- For the status effect called "hunger" that drains the hunger bar, see Hunger (status effect).
A food/hunger bar.
Hunger is a game mechanic that was added in Beta 1.8. Instead of directly restoring health, eating food will fill a player's food bar (sometimes referred to as the "hunger bar").
Mechanics[]
The hunger bar depletes slowly over time. When a player's food bar is 
or higher, the health bar will slowly refill. A player's food bar will not decrease in "peaceful" mode. In Creative Mode, players do not have a hunger bar, although they will be able to eat.
When a player is sprinting or jumping, the food bar will deplete much faster, and a player will be unable to sprint once the hunger bar falls to or less. Players can get food poisoning from eating Raw Chicken, a Pufferfish, Rotten Flesh, or getting hit by a Husk. Food poisoning changes the appearance of the hunger bar, giving it a green outline, and it causes the hunger bar to rapidly deplete.
If a player has the Saturation status effect (via commands or Honey Bottle), their hunger will never run out until the effect stops.
When the hunger bar is empty, a player's health decreases by half a heart every four seconds.
- On "Easy" difficulty, it stops at 10 (
). - On "Normal", it stops at 1 ().
- On "Hard" mode, the draining health does not stop until either a player dies or eats something to replenish their hunger bar.
