Elder Guardian

Elder Guardian

• Extended
• Retracted

Health points	80HP × 40
Behavior	Hostile
Attack strength	Laser: Easy: 5HP Normal: 8HP Hard: 12HP × 6 Spikes: Easy and Normal: 2HP Hard: 3HP
Hitbox size	Height: 1.9975 blocks Width: 1.9975 blocks
Spawn	Ocean Monument

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            "label": "(link to Health article, displayed as Health points)"
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            "field": "Hostile",
            "label": "Behavior"
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            "label": "(link to Mob spawning article, displayed as Spawn)"
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    "invimages": [
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    "images": [
        "Elder Guardian.gif",
        "Elder Guardian (Retracted).png"
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An elder guardian is a stronger and larger variant of the guardian, and the largest aquatic mob. It attacks the same way as a normal guardian, and it also applies Mining Fatigue to players in a large radius around itself. They are only found in ocean monuments; three of them generate in each one.

Spawning

Three elder guardians spawn naturally during the generation of each ocean monument:

• One in the top room of the monument.
• Two in each wing of the monument.

They are spawned with the ocean monument, and thus, they do not respawn.

Drops

Primary loot

Item		Roll Chance	Quantity (Roll Chance)
			Default	Looting I	Looting II	Looting III
	Prismarine Shard	100%	0–2	0–3	0–4	0–5
	Wet Sponge	100%	1	1	1	1
	Tide Armor Trim	20%	1	1	1	1
	Random Fish	2.5%–5.5%	1 (2.5%)	1 (3.5%)	1 (4.5%)	1 (5.5%)

Secondary loot

In addition to the drops above, one of the following is selected

Item		Roll Chance	Quantity (Roll Chance)
			Default	Looting I	Looting II	Looting III
	Raw Cod	3/6	0–1	0–2	0–3	0–4
	Prismarine Crystals	2/6	0–1	0–2	0–3	0–4
	Nothing	1/6	1	1	1	1

• 10XP – when killed by a player or tamed wolf.

Behavior

Elder guardians do not swim around as much as normal guardians, and they do not swim away when approached by a player they are targeting, unlike regular guardians. Like normal guardians, elder guardians attempt to attack the player, squid, glow squid, and axolotls.

The elder guardian's eye follows and stares at any nearby players and always looks directly at its target. The eye still follows a player under the effects of Invisibility or in Spectator mode, though the elder guardian does not attack.

Elder guardian are considered aquatic mobs, and thus are affected by the Impaling enchantment. ‌ ‌

The elder guardian has three methods of attacking, including firing its laser, inflicting Mining Fatigue, and a defensive thorn-like attack.

The elder guardian pathfinds toward an ocean monument if it is not within one.

An elder guardian attacks axolotls (they will attack back) that are not playing dead. Otherwise, an elder guardian does not attack mobs that attack it, although the attacking mob takes damage from the elder guardian's natural spikes defense.

The elder guardian, like normal guardians, do not take suffocation damage when out of the water for prolonged periods of time.

Laser

Laser

The laser takes several seconds to charge, doing no damage and allowing the player to move away in the meantime. As it charges, it changes from purple to bright yellow. Once charged, the beam flashes green, abruptly ends, and deals 12HP × 6 damage on Hard difficulty. The elder guardian swims around for a few seconds before firing again. The beam cannot be dodged and has a maximum range of approximately 14 blocks. Once the player is out of range, if the beam is obstructed by solid blocks, or if the player has a shield, the guardian's beam disengages from the player and deals no damage.

Inflicting Mining Fatigue

In Java Edition, immediately after spawning and once each minute thereafter, the elder guardian searches for any player within a spherical radius of 50 blocks to afflict with Mining Fatigue III. In Bedrock Edition, the elder guardian inflicts any unafflicted player within range immediately.

When afflicted, the player sees a ghostly image of the elder guardian and hears a ghostly noise. The effect decreases a player's attack speed by 30% and decreases mining speed even more for 5 minutes. The attack targets players through blocks, even underground, and a potion of Invisibility offers no defense. This is not considered an attack in regards to the Thorns enchantment.

