This article is about the normal guardian. For its larger gray variant, see Elder Guardian

Guardians are pufferfish-like hostile mobs found in ocean monuments.

Spawning [ edit ]

Guardians spawn naturally in ocean monuments. They require water to spawn. Specifically, they can spawn only if the spawning block and the block below the spawning block are both water (regardless of stationary water or flowing water), and the block above the spawning block is transparent (air, water, sign, slab, ice, etc.).

In Java Edition guardians spawn less often in ocean open to the sky than they do in covered areas (i.e. inside the monument). Specifically, spawning fails 95% of the time if the spawning water block is below sea level (Y=63 by default), all blocks between the spawning water block and sea level are liquid or fully transparent, and the block at sea level has a view of the sky. Above sea level, spawning fails 95% of the time if the spawning water block has a view of the sky.

In Bedrock Edition, guardians are structure spawns, spawning on 25 pre-determined spawning spots. The x-coordinate of each spawning spot is X+2, X+13, X+29, X+45, or X+55, where X is the western edge of the monument. Similarly, the z-coordinate is Z+2, Z+13, Z+29, Z+45, or Z+55. They spawn on the northwest corner of the spawning spot block, meaning they can spawn inside of a portal and get instantly sent to the nether. If their sky access is obstructed by a solid block, the guardians spawn significantly faster. Like all structure spawns, guardians belong to the cave cap.

Guardians spawn in between Y=39 (floor of the ocean monument) to Y=61 (1 block higher than the topmost block of the monument).

Drops [ edit ]

When killed, guardians always drop 0-2 prismarine shards. Looting increases the maximum prismarine shard drop by one per level, for a maximum of 5.

They also drop one of the following:

40% chance of dropping a raw cod ( cooked cod if killed by fire‌ [ JE only ] ). An additional 0-1 drops are added per level of Looting for a maximum of 4 cod with Looting III.

( if killed by fire‌ ). An additional 0-1 drops are added per level of Looting for a maximum of 4 cod with Looting III. 40% chance of dropping prismarine crystals . An additional 0-1 drops are added per level of Looting for a maximum of 4 prismarine crystals with Looting III.

. An additional 0-1 drops are added per level of Looting for a maximum of 4 prismarine crystals with Looting III. 20% chance of dropping neither.

Guardians also have a 2.5% chance of dropping a random fish as an extra drop in addition to the normal fish drop, when they are killed by the player. This chance is increased by 1% per Looting level, for a maximum of 5.5% with Looting III. This drop uses the same chances that fishing uses, resulting in a 60% chance for raw cod, a 25% chance for raw salmon, a 13% chance for pufferfish, and a 2% chance for tropical fish. A guardian on fire drops cooked fish.

Guardians also drop 10 when killed by a player or tamed wolf.

Behavior [ edit ]

Guardians swim around in water, attacking any players or squid that come into sight. They swim in abrupt charges, moving their tail rapidly when doing so. When swimming, their spikes retract. When not swimming they sink slowly and their spikes extend and quiver.

The guardian's eye follows and stares at any nearby players, and always looks directly at its target. The eye does not follow completely unarmored players under the effects of a potion of invisibility, and the guardians cannot attack them.‌[Java Edition only] A player can wear a helmet or boots while under the effects of potion of invisibility and still not be targeted by the guardians.

Stationary guardians can be pushed by flowing water, but swimming guardians cannot. When pushed horizontally they move significantly faster than other mobs pushed by water.

When out of water, guardians squeak at the player while flopping about. They do not suffocate in air and can live indefinitely out of water. Their spikes are always extended when out of water.

Guardians, as aquatic mobs, are affected by the Impaling enchantment.

Combat [ edit ]

Guardians have two methods of attack: a laser and a defensive attack analogous to the Thorns enchantment. Unlike most other hostile mobs, a guardian does not follow a player who moves out of sight. Instead, it simply continues swimming until the player becomes visible again, and then starts charging its laser to attack.

Laser [ edit ]

The laser takes 2 seconds to charge, doing no damage in the meantime. Once charged, the beam deals 6 regular attack damage and additional 1 magic damage on normal difficulty. The latter can penetrate armor. Guardians swim around for a few seconds before firing again. If the target approaches while the guardian is firing its beam, it stops firing and swims away until it is at a comfortable range, at which point it continues attacking. The beam cannot be dodged or blocked by a shield. The laser has a maximum range of approximately 15 blocks. Once the player is out of range, or if the beam is obstructed by solid blocks, the guardian's beam disengages from the player and deals no damage.

Thorn-like attack [ edit ]

Guardians deal 2 damage each time it is hit when spikes are extended. If cornered, the guardian usually extends its spikes and fires at the player, even at point-blank range.

Attraction [ edit ]

Sea Lanterns [ edit ]

Guardians are attracted to sea lanterns. They swim toward one and flock around it.

Conduit [ edit ]

Guardians move toward a powered conduit, and stay around it, getting attacked by it, and can even be killed by it.

