Minecraft 1.21 bad omen changes, explained

With Minecraft 1.21, Mojang Studios has added several new features to the title and changed a few existing ones. One of the most drastic changes has been made to the bad omen status effect. Not only has its application on players changed, but new features have also been added to it. Some are welcome tweaks that make a player's life in the game easier, while others challenge them further.

Here is everything players need to know about the changes made to the bad omen effect in the Minecraft 1.21 update.

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Everything to know about bad omen changes in Minecraft 1.21

Changes to how players get bad omen status effect in Minecraft 1.21

Ominous bottles can be obtained from raid captains, trial vaults, and ominous trial vaults. (Image via Mojang Studios)

Previously, Minecraft players used to instantly get a bad omen status effect when they killed a raid captain, a Pillager with a banner on its back.

The 1.21 update drastically changes this mechanic. Rather than it being automatically inflicted on a player, the bad omen status effect comes in the new ominous bottle. This bottle can not only be obtained by killing a raid captain, but it can also be found in regular trial vaults and ominous trial vaults present in trial chambers.

Once a trial chamber is located, players must fight multiple trial spawners summoning various hostile creatures. There's a 50% chance that one of these spawners will drop a trial key, which opens regular vault blocks. Additionally, ominous trial spawners have 30% of dropping ominous trial keys that can unlock ominous trial vaults.

There is an 18% chance that one of the trial vaults will drop an ominous bottle in Minecraft 1.21. The ominous vault, on the other hand, has a 13.4% chance of dropping an ominous bottle.

Thanks to the new update, the bad omen status effect essentially has different levels of difficulty. The ominous bottle has five levels that determine the difficulty of the raids and trials in a village and trial chamber, respectively.

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How does the new bad omen status effect work in Minecraft 1.21?

Bad omen effect after drinking an ominous bottle in Minecraft. (Image via Mojang Studios)

In Minecraft 1.21, the bad omen status effect will only be applied to a player if they plan to drink the contents of the new ominous bottle. Once consumed, the bad omen status effect will be applied for an hour and 40 minutes.

Apart from changes in obtaining it, the effect itself has also been drastically updated. Not only does it now initiate a village raid if a player enters a village, but it can also start a special ominous event down in the trial chambers.

Raid omen and trial omen whenever a player either enters a village or approaches a trial spawned, respectively. (Image via Mojang Studios)

When players enter a village with the updated bad omen effect, the effect itself will convert into a raid omen that will remain for 30 seconds. This will act as a buffer time that explorers will get to either commit to the raid or flee from the village. After 30 seconds, the raid omen effect will clear and a village raid will begin.

On the other hand, if players enter a trial chamber with a bad omen effect and approach a trial spawner, that particular spawner and all the others in the structure will turn ominous, change colors, and start the ominous trials event in Minecraft.

The ominous trial spawners will summon much stronger hostile mobs and will even throw negative potions towards the player, challenging them even further. However, it is worth noting that the rewards that follow are also quite valuable.