Iron Golem

The Iron Golem in Minecraft is a type of golem that can be either naturally spawned or summoned by players using commands. Its behavior is neutral, but it can become hostile if specific conditions are met. When naturally spawned, it appears near a pillager outpost or within villages. On the other hand, when players build it, it remains passive, especially in Peaceful difficulty.

In terms of appearance, there are variations of the Iron Golem based on its health status, classified as "Not cracked," "Cracked low," "Cracked medium," and "Cracked high." The health of the Iron Golem ranges from 100 hearts (× 50) for the "Not cracked" variant.

The Iron Golem can deal significant damage to mobs and players. Against mobs, it inflicts 7.5 to 21.5 hearts of damage, while against players, the damage varies depending on the difficulty level. In Peaceful difficulty, the Iron Golem doesn't harm players at all. However, in Easy, Normal, and Hard difficulties, it can deal damage ranging from 4.75 to 32.25 hearts.

To construct or repair an Iron Golem, players can use Iron Ingots and Leads. In terms of its size, there are slight differences between the Java Edition and the Bedrock Edition. In Java Edition, the Iron Golem has a height of 2.7 blocks and a width of 1.4 blocks, while in Bedrock Edition, it stands at a height of 2.9 blocks with the same width.

The Iron Golem's movement speed is set at 0.25, and it possesses a knockback value of 1.0, which means it can knock back enemies it attacks.

In Minecraft's Java Edition, iron golems can be summoned by villagers under specific conditions, either through gossiping or panicking. The process involves several criteria that must be met:

• The villager must have slept in the last 20 minutes.

• The villager should not have detected an iron golem in the last 30 seconds.

• An iron golem can be detected if it is within 16 blocks of the villager in any direction (±16X, ±16Z, ±16Y axes).

• The villager scans for golems every 10 seconds.

• The villager must not have been near a summoning in the last 30 seconds.

• A villager is considered near a summoning if it is within 10 blocks of another villager who has successfully summoned an iron golem, and both villagers meet the previous three conditions.

• For gossiping, at least 5 participants are required, and for panicking, at least 3 participants are needed.

• Upon meeting these conditions, the game attempts to find a valid spawn point for the iron golem within a 17×13×17 box centered on the villager's location (villager block position ±8 blocks along x/z axes and ±6 blocks along the y-axis). A random y column is chosen, and the highest block within that column is selected if it is air or liquid and has a "solid-blocking" block underneath. The target location is then checked for a solid top surface, excluding blocks like glass, upside-down stairs, and top slabs. The two blocks above the target block must not be full blocks, redstone-powered, rails, or water.

Notably, the iron golem can spawn inside 1-deep water or inside blocks like slabs, fences, and carpets, provided other checks pass. However, the golem must not collide with any existing entities during spawning.

In Minecraft's Bedrock Edition, iron golems can spawn naturally when a village is first generated. They also spawn in villages that have at least 20 beds and 10 villagers. The golem attempts to spawn within a 17×13×17 volume, ±8 blocks horizontally and ±6 blocks vertically from the village's center block, which could be a bed pillow or a bell. The X and Z coordinates are randomly chosen within the spawn volume, and the highest block at those coordinates within the volume is considered. If it meets certain criteria, including having a full top surface and no obstruction above it within the spawn volume, the golem is spawned there.

For iron golems to spawn in a village, certain conditions must be met. 75% of the villagers in the village must have worked (stood beside or atop their workstation) in the past day, 100% of the villagers must be linked to a bed, and the village center must be within a player's simulation distance volume.

The chance of attempting a spawn is 1⁄700 per game tick, which averages to one spawn attempt every 35 seconds. The space above the spawn point, specifically a 2×4×2 area horizontally centered on the northwest corner of the spawning block, must contain only non-full blocks, and the block the golem spawns on must be solid.

Iron golems in Minecraft are created through a specific build configuration. To construct an iron golem, players need four iron blocks arranged in a T shape. On top of the center upper block, a carved pumpkin, jack o'lantern, or pumpkin (Bedrock Edition only) must be placed. The pumpkin can be placed by the player, a dispenser, or even an enderman, but it must be the last item placed for the golem to spawn successfully.

The placement of the blocks is crucial for the creation of the iron golem. The pumpkin needs at least one block of space around the bottom iron block to be able to spawn, and the area should not be confined. Even simple obstacles like grass can prevent the iron golem from spawning. Alternatively, the blocks can be placed in any order with an uncarved pumpkin, and the player can use shears to carve the pumpkin and trigger the golem's transformation.

