Iron Golem
neutralOurs, not the game's own: where it turns up, how an iron golem behaves. Same on Bedrock v1.26.40.05 for health. Checked 2026-08-22, and how
Added InOverview
An Iron Golem is a neutral mob: it is not hostile on sight, and its own behaviour decides when that changes: defends villagers from hostile mobs.
Look for the Iron Golem across the Overworld; it is tied to Villages.
In practice you will recognise it quickly, because defends villagers from hostile mobs.
With 100 HP (50 hearts) on its bar, killing one rewards no experience.
It was first added in 1.2.1 and has been a fixture of Minecraft ever since.
Also worth noting: Offers poppies to villagers.
The Iron Golem sits in a useful middle ground, harmless if you respect it, but a real threat if you provoke it, which makes reading the situation important.
Damage by Difficulty
Spawning
Iron Golems spawn in Villages.
Spawns naturally in villages with 10+ villagers and 21+ beds. Can be built by players with 4 iron blocks and 1 carved pumpkin.
Whether one leaves you alone is not up to you alone: defends villagers from hostile mobs.
VillagesDrops
Here is what you can expect to collect from an Iron Golem:
Every kill yields 3 to 5 Iron Ingots.
On top of that, you may come away with 0 to 2 Poppies.
These are well worth keeping. Can be healed with Iron Ingots.
Across many kills the guaranteed items pile up steadily while the chance-based extras trickle in, so consistent farming is the way to build a meaningful stockpile.
| Item | Count | Chance | Conditions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Poppy | 0 to 2 | not every kill | |
| Iron Ingot | 3 to 5 | always |
That Iron Ingot row is not its own: the zombie drops 1, the husk the same and the zombie villager the same.
Iron Golem attributes
| Attribute | Value |
|---|---|
 Knockback resistance | 100% |
 Size | 1.4 x 2.7 blocks |
 Tracking range | 10 chunks |
 Attack damage attribute | 15 |
 Health | 100 points |
 Experience | 0 |
| Follow range | 16 blocks |
 Movement speed | 0.25 |
Where the Iron Golem lands, it has company: the elder guardian, whose 80 health has nothing we list nearer than this 100 and the ravager on the same 100 health.
Iron Golem: 5 items per kill over 2 drop rows
An iron golem averages 4 Iron Ingot a kill on the rolls Minecraft Java 26.2 makes for it, before Looting, which puts a full stack of 64 Iron Ingot at 16 kills. Next down is Poppy at 1 a kill, which is 64 iron golem kills to 64.
| Item | Average per kill |
|---|---|
 Iron Ingot | 4 |
 Poppy | 1 |
How this average is worked out
| Weapon | Attack damage | Full swings | Swings per 64 Iron Ingot |
|---|---|---|---|
 golden sword, wooden sword | 4 | 25 | 400 |
 stone sword | 5 | 20 | 320 |
| iron sword | 6 | 17 | 272 |
 diamond sword, golden axe, wooden axe | 7 | 15 | 240 |
 netherite sword | 8 | 13 | 208 |
 diamond axe, iron axe, stone axe | 9 | 12 | 192 |
 netherite axe | 10 | 10 | 160 |
On the receiving end an iron golem takes 55% off a player's 20 health per hit, so 2 of them land the kill; that share is the iron golem's 11 damage on Normal. On Easy the same iron golem hit is 35%, on Hard 105%, so 3 hits against 1.
Behavior & Combat
In the field, defends villagers from hostile mobs. Attacks most hostile mobs on sight. Player-built golems never attack their creator. Village-spawned ones may attack players with low reputation.
Hitting it barely moves it: 100% knockback resistance, where almost every other mob has none.
On the offensive it deals 7 on Easy, 11 on Normal and 21 on Hard, and you will need to chew through 100 health (50 hearts) to bring one down.
To deal with one efficiently, exploit its weaknesses: it is vulnerable to Cracking appearance indicates damage.
The Iron Golem cannot be bred, so how many you end up with depends on the ways it comes into the world above, not on a breeding pen.
You can also build one yourself instead of waiting for it to appear, so it can stand exactly where you want your defences or utilities.
As long as you avoid landing the first blow, you can usually go about your business near an Iron Golem without trouble.
Iron Golem commands
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
| /summon minecraft:iron_golem | Puts an iron golem on the block you are standing on. |
| /give @p minecraft:iron_golem_spawn_egg | Hands you the iron golem spawn egg, so you can place iron golems where you want them. |
| /kill @e[type=minecraft:iron_golem] | Removes every iron golem that is loaded around you. |
Entity id minecraft:iron_golem, spawn egg minecraft:iron_golem_spawn_egg.
Iron Golem farm
There is no platform that produces iron golems. Spawns naturally in villages with 10+ villagers and 21+ beds. Can be built by players with 4 iron blocks and 1 carved pumpkin. Anything you build has to feed that source instead of a dark floor.
Each kill is worth 0 experience and up to 5 iron ingots, so the size of the iron golem farm follows the number you need of that one item.
0 experience per killIron Ingot up to 5Iron Golem version history
Minecraft 1.2.1 brought the iron golem in on 29 February 2012, 14 years of iron golem by now.
One other mob here came with it: the ocelot. That puts the iron golem behind 22 of the 88 mobs here and ahead of 64.
Every iron golem figure on this page is read from Minecraft Java 26.2 as it stands today, not from the version above.
What Iron Golem sounds like
Turn subtitles on and every iron golem sound names itself in the corner of the screen. These are the 5 lines a iron golem can put there, and you can play any of them yourself with /playsound minecraft:entity.iron_golem.hurt master @p.
| Sound | What you hear |
|---|---|
| entity.iron_golem.hurt |  Iron Golem hurts |
| entity.iron_golem.death | Iron Golem dies |
| entity.iron_golem.attack | Iron Golem attacks |
| entity.iron_golem.damage | Iron Golem breaks |
| entity.iron_golem.repair | Iron Golem repaired |
Advancements that need Iron Golem
One advancement in the game asks for iron golem by name.
Hired HelpSummon an Iron Golem to help defend a village
