Clash of Titans: what happens if you pit Luck and Unluck at level 250?

Hi everyone! Strange ideas often pop into my head, and one of them wouldn’t let me go recently. What if we take two completely opposite effects in Minecraft, crank them to the max, and see who wins? That’s how this experiment was born: I set up a true duel between “Luck” and “Unluck,” giving myself both effects at level 250. Honestly, I was almost sure the game would either freeze or just ignore this crazy plan. But the result was far more interesting.

Preparing for chaos

To keep the experiment as clean as possible, I took it very seriously. First, using commands, I gave myself minecraft:luck and minecraft:unluck at level 250 with huge duration. Then I crafted a totally plain fishing rod, with zero enchants, especially without “Luck of the Sea,” so it wouldn’t taint the data. I chose a small pond near my base for fishing and decided not to leave it, to keep conditions identical. Everything was ready. All that was left was to cast and wait.

First thought: “Something’s about to break”

The bobber twitched. My heart stopped for a second. What will I pull up? A diamond block? Or maybe five pairs of holey boots at once? I reel in... regular cod. Then another. And another. The first few catches were completely normal, and I started to get disappointed. Did the effects just annihilate each other, leaving me with base catch odds? But then the fun began.

This was something else!

After a run of ordinary fish, I pulled an enchanted book with “Efficiency V.” Great! On the very next cast, I got rotten flesh. Right after that — another powerful book. Then — a lily pad. Next — a name tag. After that — another lily pad. It was like a loot rollercoaster. The game seemed unable to decide what to give me: treasure or trash. It swung from one extreme to the other, and every bite turned into real suspense. Watching that internal tug-of-war between mechanics in real time was something else.

So who won? My conclusions

After an hour of fishing like this, I formed a clear opinion. It seems that when two effects this strong and opposite run simultaneously, Minecraft can’t find an average. Instead, on each loot roll it appears to “flip a coin” to decide which effect to apply at that moment. Either “Luck” fires on all cylinders, or “Unluck” drags you down. No compromise, just hardcore. Possibly the mechanic randomly prioritizes one status when their strength is equal.

This experiment was incredibly fun. Now I’m itching to try the same theory on chests in abandoned mineshafts or temples in Minecraft. What do you think will happen?