The ominous bottle in Minecraft
Published on 7 October 2026
You get an ominous bottle from a raid captain, the pillager with a banner on its head, or from a vault in a trial chamber. Drink it and you get Bad Omen for 100 minutes. Walk into a village with it and a raid begins. Get near a trial spawner and an ominous trial starts: the only way to get a heavy core for the mace.
Below you’ll find where to get the bottle, what levels I to V do and how to use it well with friends. Checked against Java 26.3 and Bedrock 26.52.
Where do you find an ominous bottle?
- Captain of a pillager patrol. A patrol is a small group of pillagers roaming the world. The captain wears an ominous banner on its head and always drops one bottle when it dies, at a random level from I to V. Looting makes no difference.
- Pillager outpost. New pillagers keep spawning around the watchtower, captains included. If you want more bottles, this is the most reliable place.
- Vault in a trial chamber. A normal vault sometimes gives a level I or II bottle.
- Ominous vault. This one sometimes gives a level III, IV or V bottle.
Note: a captain taking part in a raid does not drop a bottle.
What does the ominous bottle do?
You drink it like a potion. The bottle then breaks, so you don’t keep an empty one. You get Bad Omen at the same level as the bottle, for 100 minutes. If you then drink a higher-level bottle, the level goes up and the timer restarts. A lower-level bottle does nothing.
As long as you stay away from certain places, nothing happens. The effect only changes in two places:
| Where | Becomes | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Village | Raid Omen | A raid starts after 30 seconds |
| Trial chamber | Trial Omen | Spawners that see you turn ominous; 15 minutes per level |
Changed your mind? A bucket of milk removes Bad Omen, and Raid Omen too as long as the raid hasn’t started. Dying also clears the effect.
What do levels I to V do?
In a trial, the level doesn’t make it harder, only longer: each level gives 15 minutes of Trial Omen. For raids it depends on the edition.
- Java: from level II there is an extra wave, as strong as the final one. Raiders more often carry enchanted weapons: a 10 per cent chance at level II, 75 per cent at level V. If you win and defeated at least one raider yourself, you get Hero of the Village at the same level, which means bigger discounts from villagers.
- Bedrock: the level makes no difference to a raid. The number of waves depends only on the difficulty, and Hero of the Village has just one level.
| Level | Trial | Discount (Java) |
|---|---|---|
| I | 15 minutes | 30 per cent |
| II | 30 minutes | 36.25 per cent |
| III | 45 minutes | 42.5 per cent |
| IV | 60 minutes | 48.75 per cent |
| V | 75 minutes | 55 per cent |
Clearing a trial chamber together? On your own server you play whenever you like, and everyone opens each ominous vault once. Plans start at €4.95 per month. See the Minecraft plans.
How to use the bottle for a heavy core and the mace
- Find a trial chamber first. How to find one is in Minecraft trial chambers. Bring a bucket of milk in case things go wrong.
- Drink the bottle close to the entrance. That way you won’t wander into a village on the way. Pick the highest level you have: it gives the most time.
- Let a spawner see you. As soon as a trial spawner sees you, Bad Omen becomes Trial Omen. Every spawner that sees you after that turns ominous, even a normal one that was just on cooldown.
- Beat the waves. Ominous spawners send stronger mobs in armour and drop potions and projectiles from the air. Afterwards there is a 30 per cent chance of an Ominous Trial Key.
- Open an ominous vault. It holds a Heavy Core with a 7.5 per cent chance. Add a breeze rod and you can craft the mace; see the Minecraft mace.
If you drink a second bottle while you still have Trial Omen, only the longest time is kept. Bottles don’t stack, so save the rest for the next chamber.
Tips for a server with friends
- One bottle is enough for the group. The spawners turn ominous because of the player with Trial Omen, but rewards are given to every player nearby. If a key drops, everyone gets one. Each player can open each vault once, so everyone has their own chance of a core.
- Watch out near your own villagers. In Java, any spot where a villager has claimed a bed, workstation or bell counts as a village. Walk through your trading hall with Bad Omen and you’ll get a raid there. More about trading halls is in how to breed villagers in Minecraft.
- Agree on who drinks when. A raid in the village where everyone trades can cost you villagers. Pick a moment together and make sure everyone is there.
- No raids on your server? In Java you turn them off with
/gamerule raids false; Bedrock doesn’t have this game rule. Bad Omen then simply stays when you enter a village, so you only use the bottle for trials. In the game panel console you type the command without the slash: see use your server console. More game rules are in useful Minecraft commands.
