Iron Golem
Health points |
100 |
---|---|
Behavior |
Neutral (natural if a player has at least -14 or higher popularity in a village, and command spawned) |
Attack strength |
To mobs:
|
Hitbox size |
In Java Edition: In Bedrock Edition: |
Speed |
0.25 |
Knockback Resistance |
1.0 |
Spawn |
|
Items usable on |
|
An iron golem is a large, strong, neutral utility mob that defends players and villagers.
Contents
Spawning[edit]
Villages[edit]
In Java Edition, villagers can summon iron golems, either when they are gossiping or panicking. When a villager tries to summon a golem, up to 10 attempts are made to spawn a golem within a 16×13×16 box centered on the villager (villager block position +7/-8 blocks along x/z axes and +6/-6 blocks along y axis). A random y column is picked and then the topmost block in that column is selected that is air, water, or lava, and has a "solid-blocking" block underneath, or block at y=+6 if none such is available in that column. The target location is then checked whether the block underneath has a solid top surface (which is not the same as "solid-blocking"). The target block and 2 blocks above must not be a full block, nor be redstone-powered, nor be rails, and the two blocks above must not be water. This means the iron golem can spawn inside 1-deep water or inside blocks like half-slabs, fences, and carpets (if other checks pass). Adjacent blocks are irrelevant, so golems can spawn partially inside adjacent solid blocks.[1] However, the spawning iron golem still must not collide with any existing entities.
In Bedrock Edition, an iron golem can spawn naturally when a village first generates in the world. Iron golems also spawn in villages having at least 20 beds and 10 villagers, in a 16×6×16 volume around the village center defined by a bed, a bell, or another meeting point. For a village to spawn iron golems, 75% of the villagers in the village must have worked in the past day, 100% of the villagers must be linked to a bed, and a player must be within 80 blocks of the village horizontally and within 44 blocks vertically. The chance of attempting a spawn is 1⁄700 per game tick, which averages to one spawn attempt every 35 seconds. Iron golems can spawn provided the 2×4×2 space above the spawn point (that is, horizontally centered on the NW corner of the block it spawns on) contains only non-solid blocks, and the block it spawns on is solid. If the village's original iron golem is killed, a new one cannot spawn unless all of these conditions are met; therefore, small villages do not regenerate an iron golem unless the village is expanded.
Creation[edit]
Iron golems are created by placing four iron blocks in a T shape (as shown in the image), and then placing a carved pumpkin, jack o'lantern or pumpkin[BE only] on top of the center upper block. The pumpkin may be placed by the player, a dispenser or an enderman, but it must be placed last. It needs space around it to be able to spawn and cannot spawn in a confined area. Alternatively, the blocks can be placed in any order with an uncarved pumpkin; the player can shear the pumpkin to spawn the golem. When successfully transformed, it is naturally passive toward all players under all circumstances. It can, however, attack the player’s tamed wolves, if punched accidentally, but it never directly attacks the player.
The block arrangement can be placed upright, lying down, or upside-down. The four empty spaces in the diagram (above and below each of the arms) must be air blocks. Any non-air block (including blocks such as snow layers, tall grass, and water) present in any of the empty spaces prevent the golem from spawning.
Like other constructed mobs, iron golems always spawn facing south. Their large size may cause them to take suffocation damage from nearby solid blocks at the level of their head.
Pillager outposts[edit]

Iron golems can also be found surrounding pillager outposts, confined inside dark oak cages. When freed, they can help the player by attacking any nearby pillagers.
Drops[edit]
Iron golems drop when they die:
- 3–5 Iron Ingots
- 0–2 poppies
Killing an iron golem with a weapon enchanted by Looting has no effect on the number of iron ingots or poppies dropped. Trading prices are unaffected by the killing of iron golems, however, village reputation will decrease by 10, affecting village iron golem behavior.
Behavior[edit]
Iron golems wander around a village in a patrol-like fashion, staying close to the edges of buildings and other structures. Like villagers, iron golems do not wander away from a village, regardless of how they were spawned. An iron golem sometimes faces a villager as if they are conversing. Iron golems can spawn poppies in their hands and offer them to villagers, symbolizing the friendly relationship between villagers and golems.
