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This article is about the hostile mob in the Minecraft 1.19 The Wild Update. For the unseen illager in Minecraft Dungeons, see MCD:Warden. For the ancient mob in Minecraft Dungeons, see MCD:Frostwarden. For the character in Minecraft: Story Mode, see Minecraft Story Mode:The Warden.

The warden is a hostile mob summoned by sculk shriekers in the deep dark. Wardens are completely blind, relying on vibrations and sense of smell to identify players and mobs to attack. Wardens have high health and deal the highest melee damage of all mobs, and they can fire wall and armor-piercing projectiles to attack from a distance if necessary.

Spawning

Wardens do not use traditional mob spawning mechanics. When a player activates a naturally generated sculk shrieker four times, and there isn't another warden within 32 blocks, a warden emerges from the ground. The emerging animation lasts for 6.7 seconds.

The warning count for sculk shriekers is specific to each player, not each sculk shrieker. This means that the same player can activate four different sculk shriekers, and a warden still spawns on the fourth activation.

Up to 20 attempts are made to spawn a warden within a 11×13×11 box, centered on the shrieker. During each attempt, the game picks a random y column, then the game picks the topmost spawnable block in that column. Spawnable blocks have a top surface with full collision, and the block above must have no collision. Like other mobs, the spawning warden cannot collide with any existing entities or liquids.

Drops

Wardens drop a single sculk catalyst upon death. They also drop 5 experience if killed by a player or a tamed wolf.

Behavior

Wardens are completely blind and wander randomly around the world after spawning, even if rails, powder snow, or magma blocks are in its way. The warden's hitbox can fit inside of a corridor 1 block wide and 3 blocks tall. This allows the warden to chase foes precisely, even in small cave corridors. Wardens are immune to fire and lava damage, and are not affected by knockback. Nearby vibrations agitate the warden, in which it moves toward where the sound originated. It can also sniff the area around it, allowing it to zero in on a single entity's location. Wardens grow more agitated as moving players and mobs create more vibrations.

The warden gives 12 seconds of the Darkness effect to all players within a 20 block radius every 6 seconds. The souls in its chest create a low, throbbing heartbeat, which occurs in tandem with the Darkness effect. As the warden proceeds to become more agitated, these souls and heartbeats occur at a faster rate.[1] A warden prefers to track down mobs that it finds most suspicious, rather than the closest one to its current position.[2]

The warden listens to all vibrations (except the wing flapping vibration) in a 16 block radius around it. Vibrations from other wardens, armor stands, dying mobs, and players in creative or spectator mode are ignored. Like with sculk sensors, a sneaking player is not detected when walking, falling, or shooting a projectile. The warden has a 2 second cooldown between detecting vibrations.

Wardens keep track of how angry it is at each suspect as a number from 0 to 150. When the warden notices a vibration, it adds anger to the mob that caused the vibration. It adds 10 anger if the vibration was a projectile, and 35 anger otherwise. However, if the warden notices two projectiles within five seconds, it adds the full 35 anger. Wardens do not get angry at a mob that shoots a projectile if the mob is more than 30 blocks away, although that projectile counts towards the two projectiles within five seconds counter. Anger decays at a rate of 1 per second and clears completely if the target either dies, or switches to creative or spectator mode.

Wardens attack mobs that attack or touch the warden. If a warden is directly hurt by a mob, or indirectly hurt by a mob within five blocks, the warden adds 100 anger toward that mob. If a mob comes into contact with a warden, then the warden adds 35 anger toward that mob. The warden becoming angry due to collision with another mob has a one second cooldown.

Wardens sniff the surroundings to detect nearby mobs every 5 to 10 seconds while idle. The sniffing animation lasts 4.2 seconds. At the end of the sniffing animation, the warden detects the nearest mob within a 6 block horizontal radius and 20 block vertical radius. The warden then adds 35 anger toward that mob.

Once a warden reaches 80 anger with a target, it roars, adds 20 anger toward the target, and pursues the target. In this alerted state, the warden pathfinds to the target normally, regardless of vibrations made.

The warden has an inherent bias toward player vibrations, attacks and contact - even if they are already enraged at another mob, players can override this to be targeted themselves. This is not true of any other mob.[3] Apart from players, a warden tracks down and attacks all other mobs, excluding other wardens. The warden can also follow vibrations made by non-mob entities such as projectiles or minecarts.

After sixty seconds of being "calm" and not detecting any vibrations, if the warden is on the ground, it burrows back into the ground and despawns. If the warden is in a liquid, then it immediately despawns without digging instead. The burrowing animation lasts for 5 seconds. The warden is completely invulnerable while emerging or burrowing, excluding damage from /kill, though it can still be pushed by entities, pistons or liquids. Named wardens do not dig or despawn.

