[MC-149589] The wither boss will always drops a nether star regardless of its DeathLootTable data

The wither boss' loot table is not changed when its DeathLootTable NBT data is modified, resulting in it always dropping a nether star.

Steps to Reproduce:

Summon a wither with no AI

/summon minecraft:wither ~ ~ ~ {NoAI:1b}

Modify its data to be empty

/data modify entity @e[type=wither,limit=1,sort=nearest] DeathLootTable set value ""

Kill it
```
/kill @e[type=wither]
```

Expected & Observed Results:

❌ - The wither will drop a nether star, despite having no DeathLootTable NBT data
✔ - It would not drop anything, as that is what the player intentionally set the DeathLootTable to.

Screenshots/Videos:

[media]

Code Analysis

The happens because the wither boss has its death loot table "hard-coded", meaning it ignores any loot table entirely.

Class: net.minecraft.world.entity.boss.wither.WitherBoss // Method: dropCustomDeathLoot // MCP 1.20.2 Mojang Mappings

protected void dropCustomDeathLoot(DamageSource source, int lootingMultiplier, boolean allowDrops) {
      super.dropCustomDeathLoot(source, lootingMultiplier, allowDrops);
      ItemEntity itementity = this.spawnAtLocation(Items.NETHER_STAR);
      if (itementity != null) {
         itementity.setExtendedLifetime();
      }
   }

Original Description:

The bug
Setting the wither's DeathLootTable NBT tag to any given loot table does not stop the wither from dropping a nether star.
Loot from the loot table set in the DeathLootTable tag drops in addition to the nether star. This was not the case in 1.13.*, where the DeathLootTable tag being set prevented the nether star from dropping.

Linked issues

is duplicated by

MC-226249 Withers drop stars, even with empty loot table

MC-276758 Wither's nether star drop is hardcoded

relates to

MC-109344 There is no wither loot table

MC-273944 Items removed from flower pots may be hardcoded

Attachments

WitherBossDeathLootTable.mp4

Comments

migrated 2020-06-21T07:07:21Z

Confirmed in 1.16 Release Candidate 1.

migrated 2021-05-11T12:56:45Z

Affects 21w18a

Avoma 2022-10-02T15:12:31Z

Can confirm in 1.19.2. Here's a code analysis of this issue.

Code Analysis:

The following is based on a decompiled version of Minecraft 1.19.2 using Mojang mappings.

net.minecraft.world.entity.boss.wither.WitherBoss.java

public class WitherBoss extends Monster implements PowerableMob, RangedAttackMob {
   ...
   @Override
   protected void dropCustomDeathLoot(DamageSource damageSource, int n, boolean bl) {
      super.dropCustomDeathLoot(damageSource, n, bl);
      ItemEntity itemEntity = this.spawnAtLocation(Items.NETHER_STAR);
      if (itemEntity != null) {
         itemEntity.setExtendedLifetime();
      }
   }
   ...

If we look at the above class, we can see the drop of a nether star from a wither is controlled by the dropCustomDeathLoot() method. Because the drop is controlled this way, it doesn't have a loot table entry, therefore resulting in this issue.

Brain81505 2023-03-12T00:31:33Z

Can confirm in 1.19.3 and 1.19.4-rc2

ArrotinoD 2023-12-13T23:25:23Z

This is in 1.20.4 too

[Mod] Jingy 2023-12-17T01:06:40Z

I'd like to request ownership of this issue, as @unknown has not updated it since it's creation.

[Mod] Jingy 2023-12-20T02:05:45Z

Relates to MC-75494 MC-161191

AMGAMES04 2024-08-28T11:15:58Z

Can confirm in 24w34a