If not within a village, iron golems slowly wander around, usually making their way to a nearby village.
Iron golems can walk up a full block height without jumping and walk over a 1 block wide hole without falling in. They avoid water, lava, fire, and cactus. Iron golems are immune to both drowning and fall damage. When in water, they sink, but can still move freely.
In Java Edition, when an iron golem's health reduces to 75%, cracks appear on its surface. An iron golem can be healed when the player right-clicks the chest of the iron golem with an iron ingot.
As with all utility mobs, iron golems can be leashed.
Iron golems move faster in Bedrock Edition.
Attacking[edit]
Iron golems are hostile toward most hostile and neutral mobs (see table below) within 16 blocks, although they are ineffective against flying mobs (ender dragon, wither, phantom, ghast) that don't venture into the iron golem's reach. If a player has -15 popularity or less in a village, naturally-spawned iron golems become forever hostile to that player. Naturally, they retaliate when attacked by a mob. Iron golems built by a player never attack players. Although they are guardians of villages, iron golems aren't actually provoked when a villager nearby is attacked by a mob. This does not apply to players, who are met with hostility when attacking a villager near an iron golem. Iron golems never attack each other.
When attacking, an iron golem moves quickly toward its target and swings its arms up violently to attack, flinging the target into the air, and dealing 7 to 21
× 10.5 damage in Normal difficulty. Iron golems have a large attack range, allowing them to attack through a solid 1 block thick wall, even without a line of sight to the target.
It is possible for multiple golems to hit the same target simultaneously, flinging the victim to a height proportional to the number of golems that attacked.
When an iron golem kills any mob, the player can obtain items dropped by the mob, but no experience orbs.
The list below contains all mobs including players.
Entity | Iron golem attacks the mob on sight? | Attacks the iron golem on sight? | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Axolotl | No | No | [upcoming: JE 1.17] |
Bee | No | No | |
Blaze | Yes | When attacked | They attack the iron golem if it has been attacked by it. |
Creeper | No | No | Creepers explode by a flint and steel, when shot by a skeleton, or by a player and they become damaged. Iron golems don't attack creepers, however, a nearby creeper explosion can still damage the golem. |
Dolphin | No | No | |
Drowned | Yes | Yes | |
Ender Dragon | Yes | No | When in near vicinity, iron golems try to attack the ender dragon, although they are rarely able to. The ender dragon will not target iron golems, but may still hit them on accident.[verify] |
Enderman | Yes | When attacked | Endermen attacked by the iron golem retaliate, following their normal neutral behavior. |
Endermite | Yes | When attacked | |
Ghast | Partial | No | Iron golems almost never attack ghasts, but if close, and the ghast is not moving too much, the golem can attack ghasts. However, iron golems do not seek or approach any ghast outside its range. |
Giant [unused mob] [JE only] | Yes | No | |
Glow Squid | No | No | [upcoming: JE 1.17 & BE 1.17.0] |
Goat[upcoming: BE 1.17.0] | When attacked | Randomly | Goats may randomly attack iron golems. If the golem is attacked by the goat, the golem retaliates. |
Goat[upcoming: JE 1.17] | No | No | Goats are currently completely passive in Java Edition. |
Guardian Elder Guardian |
Yes | No | |
Hoglin | Yes | When attacked, group retaliates | They attack if an iron golem attacks one hoglin. The group will not retaliate if babies are attacked however. |
Iron Golem | No | No | |
Killer Bunny [unused mob] | No | No | |
Llama Trader Llama | When attacked | Accidentally | Iron golems attack llamas/trader llamas if the latter hits them accidentally with spit. |
Magma Cube | Yes | Yes | Attacks big, medium, and small-sized magma cubes. Big and medium-sized magma cubes attack iron golems, but small-sized magma cubes are unable to deal any damage to iron golems. in Bedrock Edition, magma cubes completely ignore iron golems, but the golem still kills them. |
