Mine Guardian
Mine Guardians are hostile aquatic mobs found around ruins in the Abyssal Chasm. They are bound to an anchor that limits their movement, but they will explode upon approaching their target, destroying blocks underwater and dealing massive amounts of damage.
Cave Compendium Entry
"Mine Guardians are often difficult to see in the Abyssal Chasm, as they are always chained to an anchor on the seafloor around Abyssal Ruins. These mechanical beings were left there long ago, likely to keep deep ones away. Every so often, Mine Guardians will open their single eye to scan for targets - including any nearby adventurers. If a target is detected in close range, the Mine Guardian will begin to float towards the detected target, then suddenly explode once in range. If slain before this happens, Mine Guardians can drop a Depth Charge, which can be thrown to create a small explosion that can destroy blocks, even underwater."
- - Dr. Prof. Alexander Caverns, PhD.
Spawning
Mine Guardians spawn around Abyssal Ruins in groups of 1-2.
Drops
On death
| Item | Roll Chance | Quantity (Default) | Quantity (Looting I) | Quantity (Looting II) | Quantity (Looting III) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Depth Charge |
100% | 0-2 | 0-3 | 0-4 | 0-5 |
Behavior
When idle, Mine Guardians will float in place, chained to an anchor directly below them - a Mine Guardian's chain determines its movement range from the anchor, and extends over a fixed distance of 5-10 blocks.
Mine Guardians will usually appear in a dormant state, keeping their eye closed - after a minimum of 10 seconds, however, they will open their eye and scan the area for a minimum of 5 seconds, looking from side to side while radiating a ray of red light from it and emitting sonar clicks that gradually taper off while doing so. If a Mine Guardian detects a player moving around within 16 blocks while scanning, it will start chasing them. If the player keeps out of the Mine Guardian's movement range for 15 seconds, it will re-enter its dormant state, returning to its original position after 10 seconds. If the Mine Guardian reaches its target, however, it will close its eye and start trembling while causing its body to glow orange for 1.5 seconds before creating a powerful explosion that has a blast radius of 13 blocks and destroys blocks in the surrounding area - should the player manage to swim away before it explodes, it will wind down. In addition to this, Mine Guardians will retaliate against any players or mobs that hit them while they are dormant or scanning.
A Mine Guardian's explosion leaves a crater 13 blocks wide and 4 blocks deep - when on land, it leaves a crater 11 blocks wide and 3 blocks deep. If /gamerule mobGriefing is false, it will not leave a crater at all.
When out of water, Mine Guardians will emit mechanical squeaks while flopping about. They do not suffocate in air and can live out of water indefinitely. They do not attack players on sight out of water, but will retaliate if attacked first.
As aquatic mobs, Mine Guardians take extra damage from the Impaling enchantment.
Players who kill a Mine Guardian before it can explode cause their reputation with the Deep Ones to increase by 1.
History
| 1.0.0 | Introduced. |
| 1.0.9 | Now bounces up and down at the surface of the water less violently. Fixed a bug where it would spawn too often. |
Trivia
- The Cave Compendium entry for the Mine Guardian lists slightly inaccurate stats - as Mine Guardians' explosions are unhampered by water, they can instantly kill players wearing even diamond armor.
- Mine Guardians use similar sounds to standard Guardians, albeit slowed down and underlaid with metallic clanging.
- Mine Guardians will only detect horizontal movement from players when scanning, and will thus not react to players rising or diving in place or simply sinking towards the bottom of the water.
Gallery
A Mine Guardian chasing a player and preparing to explode.
A Mine Guardian scanning for potential targets.
A Mine Guardian with its eye closed.
| Magnetic Caves | |
|---|---|
| Primordial Caves | |
| Toxic Caves | |
| Abyssal Chasm | |
| Forlorn Hollows | |
