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Not to be confused with Pillager.
For the mob in Minecraft Dungeons, see MCD:Vindicator.

A vindicator is an illager equipped with an iron axe. Vindicators appear in woodland mansions and participate in raids. It sprints towards its targets to attack them with its axe.

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.‌[JE only]

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[]

Main article: Patrol

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[]

Main article: Raid

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.‌[JE only]

Java Edition[]

In 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:

In Bedrock Edition, if a vindicator spawns as part of a raid, it drops:

Additionally, in Bedrock Edition, 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:

  • 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[]

Vindication

A vindicator captain chasing a Villager.

Vindicators are hostile toward players, iron golems, adult villagers, wandering traders, and snow golems.‌[BE only] In Bedrock Edition, vindicators are passive to players on Peaceful difficulty but will still attack other mobs.

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, a mainhand-unarmed vindicator raises both of its hands when attacking.

On Normal and Hard difficulties, vindicators that are part of a raid can break wooden doors. This is controlled by the raider tag.[1] Like any illager during a raid, vindicators celebrate by cheering if all the villagers are killed or all the beds are destroyed.

In Bedrock 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 in Java Edition, even when struck accidentally.[2]

Java Edition[]

Vindicators are likely to call help from other vindicators when attacked by mobs or players (except for illagers and goats, or if they were killed in one hit), inciting them all to attack the aggressor. They do not call help from other kinds of illagers.

Vindicator raiders can break doors and open doors like villagers.[needs testing]

Ringing a bell gives all vindicators within 32 blocks the Glowing effect for 3 seconds.

Bedrock Edition[]

Vindicators can only sprint, even when idle.

A dispenser can equip a vindicator with armor, but it is invisible and does not show on its model.

Damage[]

Armed vindicators hit for 7.5♥ × 3.75 to 19.5♥ × 9.75 damage, depending on difficulty. They tie with piglin brutes for dealing the third most melee damage in the game, following the iron golem at 21♥ × 10.5 damage and the warden at 45♥ × 22.5 damage.

The vindicator's axe attack disables the player's shield for 5 seconds, even when riding a ravager.

"Johnny"[]

A vindicator named Johnny (using a name tag, named spawn egg, etc., or has its Johnny tag set to 1b) is hostile to every mob except evokers, pillagers, other vindicators, ghasts[3] and players in Creative or Spectator mode. In Java Edition, they also do not attack baby villagers, illusioners or armor stands[4]. This hostility extends to vexes, ravagers and witches in both editions.[5]

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

All hostile or neutral mobs try to attack the "Johnny" vindicator in return, except for ender dragons,[verify] endermites (as they die in one hit), guardians, elder guardians, phantoms, goats (apart from their usual ramming behavior), slimes, magma cubes, and ravagers.

Since raid captains can instruct nearby pillagers to attack their target, naming a vindicator raid captain "Johnny" will cause other raiders to attack Johnny's target, even if they wouldn't usually. This can cause witches, vexes and ravagers to target one another, and can even cause ravagers to attack themselves. If this causes a witch to target a ravager, the witch will instead throw Splash Potions of healing, since ravagers are raid mobs.

The Johnny tag overrides its name; the player can give the vindicator any other name and set the Johnny tag to 1b and it remains hostile in the same way as described. Conversely, the player can name the vindicator "Johnny" and set the Johnny tag to 0b, causing the vindicator to act as a normal vindicator.

Naming a "Johnny" vindicator something else using a name tag will not set its Johnny tag to 0b, and it will continue to exhibit "Johnny" behavior.‌[Java Edition only]

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

Sounds[]

Java Edition:
Vindicators use the Hostile Creatures sound category for entity-dependent sound events.