Panda | No | No | |
Polar Bear | No | No | |
Phantom | Yes | No | |
Piglin | Yes | When attacked, group retaliates | Piglins attack iron golems only if the iron golem attacks one piglin, or piglin brute. Iron golems attack baby piglins despite them being passive. |
Piglin Brute | Yes | When attacked, group retaliates | Piglin Brutes attack iron golems only if an iron golem attacks a piglin or piglin brute. |
Player | When attacked Yes (natural if a player has -15 popularity or lower in a village) No (player-built, and in Peaceful difficulty) |
At player's discretion |
A naturally-spawned iron golem or commands-spawned iron golem attacks the player if the player attacks it while playing in the adventure and survival modes (it does not attack the player in creative or spectator mode). |
Pufferfish | When attacked | Defensive | Iron golems attack pufferfish if damaged by the pufferfish's defense. |
Shulker | Yes | When attacked | They attack if an iron golem attacks one shulker.[verify] |
Silverfish | Yes | Yes[BE only] Partial[JE only] |
in Java Edition, they attack if the iron golem attacks one silverfish. Silverfish always attack iron golems in Bedrock Edition. |
Skeleton Stray Wither Skeleton |
Yes | Yes | |
Skeleton HorseZombie Horse | No | No | Iron golems attack the rider of a Skeleton Horseman, but not the horse itself. |
Slime | Yes | Partial | Slimes chase iron golems, but do not attack. |
Snow Golem | When attacked | Accidentally | The iron golem retaliates when a snow golem accidentally hits it with a snowball. |
Spider Cave Spider | Yes | Yes | |
Strider Jockey | Partial | Partial | Iron golems attack only the zombified piglin of a strider jockey; they do not attack striders. The zombified piglin attacks the iron golem if one zombified piglin is attacked by the golem. When the zombified piglin is angry at the golem, the strider moves toward the golem. |
Vex | Yes | Partial | It attacks the iron golem rarely when the vex is nearby by the iron golem. It attacks immediately when an evoker summons three vexes. |
Villager | No | No | Iron golems' main objective is to protect villagers, not to kill them. |
Evoker Illusioner[unused mob][Java Edition only] Pillager Ravager Vindicator | Yes | Yes | Iron golems attack unarmed pillagers, despite them being passive. |
Witch | Yes | Yes[BE only] Partial[JE only] |
Attack iron golems if patrolling in an illager patrol or iron golem attacking one witch. The witch throws splash potions of Poison or Harming when an iron golem attacks the witch.[JE only] Witches always attack iron golems in Bedrock Edition. |
Wither | Yes | Yes | Iron golems always attack withers. |
Wolf (untamed) | No | No | |
Wolf (tamed) | When attacked | In defense of owner | Tamed wolves attack the iron golem if it attacks its owner, or the owner attacks the golem. When attacked by the wolf, the golem retaliates. |
Zombie Husk Zombie Villager | Yes | Yes | |
Zombified Piglin | Yes | When attacked, group retaliates | They attack if an iron golem attacks one zombified piglin. |
Zoglin | Yes | Yes | |
All other mobs | No | No |
A naturally-spawned iron golem knows where raiding illager locations are from behind solid walls and from underground and attempts to move toward them. An iron golem created by the player or summoned by a command cannot detect raiders through obstructions.
Being attacked[edit]
Zombies (and variants), zoglins, skeletons (and variants), spiders, cave spiders, slimes, magma cubes, withers, and illagers naturally attack iron golems on sight and may cause major damage, especially if the mobs attack in groups. If an iron golem is attacked by multiple mobs, it retaliates in the order it was attacked. In Bedrock Edition, silverfish and witches may naturally attack it too.
In Java Edition, iron golems have 100% knockback resistance from normal attacks. They can still be knocked back by the Knockback enchantment on swords and the Punch enchantment on bows. In Bedrock Edition, the Knockback or Punch enchantments have no effect on iron golems.
