How to get more hearts in Minecraft

As a survival game, health is the single most important resource in Minecraft. This makes knowing how to get more hearts the most important information a player can have. There are two different ways to do so. The first is to gain extra hearts beyond the normal maximum, and the second is to restore those lost while surviving.

These two methods seem simple on the surface, but there's a surprising amount of complexity to them. Everything players need to know about both of these methods can be found in detail below.

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How to get more than 10 hearts in Minecraft

A totem of undying adding extra hearts (Image via Mojang)

The more interesting way to get more hearts in Minecraft involves going above the normal maximum health. There's only one way to do this in the vanilla game: the absorption effect. This effect grants players two golden hearts per level, which are displayed above the regular health bar. These are consumed first and are fully lost when used.

There are currently three items in the game that are capable of giving players absorption. The first of these is the golden apple, which gives two extra hearts; the next is the enchanted golden apple, which adds eight extra hearts; finally, totems of undying, which grant four bonus hearts.

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How to get hearts back in Minecraft

There are many different ways to restore lost hearts (Image via Mojang)

Another way to get more hearts is to restore missing ones. There are two ways to do this. The first is to have a full hunger bar in Minecraft. While there is less than one missing icon, the player will slowly regenerate health half a heart at a time. This is why having food available while exploring is so important - it keeps players alive and healthy.

The other way to restore missing hearts is through the regeneration effect. This Minecraft status effect restores health over time, separate from the effects of food. The most common levels of regeneration are one and two, which restore half a heart every 50 and 25 ticks, respectively.

There are many different ways to gain the regeneration effect, many of which also restore different amounts of health. The most common of these effects can be found in detail below.

Cause	Level	Duration	Hearts Restored
Potion of regeneration	I	0:45	9
Potion of regeneration (Extended)	I	1:30 (Java), 2:00 (Bedrock)	18 (Java), 24 (Bedrock)
Potion of regeneration II	II	0:22	8.8
Splash potion of regeneration	I	0:45 (Java), 0:33 (Bedrock)	9 (Java), 6.6 (Bedrock)
Splash potion of regeneration (Extended)	I	1:30	18
Splash potion of regeneration II	II	0:22 (Java), 0:16 (Bedrock)	8.8 (Java), 6.4 (Bedrock)
Beacon regeneration	I	0:17	Infinite within beacon range
Suspicious stew	I	0:08 (Java), 0:06 (Bedrock)	1.6 (Java), 1.2 (Bedrock)
Golden apple	II	0:05	2
Enchanted golden apple	II (Java), V (Bedrock)	0:20 (Java), 0:30 (Bedrock)	8 (Java), 100 (Bedrock)
Totem of undying	II	0:45 (Java), 0:40 (Bedrock)	18 (Java), 16 (Bedrock)

Many of the ways to gain the regeneration effect are through the various potions in Minecraft. Ghast tears are required to brew these, meaning that they are locked behind access to the Nether.