Mob AI

This article describes the various components of a mob's AI that control the mob's behavior

Brain

Some mobs use a complex AI system called a brain. A mob's brain stores memories (data), a list of tasks that can be performed, and a list of sensors used to determine which tasks it can perform.

Sensor

Sensors are used to detect if a mob with a brain can perform certain tasks. Examples of sensors include, a sensor to detect if an armadillo should be scared, a sensor to detect the nearest player, and a sensor to detect if a mob is in water.

Task

Tasks are activities that mobs with brain AI systems can perform. Sensors are used to determine if a task can be performed, and tasks may information stored in memories. Examples of tasks include a villager walking to its jobsite, a piglin admiring an item, or a warden emerging.

Memory

Memories are used to store data, and are used when mobs perform tasks. Examples of memories include a list of all visible mobs in range, the location of a villager's jobsite block, and any cooldowns the mob may have.

Control

Goals

Goals are a simple AI system used by mobs that don't use brain AI. Goals can range from wandering around, opening doors, attacking another mob, and more. Each type of mob that uses goals has its own defined list of goals, and each goal has a priority. Mobs attempt to perform the lowest priority goal they can, and may switch goals if there is an opportunity to pursue a lower priority goal. For example, if a zombie is targeting and chasing a villager (priority of 3) and a player comes within the detection range of the zombie, the zombie may target and chase the player (priority of 2) instead.

List of goals

List of goals that are used by many different mobs.

List of Goals

Goal	Description	[show]Notes
Active Target	Select an entity to target for chasing and attacking
Ambient Stand	Untamed horse bucks when player tries to ride it
Attack	Attack target
Attack with Owner	Tamed mob attacks target attacked by owner
Avoid Sunlight	During day, move out of direct line-of-sight with sky
Bow Attack	Attack target with bow
Breathe Air	Mob that can drown tries to move out of water
Cat Sit on Block	Cat sits on bed, chest, or furnace
Chase Boat	Chase after boat ridden by player	Unused
Creeper Ignite	Creeper ignites
Crossbow Attack	Attack target with crossbow
Destroy Egg	Destroy turtle eggs
Disableable Follow Target	Raid entity stops following target	Unused
Dive Jump	Mob jumps up and dives down
Dolphin Jump	Dolphin jumps out of water
Door Interact	Mob tries to open a door
Eat Grass	Mob grazes on grass
Escape Danger	Mob panics and runs away when damaged
Flee Entity	Mob runs away from another mob that it is scared of (e.g. skeletons running from wolves)
Fly	Mob tries to fly
Follow Group Leader	Fish tries to follow the leader of a school of fish
Follow Mob	Mob follows another mob
Follow Owner	Tamed mob follows owner
Follow Parent	Baby mob follows its parent
Form Caravan	up to 8 llamas in caravan
Go to Bed and Sleep	Tamed cat sleeps in bed
Go to Walk Target	Mob walks to a target
Hold in Hands	Mob holds an item in its main hand
Horse Bond with Player	Horse attempts to bond with player attempting to tame it
Iron Golem Look	Iron golem looks at a villager
Iron Golem Wander Around	Iron golem wanders around village	uses points of interest
Long Door Interact	Open a door, then close it after a delay
Look Around	Mob spins around and looks in random directions
Look At Customer	Villager or wandering trader looks at player while trading
Look At Entity	Mob looks at another mob
Melee Attack	Mob paths to target and attacks
Move Into Water	Mob paths to water
Move Through Village	Mob moves between points of interest in a village
Move To Raid Center	Raiders move toward village after spawning
Move To Target Position	Mob paths to a specific block
Pounce At Target	Mob jumps towards target	cats, foxes, ocelots
Powder Snow Jump	Mob dives into powder snow	foxes
Prioritized Goal	Used to override the default priority of a goal
Projectile Attack	Mob attacks target with a projectile	arrow, spit, trident, potion, snow ball, wither skull, not fireballs
Raid Goal	Raiders target villagers
Revenge	Target entity that attacked the mob
Wander Around	Move to a nearby random position
Wander Around Far	Move to a random position, sometimes farther away than Wander Around goal
Zombie Attack	Attack goal for zombies and zombie variants

Lists of mob goals

Lists of goals and associated priorities for individual mobs.

