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What makes a campfire damage a mob?
Campfire damage is tied to contact with the block. A mob is hurt when it is standing on the top surface of a lit campfire. An extinguished campfire does not provide the same damaging contact.
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The campfire reference describes this effect as working even when the block is underwater. Water therefore does not, by itself, remove the campfire’s contact-damage property. The important conditions are the campfire’s lit state and the mob’s position over the block.
- Lit campfire: can damage a mob positioned on top.
- Unlit campfire: does not provide the active campfire damage effect.
- Mob beside the block: is not necessarily touching the damaging surface.
- Mob above the block: must remain in the contact position long enough to receive repeated damage.
This is different from treating a campfire as a general fire field. A mob walking past the side of the block is not automatically covered by the same rule; farms must make the mob stand on or pass directly over the campfire surface.
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Which mobs are exceptions?
The campfire reference specifically names shulkers, zombified piglins, and guardians as exceptions. Do not assume that every hostile mob, animal, or neutral creature will take damage simply because it is standing near a lit campfire.
For a farm, identify the exact target mob before relying on campfire damage. An exception can make a carefully built trap appear broken even though the block is lit and the mob is in the correct position.
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How quickly can a campfire kill a mob?
There is no single damage rate that applies safely to every edition, version, campfire type, and mob. The practical mob-grinder guide used for this subject describes most of its listed hostile mobs dying in under 10 seconds and an iron golem taking about 50 seconds. Those are approximate examples from that guide’s design, not universal timing guarantees.
Actual survival time depends first on the target’s health and whether it can resist or recover from the damage. It also depends on how consistently the design keeps the mob on the campfire. A creature that is pushed off, briefly clips the edge, or moves out of contact will take damage for less time than one held directly over the block.
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- Measure the target mob in the edition and game version you actually run.
- Check that the mob remains on the damaging surface rather than merely touching a neighboring block.
- Allow extra time when the farm must process high-health mobs.
- Do not convert an approximate guide figure into a guaranteed tick rate.
Why witches are a poor target for a passive campfire trap
Witches are a notable failure case. The mob-grinder guide explains that witches can use Fire Resistance and Healing potions, allowing them to survive indefinitely in the described campfire design.
That means a trap that works on ordinary hostile mobs can accumulate witches instead of clearing them. If witches can spawn in the area, either exclude them through the farm’s spawning and routing design or provide a separate way to remove them. Simply adding more waiting time is not a reliable solution when the witch can repeatedly restore its health or resist the relevant damage.
Regular campfires and soul campfires
Bedrock’s scripting documentation treats the two blocks as separate damage causes. It defines campfire as “Damage caused by Campfires” and soulCampfire as “Damage caused by a Soul Campfire.” This confirms that the game exposes them as distinct causes in that API; it does not establish a current, universal numeric damage value for either one.
Older reports can be especially confusing. A Mojang Bedrock issue recorded a historical bug in which a soul campfire did not deal twice the damage of a normal campfire, despite expectations that it would. That issue was reported as resolved in 2022. The record is useful for explaining why old guides disagree, but it is not a current damage-rate test.
| Comparison point | Regular campfire | Soul campfire |
|---|---|---|
| Bedrock damage-cause name | campfire |
soulCampfire |
| Can provide contact damage when lit | Yes, subject to mob exceptions and positioning | Requires edition- and version-specific confirmation for the exact behavior used in a farm |
| Current universal numeric rate established by the cited documentation | Not stated | Not stated |
| Guaranteed “twice as fast” result | Not established | Not established |
| Historical Bedrock issue | Used as the comparison baseline | A 2022-resolved issue concerned expected versus actual doubled damage |
For a farm, compare the blocks using the target mob, its fire resistance, the edition and version, the observed kill time, and whether the design needs drops collected. A soul campfire should not be selected solely on the assumption that it always kills twice as quickly.
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How to build a simple campfire damage section
A campfire trap is a contact-damage station. The exact surrounding blocks vary by farm, but the functional sequence is consistent.
- Choose the target. Confirm that the mob is not one of the named exceptions and check whether it can use Fire Resistance or Healing effects.
- Place the campfire in the mob’s path. The route must put the mob on the campfire’s top surface, not just beside it.
