Iron Golem

For other uses, see Golem.

Iron Golem

Health points	Uncracked: 100HP × 50 Low cracked: 75HP × 37.5 Half cracked: 50HP × 25 High cracked: 25HP × 12.5
Behavior	Neutral (naturally spawned) Passive (player-built)
Attack strength	Easy: 4.75HP × 2.375 – 11.75HP × 5.875 Normal: 7.5HP × 3.75 – 21.5HP × 10.75 Hard: 11.25HP × 5.625 – 32.25HP × 16.125
Hitbox size	In Java Edition: Height: 2.7 blocks Width: 1.4 blocks In Bedrock Edition: Height: 2.9 blocks Width: 1.4 blocks
Speed	0.25
Knockback resistance	100%
Spawn	Near a pillager outpost In villages When built by the player When summoned by villagers
Usable items	Iron Ingot Lead
Can be leashed	Yes
Can ride boats	No
Can ride minecarts	Yes‌[BE only] No‌[JE only]

An iron golem is a buildable neutral mob that attacks monsters with its arms, knocking them into the air. Iron golems are spawned by villagers to patrol and protect their villages. Iron golems spawned by villagers will retaliate against players if attacked, and are hostile to players that have low popularity or reputation with their village.

Spawning

Villages

Java Edition

In Java Edition, villagers can summon iron golems, either when they are gossiping or every 5 seconds while panicking and the following criteria are met:

1. The villager has slept in the last 20 minutes
2. The villager has not detected an iron golem in the last 30 seconds
   • An iron golem is detected when it is within 16 blocks of the villager (±16X ±16Z ±16Y axis), and the villager scans for golems once every 10 seconds
3. The villager has not been near a summoning in the last 30 seconds
   • A villager is near a summoning when it is within 10 blocks of a villager (±10X ±10Z ±10Y axis) who successfully summons an iron golem
4. There are enough participants within 10 blocks of the villager, including the villager itself; participating villagers need to fulfill the previous 3 conditions: When gossiping, 5 or more participants are needed. When panicking, 3 or more are needed
5. A valid spawn point for the golem is found

Iron golems still spawn even when the game rule spawn_mobs is set to false.^[1]

To find a valid spawn point, up to 10 attempts are made to spawn a golem within a 17×13×17 box centered on the villager (villager block position ±8 blocks along x/z axes and ±6 blocks along y axis). A random y column is picked and then the topmost block in that column is selected that is air or liquid and has a "solid-blocking" block underneath.

The target location is then checked whether the block underneath has a solid top surface (which is not the same as "solid-blocking"). The target block and 2 blocks above must not be a full block, nor be redstone-powered, nor be rails, and the two blocks above must not be water. This means the iron golem can spawn inside 1-deep water or inside blocks like slabs, fences, and carpets (if other checks pass). Adjacent blocks are irrelevant, so golems can spawn partially inside adjacent solid blocks.^[2] However, the spawning iron golem still must not collide with any existing entities.

Bedrock Edition

In Bedrock Edition, an iron golem can spawn naturally when a village first generates in the world. Iron golems also spawn in villages having at least 20 beds and 10 villagers. The golem attempts to spawn in a 17×13×17 volume, ±8 blocks horizontal and ±6 blocks vertical from the village's center block, which can be (but isn't necessarily) a bed pillow or a bell.

First, X and Z coordinates are randomly chosen within the spawn volume. Next, the highest block at those coordinates within the spawn volume is found. If it is a block with a full top surface — including glass, upside-down stairs, top slabs, hoppers (though this has varied with version), and even water (including source blocks) — and there is no obstruction above it by a block above the spawn volume, then the golem spawns there. Otherwise, the spawn attempt is canceled.

For a village to spawn iron golems, 75% of its villagers must have been able to work (reach their linked work block during a working period) in the past 24000 game ticks (20 minutes) (not counting nitwits), and 100% of them must be linked to a bed. Additionally, the village center must be within a player's simulation distance volume.

The maximum distance the player can be from the village for iron golems to spawn can be calculated with the following formulas. These are approximate because they yield a cuboid volume, but the simulation distance volume is an octahedral shape based on taxicab distance.

