Hunger

Hunger is a player-specific feature of Minecraft that regulates certain abilities (health regeneration and the ability to sprint), the value of which is managed by the player's activity.

Description[]

The player's hunger value is shown on the heads-up display in the form of a hunger bar (or food bar), which is similar to the health bar (located above the hotbar), located opposite to it and represented by ten drumsticks ( × 10). One half of a drumstick () represents one hunger point or half-unit of hunger, thus the full bar consists of twenty hunger points. It is replenished by eating food, and decreased by a player's actions, such as sprinting, digging or attacking.

Various levels of a player's hunger control health regeneration (or depletion) and the ability to sprint. When hunger is at 18 (), the player's health regenerates. If it falls to 6 (), the player loses the ability to sprint. If the hunger bar is at zero, the player's health depletes. The specific effects are described in the Effects of hunger section. The hunger value does not drain on Peaceful difficulty, and regenerates if it is not at the maximum value.

An important aspect of hunger not shown on the hunger bar is called food saturation, which controls the decreasing of the hunger value. It depends on what the player has eaten last. There is also a food exhaustion value that controls the decreasing of the food saturation level. How exactly they control the overall hunger value is described in more depth in the Mechanics section.

Certain foods have a chance of inflicting the Hunger effect on the player upon consumption, causing the player's food bar to deplete faster and turn a yellow-green color (). These foods are pufferfish, raw chicken (30% chance), and rotten flesh (80% chance). A husk can also give the player the Hunger effect upon being attacked by one.

Mechanics[]

The hunger system utilizes four variables to control players' abilities, the values of which are stored in the player.dat format:

• foodLevel: The player's current hunger level, shown on the hunger bar. Its initial value on world creation or respawn is 20 ( × 10).
• foodSaturationLevel: The player's current saturation level, which determines how fast foodLevel depletes and is controlled by the kinds of food the player has eaten. Its maximum value always equals foodLevel's value and decreases with foodLevel. Its initial value on world creation or respawn is 5.
• foodTickTimer: This variable is used when foodLevel either exceeds 17 (), or is at zero. It increases on every tick, and whenever it reaches 80 (4 seconds), it resets to zero and 1 is added or deducted, depending on whether the player is saturated or starving. If the player has a full 20 ( × 10), ¹⁄₆ of 1 times the player's foodSaturationLevel is restored, up to a maximum of 1, when foodTickTimer reaches 10 (¹⁄₂ second), and foodTickTimer is reset to zero.
• foodExhaustionLevel: The player's current exhaustion level, which determines how fast the foodSaturationLevel depletes. Its value is increased by the player's actions (see Exhaustion level increase for specific values). The initial value is zero. When it reaches a value of at least 4, the total value is decreased by 4 and one point is subtracted from foodSaturationLevel, or foodLevel if foodSaturationLevel is at zero.

The above variables can be queried in-game with the following command: /data get entity <player's name> <variable>‌^{[Java Edition only]}.

As a visible sign that the saturation is used up, the hunger bar starts to shake or jitter periodically. When the saturation level is at zero, once the exhaustion value reaches 4, the total hunger value is decreased by 1 (). Eating food replenishes both hunger and saturation levels (see Food level and saturation level restoration for specific values), with the hunger level being replenished first, which also increases the maximum allowed saturation level. For example, if a golden carrot (giving 6 () and 14.4 saturation points) is eaten by a player whose hunger bar is at 9 () and saturation is below 1, its value increases to 15 (), and the golden carrot's saturation potential is fully used. However, if the hunger level is 8 (), its value increases to 14 () and only 14 saturation points are used.

Effects of hunger[]

Various hunger levels lead to various effects on the player:

• When the hunger bar is at 20 () and there is any saturation left, health regenerates 1 every ¹⁄₂ second.‌^{[Java Edition only]}
• When the hunger bar is at 18 () or more, health slowly regenerates 1 every 4 seconds.
• When the hunger bar is at 17 () points or below, the player does not naturally regenerate health.
• If the hunger bar is at 6 () points or below, then the player cannot sprint.
• When the hunger bar is at 0 (), the player's health depletes at a rate of 1 every 4 seconds (this makes sleeping impossible). On Easy difficulty, the player's health stops dropping at 10, on Normal, it stops at 1, and on Hard, it keeps draining until either the player eats something or starves to death. Resistance and armor do not reduce starvation damage.^[1]

Switching to Peaceful difficulty eliminates all penalties above, and rapidly restores the player's hunger bar and health.

Exhaustion level increase[]

Any action not listed here does not increase exhaustion level. For example, normal walking doesn't increase exhaustion, and therefore does not decrease saturation or the food bar.

