Food mechanics

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 ^[discuss]

If this merge affects many pages or may potentially be controversial, do not merge the page until a consensus is reached.
Reason: This page is largely just a better version of the Food page.

This article is about the mechanics of food, including eating, hunger, saturation, exhaustion, and status effects. The mechanics of food are exclusively used by players.

Eating

Eating is the process of consuming food items. Eating a food item requires holding use, and takes an amount of time dependent on the food's consumption time value.

Consumption time

Eating (or drinking) a consumable takes 32 game ticks (1.6 seconds), with the exceptions of dried kelp which takes half of the time (16 game ticks (0.8 seconds)), and honey bottles which take 25% longer (40 game ticks (2 seconds)). Cake is a block and thus cannot be eaten in the hand, requiring the player to place it down and then use it.

Eating while at full hunger

In Survival, food cannot be eaten while already at full hunger, with the exception of chorus fruit, golden apples, enchanted golden apples, honey bottles, and suspicious stew. This also applies to potions, water bottles, and milk buckets. In Creative mode and Peaceful difficulty‌^{[Bedrock Edition only]}, any food can be consumed at any time.

Hunger

Hunger is a value that determines healing, whether or not the player can sprint, and whether or not the player is starving. Hunger is restored by eating food items. Hunger is lost by healing or by performing energy-intensive actions that exhaust the player, and is the second value to be consumed by it, after saturation.

The player's current hunger value is represented by the hunger bar (), which displays above the hotbar on the right side, opposite of the health bar. Each hunger point is represented by half a hunger icon (), and the maximum hunger value is 20. Hunger points can also be restored by applying the Saturation status effect. The hunger value does not drain on Peaceful difficulty, and always remains at the maximum value of 20.

Natural regeneration

If the hunger value is at 18 () or above, or the saturation value is non-zero, the player's health naturally regenerates every 4 seconds (80 ticks). Saturation is used first, and then once fully drained, hunger is used instead. When the hunger value drops to 17 () or below, natural regeneration stops.

Sprinting

If the hunger value is at 6 () or below, the player loses the ability to sprint.

Starvation

If the hunger value reaches 0 (), the player will begin to lose health due to starvation. Starvation damages the player by 1HP every 4 seconds (80 ticks). Starvation damage ignores armor and armor toughness, the Protection enchantment, and the Resistance effect.^[1] Starvation damage stops taking effect when reaching certain health thresholds on certain difficulties.

• On Easy difficulty, starvation damage stops when the player's health is at 10HP or below.
• On Normal difficulty, starvation damage stops when the player's health is at 1HP or below.
• On Hard difficulty, starvation damage does not stop at any health threshhold, and will kill the player by bringing them to 0HP.

Food hunger values

Hunger values
Food type	Hunger restored
[note 1]	14 ( × 7)
[note 2]	13 ( × 6.5)
	10 ()
	8 ()
	6 ()
	5 ()
	4 ()
	3 ()
[note 3]	2 ()
	1 ()

Saturation

Saturation is a value that determines healing, as well as the time until hunger begins to deplete. Saturation is lost by healing or performing energy-intensive actions that exhaust the player, and is the first value to be consumed by it, before hunger.

The player's current saturation value is not visually displayed as a bar, unlike the hunger value. Instead, when saturation reaches zero, the hunger bar starts to shake or jitter periodically.

Saturation boost

This feature is exclusive to Java Edition.

 

Saturation boost^[2] is a mechanic exclusive to Java Edition that regenerates health when the player's hunger bar is full (). Saturation boost heals 1HP and consumes 1.5 () saturation points every 0.5 seconds (10 ticks).

Food saturation values

Saturation values
Food type	Saturation restored	Saturation boost‌[Java Edition only]
		Health restored	Duration
[note 4]	21.2 ( × 10.6)	14.133HP × 7.0665	7.067 seconds (141 ticks)
	14.4 ( × 7.2)	9.6HP × 4.8	4.8 seconds (96 ticks)
	12.8 ( × 6.4)	8.533HP × 4.2665	4.267 seconds (85 ticks)
	12 ( × 6)	8HP	4 seconds (80 ticks)
	9.6 ()	6.4HP × 3.2	3.2 seconds (64 ticks)
	7.2 ()	4.8HP × 2.4	2.4 seconds (48 ticks)
	6 ()	4HP	2 seconds (40 ticks)
	4.8 ()	3.2HP × 1.6	1.6 seconds (32 ticks)
	3.6 ()	2.4HP × 1.2	1.2 seconds (24 ticks)
	3.2 ()	2.133HP × 1.0665	1.067 seconds (21 ticks)
[note 5]	2.8 ()	1.867HP × 0.9335	0.933 seconds (19 ticks)
	2.4 ()	1.6HP × 0.8	0.8 seconds (16 ticks)
	1.8 ()	1.2HP × 0.6	0.6 seconds (12 ticks)
‌[Bedrock Edition only]	1.2 ()	0.8HP × 0.4	0.4 seconds (8 ticks)
	0.8 ()	0.533HP × 0.2665	0.267 seconds (5 ticks)
‌[Java Edition only]	0.6 ()	0.4HP × 0.2	0.2 seconds (4 ticks)
‌[Java Edition only][note 6]	0.4 ()	0.267HP × 0.1335	0.133 seconds (3 ticks)
‌[Bedrock Edition only]	0.2 ()	0.133HP × 0.0665	0.067 seconds (2 ticks)

Exhaustion

Exhaustion is incurred from doing certain energy-intensive actions, and certain actions exhaust the player more than others. Exhaustion first reduces saturation, and then reduces hunger.

