Vindicator

A vindicator is an illager equipped with an iron axe. Vindicators appear in woodland mansions and participate in raids. They are the strongest of the illagers.

Spawning
On Normal difficulty and Hard difficulty, vindicators sometimes spawn with a randomly enchanted iron axe: the chance is 0–25%, and is higher when the regional difficulty is higher.

Woodland mansions
Vindicators spawn during the generation of woodland mansions, in groups of 1–3 inside particular rooms, sometimes accompanied by an evoker. Rarely, vindicators can spawn in the corridors and hallways.

They do not respawn after initially spawning. Vindicators generated in mansions do not naturally despawn unless the world is switched to peaceful difficulty.

Vindicators are sometimes neutral if naturally spawned in a woodland mansion, which means that the vindicator does not attack the player on sight, but only after the player attacks it.

Patrols
In Java Edition, any vindicators can join a patrol if sufficiently near a patrol captain, but do not go seeking out for patrols to join.

Raids
Vindicators can spawn during raids. They appear more frequently during later waves and at higher difficulties.

Vindicators can spawn riding ravagers, creating a vindicator ravager jockey.

Java Edition
$$, if a player spawns a vindicator with a spawn egg or using a command, the vindicator has a chance of becoming an illager captain, with a Ominous banner attached above its back.

Drops
A vindicator drops loot only when killed by a player or tamed wolf:
 * and an additional per naturally-spawned equipment.
 * 0–1 when killed by the player. The maximum increases by 1 for every level of Looting, for a maximum of 0-4 with Looting III.
 * 8.5% chance of dropping their normal or enchanted, which increases by 1% per level of Looting with random durability.
 * 1 Illager Banner.png Ominous banner($$), or illager banner $$ if they spawn as a raid captain.

$$, if a vindicator spawns as part of a raid, it drops:
 * 0-1

Additionally, $$, vindicators have a 65% chance of dropping the following on Easy and Normal difficulties, and an 80% chance of dropping them on Hard difficulty: Notes:
 * 0-1 ($$ chance)
 * 2-3 ($$ chance)
 * 4-5 ($10/39$ chance)
 * 1 ($5/39$ chance)
 * 1 ($2/39$ chance)
 * 1 ($2/39$ chance)
 * 1 ($5/78$ chance)
 * 1 ($5/78$ chance)
 * 1 ($5/78$ chance)
 * 1 ($5/78$ chance)
 * 1 ($5/78$ chance)
 * 1 ($5/78$ chance)
 * Iron equipment from raid drops always has a 50% chance of being enchanted with a random enchantment at level 5-19.
 * Iron equipment from raid drops is always damaged.
 * These drops are also affected by the Looting enchantment.
 * The enchanted book has a level 30 enchantment, may be treasure enchantment.
 * Emeralds are both a regular raid drop and an additional raid drop.
 * With Looting III enchantment, a vindicator has spawned from a raid can drop up to 16 emeralds upon death, but the chance is 3.328% on Easy or Normal, and 4.096% on Hard.
 * It is possible for a vindicator spawned from a raid to drop both its naturally-spawned iron axe and a second iron axe from its additional raid drops (in Easy and Normal difficulty 0.3536% chance, 0.3952% chance with Looting I, 0.4368% chance with Looting II, and 0.4784% chance with Looting III, while in Hard difficulty 0.4352% chance, 0.4864% chance with Looting I, 0.5376% chance with Looting II, and 0.5888% chance with Looting III).

Behavior
Vindicators are hostile toward players, iron golems, adult villagers, wandering traders, and snow golems. $5/78$, vindicators are passive to players on peaceful difficulty but will still attack any of the other mobs that were mentioned.

While idle, a vindicator crosses its arms similar to a villager, with its axe stowed. While giving chase, the vindicator brandishes its axe and sprints. If it has no weapons, it raises an empty hand. $5/78$, a mainhand-unarmed vindicator raises both of its hands when attacking, similar to a zombie.

