/effect

Gives or removes status effects from entities. Effects include potion effects like speed, strength, invisibility, etc.

Overview

Gives or removes status effects from entities. Effects include potion effects like speed, strength, invisibility, etc. In vanilla Minecraft Java Edition it is one of the player commands and has been available since version 1.0.

It is invoked as /effect [] [] [] [] and accepts 2 required arguments ( and ) and 4 optional arguments ([effect], [seconds], [amplifier], and [hideParticles]).

Since 1.19.4, you can use 'infinite' as the duration for effects that never expire. The maximum amplifier is 255 but most effects have no visible benefit past a certain level.

Since 1.19.4 the duration accepts the literal 'infinite', producing an effect that never counts down until cleared.

Amplifier is zero-indexed: amplifier 0 is level I, amplifier 4 is level V.

Syntax & Arguments

/effect <give|clear> <targets> [<effect>] [<seconds>] [<amplifier>] [<hideParticles>]

The full syntax is /effect [] [] [] []. Angle brackets < > mark required arguments and square brackets [ ] mark optional ones; a vertical bar | between words means you pick exactly one of those literals. You must always supply and . The arguments [effect], [seconds], [amplifier], and [hideParticles] may be omitted, in which case the documented default applies.

action: Required, of type a literal. Whether to give or clear effects.
targets: Required, of type an entity. The entity or entities to affect.
effect: Optional, of type a resource. The status effect ID (e.g., speed, strength, invisibility). Required for give.
seconds: Optional, of type an integer. Duration in seconds (1-1000000). Use infinite for unlimited duration. Defaults to 30.
amplifier: Optional, of type an integer. Effect level (0-255). 0 is level I. Defaults to 0.
hideParticles: Optional, of type a boolean. Whether to hide the particle effect. Defaults to false.

Parameters

Name	Type	Required	Description
action	literal	Required	Whether to give or clear effects.
targets	entity	Required	The entity or entities to affect.
effect	resource	Optional	The status effect ID (e.g., speed, strength, invisibility). Required for give.
seconds	integer	Optional	Duration in seconds (1-1000000). Use infinite for unlimited duration. Defaults to 30.
amplifier	integer	Optional	Effect level (0-255). 0 is level I. Defaults to 0.
hideParticles	boolean	Optional	Whether to hide the particle effect. Defaults to false.

Examples

The 3 examples below are ready to copy and adapt. For instance, /effect give @s speed 600 1 true gives yourself Speed II for 10 minutes with hidden particles. Each example varies the arguments to show a different real use of /effect; read the note under every snippet to see exactly what changes.

/effect give @s speed 600 1 true

Gives yourself Speed II for 10 minutes with hidden particles.

/effect clear @a

Removes all status effects from every player.

/effect give @a night_vision infinite 0

Gives all players permanent Night Vision I.

Permission Level & Requirements

/effect sits at permission Level 2 - Game Master / Cheats, which means it needs permission level 2, the level cheats grant to single-player worlds and that operators hold by default.

In a single-player world you must have "Allow Cheats" turned on (or open the world to LAN with cheats) before it will run; on a multiplayer server the player needs to be an operator at the matching level.

Java vs Bedrock — Bedrock's /effect omits the hideParticles boolean as a trailing argument and handles 'infinite' duration differently.

Common Mistakes

Confusing amplifier 0 with level 0, amplifier 0 corresponds to level I (the first level).
Using /effect give with the 'infinite' duration on large numbers of entities, the effects persist until explicitly cleared.

Notes

Since 1.19.4, you can use 'infinite' as the duration for effects that never expire. The maximum amplifier is 255 but most effects have no visible benefit past a certain level.

Related Commands

If /effect is part of your toolkit, the commands below are the ones you will most often reach for alongside it: /give, /clear, and /kill. They cover closely related tasks, so the links above jump straight to each one.

/give

/clear

/kill

Frequently Asked Questions about /effect

What does the /effect command do in Minecraft?

Gives or removes status effects from entities. Effects include potion effects like speed, strength, invisibility, etc. It belongs to the player command group and was added in Java Edition 1.0.

What is the correct syntax for /effect?

/effect [] [] [] []. The required arguments are action and targets, and the optional ones are effect, seconds, amplifier, and hideParticles.

What permission level does /effect need?

It requires permission Level 2 - Game Master / Cheats. On a server the player must be an operator at that level, or have cheats enabled in single-player.

What is a common mistake when using /effect?

Confusing amplifier 0 with level 0, amplifier 0 corresponds to level I (the first level).

Can you give an example of /effect in use?

Yes. /effect clear @a — removes all status effects from every player.

How do I give a permanent effect with /effect?

Pass 'infinite' as the seconds argument, e.g. /effect give @a night_vision infinite 0. This was added in 1.19.4; before that the longest finite duration was 1000000 seconds.

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