Shulker

A shulker is a box-shaped hostile mob found in end cities. It hides in its shell to protect itself and blend in with its surroundings. It attacks by shooting homing bullets at the player which inflict Levitation. It is the only source of shulker shells, which are used to craft shulker boxes.

Spawning

Natural generation

Shulkers spawn during the generation of end cities, which are located on the outer islands of the End. They usually spawn on the walls of the city and on end ships. They do not despawn naturally, even in Peaceful difficulty.

Post-generation

There is a chance that a new shulker of the same color will spawn when a shulker is hit with a shulker bullet (including one of its own).

The following conditions need to be met:

• When the shulker gets hit and then has less than half its health remaining, there is a 25% chance it will try to teleport without spawning a new shulker instead of checking the conditions below.
• The hit shulker must have its lid open.
• The hit shulker needs to find somewhere to teleport. For this, it takes a random block in a 17×17×17 cuboid centered on the shulker and then checks if the block has a valid face to teleport to. If not it proceeds to try this up to 4 more times. If no valid face is found, the attempt fails.
• Each other shulker within 8 blocks of the hit shulker decreases the odds of success by 20%. When five or more other shulkers are nearby, no shulkers will spawn, but the hit shulker still teleports.

If the attempt succeeds a new shulker spawns where the old shulker was before it teleported.

Drops

In Bedrock Edition, shulkers drop 0–1 shulker shells. The maximum can be increased by 1 per level of Looting, which is 0–4 shells with Looting III.

In Java Edition, shulkers have a 50% chance of dropping a shulker shell when killed. This is increased by 6.25% per level of Looting, for a maximum of 68.75% with Looting III.

Shulkers also drop 5 when killed by a player or a tamed wolf.

Behavior

The shell of the mob looks similar to a purpur block, blending in relatively easily to its surroundings. Inside the shell of the mob is a small yellow head with two eyes. Shulkers are uncolored by default when using spawn eggs, while white is the default when using /summon or spawners. Spawning shulkers with other colors can be done using the /summon command, as detailed below.

Shulkers generally remain stationary, attached to an adjacent block with a full face.[1] However, if the block the shulker occupies becomes something other than air or the shulker finds itself not adjacent to any full face, or the shell cannot fully open (due to solid blocks or entities such as boats or other shulkers), it attempts to teleport (5 attempts per tick) to an air block within a 17×17×17 cube centered on the shulker where the shulker can attach to a full face and open. If it finds no valid position to teleport onto it does not move..

Shulkers evaluate the collision box of scaffolding based on their current position,[2] which can result in the shulker teleporting to a position only to find it invalid and teleport again.

Shulkers occasionally open their shell for 1–3 seconds to peer outside. When a target comes within about 16 blocks, it opens fully and shoots guided projectiles that follow the player, called shulker bullets, moving only along the X, Y, or Z axes and leaving trails of white particles. The projectiles can be destroyed by attacking them or blocked with a shield. If the projectile hits an entity, it does 4 of damage and inflicts the Levitation status effect for 10 seconds, this status effect has no effect underwater[3][Java Edition only], or while riding a mob. The shulker continues firing every 1–5.5 seconds while the target remains in range. If the shulker’s target dies with projectiles still in flight, they fall to the ground.

Shulkers can attack each other, in which case they shoot fully guided bullets at each other, but are unaffected by Levitation when hit. The normal teleportation habits apply during these battles.

When its shell is closed, a shulker has 20 ( × 10) armor points and deflects arrows. When the shell opens, it loses this natural armor and takes damage as normal. When at less than half health, a shulker has a 25% chance of teleporting (as described above) after taking damage. When a shulker is attacked, other shulkers in the area target the attacker as well.

Shulkers don’t take burning damage from lava or fire. They drown in water, but try to teleport away when water or lava flows into the block they occupy. They do not take damage if they touch water, unlike endermen.

In Peaceful difficulty, shulkers exist within the world, but do not attack,[4] like vindicators ,evokers and piglin brutes in Bedrock Edition.

Shulkers are treated differently than true blocks. For example, mobs are unable to pathfind around[5] or jump over them,[6] and falling on them from a height does not produce particles.[7] Their spawn egg also does not destroy blocks such as grass.[8]

Shulkers can be hooked by a fishing rod. However, they cannot be reeled.

In Bedrock Edition, they apply Levitation II instead of I.

Shulker bullet

A shulker bullet is a guided projectile that is shot from shulkers, and they follow the targeted entity along the X, Y, or Z axis and leave trails of white particles. A shulker bullet that hits a mob or player deals damage and affects them with Levitation for ten seconds.

The shulker’s projectiles also have entity data that control its movement.

The bullet can be destroyed by hitting it with any item, shooting it with an arrow, or blocking it with a shield. It explodes upon contact with a block. The explosion does not destroy any blocks and does not damage nearby mobs or players.

Coloring

In Bedrock Edition, shulkers can be dyed in a similar fashion to sheep. Using a dye on a shulker gives it the color of the dye.

