How to Get Rid of Phantoms in Minecraft Bedrock

Phantoms aren't a random night mob, even though they feel like one. They're the game's reaction to something you're doing, or rather not doing: sleeping. Those screeching undead flyers only show up around players who've gone too long without a bed, which means getting rid of them is mostly about one habit.

Here's why they appear, every way to stop them (with and without cheats), and why you might not want to remove them completely.

The Quick Answer

Sleep in a bed. Sleeping through a night resets your phantom timer and stops them spawning around you.
Turn them off completely with /gamerule doinsomnia false. This needs cheats enabled, which permanently disables achievements in that world.
Keep a cat nearby to scare attacking phantoms away.

Why Phantoms Appear

Every player has a hidden counter called Time Since Last Rest. Once it passes three in-game days without you sleeping or dying, phantoms can start spawning around you.

They spawn high above you, but only when nothing blocks the sky directly overhead. Leaves and solid blocks stop them. Glass doesn't, so a glass roof won't protect you. The counter is per player, too: in multiplayer, each person's timer is separate, so the friend who never sleeps is the one pulling phantoms into everyone's base.

The longer you stay awake, the worse it gets. Spawns come in groups of one or two on Easy, up to three on Normal, and up to four on Hard.

Method 1: Just Sleep (the Real Fix)

This is the intended solution, and it's the only one that doesn't involve cheats or workarounds.

Craft a bed: 3 wool on top of 3 planks.
Sleep through a night or a thunderstorm. Your Time Since Last Rest resets to zero the moment you get in.
Repeat at least once every three days. You don't need to sleep every night, just often enough to keep the counter below the threshold.

Dying also resets the counter, but that's a costly way to dodge phantoms. A spare bed in your bag on long trips is far easier.

Method 2: Block the Sky

Phantoms need open sky above you to spawn. If you spend most of your time inside a base, a proper roof made of solid blocks (not glass) stops them appearing around you while you're under it.

That said, they can still spawn the moment you step outside, and phantoms that are already chasing you will follow you in through open doorways. Treat a roof as shelter, not a fix.

Method 3: Keep a Cat

Phantoms are afraid of cats. When a phantom swoops at you near a cat, the cat hisses and the phantom backs off, keeping at least 16 blocks away. On Bedrock, ocelots scare them off too.

A couple of tamed cats in your base or farm makes a nice natural deterrent. It won't stop phantoms spawning, but it keeps them from diving at you.

Method 4: Turn Phantoms Off With a Game Rule

If you never want to see one again, there's a game rule for that:

Enable cheats for the world: open its settings and turn on Activate Cheats in the Cheats section.
Open chat and run /gamerule doinsomnia false.
Phantoms stop spawning entirely. To bring them back, run /gamerule doinsomnia true.

The catch: turning on cheats permanently disables achievements for that world. Switching cheats off again doesn't bring achievements back. If you care about achievements, stick to sleeping and cats.

Bedrock game rules aren't case-sensitive, so doinsomnia and doInsomnia both work.

Why You Might Not Want Them Gone

Phantoms drop phantom membrane, and it's surprisingly useful:

Repairing elytra. Combine a damaged elytra with phantom membrane on an anvil to restore its durability. It's the only repair option apart from Mending.
Potions of Slow Falling. Brew phantom membrane into an Awkward Potion. Slow Falling is a lifesaver for building high up or exploring the End.

If you have an elytra, consider collecting a stack of membranes before you switch phantoms off. Just know that on Bedrock, membranes only drop when you land the killing blow (see below).

Bedrock vs Java

The core rule is the same on both editions: three days without rest brings phantoms, sleeping resets the timer, and doInsomnia false turns them off. A few details differ on Bedrock, though:

They hit harder. Bedrock phantoms deal more damage per swoop than Java phantoms on Easy and Normal, so they're a real threat to an unarmored player.
They drown. A Bedrock phantom trapped underwater tries to surface and drowns after about 20 seconds. On Java, they don't drown.
Ocelots scare them too, not just cats.
Membranes are harder to farm. On Bedrock, phantoms drop membrane only when a player kills them, not a tamed wolf, and Looting adds fewer membranes on average than on Java.

For the bigger picture on how the editions differ, see our Java vs Bedrock guide.

Troubleshooting

"I slept, but phantoms are still here." Sleeping stops new phantoms. Any that already spawned stay until they burn in the morning sun or you kill them.

"Phantoms spawn even though I sleep." In multiplayer, check whether someone else is skipping sleep. Each player has their own timer, and phantoms spawn around whoever is overdue.

"My glass roof doesn't stop them." Glass doesn't count as blocking the sky. Use solid blocks for the roof.