Overview
Glowing draws a coloured outline around an entity that every player can see through walls, terrain and any distance the chunk is loaded at. In survival there is exactly one way to apply it — a spectral arrow — and that single delivery method defines what the effect is good for. Shoot a fleeing mob and you can track it through a forest. Shoot a creeper you have lost in a cave and you know exactly which corner it is in. On a server, shoot the player who just ran off with your diamonds. The outline is not subtle and it runs for ten seconds, long enough to follow something through cover, which makes spectral arrows the most useful non-damaging ammunition in the game and, in team play, the closest thing to a spotting tool. Crafting them needs glowstone dust, so the arrows tie back to a Nether trip: four dust around one arrow gives two spectral arrows, which is a reasonable rate once you have a glowstone supply. The effect does nothing to the target's stats — no damage, no slowdown, no drop change — so it costs the target nothing except being seen, which in a fight is often quite enough.
Tracking something you are about to lose — a fleeing mob, a creeper in a dark cave, a player in a wooded chase — by outlining it through every block between you.
Outlines the entity so it can be seen through walls by everyone. Spectral arrows are the survival source.
As a status effect, Glowing counts as harmful. No potion produces it, so it lasts however long the source keeps applying it.
While it is on you, the top-right of the inventory shows the icon and the time left, and you give off particles in the effect's colour, dimmer when the source is ambient. No beacon carries it, so each dose is finite.
How to get it
Craft Spectral Arrows from 4 glowstone dust around 1 arrow, which yields 2 arrows, and shoot the target. A hit applies Glowing for 10 seconds, and the effect has no potion form in survival.
Tips
- Spectral arrows work from a bow but not with Infinity, so each one you fire is one you must craft.
- The outline is visible to every player on the server, which makes spectral arrows genuinely useful for calling targets in a team fight.
- Glowstone dust is the cost, so a Nether trip with a Silk Touch pickaxe on glowstone pays for hundreds of arrows.
- It changes nothing about the target's behaviour or drops — this is information, not damage.
What each level does
The number in a command is one lower than the level you see: Glowing II is amplifier 1. Here is each level:
Levels above I exist but cannot be obtained in survival — a command can go up to 255.
| Level | Effect |
|---|---|
| I | an outline visible through walls to every player |
Properties
Glowing has no potion form; it comes from Spectral Arrow and lasts as long as its source keeps applying it. Drinking milk clears it, along with every other effect you are carrying.
- Category
- Negative
- Highest level in survival
- I
- Particle colour
- #94A061
- Removed by
- Milk
Where it comes from
Glowing comes from Spectral Arrow.
- Spectral Arrow
Command
This gives you thirty seconds of Glowing I with cheats on. The trailing number is the amplifier, so 1 means level II.
Give the effect
/effect give @s minecraft:glowing 30 0Clear it
/effect clear @s minecraft:glowingGuides and tools that cover this
Frequently asked questions
How long does Glowing last?
Glowing has no potion form, so whatever applied it sets how long it lasts.
How do I get rid of Glowing?
Milk — and be aware it wipes your other effects at the same time.
Is Glowing good or bad?
Harmful. The game groups it with the negative statuses.
