Overview
A pillager outpost is a tap you can turn on whenever you want a raid, and that is worth more than the chest at the top of the tower. Killing the banner-wearing captain drops an Ominous Bottle; drinking it gives you Bad Omen, and walking into a village with Bad Omen active starts a raid. Raids are where totems of undying, emeralds and enchanted books come from in quantity, so a known outpost within running distance of a walled village is the backbone of most mid-game economies. Approaching one is the awkward part. Pillagers spawn here continuously regardless of light level, so clearing the tower buys you minutes rather than safety, and four or five crossbows firing down from the top platform outrange anything you can answer with early. Come in behind a shield, break the ladder behind you, and fight in the stairwell where only one can reach you at a time. Do not skip the cages: the ones on the ground may hold an iron golem, and the cages beneath the tower can contain allays, which are worth far more than the outpost's crossbow and are otherwise found nowhere else.
A renewable source of Bad Omen and therefore of raids, allays from the under-tower cages, a free iron golem, dark oak logs, and a chest with a crossbow and a few enchanted books. It is also the fastest way to find a village, since the two never generate together.
A dark oak watchtower flying an ominous banner, surrounded by tents, log piles, and often a cage holding an iron golem or, beneath the tower, cages containing allays. Pillagers spawn continuously in the area regardless of light level, so clearing it once does not make it safe. The chest at the top of the tower is guarded and holds a crossbow and modest supplies. Outposts never generate within a few hundred blocks of a village, and the captain here is the reliable way to acquire Bad Omen deliberately.
It is uncommon in the Overworld, restricted to Plains, Desert, Savanna, Snowy Plains and 4 more, and it generates on the surface.
How to get it
Outposts generate on the surface in plains, desert, savanna, snowy plains, taiga, meadow, grove and snowy slopes, and never within a few hundred blocks of a village, so the 2 structures effectively mark out separate territory. The ominous banner on the tower top is visible well before the tower is.
Tips
- Bring a shield: pillager crossbow bolts are fully blockable and the tower has nothing else that can hurt you through one.
- Break the tower ladder once you are inside so reinforcements have to walk the stairs into your sword one at a time.
- Check every cage on the ground and under the tower before leaving — allays only appear here and in woodland mansions.
- Carry the Ominous Bottle home rather than drinking it on the spot, since Bad Omen is only useful standing in a village you have already fortified.
Version notes
Added in 1.14 with pillagers and raids. In 1.21 killing a captain stopped applying Bad Omen directly and started dropping an Ominous Bottle instead, which you drink when you choose — a change that made raids schedulable rather than accidental.
Properties
It generates in the Overworld, which is the only dimension with a day-night cycle and weather, and the one every distance in the game is measured against. In a world with cheats on, /locate structure minecraft:pillager_outpost gives the coordinates of the nearest one. Without cheats, an explorer map from a cartographer villager is the reliable route for the structures that have one; everything else is exploration.
- Biomes it generates in
- 8
- Notable loot items
- 7
Where it generates
Pillager Outpost generates in 8 biomes: Plains, Desert, Savanna, Snowy Plains, Taiga, Meadow, Grove, and Snowy Slopes. Outside those it will not generate at all, however far you travel.
Notable loot
Its loot includes Crossbow, Iron Ingot, Enchanted Book, Wheat, Potato, Tripwire Hook, and Dark Oak Log. These are the notable entries rather than the full loot table — the common filler (bread, coal, iron nuggets) is omitted, and in some structures the best of it comes from a vault or a spawner rather than a chest.
Mobs found here
Pillager, Iron Golem, and Allay generate here. Several of them spawn nowhere else, which is usually the reason to make the trip.
What to watch out for
4 things to prepare for before you go in:
- Continuous pillager spawns at any light level
- Crossbow fire from the tower down onto you
- Killing the captain drops an Ominous Bottle — Bad Omen only once you drink it
- Long fall from the tower top
Guides and tools that cover this
Frequently asked questions
Can you stop pillagers respawning at an outpost?
Not by lighting it. Outpost pillagers ignore light level and spawn in the area on a timer, so the only permanent fix is to dismantle the tower and the tents entirely.
How do you start a raid from an outpost?
Kill the captain — the pillager wearing the ominous banner — take the Ominous Bottle it drops, drink it for Bad Omen, then walk into a village. The raid begins as you cross the village boundary.
What is in the outpost chest?
One chest at the top of the tower, holding a crossbow, iron, wheat, potatoes, a tripwire hook and sometimes an enchanted book. It is modest — the structure's value is the raid, not the loot.
How do I find Pillager Outpost?
Pillager Outpost generates in the Overworld, only in Plains, Desert, Savanna, Snowy Plains and 4 more, and is uncommon. /locate structure minecraft:pillager_outpost finds the nearest one instantly with cheats on.
What loot is in Pillager Outpost?
The notable entries are Crossbow, Iron Ingot, Enchanted Book, Wheat, Potato, Tripwire Hook and 1 more.
When was Pillager Outpost added?
Pillager Outpost was added in Java Edition 1.14.
Related pages
Structures that share Pillager Outpost's loot, its mobs or its biomes — not simply the next few in the list.
