[MC-2947] Ghasts and Witches Do Not Aim Properly

I looked in the source code for witches as I was making a mod and discovered that the witches used the motionX/motionZ of the entity they are attacking to throw potions where the entity will be, and not where it is.

However, upon testing their aim in-game while moving sideways, I found their potions would never hit me. Upon further testing (printing the motionX/motionZ out when throwing a potion), I found that when the witch checks for motionX/motionZ, it is 0 most of the time, even when the target (the player in this case) is moving sideways.

In other words, witches ain't throwin' nothing.

Linked issues

is duplicated by 1

MC-3127 I must say I got dissappointed with the skeleton's aiming. Resolved

Comments 9

Tails 2012-12-17T21:58:32Z

Included skeletons.

Tails 2013-01-02T15:37:41Z

...and Ghasts.

Tails 2013-01-27T01:30:20Z

As of 13w03a skeletons aim was majorly improved.

Tails 2013-03-15T17:56:45Z

Is this still a concern in the current Minecraft version? If so, please update the affected versions in order to best aid Mojang ensuring bugs are still valid in the latest releases/pre-releases.

Pedro M. Zamboni 2013-04-07T19:17:28Z

what about the wither boss?

Missingno_26 2013-04-21T09:55:31Z

worse than that, even when you don't move, Ghast miss you all the time. They aim above your head ! While I'm writing this, minecraft is running with a Ghast shooting at me in the overworld ... I don't ear any hurting sound.
5 minutes later : I'm surronded by fire with full health ...
(I'm playing 13w16a but it's there for ages.)

CubeTheThird 2013-09-26T04:35:32Z

Is this still a concern in the current Minecraft version 1.6.4 / Launcher version 1.2.5 ? If so, please update the affected versions in order to best aid Mojang ensuring bugs are still valid in the latest releases/pre-releases.

Talven81 2013-11-26T19:46:10Z

No response in 2 months, closing issue.

Paul Smith 2014-07-21T05:26:31Z

I just tested this, and it has been fixed. When I was standing in front of a witch in 1.7.10 (almost touching it), the witch threw potions over my head about 50% of the time. When I did the same in 14w29b, it hit me 100% of the time. With ghasts, they are also 100% accurate, aiming for the head. The ghasts now cannot the see the player unless it's at eye level, which is a bug, but unrelated to this.

You can tell it was fixed also because comparing to 1.7.10, if you stood right in front of any mob (passive or hostile) that is two blocks tall, they wouldn't look at your eye level, but slightly above it. In the 1.8 snapshots, they look directly at you. I can successfully say that this has been fixed.