Woodland Mansion Finder

What to know about Woodland Mansions

• BiomeWoodland Mansions only generate in dark forest biomes. If your seed has no dark forest within a few thousand blocks of spawn, expect a long trek out before you find one.
• Mobs insideMansions are patrolled by vindicators (melee illagers wielding iron axes) and evokers (spellcasters who summon flying vex minions and conjure rows of biting fangs from the floor). Both will see you the moment you open a door, so plan your approach.
• Secret roomsEach mansion contains a handful of themed rooms tucked behind walls — sometimes a diamond block on a pedestal, sometimes a chicken coop, sometimes a chest hidden behind bookshelves. Not every room is guaranteed in every mansion, so they're worth hunting for with a pickaxe.
• Totems of UndyingEvery evoker drops one when killed by the player (100% chance). A typical mansion has two to four evokers, so a full clear usually nets two to four totems.
• VersionWoodland Mansions were added in the 1.11 Exploration Update alongside evokers and vindicators. The structure has been largely unchanged since then, though the illager family has grown around it with raids, pillagers and ravagers.

What to bring for a Mansion raid

Diamond armour (minimum)

Diamond or netherite armour with Protection IV is strongly recommended for a Mansion raid. Vindicators (the axe-wielding illagers inside) hit hard enough to remove roughly a quarter of your health in a single swing, even through unenchanted diamond. Without Protection IV you'll burn through golden apples fast and probably won't finish the raid in one go. Enchant armour with an enchanting table or anvil before heading out.

Shield

A shield blocks vex attacks completely and significantly reduces damage from evoker fangs (the rows of biting jaws that erupt from the floor). Both threats are common inside a Mansion, and your shield will take heavy hits as a result. Carry a second shield on your hotbar in case the first one breaks mid-fight — it really isn't excessive. Craft each shield from six wooden planks and an iron ingot.

Totem of Undying

A Totem of Undying in your off-hand will instantly revive you with one half-heart of health if you take fatal damage. It's the safest way to attempt a Mansion raid — but there's a chicken-and-egg problem: the easiest way to get a totem is from a Mansion in the first place. If you have a totem from a previous raid (e.g. a village raid against evokers), bring it. If not, your first Mansion run is genuinely riskier.

Milk + golden apples

A milk bucket clears any bad potion effects you might pick up — useful as a safety net even though Mansion mobs don't throw potions like witches do. Golden apples (often called "gapples") instantly restore four hearts of health AND grant the Absorption effect, which adds two extra hearts of temporary health on top. Eating one mid-fight is essential when you're trying to outlast a vindicator. Stack at least eight before you head in.

Bow + arrows

A bow with the Power enchantment is your best answer to vexes. Vexes are small flying mobs that evokers summon during fights — they pass through walls and are awkward to hit with a sword because they fly above and around you. A Power V bow lets you pick them off at range before they close in. They despawn after about 30 seconds, so even a few good shots can end the threat quickly.

How to Clear It Room by Room

1. Light up the entrance and the path leading to the Mansion before you go in. Place torches generously on your approach so you have a clearly lit retreat route if things go wrong inside. Mansions sit in dark forest biomes where mobs spawn even in daylight, so a lit path also stops surprise zombies on your way back.
2. Clear the ground floor first before heading upstairs. Open rooms one at a time using the doorways as choke points — the doorways are narrow, so a careful approach lets you engage one mob at a time rather than getting swarmed by everything in the room. Drink a Strength potion if you have one before each new room.
3. Once the ground floor is clear, move up the staircases cautiously. Staircases inside a Mansion are classic ambush zones — vindicators love standing at the top of one, ready to swing the moment you appear. Check every corner before you commit, don't sprint through unfamiliar rooms, and keep your shield raised on the way up.
4. The moment you spot an evoker (the spellcaster illager in the dark robe), focus it down before anything else. Evokers continuously summon vexes throughout the fight, so the longer it lives the more flying enemies you have to deal with. Drop the evoker quickly and the vex stream stops at the source. Each evoker drops a Totem of Undying when killed, so it's the most rewarding kill in the Mansion too.
5. Once the Mansion is cleared of mobs, hunt for the themed rooms. Some Mansions contain a single diamond block on a pedestal hidden behind a wall, others have a cartographer's chest, and a few include surprises like a chicken coop or fake bedrooms. None are guaranteed in every Mansion, so it's worth pulling out a pickaxe and mining through suspicious-looking walls to find what your Mansion has.

What to do after the Mansion

A totem-rich mansion makes every other dangerous trip in the game safer. Between the two to four totems and the occasional hidden diamond-block room, you've got the kit for a proper ancient city trip, a stronghold push toward the End, or a nether fortress blaze-rod farm. The mansion is often a turning-point structure in a long-running world.