Minecraft:Mob AI

This article describes the various components of a mob's AI that control the mob's behavior.

Brain

Some mobs use a complex AI system called a brain. A mob's brain stores memories (data), a list of tasks that can be performed, and a list of sensors used to determine which tasks it can perform.

Sensor

Sensors are used to detect if a mob with a brain can perform certain tasks. Examples of sensors include, a sensor to detect if an armadillo should be scared, a sensor to detect the nearest player, and a sensor to detect if a mob is in water.

List of Sensor Template:In

Sensor	Class	Uses
dummy	DummySensor	defaulted sensor type
nearest_items	NearestItemSensor	Template:Flatlist
nearest_living_entities	NearestLivingEntitySensor	Template:Flatlist
nearest_players	PlayerSensor	Template:Flatlist
nearest_bed	NearestBedSensor	Template:EntityLink
hurt_by	HurtBySensor	Template:Flatlist
villager_hostiles	VillagerHostilesSensor	Template:EntityLink
villager_babies	VillagerBabiesSensor	Template:EntityLink
secondary_pois	SecondaryPoiSensor	Template:EntityLink
golem_detected	GolemSensor	Template:EntityLink
armadillo_scare_detected	MobSensor	Template:EntityLink
piglin_specific_sensor	PiglinSpecificSensor	Template:EntityLink
piglin_brute_specific_sensor	PiglinBruteSpecificSensorregister	Template:EntityLink
hoglin_specific_sensor	HoglinSpecificSensor	Template:EntityLink
nearest_adult	AdultSensor	Template:Flatlist
nearest_adult_any_type	AdultSensor	Template:EntityLink
axolotl_attackables	AxolotlAttackablesSensor	Template:EntityLink
food_temptations	TemptingSensor	Template:Flatlist
frog_temptations	TemptingSensor	Template:Flatlist
nautilus_temptations	TemptingSensor	Template:Flatlist
frog_attackables	FrogAttackablesSensor	Template:EntityLink
is_in_water	IsInWaterSensor	Template:EntityLink
warden_entity_sensor	WardenEntitySensor	Template:EntityLink
breeze_attack_entity_sensor	BreezeAttackEntitySensor	Template:EntityLink

Sensor classes

Class	Memory requires	Do tick
DummySensor	None	Nothing
NearestItemSensor	Template:Cd	Find the Template:Tooltip item that: It is to a Minecraft:euclidean distance of up to 32 blocks from the mob. On the y-axis, it is 16 blocks away from the mob's hitbox. It is in mob line of sightTemplate:Fn. The mob wants to pick up it.Template:Fn And save this item in the memory Template:Cd.
NearestLivingEntitySensor	Template:Cd and Template:Cd	Lists all other Minecraft:living entities that are alive and within a cobuoid generated by the mob's hitbox incremented by mob's Template:Attr in all directions. Sort list by Minecraft:euclidean distance and add to memory Template:Cd. In Template:Cd save the entities of Template:Cd thatTemplate:Fn: They are not a Minecraft:Spectator player, or an invisible or marker Minecraft:armor stand, They are in mob line of sightTemplate:Fn, And they are within a range of Template:Cd blocks of the mob, where Template:Cd is the Template:Attr of the mobTemplate:Fn.
PlayerSensor	Template:Cd, Template:Cd, Template:Cd and Template:Cd	List all non-spectator players to a Minecraft:euclidean distance up to mob's Template:Attr fro the mobs, sort by euclidean distance and save in Template:Cd memory. From this list, it filters the players who are in the mob's line of sightTemplate:Fn and within follow rangeTemplate:Fn. If it exists, save the first player from the list in memory Template:Cd. In memory Template:Cd saves this last list with the following filters: If the difficulty is Minecraft:peaceful, remove all players. Remove all players from Minecraft:creative mode. Remove all players from the same Minecraft:team from the mob. If the mob is the Minecraft:allay, remove the linked player. If the mob is a Minecraft:illager, Template:Cd is in the tag Template:Tag link, and neither the mob nor the player is on a team, remove the player. If the mob is a Minecraft:tamed animal, remove their owner and the players on the owner's team. If the end list is not empty, save in memory Template:Cd the first player on a list.
NearestBedSensor	Template:Cd	If the mob is baby: Set the auxiliary variables Template:Cd and Template:CdTemplate:Fn, where Template:Cd is the total number of game ticks that have elapsed in the world. In the Template:Cd cache, it attempts to save Minecraft:POIs of type Template:Cd that are up to 48 blocks from the mob at an euclid distance. For each POI found whose position Template:Cd is not in the cache, it increases Template:Cd by 1, if Template:Cd, it saves Template:Cd in the cache. In this way, it saves up to 5 new beds in the Template:Cd. The POIs added to the cache create a new set Template:Cd, with the position and type of each POI. Try creating a path to one of the POI in Template:Cd. If it find a path, that path can reach and the target is a POI, save the target's position in mob's memory Template:Cd. If the path cannot be found, or the path cannot be reach, and Template:Cd, remove from the Template:Cd the values where the second coordinate is less than Template:Cd.
HurtBySensor	Template:Cd and Template:Cd
VillagerHostilesSensor
VillagerBabiesSensor
SecondaryPoiSensor
GolemSensor
MobSensor
PiglinSpecificSensor
PiglinBruteSpecificSensorregister
HoglinSpecificSensor
AdultSensor
AxolotlAttackablesSensor
TemptingSensor
FrogAttackablesSensor
IsInWaterSensor	Template:Cd	If the mob is touching the water, add the memory Template:Cd, otherwise remove the memory.
WardenEntitySensor
BreezeAttackEntitySensor