The warden's melee attack has a cooldown of 0.9 seconds and disables shields for 5 seconds. If the target is still in its search radius and on high ground or hiding behind walls, a warden can charge up a powerful sonic boom. Specifically, the warden can use the sonic boom if it has been 10 seconds since the warden detects or switches targets, it has been 5 seconds since the warden used a melee or ranged attack, and the target is within the sonic boom attack range of a 15 block horizontal radius and 20 block vertical radius. This guided attack directly attacks the target, passing through blocks and other mobs without damaging them. The warden takes 1.7 seconds to charge up, then unleashes the attack which instantly hits the target as long as the target is within attack range. The attack takes an additional 1.3 seconds to cool down before the warden can use melee attacks again for a total of 3 seconds. The sonic boom is visible with the formation of green-blue particles that are quickly projected out of the warden's chest. This attack bypasses shields, armor, enchantments, and even the wither armor of the wither. Only the Resistance effect can reduce this attack's damage.

Sounds

SoundSubtitlesSourceDescriptionResource locationTranslation keyVolumePitchAttenuation
distance
Warden groans angrilyHostile CreaturesPlays randomly while searching for an entityentity.warden.agitatedsubtitles.entity.warden.agitated1??
Warden whinesHostile CreaturesPlays when the warden emerges, or randomlyentity.warden.ambientsubtitles.entity.warden.ambient1??
Warden ragesHostile CreaturesWarden targets an enemyentity.warden.angrysubtitles.entity.warden.angry1??
Warden lands hitHostile CreaturesWarden attacksentity.warden.attack_impactsubtitles.entity.warden.attack_impact1??
Warden digsHostile CreaturesWarden despawnsentity.warden.digsubtitles.entity.warden.dig1??
Warden diesHostile CreaturesDyingentity.warden.deathsubtitles.entity.warden.death1??
Warden emergesHostile CreaturesWarden spawnsentity.warden.emergesubtitles.entity.warden.emerge1??
Warden's heart beatsHostile CreaturesPlays randomlyentity.warden.heartbeatsubtitles.entity.warden.heartbeat1??
Warden hurtsHostile CreaturesTaking damageentity.warden.hurtsubtitles.entity.warden.hurt1??
Warden takes noticeHostile CreaturesWarden notices vibrationentity.warden.listeningsubtitles.entity.warden.listening1??
Warden takes notice angrilyHostile CreaturesWarden moves toward the source of vibrationentity.warden.listening_angrysubtitles.entity.warden.listening_angry1??
Warden approachesHostile CreaturesWarden gets called by sculk shrieker onceentity.warden.nearby_closesubtitles.entity.warden.nearby_close1??
Warden advancesHostile CreaturesWarden gets called by sculk shrieker twiceentity.warden.nearby_closersubtitles.entity.warden.nearby_closer1??
Warden draws closeHostile CreaturesWarden gets called by sculk shrieker thriceentity.warden.nearby_closestsubtitles.entity.warden.nearby_closest1??
Warden roarsHostile CreaturesTargets entityentity.warden.roarsubtitles.entity.warden.roar1??
Warden sniffsHostile CreaturesScans for nearby entitiesentity.warden.sniffsubtitles.entity.warden.sniff0.75??
Warden boomsHostile CreaturesWarden casts sonic boomentity.warden.sonic_boomsubtitles.entity.warden.sonic_boom1??
Warden chargesHostile CreaturesWarden prepares sonic boomentity.warden.sonic_chargesubtitles.entity.warden.sonic_charge1??
Warden stepsHostile CreaturesWalkingentity.warden.stepsubtitles.entity.warden.step0.3??
Warden tendrils clickHostile CreaturesDetects movemententity.warden.tendril_clickssubtitles.entity.warden.tendril_clicks1??

Data values

ID

Java Edition:

NameIdentifierTranslation key
Wardenwardenentity.minecraft.warden

Bedrock Edition:

NameIdentifierNumeric ID Translation key
Wardenwarden131entity.warden.name

Entity data

Wardens have entity 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
    •  anger: Anger management of the warden.
      •  suspects: List of suspects that have angered the warden.
        • A suspect.
          •  anger The level of anger. It has a maximum value of 150 and decreases by 1 every second.
          •  uuid: The UUID of the entity that is associated with the anger, stored as four ints.