Iron golems can only spawn within the player's simulation distance volume, so if a village center lies close to the border of said volume, only part of the typical 17x13x17 golem spawn volume will be eligible for spawning.

If the village's original iron golem is killed, a new one cannot spawn unless all of the conditions are met. Therefore, a small village does not regenerate an iron golem unless the village is expanded.

If the spawn conditions are met, then the chance of attempting a spawn is ¹⁄₇₀₀ per game tick, which averages to one spawn attempt every 35 seconds. Iron golems can spawn provided the 2×3×2 space above the spawn point (that is, horizontally centered on the northwest corner of the block it spawns on) contains only non-full blocks, and the block it spawns on is solid-blocking.

An additional iron golem spawns for each additional 10 villagers beyond the initial population requirement, provided that the other requirements are met.

Creation

Iron golem build configuration.

Iron golem build configuration with a jack o'lantern.

Iron golems are created by placing four iron blocks in a T shape (as shown in the image), and then placing a carved pumpkin or jack o'lantern on top of the center upper block. The pumpkin may be placed by the player, a dispenser or an enderman, but it must be placed last. Alternatively, the blocks can be placed in any order with an uncarved pumpkin; the player can shear the pumpkin to spawn the golem.

When successfully created, the iron golem is naturally passive toward all players under all circumstances. It can, however, attack the player’s tamed wolves, if punched accidentally, but it never directly attacks the player. The constructed golem attacks hostile mobs like a naturally spawned iron golem.

The block arrangement can be placed upright, lying down, or upside-down. The four empty spaces in the diagram (above and below each of the arms) must be air blocks. Any non-air block (including blocks such as snow layers, grass, small flowers, and water) present in any of the empty spaces prevent the golem from spawning.

Like other constructed mobs, iron golems always spawn facing south. Their large size may cause them to take suffocation damage from nearby solid blocks at the level of their head.

Pillager outposts

Iron golems can also be found surrounding pillager outposts, confined inside dark oak cages. When freed, they can help the player by attacking any nearby pillagers. Pillagers can technically attack iron golems in cages if they fall in, though it is unlikely that they will succeed on their own. Iron golems can also attack pillagers from within the cage due to being able to attack through 1 block walls, assuming that it sees a pillager through an air block.

Drops

On death

Java Edition:

Item		Quantity / Chance / Average
		Default			Looting I			Looting II			Looting III
	Poppy	0–2	66.67%	1.00	0–2	66.67%	1.00	0–2	66.67%	1.00	0–2	66.67%	1.00
	Iron Ingot	3–5	100.00%	4.00	3–5	100.00%	4.00	3–5	100.00%	4.00	3–5	100.00%	4.00

Item		Quantity / Chance / Average
		Default			Looting I			Looting II			Looting III
	Poppy	0–2	2⁄3	1	0–2	2⁄3	1	0–2	2⁄3	1	0–2	2⁄3	1
	Iron Ingot	3–5	1	4	3–5	1	4	3–5	1	4	3–5	1	4

Item		Amount	Probability
			Default	Looting I	Looting II	Looting III
	Poppy	0	1⁄3 (33.33%)	1⁄3 (33.33%)	1⁄3 (33.33%)	1⁄3 (33.33%)
		1	1⁄3 (33.33%)	1⁄3 (33.33%)	1⁄3 (33.33%)	1⁄3 (33.33%)
		2	1⁄3 (33.33%)	1⁄3 (33.33%)	1⁄3 (33.33%)	1⁄3 (33.33%)
		Average	1 (1.00)	1 (1.00)	1 (1.00)	1 (1.00)
	Iron Ingot	3	1⁄3 (33.33%)	1⁄3 (33.33%)	1⁄3 (33.33%)	1⁄3 (33.33%)
		4	1⁄3 (33.33%)	1⁄3 (33.33%)	1⁄3 (33.33%)	1⁄3 (33.33%)
		5	1⁄3 (33.33%)	1⁄3 (33.33%)	1⁄3 (33.33%)	1⁄3 (33.33%)
		Average	4 (4.00)	4 (4.00)	4 (4.00)	4 (4.00)

Killed		1
Item		Expected Drops
		Default	Looting I	Looting II	Looting III
	Poppy	1.00	1.00	1.00	1.00
	Iron Ingot	4.00	4.00	4.00	4.00

Bedrock Edition:

Item		Quantity / Chance / Average
		Default			Looting I			Looting II			Looting III
	Poppy	0–2	66.67%	1.00	0–2	66.67%	1.00	0–2	66.67%	1.00	0–2	66.67%	1.00
	Iron Ingot	3–5	100.00%	4.00	3–5	100.00%	4.00	3–5	100.00%	4.00	3–5	100.00%	4.00

Item		Quantity / Chance / Average
		Default			Looting I			Looting II			Looting III
	Poppy	0–2	2⁄3	1	0–2	2⁄3	1	0–2	2⁄3	1	0–2	2⁄3	1
	Iron Ingot	3–5	1	4	3–5	1	4	3–5	1	4	3–5	1	4

Item		Amount	Probability
			Default	Looting I	Looting II	Looting III
	Poppy	0	1⁄3 (33.33%)	1⁄3 (33.33%)	1⁄3 (33.33%)	1⁄3 (33.33%)
		1	1⁄3 (33.33%)	1⁄3 (33.33%)	1⁄3 (33.33%)	1⁄3 (33.33%)
		2	1⁄3 (33.33%)	1⁄3 (33.33%)	1⁄3 (33.33%)	1⁄3 (33.33%)
		Average	1 (1.00)	1 (1.00)	1 (1.00)	1 (1.00)
	Iron Ingot	3	1⁄3 (33.33%)	1⁄3 (33.33%)	1⁄3 (33.33%)	1⁄3 (33.33%)
		4	1⁄3 (33.33%)	1⁄3 (33.33%)	1⁄3 (33.33%)	1⁄3 (33.33%)
		5	1⁄3 (33.33%)	1⁄3 (33.33%)	1⁄3 (33.33%)	1⁄3 (33.33%)
		Average	4 (4.00)	4 (4.00)	4 (4.00)	4 (4.00)

Killed		1
Item		Expected Drops
		Default	Looting I	Looting II	Looting III
	Poppy	1.00	1.00	1.00	1.00
	Iron Ingot	4.00	4.00	4.00	4.00

In Bedrock Edition, trading prices are unaffected by the killing of iron golems; however, village popularity decreases by 10, affecting village iron golem behavior if the popularity ranges below -15.

Behavior

Iron golems wander around a village in a patrol-like fashion, staying close to buildings and other structures. Like villagers, iron golems do not wander away from a village, regardless of how they were spawned, but sometimes stand at the border of the village.

An iron golem sometimes faces a villager as if they are conversing. Iron golems can spawn poppies in their hands and offer them to villagers and copper golems. Baby villagers‌^{[Bedrock Edition only][3]} and copper golems accept the poppy offered by the iron golem. A copper golem that accepts a poppy has the poppy on top of the rod on their head. Attacking an iron golem that is not player-built while the iron golem is holding out a poppy causes it to take back the poppy and attack the player instead. If the iron golem sees a target while it is offering the poppy, it runs to attack them and inflict damage.

In Bedrock Edition, iron golems completely ignore villagers, pushing them aside while walking if a villager is in the iron golem's path, but they still offer poppies if possible.

If not within a village, iron golems slowly wander around attacking hostile mobs, (skeletons, zombies, etc.) usually making their way to a nearby village. If in that village, the iron golem doesn't leave.

Iron golems can walk up a full block height without jumping and walk over a 1 block wide hole without falling in. They avoid water, lava, fire, and cactus. Iron golems are immune to both drowning and fall damage. When in water they sink to the bottom, but can still move laterally and walk up full blocks as if they were on land.

As with most passive and neutral mobs, iron golems can be leashed. The leashed iron golem does not try to break from the lead when it sees a hostile mob, instead looking at the mob while it moves. An iron golem that is leashed in mid-air moves its arms and legs while moving. If an iron golem is leashed to a fence, it attacks hostile mobs, but does not follow them if they leave the leash range as the iron golem cannot break free from fence leads.

In Java Edition, Iron golems that aren't provoked move slower. Iron golems move faster in Bedrock Edition, as its normal walking speed is fast regardless of being provoked.

Iron golems cannot pick up weapons or armor, but the player can use NBT commands in Java Edition or the /replaceitem command in Bedrock Edition to give the iron golem weapons or armor, although the armor or weapons are not visible.

Attacking

When attacking, an iron golem moves quickly toward its target and swings its arms up violently to attack, flinging the target into the air and dealing damage in a random range set by difficulty, between as low as 4.75HP × 2.375 damage on Easy difficulty and as high as 32.25HP × 16.125 damage on Hard difficulty. Iron golems cannot attack targets that are 2.75‌^{[Java Edition only]}/3‌^{[Bedrock Edition only]} or more blocks above them. As such, standing on a three block pillar will allow players to attack golems below them without taking damage themselves.

It is possible for multiple golems to hit the same target simultaneously, flinging the victim to a height proportional to the number of golems that attacked.‌^{[Bedrock Edition only]}

If an iron golem attacks a group of mobs, it targets one mob to attack until that mob dies before attacking a different mob, even while being attacked by other mobs.

If the mob is out of sight and iron golem is not very angry toward them, the iron golem attacks the next mob that attacks it. Sometimes, the iron golem might attack the nearest hostile mob if they are in groups.

When an iron golem kills any mob, the player can obtain items dropped by the mob, but no experience orbs. An iron golem that kills a raid mob in Bedrock Edition also causes the mob to drop its raid loot, even when the mob wasn't attacked by the player before it was killed.

Iron golems never attack each other, as iron golems cannot "accidentally" hit another iron golem when attacking.

Provocation by players

An iron golem built by a player never attacks players, even when hit or when the player attacks another villager or another golem in front of the player-built golem, though they will attack a player's tamed wolf if the wolf attacks the golem.

In Bedrock Edition, a naturally-spawned iron golem immediately becomes hostile toward a player who attacks a villager near an iron golem.

If a player has -15 popularity or less in a village, or has -100 or lower reputation with any nearby villager, naturally-spawned iron golems become hostile to that player until the player's popularity climbs above -15 and reputation with all nearby villagers goes above -100.‌^{[Java Edition only]}

A village iron golem retaliates when attacked by a player, even if the attack dealt no damage such as an ender pearl or snowball. If a village has more than one naturally-spawned iron golem and a player attacks one in front of the other(s), all iron golems of that type may become hostile to the player.‌^{[Bedrock Edition only]}

Iron golems are not provoked by players who attack wandering traders.^[4]

Fighting with other mobs

Although they are guardians of villages, iron golems are not actually provoked when a mob attacks a nearby villager (in contrast to a player attacking a villager‌^{[Bedrock Edition only]}), given that the iron golem is not already hostile to the type of mob by default. With the exception of creepers, goats, and sulfur cubes, they are provoked when attacked by any mob, and by the presence of nearby monsters. Even if a witch accidentally throws a positive splash potion at an iron golem during a raid, this does not stop the iron golem from attacking the witch. Iron golems are ineffective against flying hostile mobs that don't venture into the iron golem's reach, such as ghasts and phantoms. Iron golems will attack a villager if a raid has been defeated and the villager's firework damages the golem.

The list below contains mobs that can have hostile interactions with iron golems. The iron golem also attacks neutral mobs or hostile mobs that can attack the player, such as piglins or zombified piglins.

Mob	Iron golems attack	Attack iron golems
Bogged Breeze Drowned Evoker Husk Illusioner‌[JE only] Magma Cube Parched Pillager Ravager Skeleton Slime Stray Vindicator Warden Wither Wither Skeleton Zoglin Zombie Zombie Villager	Yes	Yes
Blaze Enderman Hoglin Piglin Piglin Brute Shulker Zombified Piglin	Yes	When attacked
Silverfish	Yes	When attacked‌[JE only] Yes‌[BE only]
Endermite	Yes	When attacked‌[JE only] No‌[BE only]
Cave Spider Spider	Yes	When attacked or when light level is below 12
Vex	Yes	When attacked or when summoning evoker is attacked
Witch	Yes	When patrolling‌[JE only] Yes‌[BE only]
Creaking Elder Guardian Giant‌[JE only] Guardian Phantom	Yes	No
Llama Snow Golem Trader Llama	When attacked	When attacked
Tamed Wolf	When attacked	When attacked, when owner is attacked, or when owner attacks
Trusting Fox	When attacked	No‌[JE only] When trusted player is attacked‌[BE only]
Zombie Nautilus	No‌[JE only] Yes‌[BE only][5]	When attacked
Nautilus Pufferfish Villager	When attacked	No
Ender Dragon Ghast	Yes‌[JE only] No‌[BE only]	No
Goat	No	Randomly
Creeper Sulfur Cube	No	No
All other mobs	When attacked	No