Task

Tasks are activities that mobs with brain AI systems can perform. Sensors are used to determine if a task can be performed, and tasks may use information stored in memories. Examples of tasks include a villager walking to its jobsite, a piglin admiring an item, or a warden emerging. Tasks have priorities, so tasks with a higher priority will over run tasks with lower priority, for example, if a zombie is wandering and it sees a player, it will switch tasks to attacking.

Memory

Memories are used to store data, and are used when mobs perform tasks. Examples of memories include a list of all visible mobs in range, the location of a villager's jobsite block, and any cooldowns the mob may have.

Control

Walking

Mobs movement on land varies wheter it's hostile or passive. Hostile mobs will try to approach and attack the player when within their detection range, while most passive mobs will attempt to run away when attacked. Some mobs will also try to attack or run away from certain blocks or mobs.

Swimming

Mobs swimming works the same way as walking, but in water. While most mobs will just float on water or sink, some can properly swim like Minecraft:fish, Minecraft:drowned, Minecraft:dolphins, Minecraft:turtles, Minecraft:guardians and Minecraft:elder guardians.

Flying

Mobs flying works the same way as walking, but in air. Most mobs will just fall when suspended in air, with a few exceptions. Mobs with Minecraft:Slow Falling, Minecraft:levitation and the Minecraft:chicken don't fly normally but are able to float in mid-air. [[Minecraft::Category:Flying mobs]] contains a list of all mobs that can pathfind in air.

Goals

Goals are a simple AI system used primarily by mobs already existed before the brain AI. However, there are recent mobs that use both AIs simultaneously, for example, the Minecraft:happy ghast.

Goals can range from wandering around, opening doors, attacking another mob, and more. Each type of mob that uses goals has its own defined list of goals, and each goal has a priority. Mobs attempt to perform the lowest priority goal they can, and may switch goals if there is an opportunity to pursue a lower priority goal. For example, if a zombie is targeting and chasing a villager (priority of 3) and a player comes within the detection range of the zombie, the zombie may target and chase the player (priority of 2) instead.

List of goals

List of goals that are used by many different mobs.

