A victim under the effects of decay. Notice their HUD.
Decay is a survival mechanic that affects any players in The Betweenlands dimension.
Description[]
The decay bar is represented as a line of Sap Balls (
) above the player's hunger bar. Simply existing in the dimension slowly causes it to decrease at a relatively constant rate similar to hunger, although this can be accelerated slightly in combat or by standing in Heavy Rain or Swamp Water, and greatly by hazards such as an Elixir of Decay, Stagnant Water, and Lampreys.
As decay points drop, the player's maximum health is reduced, down to a minimum of only 6 health (
). Players are also afflicted with increasingly more potent levels of Slowness (
), up to level III, and their skin will receive a sickly-green overlay. These effects remain only as long as the player stays decayed, and go back to normal when the decay bar increases again.
Like hunger, decay has exhaustion and saturation values that decrease under similar conditions.
Preventing Decay[]
Although high levels of decay can be extremely dangerous, prevention is relatively simple. The most reliable method is to avoid threats that decrease decay such as swimming or combat as much as possible until the player can find a Sap Tree to harvest Balls of Sap, items which restore decay by 2 points () when eaten. These trees can be found in Swamplands, Patchy Islands, and Coarse Islands biomes. (More on Basic Guide to Survival)
Decay can also be reversed by consuming Weeping Blue Petals, Sap Jello, Weeping Blue Petal Salad, Forbidden Figs, or by drinking an Elixir of Ripening. Different consumables restore different amounts of decay, and in some cases also apply a special effect that slowly regenerates decay over time.
Peaceful Difficulty disables the decay mechanic entirely. It can also be toggled on or off with the gamerule /gamerule bl_decay [true/false]