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This article is about the hostile end city mob. For the storage block, see Shulker Box. For the drop, see Shulker Shell.

Marsh Davies Mojang avatar

Adventurers should explore the outer islands of the End with care - in among the blocks of purpur hang these cannily camouflaged critters. Get too close, and their block-shaped shells pop open, allowing the mollusc-like Shulker to launch a homing projectile!

Marsh Davies[1]

Shulkers are hostile mobs that are found in End cities, located on the outer islands of the End. They hide in their shell to blend in with surrounding purpur blocks.

Spawning

Shulkers spawn during generation of end cities, which are located on the outer islands of the End. They usually spawn on the walls of the city. They don't despawn naturally, even in Peaceful difficulty, and once killed, they don't respawn.

Drops

Shulkers drop 5 experience when killed by a player or a tamed wolf. They also have a 50% chance to drop a shulker shell, plus 6.25 percentage points per level of the Looting enchantment (to a maximum of 68.75% with Looting III).

Behavior

The shell of the mob looks similar to a purpur block, blending in relatively easily to its surroundings. Inside the shell of the mob is a small yellow head with two eyes. Shulkers come in multiple colors besides purple; however, spawning non-purple shulkers requires the use of the /summon command,‌[Computer Edition only] as detailed below. Shulkers can be dyed in a similar fashion to sheep in Creative mode.‌[Pocket Edition only] Purple is the default color when using spawn eggs, while white is the default when using /summon or monster spawners.

Shulkers generally remain stationary, attached to an adjacent solid block. However, if the block the shulker occupies becomes something other than air or the shulker finds itself not adjacent to any solid block, or the shell cannot open, it will attempt to teleport (5 attempts per tick) to an air block within a 17×17×17 cuboid centered on the shulker that is adjacent to a solid block. If it finds no solid blocks to teleport onto (like when in the Void) it will "attach" to the air and not move.

Shulkers will occasionally open their shell for 1–3 seconds to peer outside. When a target comes within about 16 blocks, it will open up fully and shoot guided projectiles (which follow the player) which only move along the X, Y, or Z axis and leave trails of white particles. The projectiles can be destroyed by attacking them, or blocked with a shield. If the bullet hits an entity, it does 4♥♥ of damage and inflicts the Levitation status effect for 10 seconds. (Levitation has no effect underwater, or on players in e.g. boats.) As long as the target is in range, the shulker will continue to fire every 1–5.5 seconds. If the shulker's target dies while the bullets directed at that entity still exist, they will simply fall to the ground.

When its shell is closed, a shulker has 20 (🛡 × 10) armor points and deflects arrows. When the shell opens, it loses this natural armor and takes damage as normal. When at less than half health, a shulker has a 25% chance of teleporting (as described above) after taking damage. When a shulker is attacked, other shulkers in the area will target the attacker as well.

Shulkers don't take burning damage from lava or fire, but they will still drown in lava. They will teleport when touched by water.

In Peaceful difficulty, shulkers will stay within the world. However, they will not attack.

If another Shulker takes damage from a Shulker Bullet fired from a different Shulker, The injured one shall fire back at its attacker. The two Shulkers will continue to fight until one dies, they are attacked by another entity (players included) or the Shulkers are outside their attack range.

Transportation

Shulkerinboat

A Shulker is transported overland in the End by boat. Pistons raise the boat uphill.

Shulkers can be moved by boats or minecarts; they will board a boat/cart which is pushed into them. In a boat, the shulker retains the orientation it had before it was put in the boat. For example if a shulker is attached to the ceiling: it is possible to build a platform adjacent to the shulker and slide a boat under it, at which point the shulker will be moved to the boat but appear upside-down. A boat's sides block some of a shulkers projectiles (more if it is upside-down).

A shulker pushed through the exit portal will be transported to the origin in the Overworld. Since shulkers teleport when not adjacent to a solid block they must be pushed down the central pillar of the exit portal with a piston.

Data values

See also: Chunk format

Shulkers have entity data associated with them that contain various properties of the mob. Their entity ID is shulker.

  • Entity data
    • Tags common to all entities
    • Tags common to all mobs
    •  APX: Approximate X coordinate.
    •  APY: Approximate Y coordinate.
    •  APZ: Approximate Z coordinate.
    •  AttachFace: Direction of the block the shulker is attached to. Below is 0b, above is 1b, north is 2b, south is 3b, west is 4b, east is 5b.
    •  Color: The color of the shulker. Default is 0. Shulkers spawned by eggs or as part of End cities have value 16.
    •  Peek: Height of the head of the shulker.

Shulker color

Main article: Shulker/DV
[edit]

Shulker bullet

See also: Chunk format

The shulker's projectiles also have entity data which control its movement.