List of Goals

Goal	Description	Notes
Active Target	Select an entity to target for chasing and attacking
Ambient Stand	Untamed horse bucks when player tries to ride it
Attack	Attack target
Attack with Owner	Tamed animal attacks a target mob attacked by owner
Avoid Sunlight	During day, move out of direct line-of-sight with sky
Bow Attack	Attack target with bow
Breathe Air	Mob that can drown tries to move out of water
Cat Sit on Block	Cat sits on bed, chest, or furnace
Chase Boat	Chase after boat ridden by player	Unused
Creeper Ignite	Creeper ignites
Crossbow Attack	Attack target with crossbow
Destroy Egg	Destroy turtle eggs
Disableable Follow Target	Raid entity stops following target	Unused
Dive Jump	Mob jumps up and dives down
Dolphin Jump	Dolphin jumps out of water
Door Interact	Mob tries to open a door
Eat Grass	Mob grazes on grass
Escape Danger	Mob panics and runs away when damaged
Flee Entity	Mob runs away from another mob that it is scared of (e.g. skeletons running from wolves)
Fly	Mob tries to fly
Follow Group Leader	Fish tries to follow the leader of a school of fish
Follow Mob	Mob follows another mob
Follow Owner	Tamed mob follows owner
Follow Parent	Baby mob follows its parent
Form Caravan	up to 8 llamas in caravan
Go to Bed and Sleep	Tamed cat sleeps in bed
Go to Walk Target	Mob walks to a target
Hold in Hands	Mob holds an item in its main hand
Horse Bond with Player	Horse attempts to bond with player attempting to tame it
Iron Golem Look	Iron golem looks at a villager
Iron Golem Wander Around	Iron golem wanders around village	uses points of interest
Long Door Interact	Open a door, then close it after a delay
Look Around	Mob spins around and looks in random directions
Look At Customer	Villager or wandering trader looks at player while trading
Look At Entity	Mob looks at another mob
Melee Attack	Mob paths to target and attacks
Move Into Water	Mob paths to water
Move Through Village	Mob moves between points of interest in a village
Move To Raid Center	Raiders move toward village after spawning
Move To Target Position	Mob paths to a specific block
Pounce At Target	Mob jumps towards target	cats, foxes, ocelots
Powder Snow Jump	Mob dives into powder snow	foxes
Prioritized Goal	Used to override the default priority of a goal
Projectile Attack	Mob attacks target with a projectile	arrow, spit, trident, potion, snow ball, wither skull, not fireballs
Raid Goal	Raiders target villagers
Revenge	Target entity that attacked the mob
Wander Around	Move to a nearby random position
Wander Around Far	Move to a random position, sometimes farther away than Wander Around goal
Zombie Attack	Attack goal for zombies and zombie variants

Lists of mob goals

Lists of goals and associated priorities for individual mobs.

Zombie

Goal	Priority	Notes
Revenge	1	Attack entity that damaged the zombie
Active Target - Player	2	Target the player
Zombie Attack	2	Attack current target
Active Target - Iron Golem	3	Target Iron Golem
Active Target - Merchant	3	Target Villager or Wandering Trader
Destroy Egg	4	Break turtle eggs
Active Target - Turtle	5	Target baby turtle
Wander Around Far	7
Look Around	8	Looks away from Entities
Look at Entity	8	Looks at nearest Entities

Pathfinding

Pathfinding penalties

File:Zombified piglin pathing 1.png

Zombified piglin starts pathfinding to a Minecraft:turtle egg

File:Zombified pigling pathing 2.png

Due to pathfinding penalties, the zombified piglin takes an indirect path to the turtle egg, pathing through wither roses and taking damage, instead of pathing through the lava or magma blocks, which do not damage the zombified piglin

When pathfinding to a target, mobs will sometimes avoid certain blocks (usually blocks that cause damage or slow the mob down). These blocks have a penalty associated with them. Generally, mobs try to path through blocks with the smallest penalty. There are some blocks that most mobs cannot path through; these all have a penalty of -1.

The following table is a list of all pathfinding penalties and their default values. Each type of pathfinding (land, water, air) uses its own subset of these penalties. Some mobs override these default values.

