Darkness effect in Minecraft 1.19 update: Everything you need to know

The spookiest and most terrifying Minecraft update is in the making right now. Despite its name having an exploration vibe, The Wild Update will feature arguably the scariest mob, the warden.

While exploring the darkest and deepest depths of the Overworld, unfortunate players will discover deep dark caves, a new cave biome coming in the 1.19 update. This biome is devoid of mobs as only the warden can spawn here, which requires a player nearby.

Deep dark caves and the warden will bring a level of Minecraft horror with the darkness effect. A recent experimental snapshot for Java Edition added the darkness effect.

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Darkness effect is coming in Minecraft The Wild Update

In Minecraft, various status effects can affect players and mobs. During Minecraft Live 2020, Mojang showcased a new status effect similar to blindness.

At the time, the developers did not give it a name. In the first experimental snapshot for The Wild Update, Mojang officially added a rumored effect called darkness.

As introduced in the official patch notes, darkness is a new effect "unique to the Warden and Sculk Shrieker." Players will become inflicted by darkness and have their vision restricted to only a few blocks of distance.

Players will have to suffer from the darkness effect in deep dark caves. Because of all the sculk shriekers lying in these creepy caves, triggering one of them is probably unavoidable. Activating a sculk shrieker will inflict the darkness effect.

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What does the darkness effect do?

To put it simply, the darkness effect lowers the overall brightness of the world. However, nearby light sources are not affected. Instead, they become somewhat brighter, meaning players will have to carry light sources like torches when exploring deep dark caves.

Players can use the new slider available in the accessibility menu in the Options menu called "Darkness Effect" to determine how dim the effect will be. This slider will be of use to players scared of exploring the scary cave biome.

The darkness effect automatically gets removed after the warden despawns or kills the player. If a sculk shrieker has inflicted the darkness, it will go away after a few seconds.

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