The image of the elder guardian is a particle effect that can be recreated by issuing the command /particle minecraft:elder_guardian.‌

Spikes defense

An elder guardian deals 2HP (3HP on Hard mode) of damage every time it is hit while its spikes are extended, similar to the Thorns enchantment on armor. If cornered by a player or axolotl, the elder guardian usually extends its spikes and fires at point-blank range.

Elder Guardians cannot be leashed or be taken in by a boat, except by command.

Sounds

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

[hide]Sounds
Sound	Subtitles	Source	Description	Resource location	Translation key	Volume	Pitch	Attenuation distance
	​Elder Guardian moans	Hostile Creatures	Randomly while in water	entity.elder_guardian.ambient	subtitles.entity.elder_guardian.ambient​	1.0	0.8-1.2	16
	​Elder Guardian flaps	Hostile Creatures	Randomly while out of water	entity.elder_guardian.ambient_land	subtitles.entity.elder_guardian.ambient.land​	1.0	0.8-1.2	16
	​Elder Guardian curses	Hostile Creatures	When an elder guardian inflicts Mining Fatigue on a player	entity.elder_guardian.curse	subtitles.entity.elder_guardian.curse​	1.0	1.0	16
	​Guardian shoots	Hostile Creatures	While an elder guardian uses its laser attack	entity.guardian.attack	subtitles.entity.guardian.attack​	0.0-1.0	0.7-1.2	16 (technical) / ∞ (effective)
	​Elder Guardian dies	Hostile Creatures	When an elder guardian dies while in water	entity.elder_guardian.death	subtitles.entity.elder_guardian.death​	1.0	0.8-1.2	16
	​Elder Guardian dies	Hostile Creatures	When an elder guardian dies while out of water	entity.elder_guardian.death_land	subtitles.entity.elder_guardian.death​	1.0	0.8-1.2	16
	​Elder Guardian hurts	Hostile Creatures	When an elder guardian is damaged while in water	entity.elder_guardian.hurt	subtitles.entity.elder_guardian.hurt​	1.0	0.8-1.2	16
	​Elder Guardian hurts	Hostile Creatures	When an elder guardian is damaged while out of water	entity.elder_guardian.hurt_land	subtitles.entity.elder_guardian.hurt​	1.0	0.8-1.2	16
	​Elder Guardian flops	Hostile Creatures	While an elder guardian is on land	entity.elder_guardian.flop	subtitles.entity.elder_guardian.flop​	1.0	1.0	16

Bedrock Edition:

[hide]Sounds
Sound	Source	Description	Resource location	Volume	Pitch
	Hostile Creatures	Randomly while in water	mob.elderguardian.idle	1.0	0.8-1.2
	Hostile Creatures	Randomly while out of water	mob.guardian.land_idle	1.0	0.8-1.2
	Hostile Creatures	When an elder guardian inflicts Mining Fatigue on a player	mob.elderguardian.curse	1.0	1.0
	Hostile Creatures	While an elder guardian uses its laser attack	mob.guardian.attack_loop	?	?
	Hostile Creatures	When an elder guardian dies	mob.elderguardian.death	1.0	0.8-1.2
	Hostile Creatures	When an elder guardian is damaged while in water	mob.elderguardian.hit	1.0	0.8-1.2
	Hostile Creatures	When an elder guardian is damaged while out of water	mob.guardian.land_hit	1.0	0.8-1.2
	Hostile Creatures	While an elder guardian is on land	mob.guardian.flop	1.0	1.0

Data values

ID

Java Edition:

Name	Identifier	Entity tags	[hide]Translation key
Elder Guardian	elder_guardian	aquatic axolotl_always_hostiles can_breathe_under_water not_scary_for_pufferfish sensitive_to_impaling	entity.minecraft.elder_guardian

Bedrock Edition:

Name	Identifier	Numeric ID	[hide]Translation key
Elder Guardian	elder_guardian	50	entity.elder_guardian.name

Entity data

Elder guardians have entity data associated with them that contains various properties.

Java Edition:

• [NBT Compound / JSON Object] Entity data
  • Tags common to all entities see Template:Nbt inherit/entity/template[show]
  • Tags common to all mobs see Template:Nbt inherit/mob/template[show]

Bedrock Edition:

See Bedrock Edition level format/Entity format.

