What’s the duration of Prestidigitation effects that don’t specify?

Question

The duration of prestidigitation is kind of all over the place. The main entry for duration is dual:

Instantaneous/1 hour

Additionally each effect may or may not add wording like

for 1 hour

or

until the end of your next turn

My question is regarding the effects that do not specify the duration in their description. For example:

You clean or soil an object no larger than 1 cubic foot.

If you clean the object it is instantaneously clean, but will it automatically and instantaneously re-soil itself after an hour?

You light or snuff out a small fire.

If you instantaneously light a small fire, will it automatically and instantaneously snuff out after an hour?

Since the duration isn't specified in the effect description I think the global duration "Instantaneous/1 hour" applies, but I've played with people who disagree and think that the effect is permanent.

Related: What is the practical duration of Prestidigitation?, How long does the 'instantaneous harmless sensory effect' of Prestidigitation last? — V2Blast, Aug 07 '18 at 19:20
Also, I see you edited your post to unitalicize the spell description. In general, it's best to set the spell name apart from the surrounding text in some way, whether that's with italics (as WotC does), capitalizing the first letter of the spell name, or some other styling. — V2Blast, Aug 07 '18 at 19:21

shadydave · Answer 1 · 2018-08-07T16:14:31.603

These Effects are Permanent

As per DND Beyond, the duration of the spell is listed as:

1 hour

However, this is the maximum duration of the spell for some of its effects.

Example:

You make a color, a small mark, or a symbol appear on an object or a surface for 1 hour.

Whereas some effects are instantaneous.

Example:

You instantaneously light or snuff out a candle, a torch, or a small campfire.

There is nothing in the spell that says this is a magical fire which will only last for 1 hour. Furthermore, there is nothing that says that they fire can't be put out by other means or, in the right circumstance (e.g. in a farmers hay barn), grow into a much larger fire.

As a general point to remember: There are no secret rules, if a spell does not state that the fire will go out or re-light after an hour then it wont.

As a final point, the last part of the spell states:

If you cast this spell multiple times, you can have up to three of its non-instantaneous effects active at a time, and you can dismiss such an effect as an action.

This provides further confirmation that the instantaneous effects are separate from the ongoing effects (with duration of 1 hour) as they do not count towards the maximum number of effects you can have active at one time.

I would address the fact that the text he is quoting (such as the "Duration: Instantaneous/ 1 hour" language) does not actually match the official text of the spell. — Carcer, Aug 07 '18 at 16:06
Got it, thanks. I was lacking understanding of the duration "Instantaneous" which actually is mutually exclusive with other durations. — Kreakdude, Aug 07 '18 at 18:02

What’s the duration of Prestidigitation effects that don’t specify?

1 Answers1

These Effects are Permanent