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

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

TIP: If you are not running Minecraft Java Edition (PC/Mac) 1.11/1.12, find NBT tags for guardian in another version of Minecraft:

Background

In Minecraft Java Edition 1.11 and 1.12, 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, /entitydata, /give, /fill, /setblock, /testfor.

guardian

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) 1.11 and 1.12:

NBT Tag Value (Description)
CustomName

name (The name to assign to the guardian. If the name has spaces, you need to surrounded the name value in "".)

Example
{CustomName:Menace}
{CustomName:"The Killer"}

Health

number (The number of health points the guardian has)

Example
{Health:25.0f}

AbsorptionAmount

number (The number of absorption health points the guardian has)

Example
{AbsorptionAmount:2.0f}

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}

PersistenceRequired

0 (The guardian will despawn naturally)
1 (The guardian won't despawn)

Example
{PersistenceRequired:1}

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}

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}

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}

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}

Air

ticks (The number of game ticks the guardian has air left for)

Example
{Air:120}

ArmorItems

Since a guardian does not wear armor, you can use this data tag to list 4 items that you want the guardian to drop when it is killed (4 custom drops)

Syntax
ArmorItems:[{Count:1,id:item}, {Count:1,id:item}, {Count:1,id:item}, {Count:1,id:item}]

Example
{ArmorItems:[{Count:3,id:redstone}, {Count:1,id:golden_horse_armor}, {Count:2,id:iron_ingot}, {Count:7,id:gold_ingot}]}

ArmorDropChances

The drop chances for each of the 4 items listed in ArmorItems. A value of 1.0f means 100% chance of the item being dropped when the guardian is killed, 0.5f means 50%, 0.2f means 20%, and so on.

Example
{ArmorDropChances:[1.0f,1.0f,1.0f,1.0f]}

UUIDLeast

A number that specifies the right half of the UUID for the guardian (use UUIDLeast and UUIDMost to target/find a particular guardian in the game)

Example
{UUIDLeast:-6645587150281567948L}

UUIDMost

A number that specifies the left half of the UUID for the guardian (use UUIDLeast and UUIDMost to target/find a particular guardian in the game)

Example
{UUIDMost:4420078606457655279L}

id

guardian (The entity value used to represent a guardian in the EntityTag or Passengers tag)

Example
{id:guardian}

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}]

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}

To summon a guardian that has 4 custom drops (3 redstone, 1 gold horse armor, 2 iron ingot and 7 gold ingot):

/summon guardian ~ ~1 ~ {ArmorItems:[{Count:3,id:redstone}, {Count:1,id:golden_horse_armor}, {Count:2,id:iron_ingot}, {Count:7,id:gold_ingot}], ArmorDropChances:[1.0f,1.0f,1.0f,1.0f]}

To give the closest player a guardian spawn egg in Minecraft Java Edition (PC/Mac) 1.11 and 1.12:

/give @p spawn_egg 1 0 {EntityTag:{id:minecraft:guardian}}

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]

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

@e[type=guardian,r=5]

Target Selector Examples

To change the name of all guardians to Menace within a 5 block radius:

/entitydata @e[type=guardian,r=5] {CustomName:Menace}

To test for all guardians within a 50 block radius:

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

To summon a lightning bolt at all guardians:

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

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: