Despawn

Wait! I'm still growing!

This article is a stub. You can help the Minecraft Wiki by expanding this article.

For the game mechanic that works oppositely, see Spawn.

Despawn is a term used for the game mechanic involved when a mob, a dropped item or another unplaced object disappears after a particular amount of time, during a certain time of day, or in a particular situation. Despawning is different from when a mob dies, as the mob will not drop any items or materials when it disappears.

Mobs subject to despawning[]

In most cases, a mob will despawn immediately if there are no players within a distance of 128 blocks. If it's not within 32 blocks of a player for more than 30 seconds, there's a ¹⁄₈₀₀ chance each game tick it will despawn (2.47% chance per second). There are a few additional situations where a mob might despawn:

Creepers mainly despawn during the day but may despawn at any time if they have not been engaged in combat for a while.
Endermites and Silverfish despawn after two minutes.
Cats may despawn if they have not been tamed.
Tiny slimes may despawn after a while.
Witches despawn if a player is far enough away from them.
Zombified Piglins despawn if they have not been engaged in combat for a long time.

Objects subject to despawning[]

Any dropped items will despawn after five minutes.
Arrows that have been shot from a bow and have stuck into a surface will despawn after one minute.
Tridents that have been thrown and stuck into a surface will despawn after one minute.
Leaves will despawn if not attached to a wood log or other leaves, but only if they were originally attached to a Tree.
Saddles will despawn if the pig that it is attached to it despawns.

Situations which affect despawning[]

A renamed mob won't despawn.
Mobs in the presence of a player in Spectator Mode will not despawn as they would in other circumstances.
Most hostile mobs will despawn if the difficulty is set to "peaceful".
Despawning does not happen in unloaded chunks.
Leaves placed by a player will never despawn.