra
freeze	Ticking damage while freezing in powder snow
generic	Bees dying after stinging Simulating the player_hurt_entity trigger when punching an interaction entity Used in a DamageEvent package When reporting an end crystal killed by /kill to the dragon fight A entity achieving a death that is not assigned to any damage type or is assigned to generic damage type
generic_kill	Using /kill
hot_floor	Standing on a magma block
in_fire	Ticking damage while standing in a fire or soul fire block Ticking damage while standing on a lit campfire or soul campfire
in_wall	Ticking damage while stuck in a wall
indirect_magic	Instant damage from a harming/healing potion (drink, splash, or lingering) Extra damage from a guardian's beam attack Evoker fangs with an owner dealing damage Damage dealt to snow golems, blazes, endermen, and striders from splash water bottles
lava	Ticking damage while in lava
lightning_bolt	When struck by lightning
mace_smash	Extra damage by attacking using mace
magic	Simulating a kill with /loot kill Ticking damage from a Harming/Healing effect (i.e. not initial contact) Ticking damage from a Poison effect Evoker fangs with no owner dealing damage A wither skull with no owner hitting something A conduit attack A arrow of harming hitting something
mob_attack	Melee attack dealt by most mobs Touching a pufferfish The ender dragon pushing entities away A guardian's beam attack A ravager roaring Touching a blaze
mob_attack_no_aggro	A goat ramming
mob_projectile	A shulker bullet hitting something
on_fire	A entity burning Snow golems melting or burning
out_of_world	Ticking damage in the void
outside_border	Ticking damage while outside the world border
player_attack	A player hitting a mob A player dealing a sweeping attack Feeding a parrot a cookie A player breaking a non-mob entity When granting the kill_mob_near_sculk_catalyst criteria if the actual damage type couldn't be found
player_explosion	Anything in explosion, when it can be determined a player was directly responsible
sonic_boom	A warden booming
spit	A llama spitting
stalagmite	Falling too far onto pointed dripstone
starve	A vex summoned by an evoker dying after it's time ran out Ticking damage from having no food
sting	A bee stinging
sweet_berry_bush	Ticking damage while moving in a berry bush block
thorns	Attacking a guardian or elder guardian Attacking a entity wearing armor enchanted with thorns
thrown	A snowball, egg, or ender pearl hitting something
trident	A trident hitting something
unattributed_fireball	A ghast or blaze fireball without an owner hitting an entity directly
wind_charge	A wind charge, thrown or fire from a breeze, hitting something
wither	Ticking damage from a Wither effect
wither_skull	A wither skull with an owner hitting something

Scaling

Damage types control whether damage scales with difficulty.​

Possible values of [String] scaling:

• never: Damage is always the same.
• always: Damage always scales with difficulty.
• when_caused_by_living_non_player: Damage scales with difficulty if the attacker was a living entity and was not a player.

Effects

Damage types control how incoming damage is shown to the player.

Possible values of [String] effects:

• hurt (default): The default hurt sound.
• thorns: Thorns hurt sound.
• drowning: Drowning sound.
• burning: A single tick of burning sound.
• poking: Berry bush poke sound.
• freezing: Freezing tick sound.

Death messages

Damage types control the death messages displayed when players or pets die.

Possible values of [String] death_message_type:

• default (default): Use the standard death message logic.
• fall_variants: Use the fall damage death messages, e.g. death.fell.assist.item.
• intentional_game_design: Show the "intentional game design" death message.

Default message type

When standard death message logic is being used, messages are generated as follows, making use of the [String] message_id tag:

• If the killing blow was caused by an attacker and the attacker was holding a named item in their main hand at the time of death, this is categorized as an item death. A translated message is displayed using the translation key death.attack.<message_id>.item with the following insertions available:
  1. The name of the dying entity.
  2. The name of the attacker.
  3. The name of the item.
• If the killing blow was not caused by an attacker, but the dying entity had recently​ taken damage that was caused by a living entity, this is categorized as an assisted death. A translated message is displayed using the translation key death.attack.<message_id>.player with the following insertions available:
  1. The name of the dying entity.
  2. The name of the recent attacker.
• If neither of the above apply, this is categorized as a normal death. A translated message is displayed using the translation key death.attack.<message_id> with the following insertions available:
  1. The name of the dying entity.
  2. The name of the attacker, if there was one.

Design

Because of how the default death messages are set up, most vanilla damage types are divided into ones that always have an attacker and ones that never have an attacker. Depending on whether there was an attacker, the translation for normal deaths (death.attack.<message_id>) has either one or two available insertions. Translations have no safe way to access an insertion that may or may not be there, so the primary options are:

The death type is planned to always have an attacker.

• The translation looks like

  "death.attack.mob": "%s was slain by %s",
  "death.attack.mob.item": "%s was slain by %s using %s",
  

• The translation key death.attack.<message_id>.player is not provided, since assisted deaths are impossible.

The death type is planned to never have an attacker.

• The translation looks like

  "death.attack.drown": "%s drowned",
  "death.attack.drown.player": "%s drowned whilst trying to escape %s",
  

• The translation key death.attack.<message_id>.item is not provided, since item deaths are impossible.

The death type may or may not have an attacker.

• The translation looks like

  "death.attack.electricity": "%s was electrocuted",
  "death.attack.electricity.item": "%s was electrocuted by %s using %s",
  "death.attack.electricity.player": "%s was electrocuted whilst trying to escape %s",
  

• The translation key death.attack.<message_id> avoids using the second insertion, since it may or may not be present.
• The translation is a little awkward, because the death message when killed by a player mention them only if they're holding a named weapon.

To avoid the awkwardness of the third option you can have two different damage types, one for use with an attacker, and one for use without an attacker:

"death.attack.active_electricity": "%s was electrocuted by %s",
"death.attack.active_electricity.item": "%s was electrocuted by %s using %s",
"death.attack.passive_electricity": "%s was electrocuted",
"death.attack.passive_electricity.player": "%s was electrocuted whilst trying to escape %s",

History

[hide]Java Edition
1.19.4			23w06a				Added damage types to data packs.
1.20			pre1				Added outside_border, and generic_kill.
1.20.5			23w51a				Added spit.
1.21			24w18a				Added wind_charge.
			24w19b				Added campfire.
1.21.2			24w33a				Added mace_smash and ender_pearl.

External links

• Damage type Generator on misode.github.io