Cracking[edit]
Iron golems have different stages of being cracked to show their health. When their health is above 74 × 37, some cracks become visible. When their health is between 50
× 25 and 74
× 37, a few more cracks appear. When their health is between 25
× 12.5 and 49
× 24.5, they appear more cracked. When their health is lower than 25
× 12.5, many cracks are visible.
Healing[edit]
In Java Edition, using an iron ingot on an iron golem restores its health by 25 × 12.5.[2]
Preferred path[edit]
Like villagers, iron golems in Bedrock Edition use a strategy of pathfinding that prioritizes walking on certain "low-cost" blocks.
Sounds[edit]
Sound | Subtitle | Source | Description | Namespaced ID | Translation key | Volume | Pitch | Attenuation distance |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Footsteps | Friendly Creatures | ? | entity.iron_golem.step | subtitles.block.generic.footsteps | 1.0 | 1.0 | 16 | |
Iron Golem breaks | Friendly Creatures | ? | entity.iron_golem.damage | subtitles.entity.iron_golem.damage | 0.8 | 0.8 / 1.0 | 16 | |
Iron Golem dies | Friendly Creatures | ? | entity.iron_golem.death | subtitles.entity.iron_golem.death | 1.0 | 1.0 | 16 | |
Iron Golem hurts | Friendly Creatures | ? | entity.iron_golem.hurt | subtitles.entity.iron_golem.hurt | 1.0 | 1.0 | 16 | |
Iron Golem repaired | Friendly Creatures | ? | entity.iron_golem.repair | subtitles.entity.iron_golem.repair | 1.0 | 1.0 | 16 | |
Iron Golem attacks | Friendly Creatures | ? | entity.iron_golem.attack | subtitles.entity.iron_golem.attack | 1.0 | 1.0 | 16 |
Data values[edit]
ID[edit]
Name | Namespaced ID | Translation key |
---|---|---|
Iron Golem | iron_golem | entity.minecraft.iron_golem |
Name | Namespaced ID | Numeric ID | Translation key |
---|---|---|---|
Iron Golem | iron_golem | 20 | entity.iron_golem.name |
Entity data[edit]
Iron golems have entity data associated with them that contain various properties.
- Entity data
- Additional fields for mobs that can become angry
- Tags common to all entities
- Tags common to all mobs
- PlayerCreated: 1 or 0 (true/false) - if true, this golem was created by a player and will never attack them.
Achievements[edit]
Icon | Achievement | In-game description | Actual requirements (if different) | Gamerscore earned | Trophy type (PS) | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Body Guard | Create an Iron Golem | — | 20G | Bronze |
Advancements[edit]
Icon | Advancement | In-game description | Parent | Actual requirements (if different) | Namespaced ID |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | Hired Help | Summon an Iron Golem to help defend a village | What a Deal! | Summon an iron golem. | adventure/summon_iron_golem
|
History[edit]
Java Edition | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1.2.1 | 12w08a | ![]() | |||
One iron golem may spawn in a village for every 16 villagers. | |||||
1.2-pre | Mechanical and stomping sounds have been added for the iron golem. | ||||
1.4.2 | 12w32a | Iron golems now attack slimes and magma cubes. | |||
? | One iron golem can now spawn for every 10 villagers in a village. | ||||
1.7.2 | 13w36a | Because roses have been replaced with poppies, the iron golem's drop has been changed. | |||
1.8 | 14w03a | Iron golems now drop only iron ingots when killed by the player, either through combat, potions, or player-activated mechanisms such as manually lit TNT. If killed without player intervention, they now drop only poppies. | |||
14w04a | The previous change has been reverted; iron golems always drop iron ingots again. | ||||
Iron golems can now be spawned by dispensing a pumpkin. | |||||
14w25a | Iron golems can now be built sideways and upside-down instead of just upright. | ||||
14w26c | Jack o'lanterns can no longer be used to build iron golems. | ||||
14w33a | Zombies, skeletons, spiders, cave spiders, slimes, magma cubes and blazes now attack iron golems, without provocation. | ||||
