Instant Damage Status Effect Wiki Guide
This Minecraft tutorial explains the Instant Damage effect with screenshots and step-by-step instructions.
Background
The Instant Damage effect is a status effect that causes instant damage to a player or mob that is living.
However, undead mobs (such as zombies, skeletons, wither skeletons, wither bosses, skeleton horses and zombie horses) are healed by the Instant Damage effect.
So if you throw a Splash Potion or Lingering Potion of Instant Damage at an undead mob, you can actually heal that undead mob.
There are levels of Instant Damage such as Instant Damage II, Instant Damage III, Instant Damage IV and so on. The higher the level of Instant Damage, the more damage that is inflicted.
| Status Effect | Instant Damage |
|---|---|
| Type | Harmful Effect (but Helpful to undead mobs) |
| Description | Causes instant damage to a player or mob that is living. However, undead mobs (such as zombies, skeletons, wither skeletons, wither bosses, skeleton horses and zombie horses) are healed by this effect. |
| Effect Icon |  (this icon is only seen if the effect was given using the /effect command) |
| Particles | Red particles are seen if using a lingering potion or the /effect command |
| Items that give Effect |  Arrow of Harming (Instant Damage) Potion of Harming (Instant Damage) Splash Potion (Instant Damage) Lingering Potion (Instant Damage) |
| Game Command | /effect command |
Icon and Particle Effects
In normal game play, the Instant Damage effect happens immediately so you will not see an icon, duration and particle effects for this effect.
Using the /effect command
However, if you use the /effect command, you will see the following icon appear in the top right corner of the screen while the effect is active:
And you will see red particle effects floating around you.
When the Instant Damage effect wears off, the icon and particle effects will disappear. You will be back to your normal status.
Duration
Normally in the game, there is no duration for Instant Damage because this status effect occurs instantly.
Using the /effect command
However, if you use the /effect command, you can see how much time is remaining for the effect by going to your inventory menu.
In this example, it says 0:30 under Instant Damage II so this means that there is 30 seconds remaining of the Instant Damage II effect.
Items that give the Instant Damage Effect
The following are items that give the Instant Damage effect in Minecraft:
How to make an Arrow of Harming
Effect ID and Name
Minecraft Java Edition (PC/Mac)
In Minecraft, Instant Damage has the following effect ID and Name values:
| Icon | Status Effect (Minecraft ID Name) |
ID | Platform | Version |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Instant Damage (minecraft:instant_damage) |
7 |  Java Edition (PC/Mac) |
- Icon is the image that will appear when you have this effect.
- Status Effect is what the effect is called and (Minecraft ID Name) is the string value used in the /effect command.
- IDÂ is the Internal number for the effect.
- Platform is the platform that applies.
- Version is the Minecraft version number that the effect was introduced for the name and ID that is listed.
Effect Command for Instant Damage
Effect Command in Minecraft Java Edition (Current)
Instant Damage:
/effect give @p instant_damage 99999
Instant Damage II:
/effect give @p instant_damage 99999 1
Instant Damage (highest level):
/effect give @p instant_damage 99999 255
To remove all status effects including Instant Damage, you can either drink milk or use the following /effect command:
/effect clear @p
Effect Command in Minecraft Java Edition (PC/Mac) 1.11 and 1.12
Instant Damage:
/effect @p instant_damage 99999
Instant Damage II:
/effect @p instant_damage 99999 1
Instant Damage (highest level):
/effect @p instant_damage 99999 255
To remove all status effects:
/effect @p clear
Other Status Effects
Here are the other status effects in Minecraft such as: