Villager Guards

Who said villagers can't defend themselves?

Your villages no longer have to rely on the Iron Golem alone. Villager Guards gives villagers their own organized defense force, featuring specialized soldiers, mounted units, healers, and the mighty Juggernaut.

Because apparently, hiding indoors and hoping for the best isn't a very reliable defense strategy.

Villages can now have up to 12 naturally generated guards, balanced across different classes, with unique textures for all 7 biomes: Plains, Desert, Jungle, Savanna, Snow, Swamp, and Taiga.

Guards open doors, avoid water, carry equipment that can spawn enchanted, and react to threats against their villages. Anyone attacking a villager, guard, or healer becomes a target for nearby defenders. Don't worry, though: Creative-mode players and players with Hero of the Village are left alone.

They fight monsters, Raiders, and many more threats! And when a Raid begins, villages receive reinforcements with every wave. The Pillagers brought an army? The villagers have been taking notes.

You can even hire your own guards by converting unemployed villagers using specific equipment.

Requires Minecraft Bedrock 1.26.20 or higher.

Languages: English and Português (Brasil).

Meet the Defenders

Swordsman — The Frontline

The village's standard melee soldier, equipped with an iron sword. Quick to react and always ready to take the first hit (hopefully not the last).

Trivia: Based on the Vindicator, adapted to become the village's first and most loyal warrior.

Arbalist — Ranged Support

Keeps enemies at a distance with a crossbow, providing ranged support for nearby allies. Has a 10% chance to spawn with an enchanted crossbow.

Trivia: In desert villages, Arbalists can ride behind Lancers on war camels, shooting while their companion handles the steering. Crossbow friendly fire is intentional, so perhaps don't stand in front of one.

Lancer — Mounted Cavalry

Armed with an iron spear, the Lancer charges at enemies before pulling back to prepare for another attack.

Lancers naturally spawn mounted on the Destrier, a white war horse with 15 hearts. In desert villages, some ride the Camel Destrier, accompanied by an Arbalist riding on the back.

Trivia:

• If knocked off its mount, the Lancer searches for another nearby mount before continuing on foot.
• Riderless mounts become regular tamed and saddled horses or camels.
• If nobody interacts with them, these mounts disappear after 8 minutes.

Juggernaut — Heavy Infantry

The village's answer to overwhelming force. Equipped with an iron axe and shield, the Juggernaut has 19 hearts and specializes in frontal defense.

It raises its shield when approaching enemies, blocking incoming melee attacks and projectiles from the front. Once close enough, it lowers its shield and gets to work with its axe.

Trivia:

• Its shield blocks attacks within a 180° frontal arc, just like the player's shield.
• Attacks from behind bypass its defense.
• Axes can temporarily disable its shield, just like in vanilla Minecraft.
• It moves more slowly while guarding and has its own textures for all 7 biomes.

In Raids, Juggernauts can replace Ravagers in the village's reinforcement lineup. A rather substantial upgrade to the local neighborhood watch.

Healer — Battlefield Support

Not every defender needs to swing a sword. The Healer keeps the village's forces alive by throwing Regeneration potions at injured guards, villagers, and Iron Golems.

It can also throw Slowness and Weakness potions at enemies and will call nearby guards when attacked.

Each village can have up to 3 Healers.

Trivia: Healers originate from Nitwits, the villagers who never seem to find a profession. Give one a Golden Apple, and it can become a valuable member of the village's defense force.

Hiring Your Own Guards

Want to build your own defense force? You can convert adult unemployed villagers by interacting with them while holding the appropriate item.

A few things to know:

• The required item is consumed when hiring, except in Creative mode.
• Enchanted items cannot be used for hiring. The villager won't convert, and an on-screen message will explain why.
• Renamed or previously used items work normally.
• Hired guards spawn without random enchantments.
• Naturally generated guards and guards from spawn eggs have a chance of spawning with enchanted equipment:
  • 25% for swords, spears, and axes.
  • 10% for crossbows.

The Big Update — v1.4.8

The Juggernaut and Raid Reinforcements

Villages are no longer expected to defend themselves with the same handful of guards forever. This update introduces a more organized response to Raids, along with a new heavy infantry class.

Introducing the Juggernaut

When ordinary guards aren't enough, the village calls upon its heaviest defender.

The Juggernaut is a heavily armored warrior equipped with an iron axe and shield, built to withstand enemy attacks and protect those behind it.

With 19 hearts of health, it stands its ground against incoming enemies, raising its shield to block attacks and projectiles from the front. But when enemies get too close, it lowers its guard and strikes back with its iron axe.

Even this armored defender has its weaknesses: attacks from behind can bypass its shield, and axes can temporarily disable it.

With reduced movement speed while guarding and unique textures for all 7 biomes, the Juggernaut brings a new level of protection to village defenses.

During Raids, these heavy defenders can also replace Ravagers in the village's reinforcement lineup.

When the village needs someone to hold the line, the Juggernaut answers the call.

Raid Reinforcements

Every Raid wave now brings reinforcements to the defending village.

How does it work?

• Reinforcement numbers scale with Raid difficulty and wave size, averaging roughly 75% of the number of Raiders in each wave.
• Easy difficulty has 3 waves, Normal has 5, and Hard has 7.
• Reinforcements arrive in groups, spawning in open areas near the side of the village under attack.
• Existing guards and healers within 96 blocks of the spawn location are alerted and move to confront the Raiders.
• Guards that defeat Raiders receive Regeneration for 8 seconds.
• Reinforcements remain as permanent defenders after the Raid.
• A limit of 36 guards per area prevents the village from accumulating an unreasonable number of defenders.

Reinforcement composition:

The village doesn't just survive the Raid anymore. It gets an actual defense plan.

Other Additions

• Guards and Healers now target adult and baby Hoglins, as well as Zoglins.
• Added new Healer textures for all 7 biomes.

Fixes and Improvements

• Fixed guards and healers failing to attack monsters after a Raid ended. Existing worlds recover automatically.
• Fixed a timer conflict that could lock the Juggernaut's shield or leave it stuck in Raid mode.
• Fixed the Juggernaut's movement speed sometimes failing to return to normal after a shield cycle.
• Fixed the shield remaining raised after the Juggernaut killed its target.

Gallery

Take a look at the defenders in action!

Installation

1. Download the .mcaddon file.
2. Open it with Minecraft Bedrock. The game will automatically import the Behavior Pack and Resource Pack.
3. Open your world settings.
4. Enable both the Behavior Pack and Resource Pack.
5. Enter your world and let the villagers handle the neighborhood watch.

Feedback & Suggestions

Found a bug? Have an idea for a new guard class or feature?

Feel free to leave a comment! Feedback and suggestions are always welcome.

Your village. Your defenders. Their problem.