This Minecraft tutorial explains the NBT tags (formerly called data tags) that you can use for an ender dragon in Minecraft Java Edition (PC/Mac) 1.16, 1.17, 1.18, 1.19 and 1.20.

TIP: If you are not running Minecraft Java Edition (PC/Mac) 1.16/1.17/1.18/1.19/1.20, find NBT tags for ender dragon in another version of Minecraft:

  • Java Edition (PC/Mac) 1.14/1.15
  • Java Edition (PC/Mac) 1.11/1.12
  • Java Edition (PC/Mac) 1.10

Background

In Minecraft Java Edition 1.16, 1.17, 1.18, 1.19 and 1.20, the entity value for an ender dragon is ender_dragon. The ender_dragon entity has a unique set of data tags that can be used in Minecraft commands such as: /summon and /data.

What are NBT tags (formerly called Data Tags)?

NBT tags allow you to set certain properties of an entity (such as ender_dragon). The NBT tag is always surrounded in {} such as {DragonPhase:7}. If there is more than one NBT tag used in a game command, the NBT tags are separated by a comma such as {DragonPhase:7, CustomName:”\”Endie\””}.

List of NBT Tags

Here is a list of the NBT tags that you can use for ender_dragon in Minecraft Java Edition (PC/Mac) 1.16, 1.17, 1.18, 1.19 and 1.20:

NBT Tag Value (Description)
DragonPhase 0 (The dragon is starting its attack phase)
4 (The dragon is in the middle of the attack phase and will make a noise)
7 (The dragon is about to perform a breath attack)
9 (The dragon is about to die and will drop experience)
10 (The dragon is tame)

Example
{DragonPhase: 7}

CustomName  

name (The name to assign to the ender dragon)

Example
{CustomName:”\”Endie\””}

Health  

number (The number of health points the ender dragon has)

Example
{Health:25.0f}

AbsorptionAmount  

number (The number of absorption health points the ender dragon has)

Example
{AbsorptionAmount:2.0f}

Invulnerable  

0 (The ender dragon will take damage like normal)
1 (The ender dragon will not take any damage from attacks or physical surroundings)

Example
{Invulnerable:1}

PersistenceRequired  

0 (The ender dragon will despawn naturally)
1 (The ender dragon won’t despawn)

Example
{PersistenceRequired:1}

NoAI  

0 (The ender dragon will have artificial intelligence and will move/behave like normal)
1 (The ender dragon will have no artificial intelligence and will appear motionless)

Example
{NoAI:1}

Silent  

0 (The ender dragon will make its usual noises in the game)
1 (The ender dragon will not make any noise in the game)

Example
{Silent:1}

Fire  

ticks (The number of game ticks until the ender dragon is no longer on fire – there are 20 ticks in a second)

Example
{Fire:60}

PortalCooldown  

ticks (The number of game ticks until the ender dragon can go through a portal again – there are 20 ticks in a second)

Example
{PortalCooldown:120}

Air  

ticks (The number of game ticks the ender dragon has air left for)

Example
{Air:120}

id  

ender_dragon (The entity value used to represent an ender dragon in the EntityTag or Passengers tag)

Example
{id:ender_dragon}

Passengers  

The mob that is riding on the ender dragon. Use the entity value for the passenger mob

Example of skeleton as passenger
Passengers:[{id:skeleton}]

NBT Tag Examples

To summon an ender dragon that is about to start its attack phase:

/summon ender_dragon ~ ~ ~ {DragonPhase:0}

To summon an ender dragon that is named Endie and is about to perform a breath attack:

/summon ender_dragon ~ ~ ~ {CustomName:"\"Endie\"", DragonPhase:7}

To summon an ender dragon that is named Endie and is about to die and drop experience:

/summon ender_dragon ~ ~ ~ {CustomName:"\"Endie\"", DragonPhase:9}

Target Selectors

Before we finish discussing data tags, let’s quickly explore how to use the @e target selector. The @e target selector allows you to target entities in your commands. If you use the type=ender_dragon value, you can target ender dragons:

@e[type=ender_dragon]

Target Selector Examples

To change the nearest ender dragon to dragon phase 7 (perform a breath attack):

/data merge entity @e[type=ender_dragon,limit=1,sort=nearest] {DragonPhase:7}

To kill all ender dragons:

/kill @e[type=ender_dragon]

Next, learn how to use the game commands in Minecraft.

Command Examples

Here are some game command examples for an ender dragon in Minecraft:

How to Summon an Ender Dragon

Click to rate this post!
[Total: 2 Average: 5]