Customization

With datapack, you can define:

• whether a mob may spawn with a shield
• the chance that it spawns with one
• the minimum local difficulty required
• which shield item it uses
• how long it keeps blocking
• how long its shield cooldown lasts
• how often it checks whether it should continue blocking

Folder Structure

Place your JSON files under:

data/<namespace>/mob_shield/<path>.json

Examples:

data/minecraft/mob_shield/zombie.json
data/minecraft/mob_shield/piglin.json
data/yourmod/mob_shield/custom_mob.json

These files are resolved by path into entity-type-style ids. For example:

data/minecraft/mob_shield/zombie.json   -> minecraft:zombie
data/yourmod/mob_shield/foo/bar.json    -> yourmod:foo/bar

In practice, this means the file path should match the mob id you want to configure.

Example JSON

{
  "use_duration": 60,
  "cooldown_duration": 60,
  "check_continue_to_use_interval": 30,
  "shield_id": "minecraft:shield",
  "shield_stack": "{id:\"minecraft:shield\",count:1}",
  "chance": 0.15,
  "min_difficulty": 2.25
}

Field Description

• use_duration How long the mob keeps actively using the shield.

• cooldown_duration How long the mob waits before it can use the shield again.

• check_continue_to_use_interval How often the mob checks whether it should continue blocking.

• shield_id The item id of the shield to equip when the mob spawns with one. If shield_stack is not provided, invalid, or results in an empty item stack, the mod uses this item id as the fallback shield item. If the item is missing or invalid, the mod falls back to minecraft:shield.

• shield_stack Optional full ItemStack SNBT string used to define the exact shield stack equipped by the mob. This allows custom NBT/component data such as banner patterns, names, damage, or other item data supported by the current Minecraft version. If this field is present and can be parsed into a non-empty ItemStack, it takes priority over shield_id.

• chance The spawn chance for that mob to receive a shield in its offhand.

• min_difficulty Minimum local difficulty required before the mob may spawn with a shield.

Notes About Local Difficulty

min_difficulty uses Minecraft's effective local difficulty, not just the selected world difficulty setting.

For reference:

• The raw regional difficulty is always 0.0 on Peaceful and ranges from 0.75 to 1.5 on Easy, 1.5 to 4.0 on Normal, and 2.25 to 6.75 on Hard. (ref: Minecraft Wiki)
• lower values allow shield spawning earlier or under easier conditions
• higher values make shielded spawns rarer and more progression-sensitive