The Warden is a spooky new boss mob in Minecraft, introduced in the v1.19 Wild Update. This deaf but deadly mob is found in the new Deep Dark biomes and is one of the most challenging bosses in Minecraft yet.
This guide tells you everything you need to know about the Warden in Minecraft: from where to find this new mob, to how it works, and how to defeat it. If you plan on tackling this dangerous new creature, make sure you have this guide close to hand!
Is the Warden in Minecraft yet?
Yes, as of June 7th, 2022, the Warden has been introduced to Minecraft.
How to Find the Warden in Minecraft
You won’t find a Warden wandering around in Minecraft – they can only be summoned in a particular way. That said, you’ll need to find a Deep Dark biome to discover the blocks needed to summon the warden.
First, you need to find a Deep Dark biome cave. These are extremely deep underground in the overworld (not in the Nether or End). You’ll need to dig down until you reach the levels just above bedrock – this will be somewhere in the negative Y coordinates. On average you will find them between -40 and -50 Y.
Rumor has it, there is a higher chance of Deep Dark biomes spawning under mountains, so these can be a good place to start. This also creates a higher chance of finding Ancient Cities – although not always. You should be able to find plenty of the new block Sculk Sensors in an Ancient City environment.
Ancient Cities are also the only place you can find Echo Shards, which are used to make a Recovery Compass.
Like many things in Minecraft, the chances of finding a Deep Dark biome comes down to luck and randomness, so you might find one quickly, or it might take hours of digging. They can be pretty hard to find so just be patient and methodical!
Once you’ve found the Deep Dark, follow the instructions in the next section to summon the dreaded Warden.
How to Spawn the Warden in Minecraft
Unlike most mobs in Minecraft, the Warden does not occur naturally. There is only one mechanic which spawns the Warden, which revolves around the player activating shrieker blocks.
Here are the conditions needed to summon the Warden in survival mode:
Activate a (naturally occurring) Sculk Shrieker four or more times
No other Wardens within 48 blocks
The Shrieker’s environment has a light level below 11.
How Do Sculk Shriekers work?
This list highlights the core mechanics for Sculk Shrieker blocks:
If players move or destroy blocks within 16 blocks of the Shrieker, it triggers its warning mechanic.
The first triggering will create a Darkness Effect, lowering the lighting level in a 40-block range.
Shriekers have a 10-second cooldown for their warning mechanic, which applies to any player on the server.
Trigger the Shrieker three more times and a Warden will appear. It takes around 5 seconds for the Warden to dig out of the ground when it will immediately start to track players by listening.
It’s worth noting that if you manage to escape the Shriekers range before it finishes the shrieking sounds and animation, the warden won’t be summoned.
The Shrieker block must be naturally occurring, so you can’t dig one up and move it to any location – it has to be naturally spawned. Although, if you have a pickaxe enchanted with the Silk Touch enchantment, you can actually move the blocks and they will still spawn wardens.
The Warden’s Behavior
This section explains the Warden’s mechanics and behaviors.
First, it’s worth noting that the Warden has the highest HP of any mob in the game with a massive 500 Health Points. This is the equivalent of 250 hearts!
It also deals the most damage – so you’ll definitely want some armor if you plan on fighting it. It has melee attacks and a few ranged attacks, which can deal damage anywhere from 8 hearts to 22!
Make sure you watch out for its sonic boom attack, which bypasses most shields, armor, and other damage-reduction gear. This sonic boom is really going to leave you stinging!
Unlike any other mob in the game – an important mechanic is that the warden is a blind mob, meaning that it doesn’t work based on eyesight, but instead uses sound and vibration to detect enemy combatants. This gives players the upper hand if they can sneak around quietly.
Passive State
Wardens require a space at least 1 block wide, and 3 blocks tall. This means it can chase you, but not through 2 block high passages.
It’s also worth noting that wardens will not take any damage from lava or fire, and are immune to any knockback effects.
Wardens also continuously pump out the Darkness effect – giving a 12-second debuff to all players within a 20-block every six seconds.
How the Warden Detects Mobs and Players
The warden detects other mobs and players by listening – it’s deaf. It detects vibrations and noise in a 16-block range and will hear everything other than other wardens, and spectators/creative players. It can also smell players after using its sniff ability.
Thankfully, it won’t detect players who are in sneak mode, which can be a good way of escaping. It also won’t detect players while they walk, shoot a bow, or fall, in sneak mode.
The warden will eventually sniff out players and mobs (with a preference for players), and start finding the quickest path toward them.
The Warden’s Anger Mechanic
The anger mechanics is at the center of how the Warden decides which entity to attack.
Any time an entity makes a sound within its detection range, it adds between 10 and 35 anger points to that entity. It stores a separate anger value for each separate entity, with a score of 0 to 150.
When an entity collects over 80 anger points, the Warden will become angry and charge toward it – entering a hostile, attacking state.
If the warden does not receive any anger points for over 60 seconds, it will burrow into the ground and disappear.
Attacks
The Warden has both melee and ranged attacks.
Melee attack: Deals between 8 and 22.5 hearts of damage based on the game difficulty level. The Warden can hit with melee every 0.9 seconds.