Action	Exhaustion level increase	Units
Swimming	0.01	per meter
Breaking a block	0.005	per block broken
Sprinting	0.1	per meter
Jumping	0.05	per jump
Attacking an entity	0.1	per attack landed
Taking damage that is normally protected by armor	0.1	per distinct instance of damage being received
Hunger	0.005	per tick, per Hunger status effect level
Jumping while sprinting	0.2	per jump
Regenerating health by having × 9 or higher and having gamerule naturalRegeneration set to true	6.0	per 1 healed
Hunger from raw chicken or rotten flesh, or taking damage from husks.	3.0	full 0:30 duration of Hunger I, at 0.1 per second
Hunger from pufferfish	4.5	full 0:15 duration of Hunger III, at 0.3 per second

Food level and saturation level restoration[]

Name	Icon	Food points	Saturation restored	Effective quality [note 1]	Saturation ratio	Effect(s)	Source(s)
Apple		4 ()	2.4	6.4	0.6	None	Destroyed/despawned oak or dark oak leaves Stronghold altar and storeroom, village weaponsmith and plains house, igloo and bonus chests Receive 4 for 1 emerald at apprentice-level trade of farmer villager
Baked Potato		5 ()	6	11	1.2	None	Cooking a potato in a furnace, smoker, or campfire
Beetroot		1 ()	1.2	2.2	1.2	None	Harvesting beetroot crops Farmer villager who drop beetroot after harvesting beetroot crop
Beetroot Soup		6 ()	7.2	13.2	1.2	None	Crafting a bowl together with beetroots village snowy tundra house chest
Bread		5 ()	6	11	1.2	None	Crafting from wheat Dungeon, stronghold altar and storeroom, village, mineshaft, woodland mansion and bonus chests Receive 6 for 1 emerald at novice-level trade of farmer villager Farmer villager who drop bread after harvesting wheat Raid gift from farmer villager‌[Java Edition only]
Cake (slice)		2 ()	0.4	2.4	0.2	None	Consume one slice of cake
Cake (whole)		14 ( × 7)	2.8	16.8	0.2	None	Crafting from wheat, eggs, sugar, and milk Receive 1 for 1 emerald at expert-level trade of farmer villager Buried treasure chest‌[Bedrock Edition only]
Carrot		3 ()	3.6	6.6	1.2	None	Killing zombies Harvesting carrot crops pillager outpost and Shipwreck supply chest bonus chest‌[Bedrock Edition only] Farmer villager who drop carrot after harvesting carrot crop
Chorus Fruit		4 ()	2.4	6.4	0.6	The player may be teleported randomly, as described at Enderman#Teleportation.	Breaking chorus plants. Found in The End.
Cooked Chicken		6 ()	7.2	13.2	1.2	None	Cooking a raw chicken Killing chickens with fire Receive 4‌[BE only] or 8‌[JE only] for 1 emerald at novice-level trade from Butcher villager Raid gift from butcher villager‌[Java Edition only]
Cooked Cod		5 ()	6	11	1.2	None	Cooking a raw cod Killing cod with fire‌[Java Edition only] Killing dolphin with fire Rare drop from guardians and elder guardians when killed with fire‌[Java Edition only] Receive 6 for 1 emerald + 6 raw cod at novice-level trade from fisherman villager buried treasure chest‌[Java Edition only]
Cooked Mutton		6 ()	9.6	15.6	1.6	None	Cooking raw mutton Killing sheep with fire Receive 4 for 1 emerald at apprentice-level trade from butcher villager Raid gift from butcher villager‌[Java Edition only]
Cooked Porkchop		8 ()	12.8	20.8	1.6	None	Cooking a raw porkchop Killing pigs or hoglins with fire Receive 3‌[BE only] or 5‌[JE only] for 1 emerald at apprentice-level trade from butcher villager Raid gift from butcher villager‌[Java Edition only]
Cooked Rabbit		5 ()	6	11	1.2	None	Cooking raw rabbit Killing rabbits with fire Receive 5 for 1 emerald at apprentice-level trade from butcher villager‌[Bedrock Edition only] Raid gift from butcher villager‌[Java Edition only]
Cooked Salmon		6 ()	9.6	15.6	1.6	None	Cooking a raw salmon Killing salmon with fire‌[Java Edition only] buried treasure chest‌[Java Edition only] Receive 6 for 1 emerald + 1 raw salmon at apprentice-level trade from fisherman villager
Cookie		2 ()	0.4	2.4	0.2	None	Crafting from wheat and cocoa beans Receive 18 for 3 emerald at journeyman-level trade from farmer villager
Dried Kelp		1 ()	0.6‌[JE only] 0.2‌[BE only]	1.6‌[JE only] 1.2‌[BE only]	0.6‌[JE only] 0.2‌[BE only]	None	Smelting kelp in a furnace, smoker, or campfire Crafting from dried kelp block Raid gift from farmer villager‌[Java Edition only]
Enchanted Golden Apple		4 ()	9.6	13.6	2.4	* Regeneration II for 20 seconds‌[Java Edition only] Regeneration IV for 30 seconds‌[Bedrock Edition only] Absorption IV for 2 minutes Resistance for 5 minutes Fire Resistance for 5 minutes	Desert pyramid, dungeon, woodland mansion, mineshaft, and ancient city chests. This is the only food item in the game that is not renewable.
