Pillagers are hostile mobs armed with crossbows found in wandering patrols, in pillager outposts, or as participants in raids. They attack by firing arrows at the player.
Spawning[]
In Java Edition, a pillager spawned by a player using a spawn egg or commands can be a captain which has an ominous banner sticking out of its head.
Patrols[]
In Java Edition, the number of pillagers spawning in each patrol varies from one to five and depends on the regional difficulty, with one spawning as a patrol captain. Patrols occur after 51⁄2 in-game days, any time and independently of structures, which means they still spawn in worlds without generated structures. A patrol spawns 24 to 48 blocks away from a random player, on the highest solid block. The individual pillagers of a patrol can spawn only at block light level less than 9, regardless of sky light.
In Bedrock Edition, each patrol spawns two to five pillagers. One of these pillagers is a patrol captain. After 51⁄2 in-game days, patrols appear 24 to 48 blocks away from the player, at a light level of 7 and below on Easy or any light level on Normal and Hard difficulty.
Outposts[]
Pillagers continually spawn in a 72×54×72 block volume centered on the top floor in a pillager outpost. Some pillagers spawn as outpost captains. They may spawn on any valid opaque block if the block light level is less than or equal to 8.
In Java Edition, there can be unlimited pillagers that spawn in outposts naturally, limited only by the natural spawning rules.
In Bedrock Edition, pillagers continually spawn at or below a particular location in the outpost, choosing the highest opaque block with a non-solid block on top and spawning on the northwest corner. A maximum of eight pillagers spawn naturally in an outpost.
Raids[]
In a raid, pillagers are more common in the earlier waves and decrease in number as the waves progress. Despite this, they still constitute the majority of raiders in total.
One pillager spawns riding a ravager in the fifth wave.
In Bedrock Edition, one of the ravagers is ridden by a pillager instead of a vindicator on the seventh wave.
In Java Edition, pillagers spawn during bonus waves and have the largest chance of being the raid captain in the first wave, but in the second wave and onwards, vindicators have a greater chance than pillagers of being the raid captain.
Drops[]
A pillager drops upon death:
- In Bedrock Edition, pillagers drop 0 - 2 arrows. Each level of the Looting enchantment increases the maximum number of arrows dropped for up to five.
- There is a 8.5% chance to drop a crossbow when killed by the player or a tamed wolf. The crossbow may be loaded or unloaded depending on the crossbow's state when the pillager dies. The drop chance increases by 1% per level of Looting. The crossbow is of a random durability and has a chance of being enchanted. The chance ranges from 0% to 10% depending on the regional difficulty. The enchantment level is from 5 to 19.
- 5 experience points and an additional 1–3 points per naturally-spawned equipment when killed by the player or a tamed wolf.
- Its
illager ominous banner if spawned as a captain. - 1
Ominous Bottle which gives Bad Omen I-V if spawned as a captain.
In Bedrock Edition, pillagers that were spawned by raids have a 6% chance on easy and normal or 80% chance on hard difficulties to drop these:
- 0–1 Emerald (10⁄39 or 25.6%)
- 2–3 Emerald (5⁄39 or 12.8%)
- 4–5 Emerald (2⁄39 or 5.1%)
- 1 Enchanted Book (2⁄39 or 5.1%)
- 1 Iron Pickaxe (5⁄78 or 6.4%)
- 1 Iron Axe (5⁄78 or 6.4%)
- 1 Iron Shovel (5⁄78 or 6.4%)
- 1 Iron Sword (5⁄78 or 6.4%)
- 1 Iron Helmet (5⁄78 or 6.4%)
- 1 Iron Chestplate (5⁄78 or 6.4%)
- 1 Iron Leggings (5⁄78 or 6.4%)
- 1 Iron Boots (5⁄78 or 6.4%)
- The iron equipment drops have a 50% chance to be enchanted at level 5 to 19. Said equipment may also have enchantment combinations that cannot be normally obtained, such as Blast Protection and Fire Protection on the same pair of boots.
- Iron equipment drops are always of 30 to 90% item durability.
- These drops are affected by the Looting enchantment.