If the Warden’s target is out of range for its melee attack, it will instead use the devastating sonic boom ranged attack – provided the following conditions are true:
The Warden detected a target at least 10 seconds ago.
The Warden has not used a ranged or melee attack in the last 5 seconds.
The Warden’s target is within range – 20 blocks vertically, and 15 blocks horizontally.
The sonic boom attack will pass through other mobs and blocks to reach the main target – without causing any collateral damage.
The sonic boom attack takes 1.7 seconds to fully charge, then fires instantly. This attack cannot be dodged, provided the target is in range.
After using the ranged attack, the Warden goes through a 1.3-second cool-down period before it can switch back to using melee attacks.
The sonic boom is disgustingly powerful, and bypasses most defensive items and buffs available – this includes armor, blocks, shields, and wither armor. The attack itself looks really cool, but it will kill you very quickly.
These attacks make the scary Warden a highly formidable enemy – and paired with its huge health bar, it’s very difficult to kill. The darkness effect it emits also makes it harder to see what’s going on in your general location.
Read the next section for tips on defeating this monstrous beast…
How to Defeat the Minecraft Warden
This section of the guide shows you how to defeat the warden (if you have the skill).
Based on the mechanics of the Warden, there are definitely some strategies that are more effective than others.
Also, due to the penetrating power of the ranged sonic attack, you can’t really work any cheesy strats from hiding in a pile of blocks and shooting it with arrows – this attack passes straight through any blocks.
Recommended Items for Defeating the Warden
Now that you understand how the Warden works, we’ll share some recommended items for this tricky encounter.
Weapons
While you might think a sword is the best way to tackle this mob, we actually recommend using ranged weapons. The Warden’s melee attacks hit hard and fast, so if possible, use a bow, crossbow, or trident to fight it. Try to kite it around while you pepper it with ranged attacks.
The key is to make sure you don’t stand somewhere where it can’t reach you. Otherwise, it will attack you with the sonic attack, which can kill you in one hit regardless of your defenses. If the Warden can find a path to you, it will follow that in an attempt to hit you with a melee close-quarters attack.
Armor
High-level armor is essential for tackling down the Warden, otherwise, you won’t stand a chance. If possible, try to wear a full suit of Netherite armor. It’s also worth enchanting it with Protection IV to increase damage reduction.
We also recommend enchanting your leg armor with Swift Sneak if you can. Because you’ll find yourself sneaking a lot in this boss fight, the added speed of the Swift Sneak enchant gives a decent advantage.
Healing Items
When fighting the Warden, you’re going to get hit a lot and take huge amounts of damage. To survive you’re going to need as many healing items as you can take.
Obviously, bring as much food as you can. Besides this, Healing Potions, Golden Carrots, and Golden Apples will be life savers. The extra health they can provide can make the difference between life and death against the Warden’s strongest attacks.
Additional Items
There are a few other items you can use to give you the upper hand in this battle.
Ladders – for climbing away quickly
Torches – so you can see where you’re going in this dark biome
Blocks for building – to create defensive walls against the warden
Potion of Night Vision – to counteract the darkness effect debuff
Other Throwable Items – Eggs, arrows, and snowballs can be used to distract the Warden by making him follow the sound they create.
Strategy for Killing the Warden
Now you’re fully geared up, it’s time to put your fighting face on and get ready to defeat this terrifying monster.
Before summoning the Warden, find a sculk sensor and make a small base near it. You could make a platform with a small hole and some ladders leading up to it. This gives you a safe base to escape to if you start getting close to death.
Now spawn the Warden by alerting and triggering a Sculk Shrieker 3 times with noise or touch.
Stay on top of your floating base and shoot arrows down at the warden. We recommend using a bow enchanted with Punch II for knockback, or Power V for added damage.
If you use the armor and health items outlined above, you should be able to survive the high damage of the sonic attack. Staying up in the floating base gives you time to heal between each attack.
You could fight the Warden with a sword or melee weapon, however, using a ranged strategy is far safer.
When defeated, the scary Warden will drop a Sculk Catalyst (and 5 experience orbs). This block can be placed anywhere and generates sculk-type mobs at random. Also, if a mob dies inside the detection range sculk catalyst it turns any blocks surrounding the mob into Sculk and Sculk veins blocks.
Conclusion
Now you know how to find the Warden and how to defeat it. Good luck with this fight! Be patient, and accept you might die a few times before you kill this angry mob.
FAQs
What Kills a Minecraft Warden?
A Minecraft Warden can be killed by anything other than lava and fire damage. Swords are good, but ranged weapons are even better.
Is there a Warden in Minecraft?
Yes, as of v1.19 the Warden has been in Minecraft.
How Rare is the Warden in Minecraft?
The Deep Dark Biomes where the Warden spawns are fairly rare, so you might have to spend a considerable amount of time finding them. If you have cheats enabled, you can use “/locate biome minecraft:deep_dark” to reveal the coordinates of the nearest Deep Dark Biome.
Dane started off gaming at the tender age of 3 with the first Atari console. His favorite video game genres are turn-based RPGs (can I get a shout out for Tactics Ogre?) and fighting games. Read more...
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