How to Beat the Wither in Minecraft

Guide Java Bedrock

Quick answer: Summon the Wither with 4 soul sand (or soul soil) in a T shape and 3 wither skeleton skulls on top, then fight it with Smite V, Strength II and golden apples - ideally trapped under the Nether or End bedrock ceiling. It has 300 HP in Java and 300-600 HP in Bedrock depending on difficulty, and it drops one nether star.

What you need

4 soul sand or soul soil
3 wither skeleton skulls
Protection IV armor
Smite V sword and Power V bow
Strength II + Regeneration potions
Golden apples and a shield
Milk buckets to clear the Wither effect

Step by step

Collect 3 wither skeleton skulls (rare drop from wither skeletons in Nether fortresses; Looting III helps a lot) and 4 soul sand or soul soil from Soul Sand Valleys.
Choose the arena: the classic trick is summoning it under the Nether's bedrock ceiling (around Y=127) or at an End gateway so its head gets stuck, or dig a long tunnel at deepslate level and fight it there.
Gear up: full Protection IV diamond or netherite armor, a Smite V sword (Smite beats Sharpness against the undead Wither), Strength II potions, Regeneration, golden apples and a shield for its skulls. A Power V bow handles phase one.
Build the T shape with the soul sand, place the three skulls last - the Wither spawns, charges up (invulnerable) and explodes. Back off.
Phase one (above half health): it flies and shoots skulls - shoot it with a bow. The black skulls damage you, the blue ones (Java) break harder blocks.
Phase two (below half health): it gains Wither armor (immune to arrows), charges and breaks blocks. Switch to the sword, eat golden apples when the Wither effect drains your health, and finish it. In Bedrock at half health it also spawns wither skeletons - kill them or they overwhelm you.
Collect the nether star (never destroyed by its own explosions) - it is the beacon ingredient.

Java vs Bedrock

Java: 300 HP, the Wither hovers and shoots blue skulls that break obsidian-hard blocks slowly. Bedrock: 600 HP on Hard (450 Normal, 300 Easy), more aggressive, dashes at targets, and spawns 3-4 wither skeletons at half health - the Bedrock fight is much harder. The bedrock-ceiling trap works in Java; Bedrock players usually fight in a deepslate tunnel.

Versions: The Wither is unchanged since 1.4.2 apart from Bedrock behavior tweaks. Current as of 26.3.

Frequently asked questions

What is the easiest way to kill the Wither?

Trapping it: summon it under the Nether bedrock ceiling in Java so its head gets stuck and it cannot move, then hit it safely. In Bedrock, fight it at the bottom of a long deepslate tunnel so it cannot fly away.

Does Smite or Sharpness work better on the Wither?

Smite. The Wither is undead, so Smite V adds +12.5 damage per hit against it, more than Sharpness V's +3.

Can the Wither break obsidian?

Its blue skulls (Java) can break obsidian given time, and its dash attacks break most blocks - but it can never break bedrock, end portal frames or barriers, which is why ceiling traps work.