Overview
No Blaze, no Ender Dragon. That is the blunt version of why this mob matters: blaze rods crush into blaze powder, blaze powder plus ender pearls makes eyes of ender, and eyes of ender are the only way to locate and open a stronghold portal. Blaze powder is also the fuel every brewing stand runs on, so the same mob gates potions. It has 20 health, hovers a little above the ground, and attacks in volleys of three fireballs after an audible wind-up, each fireball setting you alight on contact. It is permanently on fire itself, which means lava does nothing to it, and it takes damage from water, splash water bottles, snowballs and rain — a snowball does 3 damage to a Blaze and nothing to anything else, making stacks of them a genuinely efficient weapon. Fight one at a corner in a nether fortress corridor so only a single Blaze has line of sight at a time, keep a shield up between volleys, and drink Fire Resistance if you have it, because the fireballs and the burning floor together kill faster than the melee does. Blazes spawn from the spawners built into fortresses and, less often, from the fortress floor itself, which is what makes a caged spawner worth boxing in rather than destroying.
Blaze rods. One rod grinds into 2 blaze powder, which fuels every brewing stand and combines with an ender pearl to make an eye of ender, so the End and the entire potion system both depend on them.
A blaze hovers, glows, and fires volleys of three fireballs with a short wind-up you can hear before you see it. It is on fire permanently, so it ignores lava and sets you alight on contact, and it takes damage from water, snowballs and rain. Blaze rods are the only source of blaze powder, making fortresses a mandatory stop before the End. Fight them from a corner with a shield up.
In Minecraft, Blaze is classified as a hostile mob. It has 20 health points, or 10 hearts. On Normal difficulty each hit costs you 6 damage.
It is worth 10 XP.
Properties
Blaze has 20 health, which is 10 hearts. It drops up to 10 experience when a player kills it. Its hitbox is 0.6 blocks wide and 1.8 tall, which is what decides whether it fits through a gap or a one-block-high opening.
- Dimension
- The Nether
- Added in
- 1.0.0
Damage by difficulty
Blaze hits for 4 on Easy, 6 on Normal and 9 on Hard — the site's stat strip shows the Normal figure, which is the one most guides quote.
A full set of diamond armour cuts that by up to 80% against a small hit and less against a large one, and Protection IV on all four pieces — 16 EPF — takes a further 64% off what is left.
| Difficulty | Attack damage | Hearts |
|---|---|---|
| Easy | 4 | 2 |
| Normal | 6 | 3 |
| Hard | 9 | 4.5 |
Spawns in
Spawns from blaze spawners in nether fortresses and, less commonly, from the fortress floor itself.
It does not appear in open terrain: every Blaze comes from Nether Fortress.
- Dimension
- The Nether
- Light level
- ≤ 11
- Only in
- Nether Fortress
- Added in
- 1.0.0
Dimension: The Nether · Added in 1.0.0
Drops
Killing Blaze drops Blaze Rod, plus up to 10 experience. Looting raises the maximum on most of these by one per level.
- Blaze Rod: 0–1 — Only when killed by a player. Looting raises the maximum to 4.
How it behaves
The Blaze attacks on sight within its detection range, so light, walls and distance are all valid answers. Most hostile mobs notice you inside about sixteen blocks, though a few — ghasts especially — see very much further.
Killed by a player it drops up to 10 experience; killed any other way it drops none.
Command
In a world with cheats on, this spawns one Blaze where you are standing.
Summon
/summon minecraft:blaze ~ ~ ~Guides and tools that cover this
Frequently asked questions
How many blaze rods do you need?
Plan on 7 to 10. Each rod makes 2 blaze powder, and you want at least 12 eyes of ender plus brewing fuel.
What damage does a Blaze do?
6 per hit on Normal, 4 on Easy and 9 on Hard, plus the fire it sets on you with every fireball.
Do snowballs hurt Blazes?
Yes — 3 damage each, the only mob besides the Ender Dragon that snowballs damage at all.
Where do Blazes spawn?
Nether fortresses only: from blaze spawners, and at a low rate from the fortress structure blocks themselves.
How much health does the Blaze have in Minecraft?
The Blaze has 20 health points, which is 10 hearts.
What does the Blaze drop?
It drops Blaze Rod, plus 10 experience when killed by a player.
Where does the Blaze spawn?
Spawns from blaze spawners in nether fortresses and, less commonly, from the fortress floor itself.
How much damage does Blaze do?
6 on Normal difficulty — 3 hearts — with 4 on Easy and 9 on Hard.
Related pages
How to get it
Blazes spawn from blaze spawners inside nether fortresses at light level 11 or below, and occasionally on fortress blocks directly. Only a player kill drops a blaze rod — 0 to 1 normally, up to 4 with Looting III.
Tips
- Throw snowballs: each one deals 3 damage to a Blaze, and a stack of 16 kills several without risking melee range.
- Fight from inside a fortress corridor so only one Blaze can see you at a time and the volleys stay manageable.
- Box a blaze spawner in with slabs and leave one opening — a spawner farm is far cheaper than repeated fortress raids.
- Bring a Fire Resistance potion from brewing every potion; it removes the fireball damage almost entirely.