Once the exhaustion level reaches 4.0, it resets to 0.0 and reduces the saturation by 1 () if there is any saturation remaining. If the saturation is 0, it reduces the hunger by 1 () instead.

Energy-intensive actions

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
Attacking with a spear enchanted with Lunge	4.0 × (level)	per lunge attack, regardless whether it hits
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
Natural regeneration (requires × 9 or higher and having the gamerule naturalRegeneration set to true)	6.0	per 1HP healed
Hunger from raw chicken, 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
Getting pushed by other means (except flowing water, which counts as swimming)	-	-

Effects

Certain foods provide additional effects when eaten, both helpful and harmful. This can come in the form of gaining status effects, clearing status effects, or teleportation.

• Chorus fruits teleport the player randomly.
• Enchanted golden apples provide Regeneration II for 20 seconds‌^{[Java Edition only]} or 30 seconds‌^{[Bedrock Edition only]}, Absorption IV for 2 minutes, Resistance I for 5 minutes, and Fire Resistance for 5 minutes.
• Golden apples provide Regeneration II for 5 seconds and Absorption I for 2 minutes.
• Honey bottles clear Poison.
• Milk buckets clear all status effects.
• Poisonous potatoes have a 60% chance to inflict Poison for 5 seconds.
• Pufferfish inflict Hunger III for 15 seconds, Nausea for 15 seconds, and Poison II for 1 minute.
• Raw chicken has a 30% chance to inflict Hunger I for 30 seconds.
• Rotten flesh has an 80% chance to inflict Hunger I for 30 seconds.
• Spider eyes inflict Poison I for 5 seconds.
• Suspicious stews inflict an effect dependent on the type of stew.

Hunger effect

The Hunger effect removes 1 () hunger or 1 () saturation point every ${\displaystyle \frac{40}{\text{level}}}$ seconds, and turns the hunger bar to a green color (). It is inflicted by being attacked by a husk, or by eating pufferfish, rotten flesh, or raw chicken.

Saturation effect

The Saturation effect replenishes 1 () hunger point and 2 () saturation points every 0.05 seconds (1 tick)‌^{[Java Edition only][3]} per level. It is applied exclusively through suspicious stew crafted with a blue orchid or dandelion.

Internal variables

Food mechanics utilize four variables, the values of which are stored in the player.dat format. Variables can be queried in-game with the following command: /data get entity <player's name> <variable>‌^{[Java Edition only]}.

• 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 1HP is added or deducted, depending on whether the player is saturated or starving. If the player has a full 20 ( × 10), ¹⁄₆ of 1HP times the player's foodSaturationLevel is restored, up to a maximum of 1HP, 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.

Achievements

Icon		Achievement	In-game description	Actual requirements (if different)	Gamerscore earned	Trophy type (PS)
PS4	Other
		Pork Chop	Cook and eat a pork chop.	—	10	Bronze
		Bake Bread	Turn wheat into bread.	Pick up bread from a crafting table output.	15	Bronze
		The Lie	Bake a cake using: wheat, sugar, milk, and eggs.	Pick up a cake from a crafting table output.	30	Bronze
		Delicious Fish	Catch and cook a fish!	Pick up a cooked cod after cooking it in a furnace, smoker, campfire, or soul campfire. Note: This does not work if the block used is connected to a hopper underneath, as the player is not getting the item directly from the output.	15	Silver
		Iron Belly	Stop starvation using Rotten Flesh.	Eat a piece of rotten flesh while starving (zero hunger points).	20	Bronze
		Rabbit Season	Cook and Eat Rabbit Meat	—	15	Bronze
		Time for Stew	Give someone a suspicious stew.	Drop a suspicious stew. Another player must then pick up this suspicious stew.	20	Bronze
		Overpowered	Eat an Enchanted Golden Apple	—	30	Silver
		Castaway	Eat nothing but dried kelp for three in-game days	Eat dried kelp once; in the following three in-game days, eat nothing but dried kelp.	20	Bronze

