Talk:Iron Golem

This topic got archived earlier today, but I really want to know what the iron golem's damage actually is because it keeps changing over time, and if someone can replay of what the damage is, then please say so. Blockofnetherite ^{Talk Contributions} 01:55, 1 December 2020 (UTC)

The amount of damage the iron golem keeps changing a LOT. Some are obviously vandalism, others are hard to tell. Can someone check the code to settle this statement? Blockofnetherite ^{Talk Contributions} 19:32, 31 August 2020 (UTC)

The page has recently received an obviously unconstructive (way too much damage) edit on the damage (I have reverted it by now), but I really do want to know if the current values are correct, and the damage simply keeps changing. Blockofnetherite ^{Talk Contributions} 16:09, 26 October 2020 (UTC)

Iron golem has an inherent attack damage attribute of 15, and then when it deals damage it calculates it via attack_damage/2 + nextInt(0,attack_damage). Meaning damage dealt is between 7.5-21.5, distributed uniformly Which then gets modified by the difficulty modifier, easy does damage/2 +1, normal does nothing, hard does damage*1.5. So ranges are 4.75-11.75 (easy) 7.5-21.5 (normal) 11.25-32.25 (hard) ~2026-SlimeRiverVillager13233 (talk) 05:26, 31 May 2026 (UTC)

Is there a conflict in the description of where a golem can spawn? It says that a golem can spawn inside half-slabs, but to me that appears to conflict with the statement that the target block must be air, water or lava and must have a block with a solid top surface underneath. Griffon28 (talk) 19:26, 28 January 2021 (UTC)

There's no conflict. The spawn location is the location of the iron golem's feet, and there are conditions for the column of blocks above the surface the golem would stand on. If water or a slab or lava is above where the feet would go, then iron golem can spawn inside it. I have to say, the spawning rules described in this article have evolved significantly and now they sound a lot more complicated. Those rules may also be specific to Java, not Bedrock. Amatulic (talk) 02:24, 29 January 2021 (UTC)

I'm sorry, i don't see how that would make it possible for the golem to spawn inside half slabs. I also tried, in java, to cover a platform that my golems normally spawn on with half slabs and spawning stops. Could you maybe explain how blocks should be stacked in one column to allow spawning inside the half slab? Griffon28 (talk) 10:25, 30 January 2021 (UTC)

Possibly the information here is out of date. I found MC-148955 that says this was resolved last year in 1.16. Amatulic (talk) 18:11, 30 January 2021 (UTC)

Let me backtrack - MC-148955 is already cited in the paragraph about spawning in java. Maybe this was fixed for interference with adjacent slabs. I am not sure. Amatulic (talk) 18:15, 30 January 2021 (UTC)

I think the section needs an update, because I just had another spawn that I thought was impossible. This time the golem is not "directly under the sky". The blocks above the golem have redstone running over them. If there is a better place to discuss this, please tell me. Griffon28 (talk) 20:11, 3 February 2021 (UTC)

Other than the bug tracker, this is probably the best place to discuss. Reporting this on the bug tracker might at least get (eventually) a response that this "works as intended" or an acknowledgment of a bug. Amatulic (talk) 14:15, 4 February 2021 (UTC)

The article isn't clear about what happens to experience and item drops from mobs killed by Iron Golems. Can the player still get experience and drops or not?--177.72.23.38 18:34, 22 February 2021 (UTC)

Not. In general, no experience ever drops when a mob dies for any reason other than a direct attack from the player. If a mob dies from falling, burning, or being killed by another mob, no experience drops. Items may drop, though. Amatulic (talk) 19:34, 2 April 2021 (UTC)

I've tested the iron golem attempting to attack me by summoning a villager and killing it while it sees me and then it flings me up by 2.86843 blocks into the air; don't know whether other mobs the golem attacks are flung at 2.86843 blocks in the air like the player 142.116.177.230 18:57, 8 May 2021 (UTC)

"In Java Edition, iron golems have 100% knockback resistance from normal attacks. They can still be knocked back by the Knockback enchantment on swords and the Punch enchantment on bows."

I've tested using a sword to deal knockback to the golem, but it doesn't receive knockback, even when sprint attacking (this does not apply to bows) - DOES THAT MEAN THE KNOCKBACK ENCHANTMENT CANNOT AFFECT IRON GOLEMS PinksheepyIsLeaving (talk) 13:14, 30 May 2021 (UTC)

You say "this does not apply to bows". Does that mean a bow with the Punch enchantment still knocks back an iron golem? I don't play Java Edition so I cannot test this. Amatulic (talk) 15:07, 30 May 2021 (UTC)

I tested this on both Java and Bedrock editions; a bow with the Punch enchantment actually knocks back an iron golem in Java Edition, though in Bedrock Edition it still doesn't receive knockback PinksheepyIsLeaving (talk) 01:48, 31 May 2021 (UTC)

The statement you quoted is correct, then. In Java Edition, iron golems aren't knocked back by normal attacks, but a knockback enchantment still works. Amatulic (talk) 06:52, 31 May 2021 (UTC)

https://minecraft.wiki/w/Iron_Golem?oldid=2058813

Need to revert, though I preserve some others' edit because again IP is adding the redundant information again. "Note" are meant to add extra information that would not fit for two column before it. If one of these two column can cover the information, just use it. 1Way4To-J.Smile 08:58, 16 November 2021 (UTC)

The article is protected now. IP addresses cannot edit it. Amatulic (talk) 17:30, 16 November 2021 (UTC)

In this edit from 6 January 2022, the spawn volume for iron golems was changed from 16×6×16 to 16×12×16, with a note that this change occurred in Bedrock Edition 1.17.30. The release notes say only "Tweaked Iron Golem spawning logic to better match Java Edition", so something did change.

