Raid captain

For other uses, see Captain.
Raid captain
Hitbox size
  • Height: 1.95 blocks
  • Width: 0.6 blocks
Spawn

A raid captain[a] is the occurrence of an illager that spawns wearing an ominous banner on its head. It is usually a pillager or vindicator, or rarely in Java Edition an evoker. They are the only renewable source of both ominous banners and ominous bottles, which they drop when killed.

Spawning

Raid captains spawn in mostly the same conditions and occurrences as a regular illager, with a few exceptions.

In Bedrock Edition, a pillager raid captain can be spawned using the /summon pillager ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ minecraft:spawn_as_illager_captain command, and a vindicator raid captain (which is unused in-game) can be spawned using the /summon vindicator ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ minecraft:spawn_as_illager_captain command.

In Java Edition, pillagers, vindicators and evokers spawned from spawn eggs, monster spawners or trial spawners also have a small chance to spawn as a raid captain.

Spawnable as raid captain in Java Edition
Type of illager Patrol Raid Pillager Outpost Woodland Mansion Commands (With Data Tag) Commands (Without Data Tag)
Pillager Yes, multiple times Yes, multiple times Yes, multiple times Never Always Rarely
Vindicator Never Yes, multiple times Never Never Always Rarely
Evoker Never Rarely Never Never Always Rarely
Illusioner Never Never Never Never Always Rarely
Spawnable as raid captain in Bedrock Edition
Type of illager Patrol Raid Pillager Outpost Woodland Mansion Commands (With Data Tag) Commands (Without Data Tag)
Pillager Yes, multiple times Never Yes, multiple times Never Always Rarely
Vindicator Never Never Never Never Always Rarely

Patrols

Main article: Patrol

One pillager raid captain always spawns as part of a patrol, as the leader. These are referred to as “patrol captains” to avoid confusion.

Raids

Main article: Raid

In Java Edition, one raid captain spawns in each wave during a raid. They usually spawn within a group of pillagers, and sometimes spawns riding a ravager. When its ominous banner is dropped, other illagers rush and attempt to pick it up to become the new raid captain.

In Bedrock Edition, raid captains are unused and do not spawn naturally during raids, but the code for them is present.

Pillager outposts

Pillager raid captains regularly spawn in a pillager outpost. Every pillager spawned has a small chance to be a raid captain.

In Java Edition, only pillagers and passive mobs may spawn within a pillager outpost spawn area. Pillagers may spawn on any valid opaque block as long as the block light level is 8 or lower.

Drops

General

Upon death, a raid captain can drop:

Pillager

  • 0–2 arrows, dropping more with the presence of Looting, up to 5‌.
  • Its crossbow (may be loaded or unloaded), which has an 8.5% chance to be dropped (9.5% with Looting I, 10.5% with Looting II and 11.5% with Looting III). It has a random durability and may be enchanted.

Vindicator

  • 0–1 emeralds, with the maximum increasing by 1 for every level of Looting.
  • Its iron axe, which has an 8.5% chance to be dropped (9.5% with Looting I, 10.5% with Looting II and 11.5% with Looting III). It has a random durability and may be enchanted.

Evoker

  • 1 totem of undying, unaffected by Looting.
  • 0–1 emeralds if killed by the player, with the maximum increased by 1 per level of Looting.

Illusioner

  • Its bow, which has an 8.5% chance to be dropped (9.5% with Looting I, 10.5% with Looting II and 11.5% with Looting III). It has a random durability and is unenchanted.

Raider

In Bedrock Edition, raid captains that spawn from raids can additionally drop:

An additional drop is dependent on difficulty, with a 65% chance of dropping on easy and normal, and an 80% chance of dropping on hard.
They can drop one of the following items:

Note:

  • Raiders drop iron equipment in a damaged state, and the equipment has 50% chance of being enchanted with random enchantment.
  • These drops are also affected by Looting enchantment.
  • An emerald is both a regular raider drop and an additional raider drop.‌

Behavior

Raid captains usually act the same as if they were a normal illager, but other illagers follow behind them (except for outpost captain), and usually the captain takes the lead ahead of the other illagers. Once a raid captain is killed by a player, an ominous bottle is dropped that if drank, grant Bad Omen, which can be used to start ominous events like raids or ominous trials. The captain also drops its ominous banner as well; another illager nearby can pick it up to become the next captain.

