Phantom

Phantom
Type	Hostile
Health
Damage Dealt
Drops	0-1 Phantom Membrane
First Appearance	Update 1.6

Phantoms, previously known as the Monster of the Night Skies and Mob B, are flying Hostile Mobs. They were added in Update 1.6.

Spawning

Phantoms spawn in the Overworld after the Player has not slept for at least 3 in-game days.

For a Phantom to successfully spawn, the following criteria must be met:

• The Player must not sleep for at least 3 days (an hour of game time)
• It must be night time
• The Player must be above sea level and not have a Block above their head which blocks light in any way (e.g. Leaves won't work as they have a light opacity of 2, but Glass will work as its light opacity is 0)
• Once these requirements have been met, the game will attempt to spawn a pack of 1–4 Phantoms 20–34 Blocks above the Player with a taxicab distance of up to 9 Blocks from the exact spot every 1200-1400 ticks (1–2 minutes)

Behaviour

When idle, Phantoms will fly around in a circle at a constant y-elevation, leaving a trail of gray smoke while doing so. They have a quite large search radius, and will occasionally either swoop down or up quickly to attack their victim. If stopped or hurt during this action, the Phantom will retreat back to its original elevation.

Trivia

• Before Update 1.6.1, Phantoms were shy, and did not swoop down and attack the player.
• Phantoms were the second option, and subsequent winner, of a Minecon Earth poll where fans of Minecraft could choose which new Mob of four they wanted to be added into the game.
• When a Player dies, the insomnia the Player gets is reset, meaning that Phantoms will not target them again until insomnia has been reattained.
• During early beta, Phantoms dropped Leather.
• On January 20, 2018, Jeb announced in a livestream that the mob's official name would be the Phantom.
• Phantoms resemble and seem to have been based off a manta ray, an aquatic creature.
• Phantoms were the first naturally spawning hostile Overworld mob that is able to fly.
  • Bats and Parrots aren't hostile.
  • Vexes are flying hostile Mobs, but they only spawn when summoned by an Evoker.
  • Ghasts and Blazes only naturally spawn in the Nether.
  • Withers are player-created hostile mobs, and therefore don't count.
• Phantoms are undead Mobs, and they may be healed by harming (using splash Potion of Harming, etc.) and harmed by healing (ex. Splashing a Potion of Instant Health at them).
• If the player throws a splash potion of invisibility at a phantom the phantom’s eyes and trailing smoke will not disappear.