SoundSubtitlesSourceDescriptionResource locationTranslation keyVolumePitchAttenuation
distance
File:Vindicator idle1.oggFile:Vindicator idle2.oggFile:Vindicator idle3.oggFile:Vindicator idle4.oggFile:Vindicator idle5.oggVindicator muttersHostile CreaturesRandomlyentity.vindicator.ambientsubtitles.entity.vindicator.ambient1.00.8-1.216
File:Vindicator celebrate1.oggFile:Vindicator celebrate2.oggVindicator cheersHostile CreaturesWhen a vindicator has won a raidentity.vindicator.celebratesubtitles.entity.vindicator.celebrate1.00.8-1.216
File:Vindicator death1.oggFile:Vindicator death2.oggVindicator diesHostile CreaturesWhen a vindicator diesentity.vindicator.deathsubtitles.entity.vindicator.death1.00.8-1.216
File:Vindicator hurt1.oggFile:Vindicator hurt2.oggFile:Vindicator hurt3.oggVindicator hurtsHostile CreaturesWhen a vindicator is damagedentity.vindicator.hurtsubtitles.entity.vindicator.hurt1.00.8-1.216
File:Zombie hit wood1.oggFile:Zombie hit wood2.oggFile:Zombie hit wood3.oggFile:Zombie hit wood4.oggDoor shakesHostile CreaturesWhile a vindicator is breaking a wooden doorentity.zombie.attack_wooden_doorsubtitles.entity.zombie.attack_wooden_door2.00.8-1.216
File:Zombie hit metal1.oggFile:Zombie hit metal2.oggFile:Zombie hit metal3.oggBlock broken [sound 1]NoneUnused sound event[sound 2]entity.zombie.attack_iron_doorsubtitles.block.generic.break[sound 1]NoneNoneNone
File:Zombie breaks door.oggDoor breaksHostile CreaturesWhen a vindicator breaks a wooden doorentity.zombie.break_wooden_doorsubtitles.entity.zombie.break_wooden_door2.00.8-1.216

Bedrock Edition:

SoundSourceDescriptionResource locationVolumePitch
File:Vindicator idle1 (BE).oggFile:Vindicator idle2 (BE).oggFile:Vindicator idle3 (BE).oggFile:Vindicator idle4.oggFile:Vindicator idle5.oggHostile CreaturesRandomlymob.vindicator.idle1.00.8-1.2
Hostile CreaturesRandomly while in a raidmob.vindicator.idle3.00.8-1.2
File:Vindicator celebrate1.oggFile:Vindicator celebrate2.oggHostile CreaturesWhen a vindicator has won a raidmob.vindicator.celebrate1.00.8-1.2
File:Vindicator death1.oggFile:Vindicator death2.oggHostile CreaturesWhen a vindicator diesmob.vindicator.death1.00.8-1.2
File:Vindicator hurt1.oggFile:Vindicator hurt2.oggFile:Vindicator hurt3.oggHostile CreaturesWhen a vindicator is damagedmob.vindicator.hurt1.00.8-1.2
File:Zombie hit wood1.oggFile:Zombie hit wood2.oggFile:Zombie hit wood3.oggFile:Zombie hit wood4.oggHostile CreaturesWhile a vindicator is breaking a wooden doormob.zombie.wood1.01.0
File:Zombie breaks door.oggHostile CreaturesWhen a vindicator breaks a wooden doormob.zombie.woodbreak1.01.0

Data values[]

ID[]

Java Edition:

NameIdentifierEntity tags (JE)Translation key
Vindicatorvindicatorraidersentity.minecraft.vindicator

Bedrock Edition:

NameIdentifierNumeric ID Translation key
Vindicatorvindicator57entity.vindicator.name

Entity data[]

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

Java Edition:

Main article: Entity format
  • Entity data
    • Tags common to all entities
    • Tags common to all mobs
    • Tags common to all mobs spawnable in raids
    •  Johnny: 1 or 0 (true/false) - if true, causes the vindicator to exhibit Johnny behavior. Setting to false prevents the vindicator exhibiting Johnny behavior, even if named Johnny. Optional.

Bedrock Edition:

See Bedrock Edition level format/Entity format.

Achievements[]

Icon Achievement In-game description Actual requirements (if different) Gamerscore earned Trophy type (PS4)
PS4 Other
Monster HunterAttack 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.15GBronze

Advancements[]

Icon Advancement In-game description Parent Actual requirements (if different) Resource location
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-rawIt Spreads
Kill a mob near a Sculk Catalyst Monster HunterKill one of these 70 mobs near a sculk catalyst: Mobs that drop no experience are ignored for this advancement.adventure/kill_mob_near_sculk_catalyst
Advancement-fancy-rawMonsters Hunted
Kill one of every hostile monster Monster HunterKill each of these 36 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[]

