Illagers explained: every illager, pillager vs illager, and why they hate villagers

Illager is not one mob. It is a family: a group of grey-skinned, villager-shaped mobs that are hostile to players, villagers and iron golems. The pillager is the most common member of that family, which is why the two words get mixed up.

This page covers every illager in the game, where each one lives, what it drops, how they differ from the other mobs that join raids, and the one official explanation Mojang has given for why they hate villagers.

Image: Mojang Studios, from an official minecraft.net article.

Quick answers

• What is an illager? A family of hostile, villager-like mobs: the pillager, vindicator, evoker and illusioner. They attack players, villagers and iron golems.
• Pillager vs illager: every pillager is an illager, but not every illager is a pillager. "Illager" is the family; "pillager" is the crossbow-carrying member of it.
• Why do illagers hate villagers? Mojang's official mob book, Minecraft: Mobestiary, says illagers were expelled from villages because of their "unspeakable activities". That is the only official backstory there is.
• Why are illagers grey? Mojang has never explained it. The grey skin is a design choice that makes them read instantly as "evil villagers"; any deeper reason is fan theory.
• Are ravagers, witches and vexes illagers? No. Ravagers and witches join raids but are not illagers, and vexes are summoned by evokers but are neither illagers nor raiders.

Every illager in Minecraft

Pillager

The pillager is the illager you meet first and most often. It carries a crossbow and roams the Overworld in patrols, guards pillager outposts, and makes up most of every raid. A patrol is led by a captain, who wears an ominous banner; killing a captain drops an ominous bottle, which is how you get Bad Omen and start a raid on purpose.

Vindicator

The vindicator is the melee illager: it charges with an axe and hits hard. You find vindicators in woodland mansions and in later raid waves, where they can break wooden doors to reach villagers hiding inside.

Evoker

The evoker is a spellcaster. It summons evoker fangs from the ground and calls vexes, small flying mobs that pass through walls. Evokers live on the upper floors of woodland mansions and appear in raids. They are the only renewable source of totems of undying, which is the whole reason the totem farm exists.

Illusioner

The illusioner uses a bow, can blind you, and creates copies of itself. It exists in the game files of Java Edition but does not spawn in survival: you can only summon it with commands. It never appears in raids or structures.

The mobs that are not illagers

Three mobs travel with illagers and get lumped in with them:

• Ravager: a large beast that joins raids and is ridden by illagers in some waves. It is a raider, not an illager.
• Witch: joins raids from the later waves, but is its own mob with its own spawning rules.
• Vex: summoned only by evokers. It is neither an illager nor a raider.

Where illagers live

• Pillager outposts: watchtowers in the Overworld, guarded by pillagers. Some have cages holding allays, the only place besides mansions where you find them.
• Woodland mansions: huge dark-oak buildings deep in dark forests, home to vindicators and evokers. See who built Minecraft's structures for why the illagers live there but almost certainly did not build it.
• Patrols: small roaming groups of pillagers led by a captain.
• Raids: waves of illagers and their allies that attack a village when a player carrying Bad Omen enters it. Our raid farm guide covers how raids work in detail.

Why do illagers hate villagers? The lore

Here the game says very little, and it is worth being precise about what is official.

What Mojang has said: the official book Minecraft: Mobestiary describes illagers as having been expelled from villages because of their "unspeakable activities". When the developers first designed them, they described wanting a "generic, evil soldier mob", slightly more intelligent than skeletons. That is the whole of the official backstory.

What the game shows: illagers look like villagers, live in large organized buildings and outposts, carry banners, and launch coordinated attacks on villages. Taken together, that reads as an organized faction with a grudge, not as wild monsters.

What is theory: everything else. Popular readings include illagers as a splinter group that turned to magic (evokers), or a people who were driven out and came back for revenge. None is confirmed. The full picture of what the game does and does not say is in our villagers and illagers lore deep dive.

How to deal with illagers

• Pillagers: fight with a shield; crossbow bolts are blocked like arrows. Take out patrol captains on purpose only if you want Bad Omen.
• Vindicators: they hit hard up close, so keep distance or block. In mansions, light up corridors as you go.
• Evokers: kill them fast, before their vexes pile up. Vexes fly through walls, so retreating into a corridor does not help.
• Raids: every raid ends when all waves are defeated. Fighting from inside a village with walls and lighting is far easier than in the open.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between a pillager and an illager?

Illager is the family name; the pillager is one illager. Every pillager is an illager, but vindicators, evokers and illusioners are illagers too.

Why do illagers hate villagers?

The only official explanation, from Mojang's Minecraft: Mobestiary, is that illagers were expelled from villages for their "unspeakable activities". Anything beyond that is theory.

Why are illagers grey?

Mojang has never said. The grey skin marks them visually as hostile villagers; no lore reason has been given.

What illager drops a totem of undying?

The evoker. It is the only mob that drops totems, which makes raids the only renewable source.

Is the ravager an illager?

No. Ravagers join raids alongside illagers but are a separate mob. The same goes for witches.

Does the illusioner spawn in survival?

No. In Java Edition it can only be summoned with commands.