Penalty type	Penalty	Description
blocked	-1	can't pathfind through block (most full solid blocks)
powder snow	-1	Template:BlockLink
fence	-1	Template:BlockLink Template:BlockLink Template:BlockLink (closed)
lava	-1	Template:BlockLink
unpassable rail	-1	Template:BlockLink
damage - other	-1	Template:BlockLink Template:BlockLink
closed wood door	-1	Template:BlockLink
closed iron door	-1	Template:BlockLink
open	0	Template:BlockLink Template:BlockLink Template:BlockLink
walkable	0	Template:BlockLink with pressure plate on top (under the mob)
walkable door	0	a door the mob can open
trapdoor	0	Template:BlockLink Template:BlockLink Template:BlockLink
danger - powder snow	0	neighboring block is Template:BlockLink
open door	0	open wood or iron door
cocoa	0	Template:BlockLink
damage - cautious	0	Template:BlockLink Template:BlockLink
danger - trapdoor	0	neighboring block is Template:BlockLink
breach water	4	there is an air block above a water block
water	8	Template:BlockLink
water border	8	neighboring block is Template:BlockLink
danger - fire	8	neighboring block is: Template:BlockLink Template:BlockLink Template:BlockLink Template:BlockLink Template:BlockLink
danger - other	8	neighboring block is: Template:BlockLink Template:BlockLink
honey	8	Template:BlockLink
damage - fire	16	Template:BlockLink Template:BlockLink Template:BlockLink Template:BlockLink Template:BlockLink

Mob pathfinding penalty overrides

The following mobs override the default pathfinding penalty for some blocks:

Mob	Penalty Type	Penalty
Template:EntityLink	water	0
Template:EntityLink	damage - fire	-1
	water	-1
	cocoa	-1
	fence	-1
	water border	16
Template:EntityLink	water	0
Template:EntityLink	danger - other	0
	damage - other	0
Template:EntityLink	trapdoor	-1
	water	4
Template:EntityLink	powder snow	-1
	danger - powder snow	-1
Template:EntityLink Template:EntityLink	damage-fire	-1
	danger - fire	16
Template:EntityLink	danger-fire	-1
	damage - fire	-1
	cocoa	-1
Template:EntityLink	water	-1
	danger - powder snow	-1
	damage - cautious	-1
Template:EntityLink	water	-1
	lava	0
	danger - fire	0
	damage - fire	0
Template:EntityLink	close iron door	-1
	closed wood door	-1
	open door	-1
	water	0
Template:EntityLink	powder snow	-1
	danger - powder snow	-1
Template:EntityLink Template:EntityLink	damage - fire	-1
	danger - fire	16
Template:EntityLink	water	-1
	danger - fire	8
	damage - fire	8
	lava	8
Template:EntityLink	danger - trapdoor	-1
	damage - fire	-1
Template:EntityLink	water	0
Template:EntityLink	water	-1
Template:EntityLink	water	0
Template:EntityLink	leaves	0
Template:EntityLink	unpassable rail	0
	damage - fire	0
	danger - fire	0
	damage - other	8
	powder snow	8
	lava	8
water creatures	water	0
Template:EntityLink	lava	8
Template:EntityLink	lava	8
animal	damage - fire	-1
	danger - fire

Pathfinding on land

• All entities Move based off of random targets that are generated every tick with a priority toward their entity specific goals.
• These targets can be located anywhere in 3D space within the entity range and are only every generated when wandering or when they have no goals.
• For every target a path is generated; with the entity preferring the path with the lowest score regarding the Pathfinding penalties.
• If an entity cannot take any paths with a low enough score, or any paths without a score of -1 the entity will not move until one is found.
• If an entity's target is located inside a block (including water), the target is moved to the nearest air block above it.

This means, every entitiy when wandering will always prefer to pathfind to a block with the most blocks below it within range.

Due to the higher chance that a target will be generated within the blocks below it and moved up to the nearest air block above before generating a path.

Pathfinding in water

• Pathfinding in water is roughly the same as land, however, most entities, excluding fish and drowned, will bounce on the surface preferring land due to the Pathfinding penalties of water.

Pathfinding in air

• Pathfinding in air is roughly the same as land, however, there are few entities that can pathfind to air.

See also

• Minecraft:Mob infighting