Instant Damage is a status effect that hits a target for a burst of damage the moment it lands, with no ticking and no timer. It is the offensive half of a pair: Instant Health heals, Instant Damage hurts. Players mostly meet it as the Potion of Harming, a splash or lingering potion thrown at mobs or, in PvP, at other players.
The part that trips people up is simple. Instant Damage heals undead mobs instead of hurting them. Throw a Potion of Harming at a zombie and you top up its health. Knowing which mobs it works on is half of using it well.
This guide covers what the effect does, how much damage each level deals, how to brew and throw it, and the undead rule that catches so many players out.
What Instant Damage does
Instant Damage deals magic damage in a single hit. Unlike Poison or Wither, which chip away over several seconds, it resolves once and is gone. There is no timer to wait out and nothing to cure with milk after the fact, because the damage already happened.
The damage is typed as magic, which means it goes straight past armor points. A full set of iron or diamond armor will not soften a Potion of Harming the way it blunts a sword swing. Two things still reduce it: the Protection enchantment on your armor, and the Resistance status effect. A player in strong Protection gear, or one running Resistance from a beacon, takes noticeably less.
Because the effect is instant, it never stacks or ticks. A second hit does not add to a first the way two Poison sources would. Each throw is its own separate chunk of damage.
How much damage it deals
Instant Damage comes in two strengths. Level I deals 6 points of damage, which is 3 hearts. Level II deals 12 points, or 6 hearts, enough to drop an unarmored player from full health to almost nothing in one throw. The jump between the two tiers is a straight doubling.
Splash and lingering versions can deal less than the full amount depending on how close the target is to the center of the splash. A direct hit at a mob’s feet lands the full value. A target caught at the edge of the cloud takes a reduced share.
Where Instant Damage comes from
Almost every source is a potion. The base item is the Potion of Harming, brewed at a brewing stand. From there you can turn it into a splash potion, a lingering potion, or tipped arrows. Witches also throw Splash Potions of Harming at players and other mobs, so you may take the effect yourself while fighting one.
There is no block or food that hands out Instant Damage. If you have the effect on you, something threw a potion, fired a tipped arrow, or a command applied it.
You can spot the potion by its dark red color and the crimson swirl of particles it gives off. That same red burst appears when a splash or lingering version lands, which makes it easy to tell apart from the pale pink of a healing potion.
Why it heals undead mobs
Instant Damage and Instant Health are swapped for undead creatures. Instant Health hurts them, and Instant Damage heals them. Throw a Potion of Harming at a zombie or a skeleton and you hand it free health.
The undead list includes zombies, zombie villagers, husks, drowned, skeletons, strays, wither skeletons, zombified piglins, and phantoms. Against any of these, a Potion of Harming is worse than useless. Against living mobs like creepers and spiders, or against other players, it does its full damage.
The flip is also a tool. If you want to keep a captured zombie or skeleton alive for a farm or a trade setup, a splash Potion of Harming will heal it in a pinch. Instant Health does the opposite, so keep the two straight before you throw.
How to brew a Potion of Harming
There are two brewing paths, and both finish with a fermented spider eye, the ingredient that corrupts a positive potion into its harmful version.
The first path starts from a Potion of Healing. Brew a water bottle with nether wart to get an Awkward Potion, add a glistering melon slice to make a Potion of Healing, then add a fermented spider eye to turn it into a Potion of Harming.
The second path starts from a Potion of Poison. Make the Awkward Potion the same way, add a plain spider eye to get a Potion of Poison, then add a fermented spider eye. Both routes give you the exact same Potion of Harming, so use whichever ingredients you already have.
To brew the stronger version, add glowstone dust to the finished potion for Instant Damage II. Do not bother with redstone dust. Redstone extends a potion’s duration, and an instant effect has no duration to extend, so it does nothing here.
Splash, lingering, and tipped arrows
Drinking a Potion of Harming would just hurt you, so Instant Damage is almost always thrown. Add gunpowder to the base potion to make a Splash Potion of Harming, which breaks on impact and hits everything in the splash radius. Aim for a mob’s feet for a clean, direct hit.
Add dragon’s breath to a splash potion to make a Lingering Potion of Harming. That version leaves a cloud on the ground that damages anything standing in it, and it can catch several mobs at once. The cloud deals less per pulse than a direct splash, but it keeps working for a few seconds, which makes it good for choke points and crowds.
You can also make an Arrow of Harming. Surround a Lingering Potion of Harming with arrows on the crafting grid, and each tipped arrow carries the effect. On a hit, the arrow deals its normal damage plus the Instant Damage on top. These let you punish a living mob from range without walking into it.
Tips and common mistakes
The biggest mistake is throwing a Potion of Harming at undead mobs and wondering why they will not die. Check what you are aiming at first. For zombies and skeletons, reach for Instant Health if you want to hurt them with a potion, or just use a sword.
In PvP, Instant Damage II is one of the faster ways to burst an opponent, because it ignores their armor. Land it and follow up with a hit, and you can end a fight before they get a chance to heal. Watch your own footing while you do it: a splash potion that lands too close will catch you as well, since you are not undead.
Store a few splash Potions of Harming in an ender chest for emergencies. When a creeper or a group of spiders is bearing down and your sword is not enough, a thrown potion buys space. Just do not reach for it in a zombie horde, where it will only make things worse.
Applying the effect with commands
On a world with cheats, or on a server where you have permission, you can apply the effect straight away with /effect give <target> minecraft:instant_damage. Because it is instant, the seconds value is ignored, and the amplifier sets the strength: 0 is level I and 1 is level II. This is the quick way to test how much damage a level does without brewing anything.
Frequently asked questions
How much damage does Instant Damage do?
Level I deals 6 points, or 3 hearts. Level II deals 12 points, or 6 hearts. Armor does not reduce it, but the Protection enchantment and the Resistance effect do.
Does Instant Damage heal zombies and skeletons?
Yes. Every undead mob is healed by Instant Damage and hurt by Instant Health. That includes zombies, skeletons, husks, drowned, strays, wither skeletons, zombified piglins, and phantoms.
How do you make a Potion of Harming?
Add a fermented spider eye to either a Potion of Healing or a Potion of Poison. Both give you a Potion of Harming. Add glowstone dust afterward for the level II version.
Does Instant Damage go through armor?
Yes. It deals magic damage, which bypasses armor points. Only the Protection enchantment and the Resistance effect lower it.
Can you put Instant Damage on an arrow?
Yes. Craft arrows with a Lingering Potion of Harming to make Arrows of Harming, which apply the effect on hit along with the arrow’s normal damage.
Why won’t redstone make my Potion of Harming last longer?
Instant Damage has no duration, so there is nothing for redstone to extend. Use glowstone dust to make it stronger instead.
What is the difference between Instant Damage and Poison?
Instant Damage lands all at once and can kill. Poison ticks down over time and stops at half a heart, so it never finishes a target on its own.
Instant Damage is at its best as thrown glass: a splash or lingering Potion of Harming that erases a chunk of an enemy’s health right through their armor. Keep the undead rule in mind before you throw, or you will be handing out free healing to the very mobs you meant to kill.