A raid captain[a] is the occurrence of an illager spawning with an ominous banner (in Java Edition) / illager banner (in Bedrock Edition) on top of its head, usually a pillager or vindicator, or rarely in Java Edition an evoker.
Spawning[]
Raid captains spawn in the same conditions and occurrences of any illager, with no special occasions having one spawn, and one spawning being completely randomized. In Bedrock Edition, a pillager raid captain can be spawned using the /summon pillager ~ ~ ~ minecraft:spawn_as_illager_captain command, and a vindicator raid captain can be spawned using /summon vindicator ~ ~ ~ minecraft:spawn_as_illager_captain command.
Additionally, in Java Edition, monster spawners containing a pillager spawn egg have a small chance of producing a raid captain.
| Type of illager | Illager patrol | Raid | Pillager outpost | Woodland mansion | Commands (With Data Tag) | Commands (Without Data Tag) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pillager | Yes, multiple times | Yes, multiple times | Yes, multiple times | Never | Always | Rarely |
| Vindicator | Never | Yes, multiple times | Never | Yes, multiple times | Always | Rarely |
| Evoker | Never | Rarely | Never | Rarely | Always | Rarely |
| Illusioner[unused mob][Java Edition only] | Never | Never | Never | Never | Always | Rarely |
| Type of illager | Illager Patrol | Pillager Outpost | Commands (With Data Tag) | Commands (Without Data Tag) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pillager | Yes, multiple times | Yes, multiple times | Always | Rarely |
| Vindicator | Yes, once | Never | Always | Rarely |
Patrols[]
One raid captain always spawns as part of a patrol: either a pillager, or in Bedrock Edition on Hard difficulty, a vindicator.
Raids[]
As part of raids in Java Edition, a raid captain spawns as a part of a group of pillagers, and sometimes spawns riding a ravager. The captain does not cause another raid if killed, but when its banner drops, other illagers rush to grab it. In Bedrock Edition, raid captains are unused and do not spawn naturally during raids, but the code for them is present.[verify]
Pillager outposts[]
Usually, 1–3 pillager raid captains also spawn in a pillager outpost.
In Java Edition, only pillagers and passive mobs may spawn within a pillager outpost spawn area. Pillagers may spawn on any valid opaque block as long as the block light level is 8 or lower.
Drops[]
General[]
Upon death, any raid captain can drop:
Pillager[]
- 0–2 arrows, dropping more with the presence of Looting, up to 5[Bedrock Edition only].
- Its crossbow (may be loaded or unloaded), which has an 8.5% chance to be dropped (9.5% with Looting I, 10.5% with Looting II and 11.5% with Looting III). It has a random durability and may be enchanted.
Vindicator[]
- 0–1 emeralds, with the maximum increasing by 1 for every level of Looting.
- 8.5% chance of dropping their iron axe, which increases by 1 percentage point per level of Looting. It may be enchanted.
Evoker[]
- 1 totem of undying, unaffected by Looting.
- 0–1 emeralds if killed by the player, with the maximum increased by 1 per level of Looting.
Illusioner[]
- Its bow, which has an 8.5% chance to be dropped (9.5% with Looting I, 10.5% with Looting II and 11.5% with Looting III). It has a random durability, and is unenchanted.
Raider[]
In Bedrock Edition, raid captains that spawn from raids can additionally drop:
- 0–1 emeralds
An additional drop is dependent on difficulty, with a 65% chance of dropping on easy and normal, and an 80% chance of dropping on hard.
They can drop one of the following items:
- 0–1 Emerald (10⁄39 chance)
- 2–3 Emerald (5⁄39 chance)
- 4–5 Emerald (2⁄39 chance)
- 1 Enchanted Book (2⁄39 chance)
- 1 Iron Pickaxe (5⁄78 chance)
- 1 Iron Axe (5⁄78 chance)
- 1 Iron Shovel (5⁄78 chance)
- 1 Iron Sword (5⁄78 chance)
- 1 Iron Helmet (5⁄78 chance)
- 1 Iron Chestplate (5⁄78 chance)
- 1 Iron Leggings (5⁄78 chance)
- 1 Iron Boots (5⁄78 chance)
Note:
- Raiders drop iron equipment in a damaged state, and the equipment has 50% chance of being enchanted with random enchantment.
