Do Named Entities Despawn in Minecraft?
In Minecraft, named entities, such as tamed mobs, don’t despawn easily. Hostile mobs won’t despawn unless the difficulty is set to "Peaceful". This means that if you name a hostile mob, it will stay in the game world until the game is restarted or the player moves out of the loaded chunk. However, if the chunk unloads and then loads again, the 5-minute timer for despawning resets.
Mobs that don’t despawn
• Tamed mobs: Tamed animals like wolves, cats, and other creatures don’t despawn as long as they have a tamer nearby.
• Wandering Traders: These special mobs will remain in the game world until the player who spawned them is out of the chunk or the game is restarted.
When mobs do despawn
• 5-minute timer: After 5 minutes of being in a loaded, entity-ticking chunk, an entity will despawn.
• Hostile mobs on "Peaceful" difficulty: As mentioned earlier, hostile mobs will despawn immediately if the difficulty is set to "Peaceful".
• Chunk unloading: If a chunk is unloaded and then loaded again, the 5-minute timer for despawning resets.
Special cases
• Boats: Mobs that are on boats will not despawn as long as they are on the boat. This is because the boat is considered a "non-static" entity and the mob’s presence is tied to the boat’s movement.
• AFK pools: Players sometimes create "AFK pools" to prevent themselves from being kicked off a server after a long period of inactivity. These pools can be made using infinite circling designs that prevent the player from being logged off.
Consequences of named entities not despawning
• Infinite resource generation: With named entities not despawning, players can farm resources, such as wheat and other crops, without the fear of losing their source of income.
• Long-term breeding: Breeding animals like wolves and cats can lead to long-term production of resources and other benefits, all thanks to named entities not despawning.
Conclusion
In Minecraft, named entities don’t despawn easily, especially tamed mobs and Wandering Traders. However, hostile mobs will despawn if the difficulty is set to "Peaceful" and chunk unloading can reset the 5-minute timer for despawning. Players can use this to their advantage by creating AFK pools and breeding animals to generate resources in the long term.