1.8.1 | pre1 | Jack o'lanterns can now be used to build iron golems again. | |||
Creepers no longer attack iron golems. | |||||
1.9 | 15w39a | Iron golems are now slightly shorter (2.7 blocks tall rather than 2.9). | |||
15w46a | Iron golems now spawn with 100% knockback resistance. | ||||
1.11 | 16w32a | The entity ID of the iron golem has been changed from VillagerGolem to villager_golem . | |||
1.13 | 17w47a | Iron golems can now also use a carved pumpkin to be created. | |||
pre5 | The entity ID of the iron golem has been changed from villager_golem to iron_golem . | ||||
1.14 | 18w43a | ![]() | |||
18w47a | Iron golems now spawn in cages next to pillager outposts. | ||||
19w08a | A single iron golem now always spawns as part of a village. | ||||
![]() | |||||
1.14.3 | pre1 | Panicking villagers now have a higher chance of spawning iron golems. | |||
1.15 | 19w41a | ![]() ![]() ![]() | |||
Iron golems can now be healed with iron ingots. | |||||
19w44a | Iron golem's damage progress is now based on the ratio of current health to max health. | ||||
1.16 | 20w19a | Villagers can now spawn iron golems regardless of their profession status or latest working time. | |||
Pocket Edition Alpha | |||||
v0.12.1 | build 1 | ![]() | |||
v0.16.0 | build 4 | Iron golems now damage players in peaceful difficulty. | |||
Pocket Edition | |||||
1.0.0 | alpha 1.0.0.0 | Iron golems no longer attack players in peaceful difficulty. | |||
1.1.0 | alpha 1.1.0.0 | The entity ID of the iron golem has been changed from irongolem to iron_golem . | |||
Bedrock Edition | |||||
1.10.0 | beta 1.10.0.3 | ![]() | |||
Iron golems now spawn in cages next to pillager outposts. | |||||
1.11.0 | beta 1.11.0.1 | A single iron golem now always spawns as part of a village. | |||
1.16.100 | beta 1.16.100.54 | Iron golems attack hoglins. | |||
? | Iron golems immediately attack zoglins instead of attacking only when the zoglin attacked first.[3] | ||||
Legacy Console Edition | |||||
TU12 | CU1 | 1.0 | Patch 1 | 1.0.1 | ![]() |
1.91 | Iron golems now spawn in cages next to pillager outposts. | ||||
A single iron golem now always spawn as part of a village. | |||||
Panicking villagers now have a higher chance of spawning iron golems. | |||||
New Nintendo 3DS Edition | |||||
0.1.0 | ![]() |
Issues[edit]
Issues relating to "Iron Golem" are maintained on the bug tracker. Report issues there.
Trivia[edit]
- The iron golem's holding out flowers to villagers is a reference to the ancient robots in Hayao Miyazaki's animated film Laputa: Castle in the Sky.[4] When villager children notice the poppy in its hand, they slowly approach, and take the flower eventually. Iron golems do not actually pick up poppies; they spawn them in their hands.
- If a player throws an ender pearl at an iron golem that has spawned in a village, it becomes hostile.
- Iron golems do not get into boats or minecarts on their own, although in Bedrock Edition, pushing a minecart on rails into a golem forces it into the minecart.
- It is possible for an enderman to cause an iron golem to spawn by placing a pumpkin in the correct position on an arrangement of iron blocks previously placed by the player.
- The iron golem is a purchasable avatar item on the Xbox 360 Marketplace.
- Iron golems can attack pillagers (with no weapon) and giants with no amount of damage inflicted from either mob at all. They are the only two mobs to have that distinction.
Gallery[edit]
Screenshots[edit]
In Other Media[edit]
An Iron Golem in promotional artwork for the Horse Update.
An Iron Golem in promotional artwork for Minecon 2015.
Iron Golems in promotional artwork for the Village and Pillage Update.
Lego Minecraft Iron Golem.
References[edit]
- ↑ MC-148955 Resolved as "Fixed"[verify]
- ↑ MCPE-74081
- ↑ MCPE-74428 – resolved as "Fixed"
- ↑ "@scambot Yes, thanks to @pgeuder who sent me inspirational pictures!" – @jonkagstrom, February 23, 2012