- Keep the block lit. Verify the visual state after loading the area and after any redstone or water changes. An extinguished block is not an active damage source.
- Control movement. Use the surrounding farm layout to hold or repeatedly route the mob over the campfire. If the mob can step away, damage time becomes inconsistent.
- Provide a collection method if drops matter. The damage block only handles the damage portion; item and experience collection require a separate farm arrangement.
- Run a timed test. Use several examples of the target mob and record whether each remains in contact, dies, or escapes. Treat the result as specific to that build and version.
Because the block deals damage slowly compared with instant-kill methods, a design that produces many mobs at once can back up. Test the rate at which mobs enter the trap against the time each one occupies the damaging position.
Choosing campfire traps versus faster kill methods
Campfires are useful when a farm can route mobs over a simple damaging surface and does not need an immediate kill. Their main trade-off is time. The grinder guide’s examples—under 10 seconds for most of its listed hostile mobs and about 50 seconds for an iron golem—show why a campfire section can be practical for ordinary targets but inefficient for high-health creatures.
Use a campfire design when:
- the target reliably stands on the block;
- the farm can tolerate the mob’s dwell time;
- you want a straightforward contact-damage stage;
- the target does not have a resistance or healing behavior that defeats the trap.
Choose another damage or killing stage when the target survives too long, repeatedly escapes contact, or can out-heal the campfire. The correct comparison is not “campfire versus every other method” in the abstract; it is whether the block’s observed throughput matches the farm’s spawn rate and storage capacity.
Edition and version caveats
Do not transfer a number from one edition to another without testing. Bedrock documentation identifies separate damage causes for campfires and soul campfires, but the cited damage-cause page is marked as documentation for an older module version. It is therefore useful for naming the causes, not for claiming that its page supplies a current damage formula.
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Java and Bedrock worlds can also differ in implementation details, and a later game update can change behavior. When publishing a farm tutorial or copying one from an older version, record the edition and version alongside the timing. A statement such as “this mob dies in five seconds” is incomplete unless it says where and how that was observed.
Bedrock troubleshooting: check the FireDamage game rule
Microsoft’s Bedrock GameRule documentation defines FireDamage as controlling whether entities take damage from fire. If a Bedrock world produces an unexpected result, inspect that rule as part of troubleshooting.
The rule documentation does not establish every cross-edition effect of game rules on campfire contact damage, so treat it as a diagnostic setting rather than proof that all campfire behavior is controlled identically in every version. Confirm the result in the actual world after checking the rule.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Why a campfire trap may appear not to work
The campfire is not lit
Check the block’s current state rather than assuming it stayed active. If it has been extinguished, restore the lit state and repeat the test.
The mob is not on the damaging surface
Look at the mob’s feet and movement path. A mob can be visually close to a campfire while never occupying the top contact position required for damage.
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The target is an exception
Test the mob against the named exceptions: shulkers, zombified piglins, and guardians. If the target belongs to that group, changing the trap’s waiting time will not solve the underlying incompatibility.
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The target is a witch
Witches can gain Fire Resistance and Healing in the described design. Remove them from the route or add a separate handling stage instead of expecting passive campfire damage to finish them.
The soul-campfire assumption is outdated
If an old guide says a soul campfire must deal exactly twice the damage, treat that as a historical expectation, not a universal current rule. Re-test after considering the edition and version.
The world rules or version differ
On Bedrock, inspect FireDamage and note the game version. Then repeat a controlled test with one target mob at a time so movement, crowding, and collection machinery do not hide the cause.
A practical test checklist
- Write down the edition and exact game version.
- Use a lit campfire and verify that it remains lit throughout the test.
- Test one target mob at a time on the top surface.
- Record whether the target can leave the block.
- Repeat with a regular campfire and, where relevant, a soul campfire.
- Record survival time as an observation for that build, not as a universal rate.
- Check Bedrock’s
FireDamagerule when results are unexpected. - Exclude witches and the named exceptions from ordinary throughput calculations.
What the answer means for farm planning
A lit campfire is a legitimate mob-damage block, but it is conditional. The mob must be in contact with the active block, and some mobs are exceptions. Its slow, repeatable damage can suit a simple farm, while approximate guide timings show why it may be unsuitable for high-health targets or high-volume designs.
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