Village Guard Data Pack (1.21.1, 1.20.1)

Village Guard Data Pack Overview

Village Guard Data Pack brings actual guards to your villages. Instead of relying only on iron golems, you’ll get armed NPCs that actively protect villagers from zombies, illagers, creepers, and other threats. Guards patrol, use weapons, and respond to danger with real combat stats.

Guard Stats & Combat

Each Village Guard spawns with balanced stats designed to take down mobs without being overpowered:

• Health: 20 (10 hearts)
• Armor: 6 (3 points of protection)
• Melee Damage: 11 (5.5 hearts) with sword or axe
• Ranged Damage: 8-10 (4-5 hearts) with bow
• Special: Don’t drown in water, heal over time, put out fire faster

Guards spawn naturally when villages form, up to 6 per village event. Maximum of 10 guards per village by default (configurable via commands).

Weapon Types

Guards spawn with random weapons. When you give them better gear, they’ll actually use it:

• Iron Sword (60% spawn chance)
• Iron Axe (20% spawn chance, includes bonus double damage with upgraded axes)
• Bow (20% spawn chance)

You can upgrade any guard’s weapon, add shields for damage reduction, give totems of undying for extra lives, or hand bow guards special arrows for unlimited ammo.

How Guards React to Players

Village Guards judge players based on behavior. You have four status types:

• Normal Players: Guards ignore you unless you start trouble
• Bad Players: You get this status by killing a protected villager or hitting one three times. Guards hunt you until one of them wins
• Heroes of the Village: With the Hero of the Village effect, guards treat you as protected. You can do whatever you want and they won’t care
• Protected Players: Once your Hero effect wears off, you stay protected. Guards still won’t bother you unless you kill a villager

Protection Mechanics

Here’s how guard protection actually works:

• Guards only attack if a mob/player targets a protected entity (a Hero or Protected Player)
• Once something attacks your protected entity, guards jump in and help fight it
• You can fight mobs freely. Guards watch but stay neutral until the mob retaliates
• Zombie Villagers get special treatment. Guards ignore them until they get within 3 blocks of a villager and look ready to attack

Admin Commands

Control guards with these functions:

• /function give:vg/spawn_egg/village_guard – Get a Village Guard spawn egg
• /function summon:vg/village_guard – Summon a guard directly
• /function toggles:village_guards – Open the config menu to set maximum guards per area, toggle tutorial messages, or adjust guard speed
• /function uninstall:village_guards – Remove the data pack completely

Installation

Village Guard works as a data pack, not a mod. This means no Forge or Fabric needed:

1. Download the file for your Minecraft version
2. Go to your world folder and open the datapacks directory
3. Drop the .zip file in (don’t extract it)
4. Run /reload in game or restart your world

Need more help? Check out the full guide: How To Download & Install Data Packs

Version Compatibility

This data pack supports a wide range of versions:

• Minecraft 1.16.5 to 1.20.4: Single download works for all
• Minecraft 1.20.6: Separate version
• Minecraft 1.21 and 1.21.1: Latest version

Download Links

For Minecraft 1.16.5 to 1.20.4

For Minecraft 1.20.6

For Minecraft 1.21.1, 1.21

What Works Well

• Iron golems finally have backup. Villages actually feel defended
• Illager raids become way harder. Your villagers survive
• Hero of the Village effect finally matters

Known Issues

• Can’t sleep in villages: Guards are skeletons, so you can’t sleep near them. Workaround: build up 10 blocks and sleep there
• Guards freeze in powder snow: They automatically climb out when they start freezing