Raiders & Defenders: Java-Style Raids & Village Defense

Protect your village, build an army of golems, or join the illagers yourself!

 

Raiders & Defenders is a Minecraft Bedrock add-on that brings raids and illager behavior closer to Java Edition, while expanding village defense with recruitable guards, 80 custom golem variants, new patrols, playable factions, and many original mechanics. This is more than a raid overhaul: villagers, their defenders, and their enemies now interact in new ways.

 

🛡️ Village Guards & How to Use Them

 

Recruit an adult villager by sneaking and interacting with the appropriate item: sword (swordsman), axe (axeman), bow (archer), crossbow (crossbowman), spear (spearman), trident (trident guard), Totem of Undying (village mage), or Water Bottle (village witch). Guards have different fighting styles; some spearmen can also serve as mounted lancers.

 

Guards protect villagers from hostile mobs, patrol their surroundings, use armor and shields, and eat food to heal. Villagers help them by supplying food, healing injured allies, and repairing golems. Village witches support allies with potions and can help cure zombified guards. Guards can be re-equipped; use an ordinary weapon for initial recruitment, then provide enchanted equipment afterward. To return a guard to civilian life, sneak-interact while holding a bed.

 

Hero of the Village: With this effect, interact with a guard using an empty hand to make it follow you; interact again to stop it. Villagers also approach heroes and throw Java Edition-style profession-based gifts. To lead groups of defenders, sneak-use a Village Banner and become their banner leader.

 

🪨 80 Custom Golems

 

Build most golems exactly like an iron golem: four matching material blocks in a T shape, then a carved pumpkin or jack o'lantern on top. Some variants differ mainly in strength and durability; others have special abilities. Slime golems knock enemies farther back, amethyst golems unleash shockwaves, and magma golems set enemies on fire but suffer in rain or water.

 

The cactus golem uses a special, spaced ground-level T-shaped construction because cactus cannot form a normal vertical T; place the pumpkin above its central cactus. Some golem types can appear through villagers' own defensive behavior, while others must be built by players.

 

⚔️ Java-Inspired Raids, With Extra Challenges

 

Raid wave composition and raider AI have been extensively reworked to resemble Java Edition, with original difficulty changes. All five Bad Omen levels influence raid difficulty; higher levels can add more enemies, stronger combinations, mounted ravagers, and enchanted raider weapons. Bad Omen V adds an extra scripted encounter: effectively wave 4 on Easy, 6 on Normal, or 8 on Hard.

 

Raids include banner-bearing captains in each wave, improved ravager rider tactics, raiders that can open doors, and fixes for illagers attacking one another by mistake. Evokers visibly carry Totems of Undying. Villages can receive guard reinforcements, and ringing a bell during a raid can highlight nearby raiders through walls. The add-on also features a customized raid bar; choose the Java-style or Bedrock-style presentation in the Resource Pack settings.

 

Classic raids are back (enabled by default): Kill an illager captain, gain Bad Omen, and enter a village to start a raid without the modern 30-second Raid Omen wait. You can disable classic activation in the configuration if you prefer the modern system. Trial Chamber mechanics remain separate.

 

🏹 Illagers, Illusioners & Patrols

 

The Illusioner, the unfinished illager from Java Edition 1.12, joins Bedrock with its familiar appearance, sounds, bow attacks, invisibility, and illusionary copies. Illager behavior, ravagers, patrols, and hostile structure defenses have also been expanded.

 

The add-on adds village guard patrols and custom illager patrols inspired by early Java 1.14 snapshots, complete with leaders. Additional garrisons can defend pillager outposts and woodland mansions. Optional biome-based illager textures are enabled by default.

 

🏴 Choose Your Faction

 

Use a Raider Oath to join the illagers or a Village Oath to return to the villagers. Your allegiance changes who sees you as friend or foe. Choose a normal, villager, pillager, or vindicator-themed appearance, depending on your faction. Raider players can tame eligible wild ravagers with meat, interact with certain illager captains, and sneak-use an Ominous Banner to lead fellow raiders.

 

Friendship has limits: Attack your own allies and they may retaliate. Killing members of the village faction can make its defenders temporarily hostile even if you have Hero of the Village.

 

⚙️ Options, Compatibility & Quick Tips

 

Many systems can be toggled through the Behavior Pack settings, including classic raid starts, patrols, reinforcements, Illusioners, custom golems, villager support, raider door-opening, garrisons, and biome textures. The Resource Pack settings control the raid bar appearance. Screenshots below show the available options.

 

The add-on also includes zombified guards and classic-style guards intended for compatibility with an add-on that restores old Minecraft villages. Village witches can help cure zombified defenders; players can also use Weakness and a Golden Apple.

 

🔮 Future Plans & Development Notice

Two major expansions are planned: an Illager Expansion and a Structures Expansion. These are future ideas, not features of version 1.0.

 

After version 1.0, development will be paused for at least one year for personal reasons. The project is not abandoned, but updates and bug fixes may be delayed. Please report bugs with your Minecraft version, device, and steps to reproduce them; your reports will be valuable when development resumes.

 

Thank you for playing and supporting Raiders & Defenders. Defend your village — or lead the raid!