A naturally-spawned iron golem knows where raiding illager locations are from behind solid walls and from underground and attempts to move toward them. An iron golem created by the player or summoned by a command cannot detect raiders through obstructions. Iron golems also look up or down if the hostile mob is above or below the iron golem.

Being attacked

Zombies (and variants), zoglins, skeletons (and variants), spiders, cave spiders, slimes, magma cubes, withers, ravagers and illagers naturally attack iron golems on sight and may cause major damage, especially if the mobs attack in groups. In Bedrock Edition, silverfish and witches also naturally attack iron golems without provocation.

Iron golems have 100% knockback resistance from normal attacks. However, they can be knocked back by wind charges and the Wind Burst enchantment.

Cracking

Iron golems have different stages of being cracked to show their health. When their health is at or above 75%, they do not have any cracks. When their health is at or above 50% but lower than 75%, some cracks appear. When their health is at or above 25% but lower than 50%, they appear more cracked. When their health is lower than 25%, many cracks are visible.

• 
  No deterioration
  (75% of health remaining or more)
• 
  Low deterioration
  (Between 74% and 50% remaining)
• 
  Average deterioration
  (Between 49% and 25% remaining)
• 
  Strong deterioration
  (Less than 25% remaining)

Healing

Using an iron ingot on a damaged iron golem heals 25HP × 12.5 (equal to one deterioration level) and consumes the ingot.

In Bedrock Edition, due to a bug, it is possible to make an iron golem invulnerable to damage other than the /kill command.^[6] If an iron golem dies and is healed in the same tick, it becomes invulnerable gets stuck continuously stuttering in its death animation. Reloading the chunk fixes the death animation. If the invulnerable golem is killed by other methods such as /kill, it plays no death sound and drops nothing.

Preferred path

This feature is exclusive to Bedrock Edition.

Like villagers, iron golems in Bedrock Edition use a strategy of pathfinding that prioritizes walking on certain "low-cost" blocks.

Preferred path blocks	Block cost
Dirt path Smooth Sandstone	0
Cobblestone Stone Stone Bricks Sandstone Cut Sandstone Chiseled Sandstone Smooth Sandstone Mossy Cobblestone Slabs Planks Bricks Nether Bricks Red Nether Bricks End Stone Bricks Red Sandstone Cut Red Sandstone Chiseled Red Sandstone Smooth Red Sandstone Stained Glass Glass Glowstone Prismarine Block of Emerald Block of Diamond Block of Lapis Lazuli Block of Gold Block of Redstone Glazed Terracotta	1
Beds Lectern Composter Grindstone Blast Furnace Smoker Fletching Table Cartography Table Brewing Stand Smithing Table Cauldron Barrel Loom Stonecutter	50
Other	1.5
Jump cost	5

Iron golems attempt to walk on a one-block-wide path, despite them being two blocks wide. An iron golem favors a wider path if it sees one.

Climbing

Iron golems can climb ladders or vines if the ladder or vine is in its path, or if pushed onto a ladder or vine.

Sounds

Java Edition:

Bedrock Edition:

Data values

ID

Java Edition:

Name	Identifier	Entity tags	Translation key
Iron Golem	iron_golem	can_breathe_under_water fall_damage_immune	entity.minecraft.iron_golem

Bedrock Edition:

Name	Identifier	Numeric ID	Family	Translation key
Iron Golem	iron_golem	20	irongolem mob	entity.iron_golem.name

Entity data

Iron golems have entity data associated with them that contain various properties.

Java Edition:

Bedrock Edition:

See Bedrock Edition level format/Entity format.