- Enchanted books have level 30 enchantments, which can also be treasure enchantments.
| Easy and normal modes | Hard mode |
|---|---|
| An emerald: 8.32% | 10.24% |
| 2-3 emeralds: 8.32% | 10.24% |
| 4-5 emeralds: 3.33% | 4.102% |
| An enchanted book: 3.33% | 4.102% |
| An iron equipament: 4.16% | 5.12% |
Behavior[]
Pillagers are hostile toward players, iron golems, wandering traders and adult villagers. Pillagers also aid other pillagers attacked by other mobs. In Bedrock Edition, a pillager that accidentally harms a vindicator or evoker causes it to retaliate and attack the pillager. In Java Edition, pillagers do not retaliate on vindicators or evokers that attack them.
A passive pillager holding an ominous banner in the right hand.
When a player is in Creative mode or applied with the Invisibility effect, getting near a pillager still causes it to take notice and stare at the player. If a pillager notices an enemy while staring at the player, the pillager stops staring and attacks the enemy. If a player with the invisibility effect attacks a pillager, the pillager still retaliates.
A pillager attacks by shooting arrows from its crossbows every three seconds from up to eight blocks away and pursues enemies for up to 64 blocks in Java Edition or 16 blocks in Bedrock Edition.
Pillagers move slowly when wandering or loading crossbows in Java Edition. In Bedrock Edition, pillagers move from one place to another as fast as when they're provoked, although they stop and look around, pointing their crossbows along. Pillagers point their crossbows at any player or mob they are looking at, whether their crossbows are loaded or unloaded.
A pillager stares at the player and points its crossbow toward the player when the player is in creative mode or when the player has the invisibility status effect.
The patrol captain wears an ominous banner, known as the illager banner in Bedrock and Education Editions, on its head. The other illagers follow the captain around. The pillagers that are part of a patrol do not attack immediately. The patrol members' heads turn to follow the player or mob who attracted their attention. If the player or villager-like mob attacks or approaches within ten blocks of the patrol members, then this provokes them into loading their crossbows and attacking.[1]
If raiding pillagers kill all the villagers in a village, they celebrate their victory by jumping and laughing. Unarmed pillagers also cheer. In Bedrock Edition, pillagers wave their arms while holding their crossbows in their main hand when cheering.
Pillagers can take and equip illager banners within 3 blocks, but non-raider pillagers do not search for ominous banners.
In Java Edition, if a pillager gets attacked by a mob (excluding illagers and goats) or player, it will alert other pillagers to target the attacker unless the pillager was killed in one hit.
Crossbow usage[]
Java Edition[]
Pillagers can also use crossbows in their off-hand. When a pillager finds a target, the pillager chases the target, then locks the target in its attack range and loads its crossbow.
Pillagers with their crossbows loaded can attack at any blocks away if the target is out of their attack range.
Pillagers, unlike evokers or vindicators, attack on sight, not regarding distance, although attacking a pillager, vindicator or evoker far away causes the attacked illager and the same type of illagers around the attacked illager to attack the player regardless of distance.
The command /summon pillager ~ ~ ~ {} summons a passive pillager that does not attack.
A pillager's crossbow eventually breaks with repeated use, unlike weapons wielded by other mobs.[2] Unarmed pillagers are passive toward the player, iron golems and villagers, but they still frighten villagers and iron golems are still hostile toward them. This also includes pillagers that don't have a crossbow, which means any pillagers with a sword or any weapon other than a crossbow are still passive. An unarmed pillager always faces any player in its field of view or any mob that attacks it.
A pillager spawned with arrows or firework rockets in its off-hand slot will use them, depleting the stack over time and switching to regular arrows once running out of ammo.[3] When firing firework rockets, pillagers will aim above the target as when using arrows, despite rockets being unaffected by gravity.[4]
If a pillager's arrow hits a neutral or hostile mob by accident, the mob attacks the pillager.
Bedrock Edition[]
Pillagers cannot use their crossbows in their off-hand, as mobs cannot use weapons in their off-hand, just like players.
The different of the pillagers texture in Java (left) and Bedrock (right) Edition.
Pillagers use an outdated behavior.[5][6] They also have different arm textures.[7] Pillagers load their crossbows upon spawning or if their crossbows are unloaded. When a pillager finds a target, it loads its crossbow first, chases the target and attacks upon in range. Pillagers are not hostile to players before their crossbows are loaded, so sometimes they don't look at players or run around while loading their crossbows.
A dispenser can equip a pillager with armor. However, an armor item isn't rendered on pillagers.
