Updated:
Nothing appears, or there is an error
Wrong ID
Mob IDs are lowercase English: zombie, iron_golem, lightning_bolt. Capital letters and translated names fail. Press Tab while typing to pick from the suggestions.
Peaceful difficulty
Hostile mobs such as zombies and creepers vanish immediately on Peaceful. Switch first with /difficulty easy.
Bad position
- Without coordinates the mob appears where the command runs: at your feet in chat.
- Inside a block it can suffocate at once. Use
~ ~1 ~to move it up. - Unloaded chunks and positions outside the world height do not work.
Wrong edition format
Bedrock has no NBT, so {NoAI:1b} fails. To name a mob on Bedrock:
/summon zombie Boss ~ ~1 ~Bedrock can also take a spawn event that changes the mob's state; the available events differ per mob.
It appears, but the NBT is ignored (Java)
Upper and lower case
Entity NBT is case-sensitive. noai or invulnerable are ignored without any error; write NoAI and Invulnerable.
Value types
On/off fields take 1b or 0b. Decimal values such as health take f.
/summon zombie ~ ~1 ~ {NoAI:1b,PersistenceRequired:1b,Silent:1b}Health does not go up
Health:100f alone is capped at the mob's normal max health. Raise the max health attribute too. Attribute names changed between versions, so use the summon generator for your version.
Names and equipment changed in 1.21.5
Before 1.21.5, CustomName was a JSON string wrapped in quotes. 1.21.5 also merged HandItems and ArmorItems into equipment. Commands from older guides then summon the mob without its name or gear.
The mob disappears
Hostile mobs can despawn when players move away. Add PersistenceRequired:1b on Java, or use a name tag. Zombies and skeletons burn in daylight unless they wear a helmet or are summoned indoors.
Summoning from a command block
- The mob appears on the command block: inside a command block,
~ ~ ~is the block's own position. Move it to a player with/execute at @p run summon minecraft:zombie ~ ~1 ~. - Mobs keep multiplying: a repeating block runs 20 times a second, so it summons 20 mobs a second. Use an impulse block with a button, or only summon when none exists:
/execute unless entity @e[tag=boss] run summon minecraft:zombie ~ ~1 ~ {Tags:["boss"]}(Java). - Clearing the extras:
/kill @e[type=minecraft:zombie,distance=..50]removes only nearby ones (Bedrock usesr=50).
Common questions
- Summon many at once? One /summon makes one mob. Repeat it in command blocks or a function, and keep the number reasonable to avoid lag.
- Make a mob stand still?
NoAI:1bon Java. Bedrock has no NoAI, so enclose the mob with blocks. - Make a boss? Combine health, damage, gear and a name; see the boss mob guide.
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