Achievements

IconAchievementIn-game descriptionActual requirements (if different)Gamerscore earnedTrophy type (PS)
PS4Other
I've got a bad feeling about thisKill a Pillager Captain.20Bronze
Monster HunterAttack 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.15Bronze

Advancements

IconAdvancementIn-game descriptionActual requirements (if different)
Monster HunterKill any hostile monster Other mobs may be killed, but are ignored for this advancement.
Monsters HuntedKill one of every hostile monster Other mobs may be killed, but are ignored for this advancement.
Voluntary ExileKill a .
Maybe consider staying away from villages for the time being...
Kill an entity in the #raiders entity tag wearing an ominous banner: 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.

Data values

ID

Java Edition:

Entity Identifier
EntitySprite evoker.png: Sprite image for evoker in Minecraft Evoker evoker
EntitySprite vindicator.png: Sprite image for vindicator in Minecraft Vindicator vindicator
EntitySprite pillager.png: Sprite image for pillager in Minecraft Pillager pillager
EntitySprite illusioner.png: Sprite image for illusioner in Minecraft Illusioner illusioner
EntitySprite evoker.png: Sprite image for evoker in Minecraft EntitySprite vindicator.png: Sprite image for vindicator in Minecraft EntitySprite pillager.png: Sprite image for pillager in Minecraft EntitySprite illusioner.png: Sprite image for illusioner in Minecraft Entity Tag #raiders

Bedrock Edition:

Entity Identifier Numeric ID
EntitySprite evoker.png: Sprite image for evoker in Minecraft Evoker evocation_illager 104
EntitySprite vindicator.png: Sprite image for vindicator in Minecraft Vindicator vindicator 57
EntitySprite pillager.png: Sprite image for pillager in Minecraft Pillager pillager 114

History

Java Edition
1.1418w45aAdded raid captains, which spawned as part of illager patrols.
18w47aAdded raids, which also include raid captains.
18w49aRaid captains can now be killed multiple times to stack Bad Omen.
18w50aRaid captains can now spawn at pillager outposts.
Raid captains in outposts grant 1 level of Bad Omen, while raid captains in patrols can grant 1-3.
19w13aRaid captains grant only 1 level of Bad Omen now.
1.20.5
Experiment
Update 1.21
24w13aRaid captains now drop an ominous bottle when killed instead of giving the Bad Omen effect.
Bedrock Edition
1.11.0
Experiment
Experimental Gameplay
beta 1.11.0.1Added pillager and vindicator captains.
Currently do not inflict Bad Omen on the player after being killed.
beta 1.11.0.3Illagers now properly follow captains during illager patrols.
Pillager captains now properly give Bad Omen when killed.
1.11.0releaseRaid captains are now available outside of Experimental Gameplay.
1.12.0beta 1.12.0.2Pillager captains now properly drop their illager banners when killed.
Bad Omen is now only received when killing the captain, not when damaging it with a ranged weapon.
Illagers can now properly be turned into captains via tags.
1.16.0beta 1.16.0.51When a raid captain is killed, nearby pillagers now rush toward the illager banner to pick it up and become the next raid captain.
1.18.0beta 1.18.0.20Vindicators and vindicator raid captains no longer spawn in patrols.
1.21.0
Experiment
Update 1.21
Preview 1.21.0.20Raid captains now drop an ominous bottle when killed instead of giving the Bad Omen effect.
PlayStation 4 Edition
1.91Added pillager and vindicator captains.

Issues

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

Trivia

  • Ominous banners equip on raid captains’ helmet slot in Java Edition. In Bedrock Edition, ominous banners equip on illager captains’ chestplate slot.

Gallery

Renders

Screenshots

In other media

Notes

  1. Known as raid captain in Java Edition and illager captain in Bedrock Edition.

Navigation