Advancements

There are currently no advancements associated with killing a warden. The warden is intended to be a natural disaster that is nearly impossible to kill and best avoided.[4] Therefore, killing a warden doesn't count for the Monster Hunter advancement, nor is it needed to receive the Monsters Hunted advancement.[5]

Icon Advancement In-game description Parent Actual requirements (if different) Resource location
Advancement-plain-rawInvicon Sculk SensorSneak 100
Sneak near a Sculk Sensor or Warden to prevent it from detecting you AdventureSneak within 8 blocks from a sculk sensor, or 16 blocks from a warden.adventure/avoid_vibration

History

2020Several pieces of concept art were created for the warden, known at the time as the stalker.
Warden (pre-release 1) A prototype of the original stalker design was programmed into the game.
Warden (pre-release 2) Warden (pre-release 2 alternate) A second version of the stalker could transform into a form that was less wide and tall when chasing an entity or player, while its regular form was meant to disguise as a treasure totem. This iteration got scrapped as it was considered too goofy and insufficiently scary.
2020The stalker was renamed to hollowed.
Several pieces of concept art were also created for the hollowed design iteration.
Warden (pre-release 3) A prototype of the hollowed design was programmed into the game.
This iteration was ultimately scrapped, as it was considered too gory for Minecraft.
October 3, 2020Warden (pre-release 4) The warden is announced at Minecraft Live 2020.
October 6, 2020A set of teaser images regarding the warden's size and behavior were posted on Brandon Pearce's Twitter.
October 16, 2021Warden JE1 BE1 New spawning conditions and textures for the warden were revealed at Minecraft Live 2021.
November 26, 2021The warden is revealed to have a sense of smell; it can detect and pathfind toward the general location of a player or mob through a "smelling" action. It also prioritizes smelling the player or mob that it is most suspicious of, rather than the one closest to it.[6][7]
December 18, 2021The warden's emerging animations were showcased.
Java Edition
1.19Deep Dark Experimental Snapshot 1Warden JE1 BE1 Added wardens.
22w11aRemoved wardens.
22w12aReadded wardens.
Wardens are no longer considered undead.
Wardens have been given a attacking animation.
Increased warden's vertical reach from 3 blocks to 4 blocks.
Wardens no longer slow down in water.
Wardens are now immune to fire and lava.
Warden textures have been changed. The tusks on the chest have been separated and new overlays have been added.
22w13aWardens can now walk over rails.[8]
22w14aWardens now gets angry at all living mobs that bump into it, not just players.
Wardens now slow down in water and are affected by bubble columns again.
22w15aWarden Sonic Boom Attack Wardens now charge and release a ranged attack when the target is found to be well beyond the melee attack's range. This attack can penetrate walls.
Wardens can now smell players from further away.
The vertical range in which wardens get angry has been increased from 6 to 20 blocks.
Reverted the warden's vertical reach back to how it was before 22w12a.[9]
22w16aDecreased the warden's vertical reach again, from 3 to 2 blocks.
22w17aWardens now drop one sculk catalyst upon death.
The amount of damage dealt by its ranged attack has been decreased from 30♥ × 15 to 10♥♥♥♥♥.
The cooldown for their ranged attack has been decreased from 5 to 2 seconds.
The ranged attack can now bypass shields and armor.
22w18aUpdated the textures of the sonic boom particle.
22w19aThe warden's ranged attack is now affected by difficulty.
22w19aSculk shriekers now need to be activated four times to summon the warden.
Pre-release 3Sonic boom attack damage is no longer reduced by the protection enchantment.
Bedrock Edition
December 9, 2021Warden JE1 BE1Development of deep dark content, including the warden, was revealed for Bedrock.
December 17, 2021A new burrowing animation was showcased.
Wild Update
(Experimental)
beta 1.18.30.32Added wardens behind the "Wild Update" experimental toggle.
Currently, there are no hit or death sound effects, and some of its features are outdated compared to the latest Java Edition snapshots.
1.19.0beta 1.19.0.20Wardens are now available without having to enable experimental gameplay.
Added hurt, death, and angry listening sound effects.
Wardens can now preserve anger levels toward despawned entities.
Wardens no longer get angry toward other wardens or inanimate objects.
beta 1.19.0.26Wardens now charge and release a ranged attack when the target is found to be well beyond the melee attack's range. This attack can penetrate walls.
Wardens can now smell players from further away.
The vertical range in which wardens get angry has been increased to 6 to 20 blocks.
Wardens now gets angry at all living mobs that bump into it, not just players.
Wardens now prioritize attacking players over other mobs.
beta 1.19.0.28Wardens now drop one sculk catalyst upon death.
The amount of damage dealt by its ranged attack has been decreased from 30♥ × 15 to 10♥♥♥♥♥.
The cooldown for their ranged attack has been decreased from 5 to 2 seconds.
The ranged attack can now bypass shields and armor.

