NBT Tags for Ender Dragon in Minecraft (Java Edition 1.11/1.12)

This Minecraft tutorial explains the NBT tags (formerly called data tags) that you can use for an ender dragon in Minecraft Java Edition (PC/Mac) 1.11 and 1.12.

Background

In Minecraft Java Edition 1.11 and 1.12, the entity value for an ender dragon is ender_dragon. The ender_dragon entity has a unique set of data tags that can be used in Minecraft commands such as: /summon, /entitydata, /give, /fill, /setblock, /testfor.

What are NBT tags (formerly called Data Tags)?

NBT tags allow you to set certain properties of an entity (such as ender_dragon). The NBT tag is always surrounded in {} such as {DragonPhase:7}. If there is more than one NBT tag used in a game command, the NBT tags are separated by a comma such as {DragonPhase:7, CustomName:Endie}.

List of NBT Tags

Here is a list of the NBT tags that you can use for ender_dragon in Minecraft Java Edition (PC/Mac) 1.11 and 1.12:

NBT Tag	Value (Description)	Works With
DragonPhase	0 (The dragon is starting its attack phase) 4 (The dragon is in the middle of the attack phase and will make a noise) 7 (The dragon is about to perform a breath attack) 9 (The dragon is about to die and will drop experience) 10 (The dragon is tame) Example {DragonPhase: 7}	/summon /entitydata
CustomName	name (The name to assign to the ender dragon. If the name has spaces, you need to surrounded the name value in "".) Example {CustomName:Endie} {CustomName:"The Dragon"}	/summon /entitydata
Health	number (The number of health points the ender dragon has) Example {Health:25.0f}	/summon /entitydata
AbsorptionAmount	number (The number of absorption health points the ender dragon has) Example {AbsorptionAmount:2.0f}	/summon /entitydata
Invulnerable	0 (The ender dragon will take damage like normal) 1 (The ender dragon will not take any damage from attacks or physical surroundings) Example {Invulnerable:1}	/summon /entitydata
PersistenceRequired	0 (The ender dragon will despawn naturally) 1 (The ender dragon won't despawn) Example {PersistenceRequired:1}	/summon /entitydata
NoAI	0 (The ender dragon will have artificial intelligence and will move/behave like normal) 1 (The ender dragon will have no artificial intelligence and will appear motionless) Example {NoAI:1}	/summon /entitydata
Silent	0 (The ender dragon will make its usual noises in the game) 1 (The ender dragon will not make any noise in the game) Example {Silent:1}	/summon /entitydata
Fire	ticks (The number of game ticks until the ender dragon is no longer on fire - there are 20 ticks in a second) Example {Fire:60}	/summon /entitydata
PortalCooldown	ticks (The number of game ticks until the ender dragon can go through a portal again - there are 20 ticks in a second) Example {PortalCooldown:120}	/summon /entitydata
Air	ticks (The number of game ticks the ender dragon has air left for) Example {Air:120}	/summon /entitydata
UUIDLeast	A number that specifies the right half of the UUID for the ender dragon (use UUIDLeast and UUIDMost to target/find a particular ender dragon in the game) Example {UUIDLeast:-6645587150281567948L}	/summon /entitydata
UUIDMost	A number that specifies the left half of the UUID for the ender dragon (use UUIDLeast and UUIDMost to target/find a particular ender dragon in the game) Example {UUIDMost:4420078606457655279L}	/summon /entitydata
id	ender_dragon (The entity value used to represent an ender dragon in the EntityTag or Passengers tag) Example {id:ender_dragon}	/summon /give
Passengers	The mob that is riding on the ender dragon. Use the entity value for the passenger mob Example of skeleton as passenger Passengers:[{id:skeleton}]	/summon /entitydata

NBT Tag Examples

To summon an ender dragon that is about to start its attack phase:

/summon ender_dragon ~ ~ ~ {DragonPhase:0}

To summon an ender dragon that is named Endie and is about to perform a breath attack:

/summon ender_dragon ~ ~ ~ {CustomName:Endie, DragonPhase:7}

To summon an ender dragon that is named Endie and is about to die and drop experience:

/summon ender_dragon ~ ~ ~ {CustomName:Endie, DragonPhase:9}

Target Selectors

Before we finish discussing data tags, let's quickly explore how to use the @e target selector. The @e target selector allows you to target entities in your commands. If you use the type=ender_dragon value, you can target ender dragons:

@e[type=ender_dragon]

You can also add a radius value to target ender dragons within a certain radius of blocks (for example, r=5 lets you target ender dragons within a 5 block radius of where the command is run):

@e[type=ender_dragon,r=5]

Target Selector Examples

To change all ender dragons to dragon phase 7 (perform a breath attack) within a 5 block radius:

/entitydata @e[type=ender_dragon,r=5] {DragonPhase:7}

To test for all ender dragons within a 50 block radius:

/testfor @e[type=ender_dragon,r=50]

To summon a lightning bolt at all ender dragons:

/execute @e[type=ender_dragon] ~ ~ ~ /summon lightning_bolt

To kill all ender dragons:

/kill @e[type=ender_dragon]

Next, learn how to use the game commands in Minecraft.

Command Examples

Here are some game command examples for an ender dragon in Minecraft:

Command Generators

If you need help, you can use these tools to automatically generate commands for you: