Minecraft Shulker

Shulkers will only spawn during natural world generation. End cities will spawn during world generation, and shulkers will inhabit these end cities protecting the valuable resources found within. Unlike other mobs, shulkers will not respawn or despawn. They will remain in their cities until you defeat them. Once an end city has been cleared out of shulkers they will never respawn there.

In the upcoming 1.17 update for the Java edition, shulkers that shoot each other have a chance to duplicate. This means leaving two shulkers alive can potentially be infinite amounts of shulker shells.

Shulkers will drop shulker shells. In Bedrock Edition they will drop 0-1 shulker shells and with a Looting III sword, they will drop 0-4 shulker shells. In the Java edition, they have a 50% chance to drop a shulker shell going up to about 70% to drop a shulker shell with Looting III. They will also drop 5 XP orbs when killed.

While shulkers are difficult enemies to take down the reward is worth it. Since there is a finite amount of shulkers, try to only kill them with a Looting III sword.

Shulkers have the same pink color as the purpur blocks around it. They live in shells that they will occasionally peek out of. When you approach them they will open their shells fully and launch projectiles at you. They attach to blocks and can only move by teleporting. They will teleport at 50% health or lower and will teleport away from other shulkers. Shulkers will teleport when they touch water. They can drown, but this is difficult to accomplish as they will simply teleport away. If the block they are attached to breaks they will also teleport away.

Shulkers have 15 full hearts. They are difficult to approach as their bullets will cause levitation. The bullets themselves do not do much damage, especially with a full set of armor on, but the danger from levitation makes things much more difficult. Try to keep a roof above you as you approach a shulker, or at the very least, head towards the top of the end city to prevent falling too far.

The bullets can be broken by swinging at them or by blocking with a shield. While the shulker shell is closed they gain a lot of armor points and will deflect arrows. It may be tempting to shoot shulkers from safety with a bow and arrow, but the arrow could deflect back to you and deal more damage than a shulker projectile ever could.

In the Java edition, shulkers are immune to fire and lava damage, but in Bedrock, shulkers will take damage from fire. This makes Fire Aspect a good tool in taking shulkers down. Fighting multiple shulkers inside is an interesting experience. You can try to hit them on your way up, but I find fighting them from the top to bottom works out easier due to all the levitating.

Q. Can you tame a shulker in Minecraft?

No, they are hostile mobs. They do not eat food, they cannot be pulled away with a lead.

Q. How do I stop shulkers from teleporting?

Shulkers have a 25% chance to teleport, they will not teleport to water or lava blocks. There is no set way to prevent shulkers from teleporting. The time it takes to set up an area that prevents them from moving is slower than chasing them down as they teleport away. Use your strongest sword and look for critical hits in order to kill them before they teleport.

Q. Can Shulkers teleport to glass?

Shulkers will teleport to glass and even leaf blocks. It is rare to see it, but it is not impossible.

Q. Does Smite work on Shulkers?

Smite only does extra damage to undead mobs. Shulkers are not undead, so look towards Sharpness enchantments instead.

Q. How many Shulker shells do Shulkers drop?

Shulkers will drop 0-1 shulker shells with not Looting enchantments. With the enchantment, they can drop 0-4 shells with Looting III.