  • Entity data
    • Tags common to all entities
    • Tags common to all projectiles
    •  Steps: How many "steps" it takes to attack to the target. The higher it is, the further out of the way the bullet travels to get to the target. If set to 0, it makes no attempt to attack the target and instead uses TXD/TYD/TZD in a straight line.
    •  Target: The UUID of the target of this shulker bullet, stored as four ints.
    •  TXD: The offset in the X direction to travel in accordance with its target.
    •  TYD: The offset in the Y direction to travel in accordance with its target.
    •  TZD: The offset in the Z direction to travel in accordance with its target.

Achievements

Icon Achievement In-game description Actual requirements (if different) Gamerscore earned Trophy type (PS4)
PS4 Other
Great View From Up HereLevitate up 50 blocks from the attacks of a Shulker20GBronze

Advancements

Icon Advancement In-game description Parent Actual requirements (if different) Resource location
Advancement-fancy-rawGreat View From Up Here
Levitate up 50 blocks from the attacks of a Shulker The City at the End of the GameMove a distance of 50 blocks vertically with the Levitation effect applied, regardless of direction or whether it is caused by the effect.end/levitate
Advancement-plain-rawAdventure
Adventure, exploration and combat Kill any entity, or be killed by any entity.adventure/root
Advancement-plain-rawMonster Hunter
Kill any hostile monster AdventureKill one of these 34 mobs: Only the riders of the chicken jockeys and skeleton horsemen are counted in this advancement. Other mobs may be killed, but are ignored for this advancement.adventure/kill_a_mob
Advancement-fancy-rawMonsters Hunted
Kill one of every hostile monster Monster HunterKill each of these 34 mobs: Other mobs may be killed, but are ignored for this advancement. Only the riders of the chicken jockeys and skeleton horsemen are counted in this advancement.adventure/kill_all_mobs

History

release
1.915w31aAdded shulkers.
15w32bShulkers no longer teleport by themselves if NoAI is set to 1.
Shulkers can now be teleported using /tp or /spreadplayers.
15w40aShulkers no longer target players or attack in Peaceful.
Shulker bullets now despawn in Peaceful.
15w45aAdded sounds for shulkers being damaged.
15w47aShulkers now drop experience.
15w47bAdded ambient, aggravated and death sounds for shulkers, and added sounds for their bullets dealing and taking damage.
1.1116w32aChanged entity ID from Shulker to shulker.
The bullet's entity ID is changed from ShulkerBullet to shulker_bullet.
16w39aShulkers now drop Shulker Shells.
The color of a shulker can now be changed through commands using a new byte tag Color.
16w39cCan now be spawned on the sides and bottoms of blocks through the usage of spawn eggs.
1.1217w16aShulker retextured, they are now not like purpur blocks.
17w17aPurple shulker was reverted to the previous color.
Pocket Edition
1.0build 1Added shulkers.
Can be dyed by long-tapping any dye on a shulker, or through an interact button.
build 4Shulkers now drop Shulker Shells.
1.0.4build 1Shulker models can now be edited using add-ons
1.1build 7Shulkers are now retextured.
1.1Purple shulker was reverted to the previous color.
Legacy Console Edition
TU46CU36 1.38 Patch 15Added shulkers.

Issues

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

Trivia

  • The word "shulker" is a portmanteau of "shell lurker".[2]
  • If you use a name tag to name a shulker 'Dinnerbone' or 'Grumm', the mob will flip upside-down, revealing a spiral pattern on the base. This appears to also lift the shulker the same height as a pressure plate.
  • If you place a gravity-affected block such as gravel or an anvil on the shulker, it will lift while the shulker opens its shell and after some lifts the block will drop as an item.
  • Shulkers can also begin to attack each other, in which case they will shoot fully guided bullets at each other, but will not be affected by levitation when hit. The normal teleportation habits apply during shulker vs. shulker battles.
    • One can use this to their advantage, as this would cause the shulkers to ignore the player and make them easier to take out.
  • By using commands, they can be made to be part of a team to attack other teams and can be used as defense mobs. In that case, it won't attack its teammates, but will target most hostile mobs without provocation.
  • Shulkers are slightly smaller than a full-sized block.
  • When standing on a shulker's shell, you can sneak and will not fall off, like with other blocks. If the shell is opened sideways, this can simulate a vertical slab, which you can still stand and sneak on without falling. If it closes its shell while a player or mob is on, they will fall off.
  • If given the Invisibility effect, only the shulker's shell will turn invisible. This is different to most other mobs such as armoured mobs and saddled pigs, where the living part of the mob turns invisible with the outer areas remaining visible.
  • If you stand too close to a closed shulker and shoot an arrow, the arrow will bounce back and hit you.
  • Shulkers reorient themselves depending on the side of the block that they are attached to. This means that shulkers may appear sideways or even upside down.

Gallery

References


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