With the vast number of items inMinecraft,it’s only inevitable that some of these would be of no use to players, but one particular item has proven so worthless that it’s in dire need of Mojang’s attention for a future update. Despite having been added toMinecraftearly on, the poisonous potato has continued to have only one use as consumable food for players, albeit with a similar gamble to eating rotten flesh. However, even rotten flesh has more utility, whether it’s trading with villager clerics or healing and breeding tamed wolves, yet the poisonous potato has virtually no other purpose besides completing the odd achievement.
Though there are many other items inMinecraftthat fans would claim are just as useless as the poisonous potato like the spyglass or golden hoe, most if not all would agree that the poisonous potato is arguably leading the pack. This infamous ranking asMinecraft’smost useless item is at odds with how the poisonous potato can be obtained by players in-game. With a slim chance of harvesting one from potato crops and their appearance in shipwreck chests, the rarity of poisonous potatoes implies they are worthwhile despite their true worthless nature, which leaves them most in need of redemption ina futureMinecraftupdate.
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The Problem With Minecraft’s Poisonous Potatoes
Already the poisonous potato stands out among most other food items inMinecraftbecause no other crop produces a “bad” alternative when farmed. While this could have been excused as Mojang attempting to insert some realism into its farming, it doesn’t seem likely as not only is it the only crop afflicted by this, but poisonous potatoes can’t even be composted to try and salvage some worth out of a poor harvest. Moreover, though poisonous potatoes are likened to rotten flesh for preventing players' hunger in a pinch, these potatoes don’t even have the consolation of being atrade option with villager farmers.
As a result, players aren’t likely to ever eat a poisonous potato except forMinecraft’s"A Balanced Diet" achievement, not just because of its negative effects but also because of its rarity. Besides harvesting crops, poisonous potatoes can also spawn in shipwreck chests, possibly as an Easter egg hinting towards potatoes' real-world history being shipped and introduced to other countries by boat. This puts poisonous potatoes on par with other loot like enchanted leather armor or TNT, meaning players could go to the trouble ofplundering shipwrecks like piratesonly to have a high chance of being rewarded with one ofMinecraft’s most useless items.
Poisonous Potatoes Could Still Be Redeemed
Despite their namesake implying that these potatoes could in some way be used against mobs or other players, poisonous potatoes have no integration with potion-brewing or combat. So while players might attempt to prank one another with renamed poisonous potatoes left in their friends' chests, that’s as far as their offensive use goes. This does suggest though that Mojang could reconsider what use its poisonous potatoes have, as they could either be added asingredients in potion-brewingor crafting poisoned meals, or their negative effects could be reversed with beneficial effects for players prepared to put in the effort.
Alternatively, if not given an offensive use, then poisonous potatoes could be reworked to have passive utility. For instance, though players can trade with both villagers and piglins, they can only help the former breed by giving them food. AsMinecraftdoesn’t yet have a means of breeding piglins, poisonous potatoes could be a Nether parallel for their food and could helpMojang jumpstart piglin villages. At the very least, if Mojang changes little else about how poisonous potatoes are used inMinecraft, it should update poisonous potatoes to just let players trade them away with villagers just like rotten flesh or throw them in the composter.
Minecraftis available now for Mobile, PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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