Lately, I have seen YouTube videos showing that the Bedrock Edition spawn volume is actually 17×13×17, now centered on a POI block instead of the northwest bottom corner of the POI block.

I'll update the article accordingly, but does anyone know when this changed? The fact should be added to the history section. Amatulic (talk) 00:55, 19 May 2022 (UTC)

I've been working on an iron golem farm with some special requirements, as well as trying to find the best solution to the "exposed to sky" 'modifier' with fishing. I found an issue with the "solid-blocking" spawn requirements. Cake is listed as a material with "solid-blocking" but through a short test spanning over an hour or so, I feel can say that either it isn't "solid-blocking" OR iron golems don't entirely rely on "solid-blocking" blocks as a foundation.

My findings: Having cake as upper-most block does not allow iron golems to spawn on top of them. The same coordinates were tested succesfully with Stone blocks, and no other changes to the setup was made in-between. Furthermore, since I can't find a total collection of information on what blocks exposure to Sky, cake WILL block Sky, so Iron Golems cannot spawn belowthat either. (Tested with below method, only Cake was added on top of glass)

Irrelevant/Already answered findings that I confirmed: Golems do not spawn on top of Glass, but do spawn below (tested with Stone 4 blocks below Glass), which leads me to believe Glass is viable to be placed over fishing source and would still allow player to achieve Sky modifier for fishing.

And before you ask, yes I tried to make an iron golem farm with Cake floor. Requirements were an irom golem farm that doesn't block Sky. I also suggest some sort of list of blocks which do and do not block Sky (I had a hard time trying to find that, and only found fragments of information)

Sources of information: https://minecraft.wiki/w/Iron_Golem (See Spawning) https://minecraft.wiki/w/Materials#Materials (Link found in Spawning, below Critera) https://minecraft.wiki/w/Fishing?so=search ("Sky" requirement under Mechanics)

Also sorry if this is posted in the wrong place.

Tidal Flame 12:31, 27 June 2022 (UTC)

@Tidal Flame: You should have read the very next sentence: "The target location is then checked whether the block underneath has a solid top surface (which is not the same as 'solid-blocking')." That's where the cake fails. What you'll observe is that a layer of cake near the top of the column, then some air and then a layer of stone near the bottom of the column, will result in no golems spawning because it's trying and failing to spawn on the cake, while if you replace the cake with a non-solid-blocking block then golems will spawn on the stone. Or at least that's what the code seems to do; I haven't tested myself) Anomie x (talk) 00:37, 14 August 2022 (UTC)

It seems Bedrock's spawning requirements have dramatically changed since the last edit.

-- Golems can spawn in a gap of 2 blocks, for example, block-air-air-block, despite golems instantly taking suffocation damage and subsequently dying. Golems dying via suffocation still drop their normal items.

-- Golem spawning does not start at the top of the bounding box extending from the villager center, it starts at the bottom. As the game finds the first block with a top surface and 2 non-full blocks above it, the golems will spawn. I cannot confirm horizontal requirements, but I believe spawning requires 2x2x2 (importantly, not 3x3x2) space with no other mobs occupying the space.--Hedo29 (talk) 19:17, 17 July 2023 (UTC)

I noticed the link to popularity (in "drops" section) was taking me to the wrong place so I corrected it, but THEN I noticed the landing page said it's outdated in Java – but the link is for Bedrock – and now I'm just plain confused. Somebody more in the loop please look into this 2A00:F41:589D:B680:B446:91FF:FE73:38F6 15:57, 11 April 2024 (UTC)

In the past, both Java Edition and Bedrock Edition have popularity. After 1.14, Java Edition's popularity is replaced by gossip, while Bedrock Edition still uses popularity today.--👁 Image
Wilf233_zhMCW（论·功） 16:03, 11 April 2024 (UTC)

I was in a survival word, I hit a non-player-built iron golem, and it wasn't attacking me. Is this a glitch? Or does it not work in BE? Crabbmc (talk) 02:30, 19 May 2024 (UTC)

I play Bedrock Edition, and I was wondering if it didn't work in that version, because it was in a survival world, not player-built, and wasn't attacking me. CrabbmcSchool (talk) 13:22, 20 May 2024 (UTC)

File:Earlyiron golem.png File:Iron Golem (texture no alpha) JE1.png

Just wanted the user's to know, should it be kept? 👁 Image
MinecraftFan1000 (talk) 02:13, 21 March 2025 (UTC)

Follow range has a random spawn bonus between +-0.11485 [code] following a triangular distribution where the entity's final follow range is given by its base follow range + (base follow range * random spawn bonus).

I think this applies to a lot of the ranges in many other places, so it might be better in the range/distance page and have the first mention of "follow range" within a section link to that instead? I.e. for iron golem detection, the 16 is the villager's follow range, which could then be anywhere between 14.1624 and 17.8376.

The detection uses a generic sensor code that finds an entity whose bounding box intersects a box created by expanding the bounding box of the entity doing the sensing by its follow range in all directions (bounding box to bounding box cardinally).
However, some detections are based on euclidean distance from the sensing entity's position to the other entity's position (e.g. ActiveTargetGoal in some hostile-target detection).
I don't know the full classification of which detections are using which though.

WaterGenie3 (talk) 15:40, 2 June 2025 (UTC)

Applicable to 1.21.2 and above where nearest living entity sensor was changed to use the mob's follow range instead of a fixed value of 16. WaterGenie3 (talk) 14:47, 28 January 2026 (UTC)

From my testing I can see that the correct property would be "angry_at" Britdan (talk) 13:03, 25 October 2025 (UTC)