Achievements

Icon		Achievement	In-game description	Actual requirements (if different)	Gamerscore earned	Trophy type (PS)
PS4	Other
		Body Guard	Create an Iron Golem.	—	20	Bronze

Achievements that apply to all mobs:

Icon		Achievement	In-game description	Actual requirements (if different)	Gamerscore earned	Trophy type (PS)
PS4	Other
		Overkill	Deal nine hearts of damage in a single hit.	Damage can be dealt to any mob, even those that do not have nine hearts of health overall.	30	Bronze
		Over-Overkill	Deal 50 hearts of damage in a single hit using the Mace	Damage can be dealt to any mob, even those that do not have 50 hearts of health overall.	20	Silver
		Mob Kabob	Hit five mobs in the same Charge attack using the Spear	Armor stands and players also count for this achievement as they are technically mobs.	10	Bronze

Advancements

Icon	Advancement	In-game description	Actual requirements (if different)
	Acquire Hardware	Smelt an Iron Ingot	Have an iron ingot in the inventory.
	Hired Help	Summon an Iron Golem to help defend a village	Summon an iron golem.

Advancements that apply to all mobs:

Icon	Advancement	In-game description	Actual requirements (if different)
	Adventure	Adventure, exploration and combat	Kill any mob, or be killed by any living entity.
	A Throwaway Joke	Throw a Trident at something. Note: Throwing away your only weapon is not a good idea.	Hit a mob with a thrown trident.
	Take Aim	Shoot something with an Arrow	Using a bow or a crossbow, shoot a mob with an arrow, tipped arrow, or spectral arrow.
	Mob Kabob	Hit five mobs in the same Charge attack using the Spear	Armor Stand and Mannequin also count for this advancement.
	Arbalistic	Kill five unique mobs with one crossbow shot	Armor Stand and Mannequin also count for this advancement. This is a hidden advancement, meaning that it can be viewed by the player only after completing it, regardless of if its child advancement(s), if any, have been completed.
	Over-Overkill	Deal 50 hearts of damage in a single hit using the Mace	Damage can be dealt to any mob, even those that do not have 50 hearts of health overall.

Videos

History

Java Edition

Java Edition
1.2.1			12w08a				Added iron golems.
							One iron golem may spawn in a village for every 16 villagers.
							Iron golems currently have a much higher spawn rate.
			1.2				Mechanical and stomping sounds have been added for the iron golem.
							Iron golems now spawn a lot less frequently in villages.​
							Iron golems no longer drown.
1.4.2			12w32a				Iron golems now attack slimes, magma cubes, and will sometimes attack creepers, this is most likely unintended as unlike other hostile mobs they attack immediately, such as zombies, creepers are only attacked at random and most often after iron golems have fought other mobs.
			?				One iron golem can now spawn for every 10 villagers in a village.
1.6.1			13w16a				Added leads, which can be used to leash iron golems.
1.7.2			13w36a				Because roses have been replaced with poppies, the iron golem's drop has been changed.
1.8			14w03a				Iron golems now only drop iron ingots when killed by the player, either through combat, potions, or player-activated mechanisms such as manually lit TNT. If killed without player intervention, they now drop only poppies.
			14w04a				The previous change has been reverted; iron golems always drop iron ingots again.
							Iron golems can now be spawned by dispensing a pumpkin.
			14w25a				Iron golems can now be built sideways and upside-down instead of just upright and require air blocks in the corners of the area.[7]
			14w26c				Jack o'lanterns can no longer be used to build iron golems.
			14w33a				Zombies, skeletons, spiders, cave spiders, slimes, magma cubes and blazes now attack iron golems, without provocation.
1.8.1			pre1				Jack o'lanterns can now be used to build iron golems again.
							Iron golems no longer attack creepers since the mob AI overhaul in this update most likely patched out this unintended feature.
1.9			15w39a				Iron golems are now slightly shorter (2.7 blocks tall rather than 2.9).
			15w46a				Iron golems now spawn with 100% knockback resistance. Iron golems from previous versions continue to take knockback.[8]
1.13			17w47a				Iron golems can now also​ use a carved pumpkin to be created.
1.14			18w43a				The texture of iron golems has been updated.
			18w47a				Iron golems now spawn in cages next to pillager outposts.
			19w08a				A single iron golem now always spawns as part of a village.
							The texture of the iron golem has been tweaked. The bottom of the left arm is now the same as the right arm. The part of the under of the head and the under of the waist has been changed.
							Iron golems are now able to step up 1 block just like horses and some other mobs.
1.14.3			pre1				Panicking villagers now have a higher chance of spawning iron golems.
1.15			19w41a				Iron golems now crack as they take damage.
							Iron golems can now be healed with iron ingots.
			19w44a				Iron golem's damage progress is now based on the ratio of current health to max health.
1.15.2			pre1				Iron golem's cracks are no longer visible if they have the Invisibility effect.
1.16			20w10a				Firework damage now provokes iron golems.[9]
			20w19a				Villagers can now spawn iron golems regardless of their profession status or latest working time.
1.19			22w12a				Spawning area changed from 16×13×16 to 17×13×17.
							Iron golems now spawn every 35 seconds instead of 30 seconds due to a bug.[10]
			22w19a				Iron golems can now spawn on any block with a full top surface.[verify for Java Edition]
			pre1				Iron golems now spawn only on blocks with a full top surface and a movement-blocking material.
1.19.3			22w44a				Added spawn eggs for iron golems.[11]
1.20.2			23w31a				Iron golems now spawn every 30 seconds again.
			23w33a				Iron golems now have a lower attack range. They can no longer attack through one-block-thick walls.[12][13]
1.21.9			25w33a				Iron golems now sometimes plant a decorative flower onto a nearby copper golem.