Golden Apple		4 ()	9.6	13.6	2.4	* Regeneration II for 5 seconds Absorption for 2 minutes	Crafting from an apple and gold ingots Desert pyramid, dungeon, mineshaft, stronghold altar, woodland mansion, igloo, and big underwater ruins chests
Glow Berries		2 ()	0.4	2.4	0.2	None	Collected from cave vines
Golden Carrot		6 ()	14.4	20.4	2.4	None	Crafting a carrot with gold nuggets Receive 3 for 3 emerald at master-level trade from farmer villager
Honey Bottle		6 ()	1.2	7.2	0.2	Clears Poison	Crafting from honey block Collecting from beehives or bee nests
Melon Slice		2 ()	1.2	3.2	0.6	None	Harvesting a melon block
Mushroom Stew		6 ()	7.2	13.2	1.2	None	Crafting with a bowl and one of each mushroom Using a bowl on a mooshroom
Poisonous Potato		2 ()	1.2	3.2	0.6	Poison for 5 seconds (60% chance)	Harvesting potato crops Shipwreck supply chest
Potato		1 ()	0.6	1.6	0.6	None	Killing zombies Harvesting potato crops Farmer villager who drop potato after harvesting potato crop bonus chest‌[Bedrock Edition only] village plains and taiga house, pillager outpost, and shipwreck supply chest
Pufferfish		1 ()	0.2	1.2	0.2 (−4.8)[note 2]	* Hunger III for 15 seconds Nausea for 15 seconds Poison II for 60 seconds	Fishing Killing pufferfish Rare drop from guardians and elder guardian
Pumpkin Pie		8 ()	4.8	12.8	0.6	None	Crafting with a pumpkin, an egg, and sugar Receive 4 for 1 emerald at apprentice-level trade from farmer villager village taiga house chest Raid gift from farmer villager‌[Java Edition only]
Rabbit Stew		10 ()	12	22	1.2	None	Crafting with a bowl, carrot, baked potato, mushroom, and cooked rabbit Receive 1 for 1 emerald at novice-level trade from butcher villager
Raw Beef		3 ()	1.8	4.8	0.6	None	Killing cows, red mooshrooms, and brown mooshroom village butcher chest
Raw Chicken		2 ()	1.2	3.2	0.6 (-2.075)[note 2]	Hunger for 30 seconds (30% chance)	Killing chickens Cat gift
Raw Cod		2 ()	0.4	2.4	0.2	None	Fishing Killing cod, guardians, elder guardians, dolphins, polar bears Rare drop from guardians and elder guardians village fisher barrel Raid gift from fisherman villager‌[Java Edition only]
Raw Mutton		2 ()	1.2	3.2	0.6	None	Killing sheep village butcher chest
Raw Porkchop		3 ()	1.8	4.8	0.6	None	Killing pigs or hoglins village butcher chest
Raw Rabbit		3 ()	1.8	4.8	0.6	None	Killing rabbits
Raw Salmon		2 ()	0.4	2.4	0.2	None	Fishing Killing salmon and polar bears Rare drop from guardians and elder guardians Raid gift from fisherman villager‌[Java Edition only] village fisher barrel‌[Java Edition only] bonus chest
Rotten Flesh		4 ()	0.8	4.8	0.2 (-1.8)[note 2]	Hunger for 30 seconds (80% chance)	Killing zombies, zombified piglins, zombie villagers, husks, drowned, and zombie horses dungeon, igloo, woodland mansion, small underwater ruins, village temple, shipwreck supply, desert, and jungle pyramid chests Caught as junk from fishing Cat gift
Spider Eye		2 ()	3.2	5.2	1.6 (-2.2)[note 3]	Poison for 5 seconds	Killing spiders and cave spiders Killing a witch
Steak		8 ()	12.8	20.8	1.6	None	Cooking raw beef Killing cows, red mooshrooms, or brown mooshrooms with fire Receive 3 for 1 emerald at journeyman-level trade from butcher villager Raid gift from butcher villager‌[Java Edition only]
Suspicious Stew		6 ()	7.2	13.2	1.2	The following for 3-11 seconds, depending on the flower used: Regeneration Jump Boost Poison Wither Weakness Blindness Fire Resistance Saturation Night Vision	Crafting with a bowl, red mushroom, brown mushroom, and any flower Feed brown mooshroom any flower then using a bowl on brown mooshroom
Suspicious Stew (Together with Saturation)		13 ( × 6.5)	21.2	34.2	1.6307692307692	Effect of Saturation already added to total points restored	Crafting with a bowl, red mushroom, brown mushroom, and Dandelion or Blue Orchid Feed brown mooshroom a dandelion or blue orchid then using a bowl on brown mooshroom
Sweet Berries		2 ()	0.4‌[JE only] 1.2‌[BE only]	2.4‌[JE only] 3.2‌[BE only]	0.2‌[JE only] 0.6‌[BE only]	None	Breaking sweet berry bushes Picking ripe berries from sweet berry bushes (right-click) Taiga village house chests.‌[Java Edition only]
Tropical Fish		1 ()	0.2	1.2	0.2	None	Fishing Killing tropical fish Rare drop from guardians and elder guardians

Food poisoning[]

Achievements[]

Video[]

History[]

Issues[]

Issues relating to "Hunger" are maintained on the bug tracker. Report issues there.

References[]

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