Zombie

Goal	Priority	[hide]Notes
Revenge	1	Attack entity that damaged the zombie
Active Target - Player	2	Target the player
Zombie Attack	2	Attack current target
Active Target - Iron Golem	3	Target Iron Golem
Active Target - Merchant	3	Target Villager or Wandering Trader
Destroy Egg	4	Break turtle eggs
Active Target - Turtle	5	Target baby turtle
Wander Around Far	7
Look Around	8
Look at Entity	8

Pathfinding

Pathfinding penalties

Zombified piglin starts pathfinding to a turtle egg

Due to pathfinding penalties, the zombified piglin takes an indirect path to the turtle egg, pathing through wither roses and taking damage, instead of pathing through the lava or magma blocks, which do not damage the zombified piglin

When pathfinding to a target, mobs will sometimes avoid certain blocks (usually blocks that cause damage or slow the mob down). These blocks have a penalty associated with them. Generally, mobs try to path through blocks with the smallest penalty. There are some blocks that most mobs cannot path through; these all have a penalty of -1.

The following table is a list of all pathfinding penalties and their default values. Each type of pahtfinding (land, water, air) uses its own subset of these penalties. Some mobs override these default values.

Penalty type	Penalty	Description
blocked	-1	can't pathfind through block (most full solid blocks)
powder snow	-1	powder snow
fence	-1	fences walls fence gates (closed)
lava	-1	lava
unpassable rail	-1	rail
damage - other	-1	cactus sweet berry bush
closed wood door	-1	wood door
closed iron door	-1	iron door
leaves	-1	leaves
open	0	air cave air void air
walkable	0	tnt with pressure plate on top (under the mob) https://minecraft.wiki/w/TNT
walkable door	0	a door the mob can open
trapdoor	0	trapdoors lily pad big dripleaf
danger - powder snow	0	neighboring block is powder snow
rail	0	rail
open door	0	open wood or iron door
cocoa	0	cocoa
damage - cautious	0	wither rose pointed dripstone
danger - trapdoor	0	neighboring block is trapdoor
breach water	4	there is an air block above a water block
water	8	water
water border	8	neighboring block is water
danger - fire	8	neighboring block is: fire lava magma block lit campfire lava cauldron
danger - other	8	neighboring block is: cactus sweet berry bush
honey	8	honey block
damage - fire	16	fire lava magma block lit campfire lava cauldron

Mob pathfinding penalty overrides

The following mobs override the default pathfinding penalty for some blocks:

Mob	Penalty Type	[show]Penalty
axolotl	water	0
bee	damage - fire	-1
	water	-1
	cocoa	-1
	fence	-1
	water border	16
chicken	water	0
fox	danger - other	0
	damage - other	0
frog	trapdoor	-1
	water	4
goat	powder snow	-1
	danger - powder snow	-1
villager wandering trader	damage-fire	-1
	danger - fire	16
parrot	danger-fire	-1
	damage - fire	-1
	cocoa	-1
sniffer	water	-1
	danger - powder snow	-1
	damage - cautious	-1
strider	water	-1
	lava	0
	danger - fire	0
	damage - fire	0
turtle	close iron door	-1
	closed wood door	-1
	open door	-1
	water	0
wolf	powder snow	-1
	danger - powder snow	-1
piglin piglin brute	damage - fire	-1
	danger - fire	16
blaze	water	-1
	danger - fire	8
	damage - fire	8
	lava	8
breeze	danger - trapdoor	-1
	damage - fire	-1
drowned	water	0
enderman	water	-1
guardian	water	0
ravager	leaves	0
warden	unpassable rail	0
	damage - fire	0
	danger - fire	0
	damage - other	8
	powder snow	8
	lava	8
water creatures	water	0
wither skeleton	lava	8
zombified piglin	lava	8
animal	damage - fire	-1
	danger - fire