Java Edition
1.1116w39aVindicator JE1 Added vindicators.
16w40aThe vindicators' axes are now one of their HandItems, whereas before it was a visual effect. This means their attack now disables shields.
Vindicator unarmed attacking JE1 Vindicator can be unarmed, raise one arm when attacking.
Vindicators have been heavily buffed - their attack damage on Easy has been increased from 3♥♥ to 7♥♥♥♥, on Normal 5♥♥♥ to 13♥ × 6.5, and on Hard, 7♥♥♥♥ to 19♥ × 9.5. On normal and hard difficulties, a vindicator can kill an unarmored player in just 2 hits. This makes vindicators the strongest illager, and one of the hardest-hitting mobs in the game.
"Johnny" vindicators are now activated by a custom tag in addition to a custom name.
1.13pre5The entity ID for vindicators has been changed from vindication_illager to vindicator.
1.1418w43aVindicator JE2 The texture of vindicators has been changed. The eye colors are now same green as the evoker.
18w45aVindicators can now spawn in illager patrols.
Vindicators can now sometimes spawn as a patrol leader in illager patrols.
18w47aVindicators can now spawn as part of raids.
Vindicators can now break doors.
18w47bVindicator JE3 The texture of vindicators has been changed. The eye colors have been changed to blue as before again.
19w05aVindicators are now hostile toward the new wandering traders.
19w13aVindicator celebrating If raiding vindicators killed all the villagers in the village or the beds were destroyed, vindicators celebrate their victory by laughing and raising their arms in the air.
1.14.3Pre-Release 2Vindicators no longer spawn as part of illager patrols.
1.1519w41aVindicators now have a fifth idle sound (known as "idle5"). The sound had been in the game files since 1.11, but was never heard in-game until this update.
1.16.220w29aVindicator unarmed attacking JE2 The attack animation of unarmed vindicators has been changed.
1.1821w37aVindcators no longer attack baby villagers.
Pre-release 5Changed the texture, to remove its hood.
1.1922w17aVindicator JE4 Changed its model and texture.
Pocket Edition
1.1.0alpha 1.1.0.0Vindicator BE1 Added vindicators.
Vindicator unarmed attacking JE1 Vindicator can be unarmed, raise one arm when attacking.
Bedrock Edition
1.10.0beta 1.10.0.3Vindicator BE2 The texture of vindicators has been changed.
Vindicators are now hostile toward the new wandering traders.
1.11.0beta 1.11.0.1Vindicators can now spawn as part of illager patrols and raids.
Vindicators can now spawn as raid captains.
Vindicators no longer attack baby villagers.
beta 1.11.0.4Vindicators that spawn from raids now have special drops upon death.
beta 1.11.0.7Vindicators can now break wooden doors during raids.
1.13.0beta 1.13.0.9Vindicator celebrating If raiding vindicators killed all the villagers in the village or the beds were destroyed, vindicators celebrate their victory by laughing and raising their arms in the air.
?Armor is no longer visible on vindicators.
1.16.0beta 1.15.0.55Vindicators in woodland mansions are no longer neutral toward the player. They are now hostile toward the player again.
1.16.20beta 1.16.20.54Vindicator unarmed attacking BE2 The attack animation of unarmed vindicators has been changed.
1.18.0beta 1.18.0.20Vindicators no longer spawn as part of illager patrols.
1.18.10beta 1.18.10.22Vindicator JE3 Vindicators now have blue eyes again.[6]
Changed the texture, to remove its hood.
Legacy Console Edition
TU54CU44 1.52 Patch 241.0.4Vindicator JE1 BE1 Added vindicators.
Vindicators deal 6♥♥♥ on Easy, 10♥♥♥♥♥ on Normal, 15♥ × 7.5 on Hard.
New Nintendo 3DS Edition
1.9.19Vindicator JE1 BE1 Added vindicators.

Issues[]

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

Trivia[]

  • The "Johnny" Easter egg is a reference to the movie The Shining, where a troubled man possessed by evil spirits in an isolated, haunted, labyrinthine, mansion-like hotel attacks his family with an axe, and says the iconic line "Here's Johnny!" while breaking a door down.
  • According to the Mobestiary, while a vindicator is stronger than a zombie, it still has low intelligence, 'a little smarter than a skeleton' (note that vindicators cannot use bows in-game).

Gallery[]

Renders[]

Screenshots[]

In other media[]

Textures[]

References[]

External Links[]

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