On Normal and Hard difficulties, raiding vindicators can break wooden doors. This is controlled by the  tag. Like any illager during a raid, vindicators celebrate by cheering if all the villagers are killed or all the beds are destroyed.

Vindicators look at the player in Creative mode like villagers do, but they might stop looking at the player after looking for a while or when it sees a target.

$$ and Legacy Console Edition, if a pillager arrow accidentally strikes a vindicator, the vindicator retaliates against the pillager, but the pillager does not retaliate. All illagers remain friendly to each other $$, even when struck accidentally.

Java Edition
Vindicators can find their targets regardless of distance, whereas most other illagers attack on sight.

Vindicators are likely to call help from other vindicators when attacked, meaning a mob hitting a vindicator for the first time would provoke not only that vindicator, but also all vindicators nearby. They do not call help from other kinds of illagers, and vice versa.

Vindicator raiders can breaks doors and open doors like villagers.

A vindicator can disable the player's shield with its axe attack, even when riding a mob. If a player fails to land a melee attack on a vindicator that rides a ravager during a raid in Hard difficulty, the vindicator rider can deal great damage to a player without protection from a shield.

A vindicator's axe can break, just like pillager crossbows.

Ringing a bell gives vindicators three seconds of the effect.

Bedrock Edition
Vindicators can only sprint, even when idle.

A dispenser can equip a vindicator with armor. Helmets and chestplates are partially visible due to the irregular shape of the vindicator compared to the player. Leggings and boots render normally, although they do not move when the legs move. Heads can also be applied, however carved pumpkins cannot. In Bedrock Edition, a chestplate's sleeves move as if they were being worn by a player.

Damage
Armed vindicators hit for to  damage, depending on difficulty. They tie with piglin brutes for dealing the third heaviest melee hits in the game, following the iron golem at damage and the warden at  damage. Multiple vindicators can spawn in a location, making mansions and raids dangerous even for seasoned players.

The vindicator's axe attack disables the player's shield for 5 seconds, even when riding a mob. Because ravager attacks also disable shields and deal heavy damage, ravager-mounted vindicators are especially dangerous.

"Johnny"
A vindicator named Johnny (using a name tag, named spawn egg, etc., or has its  tag set to  ) is hostile to every mob except evokers, pillagers, other vindicators, and ghasts. $$, they further exclude ravagers, and $$, they exclude baby villagers, illusioners, armor stands, and players in Creative or Spectator mode. This hostility extends to vexes in both editions.

"Johnny" vindicators will also attempt to attack the ender dragon but dragon would not take damage.

All hostile or neutral mobs try to attack the "Johnny" vindicator in return, except for ender dragons, endermites, elder guardians, phantoms, guardians, goats, slimes, magma cubes, and ravagers.

The  tag overrides its name; the player can give the vindicator any other name and set the   tag to   and it remains hostile in the same way as described. Conversely, the player can name the vindicator Johnny and set the  tag to , causing the vindicator to act as a normal vindicator.

Naming a vindicator spawn egg "Johnny" and it on a spawner has no effect; normal vindicators spawn rather than vindicators named "Johnny".

ID




Entity data
Vindicators also have entities' data associated with them that contains various properties.




 * See Bedrock Edition level format/Entity format.
 * See Bedrock Edition level format/Entity format.

Trivia

 * The "Johnny" Easter egg is a reference to the movie The Shining, where the main character says "Here's Johnny!" while breaking a door with an axe.
 * Vindicators have an unused hat layer in their texture file, similar to the illusioner's hat. Its removed in 1.18.
 * The hat models also used to exist in the nitwit, librarian, and priest's texture before the Village & Pillage update.
 * According to the Mobestiary, while a vindicator is tougher than a zombie, it has low intelligence, 'a little smarter than a skeleton'. Cory Scheviak also said that vindicator’s AI may be a bit "derpy".