Issues

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

Trivia

  • The concept for the warden was originally planned for the Nether Update as a "blind piglin that could only respond to sounds" that could be found within a "new biome."[10]
  • Some previous names being considered for the warden were the shade, the stalker, and the hollowed.[11][12]
    • The stalker iteration was tall and asymmetrical with a glowing core (sometimes referred to as a chest crystal[13]). It occurred in totems throughout the deep dark. The stalker would stand completely still to trick players into taking its core and aggravating it, and could transform into a form one block high form to prevent players from escaping through small tunnels. This iteration, specifically its appearance and transformation mechanic, felt clunky and was more goofy than scary, so it was scrapped by the Mojang developers.[14]
    • The hollowed was designed with the intent of inciting trypophobia and had white flesh with holes in it. The developers deemed that iteration too gory and had to be toned down.[15]
  • In the sixth episode of The Secrets of Minecraft, it was jokingly revealed that the warden's personal name is "William", similar to how the ender dragon, the wither, and player characters all have personal joke names. The word was also jokingly broken down into the words: war and den.[12]
  • Brandon Pearce stated in a tweet that the souls in the warden's chest is incredibly important to its lore.[16]
    • He also stated that the warden is inspired by the "monster" heard at the end of the music disc "11".[17]
  • Coincidentally, in the spin-off game, Minecraft: Story Mode, there is an unrelated character also named The Warden.
  • Although the warden is supposed to be blind, spectating it reveals that it still has normal vision.

Gallery

Animations

Screenshots

Developer screenshots

Artwork

Concept artwork

Videos

Other gameplay

References

  1. "Currently the Warden's heartbeat gets faster the angrier or "close" it is to find its prey. In real time, this has really felt like it mimics the panic level of the player itself — the closer the Warden is to finding you, the more anxious you're probably going to be."@kingbdogz on X, October 17, 2021
  2. "Also currently it sniffs out the mob/player that it is most suspicious of, rather than the nearest mob/player."@kingbdogz on X, November 26, 2021
  3. MC-251045
  4. "You shouldn't be killing Wardens, they are designed to be unkillable"@kingbdogz on X, August 17, 2021
  5. "No"@kingbdogz on X, July 7, 2021
  6. "Kinda. Wardens have no capability to detect players through vision. It technically has no idea where the player is, a system tells the Warden a general location that the player MIGHT be, not exactly. Only when the Warden suspects a mob enough that it knows their exact position"@kingbdogz on X, November 26, 2021
  7. "Also currently it sniffs out the mob/player that it is most suspicious of, rather than the nearest mob/player."@kingbdogz on X, November 26, 2021
  8. MC-249642
  9. MC-250192
  10. https://www.minecraft.net/en-us/article/meet-warden
  11. "Minecraft Now: Wild Update and Farlands ft AntVenom!" – Minecraft on YouTube, May 19, 2022
  12. a b "The Secrets of How We're Making the Warden" – Minecraft on YouTube, January 21, 2022
  13. https://www.minecraft.net/en-us/article/meet-warden
  14. "Some ideas we had for early iterations of the Warden. stalkers were going to have a glowing item in the middle of its chest that you would also randomly find throughout the biome floating on totems. The idea was stalkers would stand perfectly still to "fake" those glowing items."@kingbdogz on X, January 22, 2022
  15. "146 - From Modding to Mojang with Kingbdogz // The Spawn Chunks: A Minecraft Podcast" – The Spawn Chunks @ 2:55 on YouTube, June 21, 2021
  16. "In terms of character, the souls in its chest were incredibly important to its lore and, likewise with the color palette. It all comes together to tell a story that I think can be really more unsettling than any of these previous iterations, despite it being less "gory"."@kingbdogz on X, January 23, 2022
  17. "Ask Mojang #11: All About Caves & Cliffs" – Minecraft on YouTube, October 30, 2020
  18. https://www.minecraft.net/en-us/article/meet-warden
  19. "That Sculk with a version of the Stalker"@kingbdogz on X, January 22, 2022
  20. "Looking kinda short there, Iron Golem."@kingbdogz on X, October 6, 2020
  21. "warden x ancient city sneak peak"@Cojomax99 on X, February 15, 2022
  22. "Warden whines"@kingbdogz on X, February 17, 2022
  23. "Minecraft Now: Wild Update and Farlands ft AntVenom!" – Minecraft on YouTube, May 19, 2022
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