Advancements

Icon	Advancement	In-game description	Actual requirements (if different)
	A Furious Cocktail	Have every potion effect applied at the same time	Have all of these 17 status effects applied to the player at the same time: Fire Resistance Infested Invisibility Jump Boost Night Vision Oozing Poison Regeneration Resistance Slow Falling Slowness Speed Strength Water Breathing Weakness Weaving Wind Charged The source of the effects is irrelevant for the purposes of this advancement. Other status effects may be applied to the player, but are ignored for this advancement.
	How Did We Get Here?	Have every effect applied at the same time	Have all of these 34 status effects applied to the player at the same time: Absorption Bad Omen Blindness Breath of the Nautilus Conduit Power Darkness Dolphin's Grace Fire Resistance Glowing Haste Hero of the Village Hunger Infested Invisibility Jump Boost Levitation Mining Fatigue Nausea Night Vision Oozing Poison Raid Omen Regeneration Resistance Slow Falling Slowness Speed Strength Trial Omen Water Breathing Weakness Weaving Wind Charged Wither The source of the effects is irrelevant for the purposes of this advancement. Other status effects may be applied to the player, but are ignored for this advancement. See also: Tutorial:Advancement guide/Nether tab § How Did We Get Here? This is a hidden advancement, meaning that it can be viewed by the player only after completing it, regardless of if its child advancement(s), if any, have been completed.
	Husbandry	The world is full of friends and food	Consume anything that can be consumed, except for cake.
	Fishy Business	Catch a fish	Reel in a fishing rod attached to any of these fish items: Raw Cod Raw Salmon Tropical Fish Pufferfish The player need not to have actually fished to trigger this advancement.
	A Balanced Diet	Eat everything that is edible, even if it's not good for you	Eat each of these 40 foods: Apple Baked Potato Beetroot Beetroot Soup Bread Carrot Chorus Fruit Cooked Chicken Cooked Cod Cooked Mutton Cooked Porkchop Cooked Rabbit Cooked Salmon Cookie Dried Kelp Enchanted Golden Apple Glow Berries Golden Apple Golden Carrot Honey Bottle Melon Slice Mushroom Stew Poisonous Potato Potato Pufferfish Pumpkin Pie Rabbit Stew Raw Beef Raw Chicken Raw Cod Raw Mutton Raw Porkchop Raw Rabbit Raw Salmon Rotten Flesh Spider Eye Steak Suspicious Stew Sweet Berries Tropical Fish Other foods and consumables can be eaten, but are ignored for this advancement.

History

Development

Java Edition

Java Edition Beta
1.8			Pre-release				Hunger was introduced. Food no longer restores health directly, but the player can regenerate if the hunger meter is 90% or over.
Java Edition
1.3.1			12w18a				The exhaustion cost of sprint jumping is now 0.2 from 0.8, meaning that constant sprint jumping is a viable means of fast long-distance travel in most situations.
1.6.1			13w23a				Natural health regeneration now increases the food exhaustion level.
1.7.2			13w36a				The exhaustion cost of sprint jumping is now 0.8 (up from 0.2), meaning that constant sprint jumping is no longer viable as a means of fast long-distance travel in most situations.
1.8			14w29a				Hunger now regenerates when depleted if the difficulty is set to Peaceful.
1.9			15w40a				Added saturation boost, where saturation is consumed to heal faster.
							Regenerating health now increases exhaustion more.
			15w44a				Saturation boost now only takes effect when reaching full hunger (20 ( × 10)).
			15w49a				Sneaking now increases exhaustion by 0.005/m, decreased from 0.01/m.
1.11			16w32a				Exhaustion rates decreased across the board: Swimming decreased from 0.015/m to 0.01/m, breaking blocks decreased from 0.025/block to 0.005/block, jumping decreased from 0.2/jump to 0.05/jump, sprint jumping decreased from 0.8/jump to 0.2/jump, attacking and taking damage both decreased from 0.3/attack to 0.1/attack, Hunger status effect decreased from 0.5/s to 0.1/s.
							Sneaking and walking no longer affect exhaustion.
							Exhaustion rate from regeneration is increased from 4.0/half-heart to 6.0/half-heart.
							The hunger bar is now visible when riding a boat or a minecart.

Bedrock Edition

Legacy Console Edition

Java Edition Combat Tests

Java Edition Combat Tests
5							Saturation is no longer capped by the hunger level of the player.
							Upon eating food, the player's saturation is always set to the food's provided saturation amount unless their current saturation level exceeds what is obtainable from the food.
							High saturation no longer gives a fast regeneration boost.
							Changed food eating speed from 32 game ticks (1.6 seconds) to 40 game ticks (2 seconds).
							The player now naturally regenerates health when above a hunger level of 7 () instead of 18 ( × 9)
							The player now naturally heals every 60 game ticks (3 seconds) instead of every 80 game ticks (4 seconds).
							The player now takes damage from starvation every 60 game ticks (3 seconds) instead of every 80 game ticks (4 seconds) when the hunger bar is empty.
							Natural healing now always drains food points.
							Saturation is not used when healing damage, and is only relevant to other actions that drain the hunger bar.
							The player can now sprint at any hunger value.
6							Reverted eating speed to 32 ticks (1.6 seconds).
							Eating is now interrupted if something hits the player.
							The player now naturally heals every 40 game ticks (2 seconds) instead of every 60 game ticks (3 seconds).
							The player now takes damage from starvation every 40 game ticks (2 seconds) instead of every 60 game ticks (3 seconds) when the hunger bar is empty.
							Natural healing drains food points 50% slower.
							Reintroduced the rule that sprinting requires more than 6 points of food.

Issues

Issues relating to "Food mechanics" are maintained on the bug tracker. Issues should be reported and viewed there.

Notes

References

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