Damage Sources

How it works

Hit cooldown	After taking damage a mob or player cannot be hurt again for half a second, unless the new hit is stronger; then only the difference is dealt. Hazards that hurt on contact therefore hit about twice per second.
Fall damage	Damage = blocks fallen - 3, rounded down. A 4 block fall deals 1 and a 23 block fall deals 20.
Softer landings	Hay Bale and Honey Block cut fall damage to 20%. A Slime Block removes it unless the player is sneaking. Beds and Shelf Mushrooms count only half the fall distance. Jump Boost adds 1 safe block per level.
Pointed Dripstone	Landing on an upward tip deals (blocks fallen - 0.5) x 2, rounded down.
Ender Pearl	Teleporting with an Ender Pearl deals 5 fall damage.
Drowning	Air lasts 15 seconds. After it runs out the player takes 2 damage every second.
Starvation	With an empty hunger bar the player takes 1 damage every 4 seconds. On Easy this stops at 10 health, on Normal at 1 health, on Hard it kills.
Burning	A burning mob takes 1 damage every second. Standing in Fire sets a mob on fire for 8 seconds, Lava for 15 seconds, a lightning strike for 8 seconds.
Freezing	After 7 seconds inside Powder Snow a mob is fully frozen and takes 1 damage every 2 seconds. Mobs weak to cold take 5.
Explosion damage	Damage = (p x p + p) / 2 x 7 x power x 2 + 1, where p = (1 - distance / (power x 2)) x the uncovered part of the target. At the center with nothing in between that is power x 14 + 1. For players it is then scaled by difficulty.
Falling Anvil	2 damage per block fallen, at most 40. A helmet lowers this by 25% and takes the wear.
Falling stalactite	Damage per block fallen equals the length of the stalactite, but at least 6. At most 40. A helmet lowers this by 25%.
Thorns	Each hit has a 15% chance per Thorns level to deal 1 to 5 damage to the attacker.
Poison and Wither	Poison deals 1 damage every 1.25 seconds at level I and every 0.6 seconds at level II, and never lowers health below 1. Wither deals 1 damage every 2 seconds at level I and every second at level II, and can kill.
Instant Damage	6 damage at level I and 12 at level II.
Elytra crash	Flying into a wall deals (horizontal speed lost in blocks per tick x 10) - 3.
Difficulty scaling	Damage caused by a mob, and all explosion and sonic boom damage, is scaled for players: Easy the smaller of d and d / 2 + 1, Hard d x 1.5, Peaceful 0. Fall, fire, drowning and other hazards are not scaled.
Game rules	Separate game rules switch off drowning, fall, fire and freeze damage for players.

Damage per source


Fall	Blocks fallen - 3	On landing	Rounded down
Ender Pearl	5	Per teleport	Counts as fall damage
Pointed Dripstone tip	(Blocks fallen - 0.5) x 2	On landing	Rounded down
Drowning	2	Every second	After 15 seconds of air

Suffocation in a block	1	Every 0.5 seconds
Starvation	1	Every 4 seconds	Floor depends on difficulty
Fire	1	Every 0.5 seconds	Sets on fire for 8 seconds
Soul Fire	2	Every 0.5 seconds	Sets on fire for 8 seconds

Burning	1	Every second	Not while in Lava
Lava	4	Every 0.5 seconds	Sets on fire for 15 seconds
Magma Block	1	Every 0.5 seconds	Not while sneaking
Campfire	1	Every 0.5 seconds

Soul Campfire	2	Every 0.5 seconds
Cactus	1	Every 0.5 seconds
Sweet Berry Bush	1	Every 0.5 seconds	Only while moving; not at the first growth stage
Powder Snow	1	Every 2 seconds	After 7 seconds inside

Void	4	Every 0.5 seconds	64 blocks below the lowest build height
World border	0.2 per block, at least 1	Every 0.5 seconds	More than 5 blocks outside
Lightning	5	Per strike	Sets on fire for 8 seconds
Entity cramming	6	Random, about every 0.5 seconds	24 or more mobs in one spot

Falling Anvil	2 per block fallen	On impact	At most 40
Falling stalactite	6 or more per block fallen	On impact	At most 40
Warden sonic boom	10	Per boom	Scaled by difficulty
Firework Rocket	5 + 2 per Firework Star	On explosion	Rockets without a star deal none

Thorns	1 to 5	15% per level per hit
Poison	1	Every 1.25 seconds	Stops at 1 health
Wither	1	Every 2 seconds	Can kill
Instant Damage	6	Once	12 at level II

Explosion power


Ghast fireball	1	15	Sets fires
Wither Skull	1	15
Creeper	3	43
TNT	4	57

Minecart with TNT	4 or more	57 or more	Stronger the faster it moves
Bed in the Nether or the End	5	71	Sets fires
Respawn Anchor in the Overworld or the End	5	71	Sets fires
Charged Creeper	6	85

End Crystal	6	85
Wither after spawning	7	99

What reduces each kind of damage


Mob and player attacks, arrows	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Explosions, falling blocks	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Fire, Lava, Magma Block, Campfire	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Cactus, Sweet Berry Bush, lightning	Yes	No	Yes	Yes

Falling Anvil, falling stalactite	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Burning	No	No	Yes	Yes
Fall, Ender Pearl, Pointed Dripstone tip	No	No	Yes	Yes
Drowning, suffocation, cramming, freezing	No	No	Yes	Yes

Poison, Instant Damage, Wither	No	No	Yes	Yes
Elytra crash, dragon breath, world border	No	No	Yes	Yes
Warden sonic boom	No	No	No	Yes
Starvation	No	No	No	No

Void, /kill	No	No	Yes	No