Achievements

[hide]
Icon		Achievement	In-game description	Actual requirements (if different)	Gamerscore earned	Trophy type (PS)
PS4	Other
		It Spreads	Kill a mob next to a catalyst	—	10	Bronze
		Monster Hunter	Attack 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.	15	Bronze
		Overkill	Deal nine hearts of damage in a single hit.	Damage can be dealt to any mob, even those that do not have nine hearts of health overall.	30	Bronze
		Over-Overkill	Deal 50 hearts of damage in a single hit using the Mace	—	20	Silver
		The Deep End	Defeat an Elder Guardian	—	30	Silver

Advancements

Icon	Advancement	In-game description	Actual requirements (if different)
	A Throwaway Joke	Throw a Trident at something. Note: Throwing away your only weapon is not a good idea.	Hit a mob with a thrown trident.
	Adventure	Adventure, exploration and combat	Kill any mob, or be killed by any living entity.
	Arbalistic	Kill five unique mobs with one crossbow shot	Armor Stand also counts for this advancement. This is a hidden advancement, meaning that it can be viewed by the player only after completing it, regardless of if its child advancement(s), if any, have been completed.
	How Did We Get Here?	Have every effect applied at the same time	Have all of these 33 status effects applied to the player at the same time:[hide] The source of the effects is irrelevant for the purposes of this advancement. Other status effects may be applied to the player, but are ignored for this advancement. This is a hidden advancement, meaning that it can be viewed by the player only after completing it, regardless of if its child advancement(s), if any, have been completed.
	It Spreads	Kill a mob near a Sculk Catalyst	Kill one of these 73 mobs near a sculk catalyst:[show] Mobs that drop no experience as well as the ender dragon are ignored for this advancement.
	Monster Hunter	Kill any hostile monster	Kill one of these 37 mobs:[hide] Other mobs may be killed, but are ignored for this advancement.
	Monsters Hunted	Kill one of every hostile monster	Kill each of these 37 mobs:[hide] Other mobs may be killed, but are ignored for this advancement.
	Over-Overkill	Deal 50 hearts of damage in a single hit using the Mace	–
	Take Aim	Shoot something with an Arrow	Using a bow or a crossbow, shoot a mob with an arrow, tipped arrow, or spectral arrow.

History

[hide]Java Edition
1.8			14w25a				Added elder guardians.
			14w26a				Guardians and elder guardians are no longer immune to lava and fire.
1.9			15w43a				The drop chances for raw fish and prismarine crystals have been changed for elder guardians. Instead of a 33% chance of fish then a 33% chance of crystals only if the fish drop failed with both percentages adjusted by Looting, it's 40% fish, 40% crystals, and 20% neither, with the amount increased by Looting.
							Elder guardians now drop dry sponges (on any kill).
			15w43b				The drop chances for raw fish and prismarine crystals have been changed again for guardians. Now, the drop chances are 50% fish, 33% crystals, and 16.7% neither.
			15w43c				The sponge drop of elder guardians has been restored to requiring a player kill, but is still dry rather than wet.
1.10			16w20a				An elder guardian spawn egg has been added.
			pre2				The elder guardian spawn egg has been removed.
1.11			16w32a				The elder guardian spawn egg has been re-added.
							The entity ID has been changed from Guardian to elder_guardian and the Elder tag has been removed.
							The in-game name of elder guardians is now "Elder Guardian" instead of "Guardian".
			16w33a				Elder guardians now drop wet sponges on player kills, rather than dry sponges.
			16w38a				Elder guardian's common drop of raw fish now drop as cooked fish, if killed while on fire.
1.14			18w43a				The texture of elder guardians has been changed.
1.15			19w34a				Elder guardians now take damage on magma blocks.
1.16			20w14a				Elder guardians are now required for the "Monsters Hunted" advancement.
1.17			21w11a				The texture of the elder guardian has been tweaked, so that a floating pixel present in the tailfin no longer exists.
			21w13a				Now drop cooked cod or salmon instead of raw cod or salmon if on fire when killed or killed by a fire source.
1.19.4 Experiment Update 1.20			23w04a				Elder guardians now drop 0–1 tide armor trim smithing templates upon death.
[hide]Pocket Edition Alpha
v0.16.0			build 1				Added elder guardians.
							Elder guardians are considered boss mobs in the blog post for this update, but in-game they behave the same as their Java counterparts.
			build 5				An elder guardian spawn egg has been added.
[hide]Pocket Edition
1.1.0			alpha 1.1.0.0				The entity ID has been changed from guardian.elder to elder_guardian.
[hide]Bedrock Edition
1.2.0			?				Elder guardians no longer play flopping sounds when on land.
1.10.0			beta 1.10.0.3				The texture of elder guardians has been changed.
1.13.0			beta 1.13.0.4				Added the elder guardian ghost, currently unused.
1.17.0			beta 1.17.0.50				The texture of the elder guardian has been tweaked, so that a floating pixel present in the tailfin no longer exists.
1.19.80 Experiment Next Major Update			Preview 1.19.80.21				Elder guardians now drop 0–1 tide armor trim smithing templates upon death.
1.20.40			Preview 1.20.40.20				Elder guardians once again play flopping sounds when on land.
[hide]Legacy Console Edition
Xbox 360	Xbox One	PS3	PS4	PS Vita	Wii U	Switch
TU31	CU19	1.22	1.22	1.22	Patch 3	1.0.1	Added elder guardians.
TU46	CU36	1.38	1.38	1.38	Patch 15		Elder guardians now drop dry sponges.
TU54	CU44	1.52	1.52	1.52	Patch 24	1.0.4	Elder guardians now have their own spawn egg.
							Elder guardians now drop wet sponges again.
TU56	CU48	1.55	1.55	1.55	Patch 26	1.0.6	Elder guardians now drop dry sponges again.
TU69		1.76	1.76	1.76	Patch 38		Elder guardians now drop wet sponges again.
[hide]New Nintendo 3DS Edition
1.3.12							Added elder guardians.