In Java Edition, the color of a shulker is changed through commands using the color byte tag.

Transportation

A shulker is transported in the Overworld by boat. Pistons raise the boat uphill.

Shulkers can be moved by boats or minecarts; pushing a boat/cart into a shulker causes it to board. A boat’s sides block some of a shulkers projectiles.

A shulker pushed through the exit portal gets transported to the world spawn point in the Overworld. Since shulkers teleport when not adjacent to a solid block, they must be pushed down the central pillar of the exit portal (or a manually placed block directly above the portal) with a piston.

Sounds

Shulker

Sound	Subtitles	Source	Description	Resource location	Translation key	Volume	Pitch	Attenuation distance
Shulker lurks	Hostile Creatures	Randomly	1.0	0.8-1.2	16
Shulker closes	Hostile Creatures	When a shulker’s shell closes	1.0	1.0	16
Shulker opens	Hostile Creatures	When a shulker’s shell opens	1.0	1.0	16
Shulker dies	Hostile Creatures	When a shulker dies	1.0	0.8-1.2	16
Shulker hurts	Hostile Creatures	When a shulker is damaged with its shell closed	1.0	0.8-1.2	16
Shulker hurts	Hostile Creatures	When a shulker is damaged with its shell open	1.0	0.8-1.2	16
Shulker shoots	Hostile Creatures	When a shulker shoots a bullet	2.0	0.8-1.2	16
Shulker teleports	Hostile Creatures	When a shulker teleports	1.0	1.0	16

Sound	Source	Description	Resource location	Volume	Pitch
Hostile Creatures	Randomly	1.0	0.8-1.2
Hostile Creatures	When a shulker’s shell closes	1.0	0.8-1.2
Hostile Creatures	When a shulker’s shell opens	1.0	0.8-1.2
Hostile Creatures	When a shulker dies	1.0	0.8-1.2
Hostile Creatures	When a shulker is damaged	1.0	0.8-1.2
Hostile Creatures	When a shulker shoots a bullet	2.0	0.8-1.2
Hostile Creatures	When a shulker teleports	1.0	1.0

Shulker bullet

Java Edition:
Shulker bullets use the Hostile Creatures sound category for entity-dependent sound events.

Sound	Subtitles	Source	Description	Resource location	Translation key	Volume	Pitch	Attenuation distance
Shulker bullet explodes	Hostile Creatures	When a shulker bullet collides with a block	1.0	1.0	16
Shulker bullet breaks	Hostile Creatures	When a shulker bullet is killed	1.0	1.0	16

Sound	Source	Description	Resource location	Volume	Pitch
Hostile Creatures	When a shulker bullet collides with something	1.0	1.0

Data values

ID

Name	Identifier	Translation key
Shulker
Shulker Bullet

Name	Identifier	Numeric ID	Translation key
Shulker
Shulker Bullet

Entity data

Shulkers have entity data associated with them that contains various properties.

• Entity data
  • Tags common to all entities
  • Tags common to all mobs
  • APX: Approximate X coordinate.
  • APY: Approximate Y coordinate.
  • APZ: Approximate Z coordinate.
  • AttachFace: Direction of the block the shulker is attached to. Below is 0b, above is1b, north is2b, south is3b, west is4b, east is5b.
  • Color: The color of the shulker. Default is 0. Shulkers spawned by eggs or as part of End cities have value 16.
  • Peek: Height of the head of the shulker.

Shulker color

Shulker bullets have entity data associated with them that contains various properties.

• Entity data
  • Tags common to all entities
  • Tags common to all projectiles
  • Steps: How many “steps” it takes to attack to the target. The higher it is, the further out of the way the bullet travels to get to the target. If set to 0, it makes no attempt to attack the target and instead uses TXD/TYD/TZD in a straight line (similar to fireballs).
  • Target: The UUID of the target of this shulker bullet, stored as four ints.
  • TXD: The offset in the X direction to travel in accordance with its target.
  • TYD: The offset in the Y direction to travel in accordance with its target.
  • TZD: The offset in the Z direction to travel in accordance with its target.

Achievements

Icon	Achievement	In-game description	Actual requirements (if different)	Gamerscore earned	Trophy type (PS4)
PS4	Other
Great View From Up Here	Levitate up 50 blocks from the attacks of a Shulker	—	20G	Bronze

Advancements

Icon	Advancement	In-game description	Parent	Actual requirements (if different)	Resource location
	Not Today, Thank You	Block a projectile using your shield.	Suit Up	Block any projectile with a shield.
	How Did We Get Here?	Have every effect applied at the same time	A Furious Cocktail	Have all of these 27 effects applied to the player at the same time: This is a hidden advancement, meaning that it can be viewed by the player only after completing it, regardless if one or more of its child advancements have been completed.
	Great View From Up Here	Levitate up 50 blocks from the attacks of a Shulker	The City at the End of the Game	Move a distance of 50 blocks vertically with the Levitation effect applied, regardless of whether it is caused by the effect.
	Adventure	Adventure, exploration, and combat	—	Kill any entity, or be killed by any entity.
	Monster Hunter	Kill any hostile monster	Adventure	Kill one of these 34 mobs:
	It Spreads	Kill a mob near a Sculk Catalyst	Monster Hunter	Kill one of these 68 (70[upcoming: JE 1.20]) mobs near a sculk catalyst:
	Monsters Hunted	Kill one of every hostile monster	Monster Hunter	Kill each of these 34 mobs:

History

City_Golemto
Shulker; verify if the latter is factual information.