Bedrock Edition

Pocket Edition Alpha
v0.12.1			build 1				Added iron golems.
v0.16.0			build 4				Iron golems now damage players in Peaceful difficulty.
Pocket Edition
1.0.0			alpha 0.17.0.2				Iron golems now spawn with 100% knockback resistance.
			alpha 1.0.0.0				Iron golems no longer attack players in Peaceful difficulty.
Bedrock Edition
1.10.0			beta 1.10.0.3				The texture of iron golems has been updated.
							Iron golems now spawn in cages next to pillager outposts.
							Skeletons once again attack iron golems.
1.11.0			beta 1.11.0.1				A single iron golem now always spawns as part of a village.
1.16.100			beta 1.16.100.54				Iron golems now attack hoglins and zoglins.[14][15]
1.16.220			?				Changed the model of the poppy held by iron golems.
							Changed the model of the poppy held by iron golems.
1.18.10			beta 1.18.10.26				Iron golems now crack as they take damage.
							Iron golems can now be healed with iron ingots.
1.19.60			Preview 1.19.60.20				Added spawn eggs for iron golems.
1.20.40			Preview 1.20.40.22				Iron golems now produce a crumbling particle effect when constructed.
1.21.30			Preview 1.21.30.21				Iron golems can no longer be created with un-carved pumpkins.[16]
1.21.60			release				Changed the model of the poppy held by iron golems.
1.21.111			Preview 1.21.110.24				Now sometimes plant a decorative flower onto a nearby copper golem.
26.0			Preview 26.0.23				Due to a bug, iron golems now attack zombie nautiluses, even tamed ones.[17]

Legacy Console Edition

Legacy Console Edition
Xbox 360	Xbox One	PS3	PS4	PS Vita	Wii U	Switch
TU12	CU1	1.00	1.00	1.00	Patch 1	1.0.1	Added iron golems.
TU31	CU19	1.22	1.22	1.22	Patch 3		Because roses have been replaced with poppies, the iron golem's drop has been changed.
							Iron golems can now be spawned by dispensing a pumpkin.
							Iron golems can now be built sideways and upside-down instead of just upright.
TU46	CU36	1.38	1.38	1.38	Patch 15		Iron golems now spawn with 100% knockback resistance. Iron golems from previous versions continue to take knockback.
TU57	CU49	1.57	1.56	1.56	Patch 27	1.0.7	Skeletons no longer attack iron golems.
			1.91				Iron golems now spawn in cages next to pillager outposts.
							A single iron golem now always spawn as part of a village.
							Panicking villagers now have a higher chance of spawning iron golems.

New Nintendo 3DS Edition

New Nintendo 3DS Edition
0.1.0							Added iron golems.

