How to pacify a Vindicator in Minecraft

Often found in woodland mansion structures and wielding axes, Vindicators are melee pillagers in Minecraft that can also be spotted in village raids and pillager patrols.

For Minecraft players who may not know, it's possible to pacify a Vindicator and make it essentially harmless. It may still try and attack, but it shouldn't be able to do any form of significant damage, allowing players to place it in a boat and relocate it somewhere.

The Vindicator can even have a nametag applied to it in order to keep it from despawning when a player is far away, which can basically make the Vindicator a pet, even if it is somewhat hostile.

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Minecraft: Breaking a Vindicator's weapon and containing it

Illagers such as Vindicators can often be found in woodland mansions, among other places (Image via Mojang).

In order to somewhat pacify a Vindicator (or any pillager in theory) in Minecraft, players must allow it to shatter its weapon when the mob is found. Vindicators carry iron axes quite often, so players are hoping to avoid damage while still taking the axe strikes.

This typically requires the use of shields, and many of them at that. Stock up on shields, find a nearby Vindicator, and allow it to attack relentlessly at your shield, switching in new ones as they break.

Iron axes in Minecraft have a durability of 250 in Java Edition, so it can take several axe strikes against a shield over the course of many minutes before the weapon breaks.

However, once it does, the Vindicator is left to fight with its bare hands, where it can't deal much damage to an armored target like a well-equipped Minecraft player.

The Vindicator can now be transported in a safe manner by placing the pillager into a boat and either pushing the boat or hopping in and moving it along.

Once Minecraft players find or build a nice place to put their Vindicator, they can lead the mob into the area and then destroy the boat. Finally, in order to prevent the mob from de-spawning, be sure to place a nametag on it.

Doing so will make the Vindicator unique and prevent it from disappearing when players are too far away. This tactic will ensure that your new pet pillager will remain in your Minecraft world, even if it remains hostile and won't exactly want to be friends so to speak.