If a player summons a pillager without a crossbow by spawn event command, it still shoots arrows to attack targets, like other arrow-shooting ranged mobs. This is due to the fact that in the pillager.json and ranged piglin.json files, the component_groups have both minecraft:behavior.ranged_attack and minecraft:behavior.charge_held_item, so if a pillager does not have a crossbow, the charge_held_item behavior cannot trigger and it continuously shoots arrows due to the ranged_attack behavior.
Unlike in Java Edition, the crossbows of pillagers in Bedrock Edition don't break.[8]
Pillagers use a melee attack while underwater, unlike pillagers in Java Edition that maintain using crossbows underwater, although the shot arrows travel slower underwater and sink after a short distance.
Bad Omen[]
A player receives the Bad Omen status effect by drinking an Ominous Potion. The effect lasts for 100 minutes (five in-game days) and can be removed by drinking milk. When a player afflicted with Bad Omen enters a village, a raid commences in that village, bringing about waves of illagers that seek and try to kill all villagers.
Each patrol spawns one pillager captain. While outposts can continually spawn pillager captains, each captain inflicts the player who killed it with one level of Bad Omen upon death.
Raid captains do not inflict Bad Omen when defeated in a raid.
In Java Edition, killing multiple captains in succession raises the Bad Omen level to a maximum of V, increasing the chance of pillagers and vindicators in the resulting raid wielding enchanted weapons. As long as the Bad Omen level is higher than I, the resulting raid includes an additional wave with a raider composition identical to that of the last wave.
Sounds[]
Java Edition:
Pillagers use the Hostile Creatures sound category for entity-dependent sound events.
| Sound | Subtitles | Source | Description | Resource location | Translation key | Volume | Pitch | Attenuation distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pillager murmurs | Hostile Creatures | Randomly | entity | subtitles | 1.0 | 0.8-1.2 | 16 | |
| Pillager cheers | Hostile Creatures | When a pillager has won a raid | entity | subtitles | 1.0 | 0.8-1.2 | 16 | |
| Pillager dies | Hostile Creatures | When a pillager dies | entity | subtitles | 1.0 | 0.8-1.2 | 16 | |
| Pillager hurts | Hostile Creatures | When a pillager is damaged | entity | subtitles | 1.0 | 0.8-1.2 | 16 |
| Sound | Source | Description | Resource location | Volume | Pitch |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hostile Creatures | Randomly | mob | 1.0 | 0.8-1.2 | |
| Hostile Creatures | Randomly while in a raid | mob | 3.0 | 0.8-1.2 | |
| Hostile Creatures | When a pillager has won a raid | mob | 1.0 | 0.8-1.2 | |
| Hostile Creatures | When a pillager dies | mob | 1.0 | 0.8-1.2 | |
| Hostile Creatures | When a pillager is damaged | mob | 1.0 | 0.8-1.2 |
- ↑ Due to a typo, the third sound for pillager celebrating is unused. See MCPE-121058.
Data values[]
ID[]
| Name | Identifier | Entity tags (JE) | Translation key |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pillager | pillager | raiders | entity.minecraft.pillager |
| Name | Identifier | Numeric ID | Translation key |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pillager | pillager | 114 | entity.pillager.name |
Entity data[]
Pillagers have entity data associated with them that contains various properties.
- Entity data
- Tags common to all entities
- Tags common to all mobs
- Tags common to all mobs spawnable in raids
- Inventory: Each compound tag in this list is an item in the pillager's inventory, up to a maximum of 5 slots. Items in two or more slots that can be stacked together are automatically be condensed into one slot. Pillagers don't change their inventory automatically or drop items from it upon death. The inventory is currently unused.[more information needed]
- An item in the inventory, excluding the Slot tag.
- Tags common to all items
- An item in the inventory, excluding the Slot tag.
