How long does it take for items to despawn in Minecraft 1.19

In Minecraft 1.19, there are loads of items that players can obtain and use. When adventurers explore the world of the game, they can encounter many situations that can prove fatal. With the risk of hostile mobs, fall damage, lava damage, drowning, and more, players could meet an early demise. Once players die, they drop all the items they were carrying and respawn with nothing to their name.

After respawning, players usually panic since they have lost all their items and quickly try to find the location of their death to retrieve them. The rush to retrieve the items is due to the despawning mechanics. New players must understand this system, so they don't lose anything even after death.

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An in-depth look at item despawning mechanics in Minecraft 1.19

How long does it take for items to despawn

Dropped items will despawn after 5 minutes if the chunk is loaded (Image via Minecraft 1.19 update)

Many new players jumping into the game for the first time must learn that items can be despawned if dropped anywhere in the world. However, there are certain conditions that apply for them to despawn.

First, the despawning depends on whether or not the chunk in which the item is dropped is loaded. If the chunk is not loaded, the item will remain there forever until and unless the chunk loads. Once the chunk and the item inside it loads, a timer of 5 minutes (6000 in-game ticks) starts. After 5 minutes, the item disappears.

If the particular chunk is not loaded, the items will have the despawn timer (Image via Minecraft 1.19 update)

If the chunk loads and then unloads, the 5-minute timer is paused. This means that if the player walks close to their death location but then unloads the chunk after a few seconds, the despawn timer will not reset to 5 minutes but will only pause.

This applies to every item that is dropped. If several items are stacked together, the item that has more minutes on its despawn timer is preferred for the entire stack.

The only exception to this is the Nether Star in Bedrock Edition, which does not despawn at all. Moreover, if a player dies from burning in lava, nearly all the items will instantly despawn since they will also burn.

The only items that will not burn are pieces of gear made from netherite. Items falling into the void will also be despawned after reaching Y level -128 in the Overworld or Y level -64 in the Nether and the End.

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Ways to retrieve items quickly after death

GraveStone mod stores all the items safely (Image via Minecraft 1.19 update)

Players will only have 5 minutes to find any dropped item if they load the chunk containing their dropped items. Since finding the exact death location after respawning can be quite tough, Mojang has recently added a recovery compass to help players find the death location and retrieve their items quickly.

The GraveStone mod is another great way to protect items from despawning. The mod essentially keeps all the items in a custom gravestone block and prevents them from despawning even after 5 minutes.