If you go about three in-game days without sleeping, phantoms can start spawning above you at night. They circle and dive to attack. Sleep to prevent the threat, or stay sheltered until daylight, fight them, or keep a tamed cat nearby.
When do phantoms appear?
Minecraft’s official Phantom article, published February 16, 2026, says phantoms can appear above players who have gone at least one hour—three in-game days—without sleeping. The game tracks this as insomnia. Microsoft’s Bedrock stable reference for the minecraft:insomnia component describes a timer since the player last rested and lists three days as the default threshold.
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The exact behavior is not established for every edition, version, or server configuration. The official article gives the general rule, while the Microsoft reference specifically documents Bedrock’s component and default. Custom settings may also change what happens.
What do phantoms do?
Phantoms appear above the player at night, circle, then dive to attack. They burn up when daylight arrives, so reaching morning ends the immediate danger from those phantoms.
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- Minecraft is a game about placing blocks and going on adventures
- Explore randomly generated worlds and build amazing things from the simplest of homes to the grandest of castles
- Play in creative mode with unlimited resources or mine deep into the world in survival mode, crafting weapons and armor to fend off the dangerous mobs
- Play on the go in handheld or tabletop modes
- Includes Super Mario Mash-Up, Natural Texture Pack, Biome Settlers Skin Pack, Battle & Beasts Skin Pack, Campfire Tales Skin Pack; Compatible with Nintendo Switch only
How to stop or avoid them
Sleep
Sleeping is the direct way to prevent phantoms: rest before the insomnia timer reaches its threshold. If nearby hostile mobs prevent you from using a bed, first get somewhere safe or deal with the nearby threat; this limitation is noted in the community phantom-proofing guide.
Hide until daylight
Go underground or into a secure shelter and wait for morning. The official article identifies hiding underground until daylight as a way to avoid phantoms rather than confronting them.
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- Explore randomly-generated worlds and build amazing things from the simplest of homes to the grandest of castles
- Play in Creative Mode with unlimited resources or mine deep into the world in survival mode, crafting weapons and armour to fend off the dangerous mobs
Fight them
You can defeat phantoms when they dive within reach. This resolves the immediate attack, though it is not the same as resetting the time-since-rested mechanic by sleeping.
Keep a tamed cat nearby
Tamed cats hunt phantoms, and phantoms try to stay away from cats—even when the cat is inside a building—according to the official article. A cat is a deterrent, not a substitute for sleeping if your goal is to prevent the insomnia condition from building.
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- Minecraft is a game about placing blocks and going on adventures
- Explore randomly generated worlds and build amazing things from the simplest of homes to the grandest of castles
- Play in creative mode with unlimited resources or mine deep into the world in survival mode, crafting weapons and armor to fend off the dangerous mobs
- Play on the go in handheld or tabletop modes
- Includes Super Mario Mash-Up, Natural Texture Pack, Biome Settlers Skin Pack, Battle & Beasts Skin Pack, Campfire Tales Skin Pack; Compatible with Nintendo Switch only
What do phantom membranes do?
A defeated phantom may drop a phantom membrane and grants experience. Membranes can repair an elytra or be used to craft a slow-falling potion, as described in the official phantom article.
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