- These drops are also affected by Looting enchantment.
- An emerald is both a regular raider drop and an additional raider drop.[Bedrock Edition only]
Behavior[]
Java Edition[]
Raid captains usually act the same as if they were a normal illager, but other illagers follow behind them (except for outpost captain), and usually the captain takes the lead ahead of the other illagers. Once a raid captain is killed by a player, the player is inflicted with 1 level of the Bad Omen effect, which can cause a raid to occur if they enter a village (unless the raid captain is currently part of a raid, in which case it does not give Bad Omen). The captain drops its 
ominous banner as well; another illager nearby can pick it up to become the next captain.
Both patrol and outpost captains grant one level of Bad Omen when killed, but captains found in raids themselves never give Bad Omen.
Bedrock Edition[]
Raid captains have the same behavior in Bedrock Edition as they do in Java Edition, but the maximum level of Bad Omen raid captains can give is one level, as Bad Omen I is the only level available. If a player with Bad Omen kills another raid captain, the Bad Omen level remains at one and the effect timer does not reset. Vindicator captains in Bedrock Edition currently do not attack unless provoked.
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 | ||
| I've got a bad feeling about this | Kill a Pillager Captain. | — | 20G | Bronze | ||
Advancements[]
| Icon | Advancement | In-game description | Parent | Actual requirements (if different) | Resource location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | How Did We Get Here? | Have every effect applied at the same time | A Furious Cocktail | Have all of these 27 status effects applied to the player at the same time:
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. | nether/all_effects
|
 | 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
|
Data values[]
ID[]
| Entity | Identifier |
|---|---|
| Evoker | evoker
|
| Vindicator | vindicator
|
| Pillager | pillager
|
| Illusioner | illusioner
|
| Entity Tag | #raiders
|
| Entity | Identifier | Numeric ID |
|---|---|---|
| Evoker | evocation_illager
|
104 |
| Vindicator | vindicator
|
57 |
| Pillager | pillager
|
114 |
History[]
| Java Edition | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.14 | 18w45a | Added raid captains, which spawned as part of illager patrols. | |||
| 18w47a | Added raids, which also include raid captains. | ||||
| 18w49a | Raid captains can now be killed multiple times to stack Bad Omen. | ||||
| 18w50a | Raid captains can now spawn at pillager outposts. | ||||
| Raid captains in outposts grant 1 level of bad omen, while raid captains in patrols can grant 1-3. | |||||
| 19w13a | Raid captains grant only 1 level of bad omen now. | ||||
| Bedrock Edition | |||||
| 1.11.0 | beta 1.11.0.1 | Added pillager and vindicator captains. | |||
| Currently do not inflict bad omen on the player after being killed. | |||||
| beta 1.11.0.3 | Illagers now properly follow captains during illager patrols. | ||||
| Pillager captains now properly give a bad omen when killed. | |||||
| 1.12.0 | beta 1.12.0.2 | Pillager captains now properly drop their illager banners when killed. | |||
| The bad omen is now only received when killing the captain, not when damaging it with a ranged weapon. | |||||
| Illagers can now properly be turned into captains via tags. | |||||
| 1.16.0 | beta 1.16.0.51 | When a raid captain is killed, nearby pillagers now rush toward the illager banner to pick it up and become the next raid captain. | |||
| 1.18.0 | beta 1.18.0.20 | Vindicators and vindicator raid captain no longer spawn in patrols. | |||
| PlayStation 4 Edition | |||||
| 1.91 | Added pillager and vindicator captains. | ||||
Issues[]
Issues relating to "Raid captain" are maintained on the bug tracker. Report issues there.
Trivia[]
- Ominous banners equip on raid captains’ helmet slot in Java Edition. In Bedrock Edition, ominous banners equip on illager captains’ chestplate slot.
Gallery[]
The Ominous Banner
A raid captain vindicator, before 18w45a.
A vindicator patrol captain before beta 1.18.0.20. (Unused mob)
Illager banner with long pole in Bedrock edition. It equips on pillager captain chestplates slot.
A raid captain spawned via a monster spawner.
Notes[]
- ↑ Known as raid captain in Java Edition and illager captain in Bedrock Edition.