Issues

Issues relating to "Elder Guardian" are maintained on the bug tracker. Issues should be reported and viewed there.

Trivia

• The elder guardian's status as a boss or simply a powerful mob is ambiguous. While it lacks important characteristics of a boss, chiefly a health bar, it has been grouped with boss mobs and addressed as one by Mojang before. The elder guardian was also marketed as a boss in Pocket Edition, having been introduced in the Boss Update.
• The elder guardian's eye is the "head" part of the mob's model, giving the illusion of a dynamic eye.
• An unused part of the elder guardians texture has the name "jeb" on it, this is not visible in game, but only in the files.
• According to Jeb, elder guardians were introduced to encourage players to solve the temple maze rather than dig through it easily. He acknowledges there are ways around it, but players still have to solve the challenge in a different way.
  • Also according to Jeb, the "jump scare" by an elder guardian is unintentional; instead, he added it to provide a visual cue as to why players get slowed down by Mining Fatigue.
• In Java Edition 3D Shareware v1.34, elder guardians drop blue keys.
• In Bedrock Edition, elder guardians make their underwater death sounds if killed on land.

Gallery

Screenshots

• A special effect of the elder guardian, which gives Mining Fatigue III for 5 minutes.

  A special effect of the elder guardian, which gives Mining Fatigue III for 5 minutes.

• 

  The elder guardian's Mining Fatigue effect.

• 

  An elder guardian spawned inside an ocean monument.

• 

  An elder guardian spreading its spikes.

• 

  An elder guardian's laser.

• 

  An elder guardian in full view.

• 

  The inside of an elder guardian (spikes retracted).

• 

  Size comparison between an elder and a normal guardian.

• 

  The elder guardian curse ghastly image shows the elder guardian's full model.

• A group of axolotls attacking an elder guardian.

  A group of axolotls attacking an elder guardian.

• 

  A player avoiding an elder guardian by using the Invisibility effect.

• 

  A player avoiding an elder guardian by using the Invisibility effect.

• Elder guardian inflicts Mining Fatigue (programmer art).

  Elder guardian inflicts Mining Fatigue (programmer art).

Textures

• 

  Elder guardian texture file.

In other media

• 

  Official artwork of an elder guardian.

• 

  An elder guardian in promotional artwork for the Boss Update.

• 

  Minecraft Mobestiary's page about elder guardians.

• 

  Lego Minecraft elder guardian.

• 

  Narrator and MARILLA attempting to battle an elder guardian.

• Animatic of Steve fighting an elder guardian, from the Trails & Tales trailer.

External links

• Meet the Elder Guardian – Minecraft.net on November 6, 2017