This Minecraft tutorial explains how to craft a monster spawner with screenshots and step-by-step instructions.

Background

In Minecraft, a monster spawner (sometimes called mob spawner) is a block that spawns mobs. It looks like a black cage.

You will typically find monster spawners in dungeons, strongholds or the Nether Fortress where they spawn hostile mobs such as skeletons, spiders, cave spiders, zombies, silverfish or blazes.

When you move closer to a spawner, you will see flames burning and a miniature version of the mob will appear inside and spin faster and faster. Eventually, the mob will spawn outside of the monster spawner.

You can change the type of mob that spawns inside the monster spawner by using any spawn egg.

A monster spawner can not be crafted in the game and you can’t dig up a spawner with a tool that has Silk Touch. However in Minecraft Bedrock Edition (PE, Win10, Xbox One, PS4, Nintendo Switch), a monster spawner is available through the Creative Inventory menu in Creative mode. And in the PC/Mac version, you can create a monster spawner using game commands.

Where to find a Monster Spawner in Creative Mode

Minecraft Java Edition (PC/Mac)

Here is where you can find a monster spawner in the Creative Inventory menu:

Platform Version(s) Creative Menu Location
Java Edition (PC/Mac) 1.19.3 – 1.20
  • Platform is the platform that applies.
  • Version(s) is the Minecraft version numbers where the item can be found in the menu location listed (we have tested and confirmed this version number).
  • Creative Menu Location is the location of the item in the Creative Inventory menu.

Item ID and Name

Minecraft Java Edition (PC/Mac)

In Minecraft, a monster spawner has the following Name, ID and DataValue:

Description
(Minecraft ID Name)		 Data Value Stack Size Version
Monster Spawner
(minecraft:mob_spawner)		 0 64 1.8 – 1.12
Monster Spawner
(minecraft:spawner)		 64 1.13 – 1.20
  • Description is what the item is called and (Minecraft ID Name) is the string value that is used in game commands.
  • Data Value (or damage value) identifies the variation of the block if more than one type exists for the Minecraft ID.
  • Stack Size is the maximum stack size for this item. While some items in Minecraft are stackable up to 64, other items can only be stacked up to 16 or 1. (NOTE: These stack sizes are for vanilla Minecraft only. If you are running a mod, some mods may change the stack size for an item.)
  • Platform is the platform that applies.
  • Version(s) is the Minecraft version numbers that the Minecraft ID and Name are valid for.

Give Command for Monster Spawner

Give Command in Minecraft Java Edition (PC/Mac)

In Minecraft Java Edition (PC/Mac) 1.13, 1.14, 1.15, 1.16, 1.17, 1.18, 1.19 and 1.20, the /give command for Monster Spawner is:

/give @p spawner 1

In Minecraft Java Edition (PC/Mac) 1.8, 1.9, 1.10, 1.11 and 1.12, the /give command for Monster Spawner is:

/give @p mob_spawner 1 0

NBT for Monster Spawner

Here are the NBT tags (formerly called data tags) for a monster spawner (check out our Monster Spawner Generator to see how these NBT tags are used in a /setblock command):

Data Tag Description
SpawnRange The number of blocks away from the spawner that the mob can spawn.
SpawnCount The maximum number of mobs that can spawn each time (the actual number that will spawn will be between 1 and this number and will vary each time a spawn occurs).
MaxNearbyEntities The maximum number of mobs (with that Entity ID) that can spawn within the Spawn Range.
Delay The number of ticks before the first mob will spawn after the monster spawner has detected a player.
MinSpawnDelay After the first spawn, the minimum wait time (in ticks) until the next spawn occurs.
MaxSpawnDelay After the first spawn, the maximum wait time (in ticks) until the next spawn occurs.
RequiredPlayerRange The number of blocks away from the spawner a player can be before the monster spawner is activated.
SpawnData The information for the mob that you would like to spawn. Use the Entity ID for the id tag to define the entity. Then customize the mob with additional data tags (you can only use data tags that are compatible with the Entity ID that you choose in the id tag).
SpawnPotential The potential entities to spawn. Use the Type, Weight and Properties tags to define the mobs within the SpawnPotential tag.

Things to Do with a Monster Spawner

Here are some activities that you can do with a monster spawner in Minecraft:

How to Use a Monster Spawner
How to Change the Mob in a Monster Spawner

Command Generators

If you need help, you can use this tool to automatically generate commands for you:

Monster Spawner Generator

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