Java Edition
1.9	15w31a
15w32b	Shulkers no longer teleport by themselves if
Shulkers can now be teleported using
15w40a	Shulkers no longer target players or attack in Peaceful difficulty.
Shulker bullets now despawn in Peaceful.
15w45a	Added sounds for shulkers being damaged.
15w47a	Shulkers now drop experience.
15w47b	Added ambient, aggravated and death sounds for shulkers, and added sounds for their bullets dealing and taking damage.
1.11	16w32a	The entity ID of shulkers has been changed from
The bullet’s entity ID is changed from
16w39a	Shulkers now drop shulker shells.
16w39c	Shulkers can now be spawned on the sides and bottoms of blocks through the usage of spawn eggs.
1.12	17w16a
17w17a
1.13	18w10b
1.17	20w45a	New shulkers now have a chance to spawn when one shulker hits another shulker with a shulker bullet.
Pocket Edition
1.0.0	alpha 0.17.0.1
Shulkers can now be dyed in Creative mode by long-tapping any dye on a shulker, or through an interact button.
alpha 1.0.0.1	Shulkers now drop shulker shells.
1.0.4	alpha 1.0.4.0	The shulker’s models can now be edited using add-ons.
1.1.0	alpha 1.1.0.9
?
Bedrock Edition
1.2.0	beta 1.2.0.2
1.18.30	beta 1.18.30.22	New shulkers now have a chance to spawn when one shulker hits another shulker with a shulker bullet.
1.19.0	beta 1.19.0.28	Shulkers will no longer take burning damage from fire or lava.
Legacy Console Edition
TU46	CU36	1.38	Patch 15
New Nintendo 3DS Edition
1.7.10

Issues

Issues relating to “Shulker” are maintained on the bug tracker. Report issues there.

Trivia

• Originally, shulkers were going to camouflage with a nearby block (shulkers next to purpur would look like purpur, and shulkers next to end stone would look like end stone). However, Jeb decided this was too difficult to code, so instead, shulkers were just purple mobs that would open and shoot.[9]
• The word “shulker” is a portmanteau of “shell lurker”.[10][11]
• A shulker named ‘Dinnerbone’ or ‘Grumm’ flips upside-down, revealing a spiral pattern on the base. This appears to also lift the shulker by the same height as a pressure plate.
• By using commands, they can be made to be part of a team to attack other teams and can be used as defense mobs. In that case, it doesn’t attack its teammates but targets most hostile mobs without provocation.
• Walking toward a shulker at the same level as the player’s head pushes the player down to the one-block crawling position if there is space beneath.
• If given the Invisibility effect, only the shulker’s shell becomes invisible. This is different to most other mobs such as armored mobs and saddled pigs, where the living part of the mob turns invisible with the outer areas remaining visible.
• In the game’s texture files, the shulker bullet is named spark.png.
• Gravity blocks glitch when on top of a shulker. Sand on top of an extended shulker is higher than sand on one block but the sand is solid.
• If the shulker is initially attached to the ground and there is a block on the side and on the top, the shulker becomes attached onto the block beside.

Gallery

Renders

Screenshots

• An image released by Jeb_ of shulkers appearing to attack blazes in the Nether.

• A shulker attacking the player.

• A shulker inside an end city. It is difficult to spot against the purpur blocks.

• A shulker with invisibility effect.

• All 16 shulker colors from before Java Edition 1.16.4.

In other media

• Lego Minecraft shulker

References

1. ↑ Most solid blocks have 6 full faces. Some have fewer, for example composters have 5 as the top is open, slabs have just one (top or bottom), stairs have two (one side and top or bottom), and chests have none as they are slightly smaller than a full block.
2. ↑ When the shulker is at a Y position above the scaffolding block, the top is a full face and it will block opening. When at the same Y level as scaffolding unsupported from below, the bottom is a full face and it will block opening. Otherwise the scaffolding is seen as having no faces and will not block opening.
3. ↑ MC-83369
4. ↑ MC-227168 — Shulkers don’t attack back in peaceful difficulty
5. ↑ MC-94831
6. ↑ MC-94115
7. ↑ MC-129795
8. ↑ MC-130571
9. ↑ https://youtu.be/eYw3U8C_P40&t=5m42s
10. ↑ https://youtu.be/h3vjmzCV8PY&t=12m01s
11. ↑ https://youtu.be/eYw3U8C_P40&t=5m42s

External links

• Meet the Shulker – Minecraft.net on January 30, 2017