How to Make Pillagers Spawn Again in Minecraft

Pillagers are a hostile mob in Minecraft, notorious for their raids and the Bad Omen effect they inflict upon players. Whether you’re trying to build a raid farm, gather ominous banners, or simply need a source of target practice, understanding how to make pillagers spawn again is crucial. The short answer is: pillagers respawn naturally at outposts and also as patrols in the open world after some time has passed, and certain conditions have been met. You don’t need any special tricks or commands to make them reappear, just patience and an understanding of their spawn mechanics.

Pillager Spawning Mechanisms

Pillager spawning is governed by a few key factors: time, location, light levels, and specific world conditions. It’s not a simple case of instantly refreshing spawns; rather, it’s a process governed by the game’s internal logic.

Outpost Respawning

The most reliable place for pillagers to respawn is at their outposts. Once you’ve cleared an outpost of its inhabitants, pillagers, including captains, will eventually respawn there. This process isn’t instantaneous, but if you leave the area and return later, you’re likely to find the outpost populated again. This makes outposts a valuable resource for farming Bad Omen and looting. They respawn due to a world spawn area calculation, which makes it constantly repopulate the outpost when the pillagers are gone.

Patrol Spawning

Pillagers also spawn as patrols in the open world. These patrols are groups of pillagers that roam, looking for villages to raid. Patrols typically consist of a few pillagers and a captain. They only spawn when specific time and world conditions are met.

Time-Based Spawning

Pillager patrols do not spawn right away when you start a world. It takes 5.5 in-game days for the game to even begin the attempt to spawn them. Once that has been met, the game will attempt to spawn a pillager patrol about every 10 minutes with a success rate of only 20%. This random spawn can make it seem like they’re rare when they do finally spawn. If you’re trying to trigger a pillager patrol, make sure enough time has passed in your world and stay in an open area for these to occur.

Light Level Requirements

Pillagers, like many hostile mobs, require certain light level conditions to spawn. They need to spawn on a valid opaque block that isn’t leaves where the block light level is 8 or less. If the light level is 14 or greater, pillagers will not spawn. This means areas brightly lit with torches, glowstone, or other light sources will prevent pillagers from spawning.

Block and Location Restrictions

Pillagers need an appropriate opaque block to spawn on. They can spawn on any solid block except for leaves. They cannot spawn inside of caves, so lighting caves is unnecessary when trying to spawn pillagers. If you are standing at the top of an outpost, all mob spawns will be concentrated to the bounding box of the outpost. After this, you can then go down to the base of the outpost, and kill any pillagers that have spawned.

How To Encourage Pillager Spawns

While you can’t force pillagers to spawn immediately, here are some strategies to encourage their appearance:

• Clearing and Returning: For outpost spawns, clear the outpost and leave the area for a while. When you return, new pillagers should have respawned.
• Open Area Strategy: When trying to trigger pillager patrols, find a large open area. This will help you see the pillagers when they do finally spawn.
• Time Management: If you just started a world, understand that you will not see pillagers for 5.5 in-game days and then the chances for them spawning will be fairly low, and every 10 minutes after that there will be another chance for them to spawn with a 20% success rate.
• Lowering Light Levels: Make sure you are not over lighting the area where you want them to spawn. If you are lighting the ground that is unnecessary to stop them from spawning.
• Patience: Sometimes, you just need to be patient. The game’s random spawn mechanics will eventually result in more pillagers.
• Avoid Villages: Patrols do not spawn if the player is too close to a village. You need to be at least 24-48 blocks away from a village to encourage patrols. They spawn closer to villages with 15+ villagers.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. How fast do pillagers respawn at outposts?

 Pillagers respawn at outposts after a certain amount of time has passed. However, this timing is not exact and is not based on any tick timer. The best way to make them respawn is to leave the area and then return later. This will reset the spawn calculations and cause them to respawn again.

2. How many pillagers spawn in a patrol?

In Java Edition, the number of pillagers in a patrol varies from one to five and depends on the regional difficulty. One of these pillagers will always be the patrol captain.

3. Can pillagers spawn anywhere, or only near outposts?

Pillagers can spawn at outposts and as patrols anywhere in the open world. However, only pillagers will spawn in an outpost spawn area.

4. What is the success rate for a pillager patrol to spawn?

The game will attempt to spawn a pillager patrol every 10 minutes with a success rate of 20%.

5. How long do you need to wait for pillager patrols to start spawning?

Pillager patrols only start spawning after your world has reached 5.5 in-game days (100 minutes).

6. What light level prevents pillagers from spawning?

 Pillagers cannot spawn in areas with a block light level of 14 or greater. They need a light level of 8 or less.

7. Can I stop pillagers from spawning?

Yes, by lighting up the area where they spawn. However, this is only useful for stopping pillagers from spawning in a specific location. They will continue to spawn elsewhere.

8. Do ominous banners attract pillagers?

No, ominous banners do not attract pillagers. They are simply items dropped when you kill a pillager captain, and give the Bad Omen effect when picked up.

9. Why are pillagers spawning near my house?

Pillagers spawn near villages. A village is considered to be any location that has a villager and a bell. If you live near a village, or you have a villager and a bell, they will spawn near you. Try to remove these components to stop the spawns.

10. Can you turn pillagers into villagers?

Yes, by using a **Confusion potion** and a **Golden apple**, you can transform a pillager into a villager.

11. Why aren’t pillagers spawning in my raid?

If a player is too close to a village (within a 5x5x5 sub-chunk cube), patrols will not spawn. This also influences raid spawns, as the raid is triggered by bad omen and the villages are where the raid takes place.

12. How many villagers are needed for pillagers to naturally spawn nearby?

Pillager patrols prefer to spawn near villages with 15 or more villagers. Most naturally generated villages do not have this many, meaning that the spawns won’t naturally happen near them.

13. Can pillagers spawn without an outpost?

Yes, pillagers can spawn as patrols independent of outposts. These patrols will spawn even in worlds without any generated structures.

14. Do pillager raids ever expire?

Yes, if a raid goes on for **48,000 ticks (40 minutes)**, the raid bossbar will disappear and you will be notified that the raid expired. Any illagers that remain will stay until killed.

15. What does the illager banner do?

The Illager banner (Ominous Banner) is carried by pillager captains. Killing a captain outside of a raid will give the player the **Bad Omen** effect. This effect will trigger a raid if the player then enters a village with villagers.

By understanding these mechanics and FAQs, you can more effectively manage pillager spawns in your Minecraft world, whether it’s for raid farming, gathering banners, or simply adding some extra challenge to your gameplay.