Achievements[]
| Icon | Achievement | In-game description | Actual requirements (if different) | Gamerscore earned | Trophy type (PS4) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PS4 | Other | |||||
| Monster Hunter | Attack and destroy a monster. | Kill a hostile mob or one of the following neutral mobs: an enderman, a piglin, a zombified piglin, a spider, or a cave spider. | 15G | Bronze | ||
Advancements[]
| Icon | Advancement | In-game description | Parent | Actual requirements (if different) | Resource location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Not Today, Thank You | Deflect a projectile with a Shield | Suit Up | Block any projectile with a shield. | story/deflect_arrow
|
| Adventure | Adventure, exploration and combat | — | Kill any entity, or be killed by any entity. | adventure/root
|
| Voluntary Exile | Kill a raid captain. Maybe consider staying away from villages for the time being... | Adventure | Kill an entity in the #raiders entity tag wearing an ominous banner.This is a hidden advancement, meaning that it can be viewed by the player only after completing it, regardless of if its child advancement(s), if any, have been completed. | adventure/voluntary_exile
|
| Monster Hunter | Kill any hostile monster | Adventure | Kill one of these 34 mobs:
| adventure/kill_a_mob
|
 | It Spreads | Kill a mob near a Sculk Catalyst | Monster Hunter | Kill one of these 70 mobs near a sculk catalyst:
| adventure/kill_mob_near_sculk_catalyst
|
| Monsters Hunted | Kill one of every hostile monster | Monster Hunter | Kill each of these 34 mobs:
| adventure/kill_all_mobs
|
| Who's the Pillager Now? | Give a Pillager a taste of their own medicine | Ol' Betsy | Kill a pillager with a crossbow. | adventure/whos_the_pillager_now
|
History[]
The specific instructions are:
- Pillagers before Bedrock Edition Beta 1.9.0.2.
- Renders of unarmed pillagers before and after 20w29a (MC-158735)
| March 27, 2017 | Jeb replies to a Reddit post suggesting to add pillagers, saying that they were already planned to be added in the future. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 29, 2018 | Pillagers are announced at MINECON Earth 2018. | ||||
| Java Edition | |||||
| 1.14 | 18w43a |  Added pillagers. | |||
| 18w45a | Pillagers can now spawn naturally during illager patrols. | ||||
| 18w46a | The pillager's AI has been improved. | ||||
| Pillagers no longer drop emeralds. | |||||
| 18w47a | Pillagers now spawn as part of raids. | ||||
| Pillagers now spawn around pillager outposts. | |||||
| 18w47b | Pillagers now spawn less often around pillager outposts. | ||||
Pillagers no longer cross their arms when not equipped with a crossbow, which has changed the poses from  to  . | |||||
| 19w09a | Pillagers can now use tipped arrows and fireworks in their offhand when shooting their crossbow. | ||||
| 19w13a | Pillagers can now open doors during raids. | ||||
 If raiding pillagers killed all the villagers in the village or the beds were destroyed, pillagers celebrate their victory by laughing and jumping. | |||||
| 19w14a | Pillagers no longer open doors during raids. | ||||
| 1.14.4 | pre4 |  The pillager's arm texture has been changed. | |||
| 1.15 | 19w39a |  Pillagers no longer have arms when they're not armed with a crossbow. | |||
| 19w45a |  Both of the arms of pillagers now display correctly even if the pillager does not have an armed crossbow. | ||||
| 1.16.2 | 20w29a | The attack animation of unarmed pillagers has been changed. | |||
| 1.18 | 21w37a | Pillagers no longer attack baby villagers. | |||
| Pre-release 1 | Pillagers can now spawn on snow blocks. | ||||
| 1.19 | 22w17a |  Changed its model, slightly shortened its coat to match its actual texture. | |||
| Bedrock Edition | |||||
| 1.9.0 | beta 1.9.0.0 | Added pillagers.
| |||
| Pillagers do not have sounds or animations. | |||||
| beta 1.9.0.2 | Pillagers now have the crossbow animations and reloading sounds. | ||||
| beta 1.9.0.3 | The crossbow held in the pillager's hand is now larger. | ||||
| 1.10.0 | beta 1.10.0.3 | Pillagers now have their own sounds. | |||
| Pillagers are no longer available only through Experimental Gameplay. | |||||
| Pillagers now spawn around pillager outposts. | |||||
| 1.11.0 | beta 1.11.0.1 | Pillagers now spawn as part of illager patrols and during raids. | |||
| Pillagers can now spawn as a raid captain. | |||||
| Pillagers no longer attack baby villagers. | |||||
| Pillagers can now ride ravagers. | |||||
| beta 1.11.0.4 | Pillagers in raids may now drop special items when killed. | ||||
| 1.13.0 | beta 1.13.0.9 |  If raiding pillagers killed all the villagers in the village or the beds were destroyed, pillagers celebrate their victory by laughing and raising their arms in the air. | |||
| release | Looting now increases the crossbow drop chance for pillagers by 1% per level, rather than 12%, to bring parity with Java Edition. | ||||
| 1.16.0 | beta 1.16.0.51 | Pillagers no longer load their crossbows after spawning, and now load their crossbows only when they find their target. | |||
The unloaded crossbow pose of pillagers has been changed to  , the same pose as a piglin with a crossbow. | |||||
| Pillagers now pick up illager banners within 3 distances from it. | |||||
| PlayStation 4 Edition | |||||
| 1.90 | Added pillagers.
