Thirst System [TBC]
The 1.18 thirst system is in development and will be released following testing. Some information reflects features of updates coming soon and may not work in game yet. Check the changelog (below) for more information.
Description: Horses require adequate daily water to remain happy and healthy. This system works cooperatively with the Hunger System.
Horse thirst is a configurable value - if it is disabled none of your horses will experience thirst.
Basics & Finding Food
Horses will become thirsty twice per day, and will need 2-4 buckets of water daily (2 buckets twice). When water is available, horses can drink:
- From placed water troughs and half barrels
- From ground water in a 10 block search radius
- Waterbuckets right-clicked by a player
Meals
If the world has /gamerule doDaylightCycle set to false horses will not get hungry at meal times unless time is set.
Meal times are at 7AM and 9PM every Minecraft day. When triggered:
- The previous drinking period will be logged as either met or missed.
- The thirst level is decreased so they can drink again.
- Meal times will be skipped if the player sleeps through a storm
- Meal times will be skipped if the horse is not rendered/loaded (so you can go explore or play elsewhere in SP)
Missed Drinks
Horse will satisfy their drink requirement if they consume 1-2 buckets of water. When satisfied, they can progress between status' of thirst depending on whether they have missed any drinks previously. A horse that is missing 0 drinks will be considered satisfied and can remain satisfied with 1 bucket each 'meal', or quenched if they get 2 buckets instead.
If a horse fails to consume 1-2 buckets of water each meal time, that will be counted as a missed drink. Missing drinks will deteriorate the thirst status and slowly accumulate debuffs. Health can also be affected. Missed drinks must be recovered; each drink your horse satisfies consecutively will decrease the missed drinks value by 1. Craft and use the Vet Bag to view the status of any missed drinks.
| Thirst Level (GUI) | Status | Missed Drinks | Gaits | Jump | Obedience |
| 5 | Quenched | 0 | --- | --- | +10% |
| 4 | Satisfied | 0 | --- | --- | --- |
| 3 | Thirsty | 1 | -2s Stamina | -10% | -10% |
| 2 | Dehydrated | 3 | Max. Canter | -20% | -20% |
| 1 | Exsiccosis | 7 | Max. Walk | -30% | -30% |
Health
Water does not contribute towards or detract from health stats in the same way food does. However, missing drinks will prevent a horse from increasing their capped health stat.
MORE INFORMATION COMING SOON
Additional
Tack & Leading
Horses can drink if ridden or tacked, but not if they are on a lead (including if hitched). This is intentional to prevent the horse pathing to water while being led by a player. Leaving a horse hitched will restrict their ability to satisfy thirst.
Priority
Horses will always prioritize water over food if both are available, within their search radius and the horse is hungry/thirst.
Exsiccosis
Severely dehydrated horses will not pee as their body needs to conserve water to remain alive.
Fatality
Horses will not die directly from critical thirst needs and fataility will not be implemented as a feature. However, horses can die from taking damage and are much more likely to do so with a decreased max health stat. The implemented system of missed drinks encourages players to keep their horses well watered and rehabilitate their horses back to full health with regular care to provide a non-fatal consequence to neglect.
SWEM commands offer a way for singleplayer users or server staff with adequate permissions to adjust need related stats.
Known Issues
- [-] Health does not deteriorate when horse is in exsiccosis (missed 7+ drinks)
Changelog
PRE 1.18.2
This is not a complete list of version changes / fixes. It is a changelog of relevant wiki-related version information.
| MC Version | Release | Notes |
| 1.18.2 | 1.18.2-1.2.1 [Beta] | Implemented new thirst system, uses feed system's 'hungy times' |
| 1.16.5 | 1.16.5-0.5.3.20 |
Thirst system is broken in 1.16.5 release and will not be updated.
|