Data history

Java Edition

Bedrock Edition

Issues

Issues relating to "Iron Golem" are maintained on the bug tracker. Issues should be reported and viewed there.

Trivia

• The iron golem's holding out flowers to villagers is a reference to the ancient robots in Hayao Miyazaki's animated film Laputa: Castle in the Sky.^[18] When baby villagers notice the poppy in its hand, they slowly approach, and take the flower eventually.^[3] Iron golems do not actually pick up poppies; they spawn them in their hands.
• Another inspiration was The Iron Giant, about an extraterrestrial war machine that crash landed on Earth and found a new life as a pacifist, motivated by Superman.^[19]
• Iron golems do not get into boats or minecarts on their own, although in Bedrock Edition, pushing a minecart on rails into a golem forces it into the minecart.
• It is possible for an enderman to cause an iron golem to spawn by placing a pumpkin in the correct position on an arrangement of iron blocks previously placed by the player.
• The iron golem is a purchasable avatar item on the Xbox 360 Marketplace.
• It is impossible to spawn an iron golem holding a poppy using a command (such as summon or data). Its NBT matches with a naturally generated golem (equipment:{mainhand:{id:"minecraft:poppy",count:1}}), but does not visually update.
• The iron golem has a smaller LEGO variant exclusive from "Advent Calender 2025", as well as one of the warden.

Gallery

Screenshots

• 
  Creation of an iron golem
• 
  An iron golem offers a villager a poppy.
• 
  An iron golem offers a poppy to several baby villagers.
• 
  An iron golem attacking a spider by throwing it into the air
• 
  An iron golem attacking a witch
• 
  An iron golem attacking the player
• 
  Iron golems acting strangely in a player-created village, by attempting to cross in a two-block-high gap
• 
  Two iron golems bump their heads in Bedrock Edition
• 
  A cracked iron golem
• 
  An iron golem attacking pillagers
• 
  An iron golem being killed while protecting a baby villager

Development images

• 
  First image of iron golem
• 
  Iron golem (texture no alpha)
• 
  A recreation of an unused iron golem revealed by disabling the alpha channel of the original texture

Textures

• 
  Iron golem texture file
• 
  Low crackiness texture file
• 
  Medium crackiness texture file
• 
  High crackiness texture file

Official artwork

• 
  An iron golem in promotional artwork for the Horse Update
• 
  An iron golem in promotional artwork for Minecon 2015
• 
  Iron golems in promotional artwork for the Village and Pillage Update
• 
  Official iron golem artwork
• 
  Another official iron golem artwork
• 
  An iron golem alone in the rain
• 
  Villager and Iron Golem Spirit from Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
• 
  Artwork of an iron golem running, from the website for Minecraft Experience: Villager Rescue
• 
  An iron golem lifting up Sunny to catch a snowball
• 
  A copper golem reaching out past an iron golem named "Dinnerbone"

In other media

• 
  The Secret Iron Golem, featured in the Trails & Tales Event
• 
  Tiny iron golem
• 
  LEGO Minecraft iron golem
• 
  Lego iron golem (old version)
• 
  Lego iron golem from Minecraft Dungeons
• 
  Lego iron golem from A Minecraft Movie
• 
  Official T-shirt artwork made by JINX
• 
  An official T-shirt artwork "Minecraft Heroes Crest" depicts an iron golem and an ender dragon. Made by JINX
• 
  Iron golem security guard featured in 15 Year Journey
• 
  An iron golem as seen in Minecraft Dungeons
• 
  An iron golem as seen in Minecraft: Story Mode
• 
  Iron golem minifigure by Mattel
• 
  An April Fools' Easter egg with an iron golem named "Billyballong"
• 
  Skin of humanoid iron golem in 1st Birthday Skin Pack
• 
  Skin of humanoid iron golem in Skin Pack 4
• 
  An iron golem in A Minecraft Movie
• 
  Iron golem concept art for the A Minecraft Movie
• 
  Hot Wheels iron golem truck

References

External links

• "Meet the Iron Golem" by Tom Stone – Minecraft.net, February 27, 2017.
• "Meet the Iron Golem" by Duncan Geere – Minecraft.net, September 12, 2024.