Sounds [ edit ]

Sound Subtitle Source Description Namespaced ID Translation key Volume Pitch Attenuation

distance Sound parameters Volume Pitch Attenuation

distance Stream Preload https://minecraft.gamepedia.com/File:Guardian_idle1.ogg https://minecraft.gamepedia.com/File:Guardian_idle2.ogg https://minecraft.gamepedia.com/File:Guardian_idle3.ogg https://minecraft.gamepedia.com/File:Guardian_idle4.ogg Guardian moans Hostile Creatures ? entity.guardian.ambient subtitles.entity.guardian.ambient 0.1 ? 16 ? ? ? ? ? https://minecraft.gamepedia.com/File:Guardian_land_idle1.ogg https://minecraft.gamepedia.com/File:Guardian_land_idle2.ogg https://minecraft.gamepedia.com/File:Guardian_land_idle3.ogg https://minecraft.gamepedia.com/File:Guardian_land_idle4.ogg Guardian squeaks Hostile Creatures ? entity.guardian.ambient_land subtitles.entity.guardian.ambient.land ? ? 16 ? ? ? ? ? https://minecraft.gamepedia.com/File:Guardian_death.ogg Guardian dies Hostile Creatures ? entity.guardian.death subtitles.entity.guardian.death ? ? 16 ? ? ? ? ? https://minecraft.gamepedia.com/File:Guardian_land_death.ogg Guardian dies Hostile Creatures ? entity.guardian.death_land subtitles.entity.guardian.death ? ? 16 ? ? ? ? ? https://minecraft.gamepedia.com/File:Guardian_flop1.ogg https://minecraft.gamepedia.com/File:Guardian_flop2.ogg https://minecraft.gamepedia.com/File:Guardian_flop3.ogg https://minecraft.gamepedia.com/File:Guardian_flop4.ogg Guardian flops Hostile Creatures ? entity.guardian.flop subtitles.entity.guardian.flop ? ? 16 ? ? ? ? ? https://minecraft.gamepedia.com/File:Guardian_hurt1.ogg https://minecraft.gamepedia.com/File:Guardian_hurt2.ogg https://minecraft.gamepedia.com/File:Guardian_hurt3.ogg https://minecraft.gamepedia.com/File:Guardian_hurt4.ogg Guardian hurts Hostile Creatures ? entity.guardian.hurt subtitles.entity.guardian.hurt ? ? 16 ? ? ? ? ? https://minecraft.gamepedia.com/File:Guardian_land_hurt1.ogg https://minecraft.gamepedia.com/File:Guardian_land_hurt2.ogg https://minecraft.gamepedia.com/File:Guardian_land_hurt3.ogg https://minecraft.gamepedia.com/File:Guardian_land_hurt4.ogg Guardian hurts Hostile Creatures ? entity.guardian.hurt_land subtitles.entity.guardian.hurt ? ? 16 ? ? ? ? ? https://minecraft.gamepedia.com/File:Guardian_attack_loop.ogg Guardian shoots Hostile Creatures ? entity.guardian.attack subtitles.entity.guardian.attack ? ? 16 ? ? ? ? ?

Data values [ edit ]

ID [ edit ]

Java Edition:

Name Namespaced ID Translation key Guardian guardian entity.minecraft.guardian

Bedrock Edition:

Name Namespaced ID Numeric ID Translation key Guardian guardian 49 entity.guardian.name

Entity data [ edit ]

Guardians have entity data associated with them that contains various properties.

Entity data Tags common to all entities see Template:Nbt inherit/entity/template Tags common to all mobs see Template:Nbt inherit/mob/template

Entity data

Achievements [ edit ]

Icon Achievement In-game description Actual requirements (if different) Gamerscore earned Trophy type (PS) Monster Hunter Attack and destroy a monster. Kill a hostile mob or one of the following neutral mobs: enderman, zombified piglin, spider, cave spider. 15G Bronze Overkill Deal nine hearts of damage in a single hit. Damage can be dealt to any mob, even those that do not have nine hearts of health overall. 30G Bronze

Advancements [ edit ]

Icon Advancement In-game description Parent Actual requirements (if different) Namespaced ID Adventure

Adventure, exploration, and combat — Kill any entity, or be killed by any entity. adventure/root Monster Hunter

Kill any hostile monster Adventure Kill one of these 34 mobs . Other mobs, if any, may be killed, but are ignored for this advancement. adventure/kill_a_mob Take Aim

Shoot something with an arrow Monster Hunter Using a bow or a crossbow, shoot an entity with an arrow, tipped arrow, or spectral arrow. adventure/shoot_arrow Monsters Hunted

Kill one of every hostile monster Monster Hunter Kill each of these 34 mobs . Other mobs, if any, may be killed, but are ignored for this advancement. adventure/kill_all_mobs

Video [ edit ]

Note: This video is outdated in Java Edition, as raw fish, cooked fish and clownfish are now called raw cod, cooked cod, and tropical fish as of 1.13.

History [ edit ]

Issues [ edit ]

Issues relating to "Guardian" are maintained on the bug tracker. Report issues there.

Trivia [ edit ]

A guardian's eye is actually the "head" part of the mob's model. This gives the illusion of a dynamic eye.

Underwater, guardians emit deep, growl-like sounds, but on land, they emit high-pitched squeaks.

Guardians' laser-beam attacks are affected by the potion of strength, which normally affects only melee attacks.

When placed or spawned on a slime block, guardians start bouncing and continue and each bounce higher than the last, until each bounce brings the guardian to 17 blocks height.

In the texture file for the guardian, "jeb" is written in the bottom right corner.

If summoned with {NoAI:1} , the guardian's eye still follows the player.

, the guardian's eye still follows the player. In Bedrock Edition, guardians do not make the flopping sounds while on land.

If a guardian is placed in a 1.5 block tall area a top slab on the 2nd block, it flops faster.

Similarly to how piglin brutes and piglins are found in bastion remnants, elder guardians and guardians are found in ocean monuments.

Gallery [ edit ]

Jeb's Instagram mob reveal.

The inside of a guardian (with their spikes extended).

A guardian's "eye" follows players at any position.

A guardian attacking a squid.

A group of guardians defending their monument.

Size comparison between a guardian and its elder variant.

The guardian texture, with "jeb" written in the corner.

A guardian in a boat.



