NBT Tags for Guardian in Minecraft (Java Edition 1.16/1.17/1.18/1.19/1.20)

This Minecraft tutorial explains the NBT tags (formerly called data tags) that you can use for a guardian in Minecraft Java Edition (PC/Mac) 1.16, 1.17, 1.18, 1.19 and 1.20.

Background

In Minecraft Java Edition 1.16, 1.17, 1.18, 1.19 and 1.20, the entity value for a guardian is guardian. The guardian entity has a unique set of data tags that can be used in Minecraft commands such as: /summon and /data.

What are NBT tags (formerly called Data Tags)?

NBT tags allow you to set certain properties of an entity (such as guardian). The NBT tag is always surrounded in {} such as {Health:25.0f}. If there is more than one NBT tag used in a game command, the NBT tags are separated by a comma such as {Health:25.0f, CustomName:"\"Menace\""}.

List of NBT Tags

Here is a list of the NBT tags that you can use for guardian in Minecraft Java Edition (PC/Mac) 1.16, 1.17, 1.18, 1.19 and 1.20:

NBT Tag	Value (Description)	Works With
CustomName	name (The name to assign to the guardian) Example {CustomName:"\"Menace\""}	/summon /data
Health	number (The number of health points the guardian has) Example {Health:25.0f}	/summon /data
AbsorptionAmount	number (The number of absorption health points the guardian has) Example {AbsorptionAmount:2.0f}	/summon /data
Invulnerable	0 (The guardian will take damage like normal) 1 (The guardian will not take any damage from attacks or physical surroundings) Example {Invulnerable:1}	/summon /data
PersistenceRequired	0 (The guardian will despawn naturally) 1 (The guardian won't despawn) Example {PersistenceRequired:1}	/summon /data
NoAI	0 (The guardian will have artificial intelligence and will move/behave like normal) 1 (The guardian will have no artificial intelligence so it will appear motionless) Example {NoAI:1}	/summon /data
Silent	0 (The guardian will make its usual noises in the game) 1 (The guardian will not make any noise in the game) Example {Silent:1}	/summon /data
Fire	ticks (The number of game ticks until the guardian is no longer on fire - there are 20 ticks in a second) Example {Fire:60}	/summon /data
PortalCooldown	ticks (The number of game ticks until the guardian can go through a portal again - there are 20 ticks in a second) Example {PortalCooldown:120}	/summon /data
Air	ticks (The number of game ticks the guardian has air left for) Example {Air:120}	/summon /data
id	guardian (The entity value used to represent a guardian in the EntityTag or Passengers tag) Example {id:guardian}	/summon /give
Passengers	The mob that is riding on the guardian. Use the entity value for the passenger mob Example of skeleton as passenger Passengers:[{id:skeleton}]	/summon /data

NBT Tag Examples

To summon a guardian that is named Menace:

/summon guardian ~ ~ ~ {CustomName:"\"Menace\""}

To summon a guardian named Menace that is silent:

/summon guardian ~ ~ ~ {CustomName:"\"Menace\"", Silent:1}

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=guardian value, you can target guardians:

@e[type=guardian]

Target Selector Examples

To change the name of the nearest guardian to Menace:

/data merge entity @e[type=guardian,limit=1,sort=nearest] {CustomName:"\"Menace\""}

To kill all guardians:

/kill @e[type=guardian]

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

Command Examples

Here are some game command examples for a guardian in Minecraft:

Command Generators

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