Once created, the iron golem is naturally passive toward all players and won't attack them under any circumstances. However, it may inadvertently attack the player's tamed wolves if they get in the way. While it remains peaceful towards players, the iron golem will act just like a naturally spawned one and attack hostile mobs in defense of the village.

The arrangement of blocks for the iron golem can be placed upright, lying down, or even upside-down. The spaces above and below each of the arms must be air blocks; any non-air blocks, such as snow layers, grass, or water, in these spaces will prevent the golem from spawning.

It's worth noting that in Java Edition, players have the option to place a pumpkin on the four iron blocks and then shear the pumpkin to create the iron golem, and it will still spawn as usual.

Lastly, it's essential to mention that dropping a pumpkin on the correct arrangement of iron blocks will not spawn an iron golem; the specific T-shaped arrangement and proper placement are required for successful creation.

Iron golems can also be discovered surrounding pillager outposts, but they are confined within dark oak cages. Once the player manages to free them, the iron golems become allies and assist the player by attacking any nearby pillagers. Interestingly, pillagers do not retaliate against iron golems that are inside the cages. However, if a pillager is within one block of the cage, the iron golem can still attack the pillager since iron golems have the ability to reach through a one-block wall to attack their foes. This feature makes iron golems valuable allies in the battle against hostile pillagers and adds an additional layer of strategy for players dealing with pillager outposts.

When an iron golem is defeated and dies, it drops the following items:

• 3 to 5 Iron Ingots: These are valuable resources used for crafting various items and equipment in the game.

• 0 to 2 Poppies: These are red flowers that can be used for decoration or crafting purposes.

It's important to note that killing an iron golem with a weapon enchanted by Looting does not increase the number of iron ingots or poppies dropped; the drops remain within the default range.

Additionally, the act of killing iron golems does not affect trading prices with villagers. However, it does have an impact on the village's popularity. When an iron golem is killed, the village's popularity decreases by 10 points. This decrease in popularity can influence the behavior of the village's iron golems if the village's popularity falls below a certain threshold, specifically below -15 in Bedrock Edition.

Iron golems exhibit various behaviors that make them unique and valuable allies in Minecraft:

Patrol-like Wander: Iron golems move around a village in a patrol-like manner, sticking close to buildings and structures. They do not stray too far from the village's vicinity, even if they were player-built, though they may sometimes stand near the village's borders.

Friendly Gestures: Iron golems can interact with villagers by offering them poppies. This gesture symbolizes the friendly relationship between villagers and iron golems. Baby villagers in Bedrock Edition also accept the poppy offered by the iron golem. However, attacking an iron golem while it is holding out a poppy will cause it to retract the gesture and attack the player instead.

Defending Villages: Iron golems prioritize protecting the village and its inhabitants. They will slowly wander around and attack hostile mobs such as skeletons and zombies, ensuring the village's safety. If a village is nearby, the iron golem remains within its boundaries and does not wander off.

Navigational Abilities: Iron golems have impressive navigational skills. They can walk up a full block height without jumping and can step over a 1-block-wide hole without falling in. They are also capable of avoiding water, lava, fire, and cacti, while remaining immune to drowning and fall damage. Although they sink in water, they can still move freely.

Healing Mechanism: When an iron golem's health drops to 75%, cracks appear on its surface as an indication of damage. Players can heal the iron golem by right-clicking its chest with an iron ingot, which will consume the ingot and restore its health.

Leash Compatibility: Iron golems can be leashed by players, but they behave differently when leashed. They do not attempt to break free from the lead when they spot hostile mobs. Instead, they look at the hostile mob while moving. When leashed to a fence, they will attack the hostile mob but won't follow it if it moves out of their attack range.

Movement Differences: In Java Edition, when provoked, iron golems move as if taking strides toward the enemy. When unprovoked, they move slower. In Bedrock Edition, they move faster, maintaining a consistent walking speed regardless of their state of being provoked or unprovoked.

Limited Equipment: Iron golems cannot naturally pick up weapons or armor. However, using NBT commands in Java Edition, players can give them weapons or armor, though the items won't be visible on the iron golem.

Overall, iron golems are not only guardians of villages but also demonstrate engaging and interactive behavior, making them an integral part of the Minecraft experience.

When an iron golem attacks, it swiftly moves toward its target and delivers a powerful swing of its arms, launching the victim into the air. The damage inflicted by the iron golem's attack ranges from 7.5 to 21.5 hearts in Normal difficulty. Their attack range is quite substantial, allowing them to strike through a solid 1-block thick wall without requiring a direct line of sight to the target. Furthermore, their attacks have a long knockback range, pushing the targeted mob or player a considerable distance away.

However, there are some limitations to their attack capabilities. Iron golems cannot attack targets that are three blocks high above the same ground level as the golem. In other words, they cannot reach entities positioned too high above them.

In situations where multiple iron golems attack the same target simultaneously, the victim is flung higher into the air based on the number of golems involved. This can potentially lead to fall damage and result in the mob or player's death.

When faced with a group of hostile mobs, such as zombies, the iron golem will focus on attacking one mob at a time until that specific mob is defeated before moving on to the next one. They prioritize hostile mobs that are attacking them directly, ensuring efficient defense.

If a mob is flung out of the iron golem's sight during the attack, it will target the next attacking mob instead. Additionally, in group scenarios, the iron golem might attack the nearest hostile mob when they are in close proximity.

When an iron golem kills a mob, the player can obtain any items dropped by the slain mob. However, no experience orbs are dropped when the iron golem eliminates a mob. Notably, in Bedrock Edition, if an iron golem kills a raid mob, it causes the mob to drop its raid loot, even if the player didn't directly attack the mob before it was killed by the iron golem.

It's important to mention that iron golems do not attack each other, as they cannot inadvertently harm one another during combat. This behavior ensures that they cooperate effectively and remain a united force in defending their village.

When an iron golem is player-built, it remains non-hostile towards players regardless of any actions taken by the player. Even if the player attacks the iron golem itself or another villager or golem in front of it, the player-built golem will not retaliate. However, if the player has a tamed wolf that attacks the player-built golem, the golem will defend itself by attacking the wolf.

On the other hand, naturally-spawned iron golems exhibit different behavior towards players based on certain conditions. If a player attacks a villager near a naturally-spawned iron golem, the golem becomes hostile towards the player. Similarly, if a player's popularity within a village falls to -15 or lower, or if the player has a reputation of -100 or lower with any nearby villager, naturally-spawned iron golems will become hostile towards that player. The hostility lasts until the player's popularity rises above -15 and their reputation with all nearby villagers goes above -100.

If a village has multiple naturally-spawned iron golems and a player attacks one in the presence of others, all iron golems of that type in the village may become hostile towards the player.

It's worth noting that iron golems are not provoked by players who attack wandering traders.

Lastly, iron golems do not become aggressive when players throw positive splash potions or lingering potions, regardless of their effects.

In summary, player-built iron golems maintain a non-hostile stance towards players, while naturally-spawned ones may become hostile under certain circumstances, such as attacking villagers or having negative popularity or reputation within the village.

Iron golems face numerous threats from hostile mobs in Minecraft. Zombies (and their variants), zoglins, skeletons (and their variants), silverfish (Bedrock Edition only), spiders, cave spiders, magma cubes (Java Edition only), withers, pillagers, and witches (Bedrock Edition only) all naturally attack iron golems on sight. This can cause significant damage to the golems, especially when faced with multiple attacking mobs.

However, iron golems possess remarkable resilience against regular attacks, as they have 100% knockback resistance. They cannot be easily pushed back by standard attacks. Nevertheless, attacks with weapons enchanted with Knockback or bows enchanted with Punch (Java Edition only) can still knock them back.

Iron golems display their health status through different stages of being cracked. When their health is above 74 hearts (× 37), they have no visible cracks. As their health decreases to the range of 50 hearts (× 25) to 74 hearts (× 37), some cracks become apparent. Between 25 hearts (× 12.5) and 49 hearts (× 24.5), the cracks intensify. When their health falls below 25 hearts (× 12.5), numerous cracks become visible, indicating the golem is severely damaged.

Players can heal an iron golem by using an iron ingot on it. This action restores 25 hearts (× 12.5) of health to the golem, helping to keep it in top condition during battles.

In Minecraft, entities like the Iron Golem have specific data values used to identify them within the game's code. These data values differ between Java Edition and Bedrock Edition.

In Java Edition:

• Name: Iron Golem

• Identifier: iron_golem

• Translation Key: entity.minecraft.iron_golem

In Bedrock Edition:

• Name: Iron Golem

• Identifier: iron_golem

• Numeric ID: 20

• Translation Key: entity.iron_golem.name

These data values are essential for the game to recognize and differentiate the Iron Golem entity, allowing it to function correctly within the game world.