| ||||
| Pillagers are available only in creative mode. | |||||
| 1.91 | Pillagers now spawn in raids, illager patrols and around pillager outposts. | ||||
| Pillagers can now spawn as a raid captain. | |||||
| Pillagers can now ride ravagers. | |||||
Issues[]
Issues relating to "Pillager" are maintained on the bug tracker. Report issues there.
Trivia[]
- Alongside crossbows, pillagers were taken from Minecraft Dungeons, even though they were added to the base game first.[9]
- Pillagers were added in Village & Pillage as a means to give villagers a "true" adversary in order to balance the new village mechanics.[10]
- An original design of the pillager appeared like a pirate wearing an orange vest. However, Mojang Studios' mob designers changed the mob's design to look more like brigandine armor.
- In Bedrock Edition, a running pillager uses the player's running animation rather than that of other illagers.
- Summoning an unarmed pillager in Java Edition that is invulnerable (
/summon pillager ~ ~ ~ {Invulnerable:1b}) does not cause villagers to run away from the pillager. - Typing
/summon pillager ~ ~ ~ minecraft:calmin Bedrock Edition cause the summoned pillager to not attack players. - A pillager has a 1⁄16,000 chance of dropping a crossbow enchanted with two Piercing I enchantments, a 1⁄409,000 chance of dropping one with Piercing I and Multishot and a 1⁄3,500,000 chance of dropping one with Piercing I, Multishot, Unbreaking III and Quick Charge I. These probabilities were calculated with pillagers spawned from patrols or outposts, because pillagers spawned from higher levels of raids have an increased chance of dropping enchanted crossbows. Also with maximum regional difficulty, as this affects the chance of a dropped crossbow being enchanted.
Gallery[]
Screenshots[]
A pillager armed with a crossbow, shown at MINECON Earth 2018.
A group of pillagers, shown at MINECON Earth 2018.
A group of pillagers.
A pillager patrol leader with a villager (before 18w46a).
A pillager outpost inside of a desert temple with pillagers inside and outside of the temple.
A pillager attacking a villager.
A villager attracts the attention of a pillager patrol.
A large group of pillagers together, with some riding on ravagers.
A pillager firing its crossbow at a panicking villager in Java Edition.
Pillagers looking at a villager through a window.
Render[]
A pillager without a crossbow.
A pillager riding a ravager.
A sitting pillager.
A pillager aiming a crossbow.
Animations[]
A pillager loading up a crossbow.
A pillager celebrating.
Concept Art[]
The old texture file of pillagers.
An early rendition of pillagers.
In other media[]
Artwork of a single pillager.
Artwork of several pillagers near a Pillager Outpost.
Official artwork of pillagers.
Official artwork of a pillager.
Official artwork of a pillager.
Official artwork of a pillager.
Official artwork of a pillager.
A group of pillagers and illagers shown within the Village & Pillage artwork.
A Pillager in promotional artwork for Education Edition 1.14.50.
A Pillager in promotional artwork for the first Caves & Cliffs update.
A LEGO pillager.
A pillager from Minecraft Dungeons.
A pillager plush.
"Bad Omen," an official T-Shirt design featuring a pillager.
References[]
- ↑ MC-148387
- ↑ MC-163960 — resolved as "Works As Intended".
- ↑ MC-145121
- ↑ MC-145114
- ↑ MCPE-143949 — Pillager Outdate AI
- ↑ MC-137755 — "Pillagers are near enemies when attacking" — resolved as "Fixed".
- ↑ MCPE-48628 — Pillager has broken arm texture in BE
- ↑ MCPE-67489 — Pillager doesn't break their crossbow
- ↑ "March 2021 developper Q&A" – discord.com, March 11, 2021.
- ↑ Meet the Pillagers