Invulnerable Entities

The primary mechanism for making an entity immune to harm is the `minecraft:damage_sensor` component. Whenever an entity is about to take damage from any source—whether it is a player's sword, a TNT explosion, or starvation—the game passes the damage event through this sensor before subtracting health. By setting up a trigger that catches every damage type and tells the game not to deal damage, the entity becomes impervious to health loss.

Inside the component, the `triggers` array accepts objects that filter incoming hits. Setting `deals_damage` to `false` cancels the health reduction, prevents the entity from flashing red, and suppresses the standard hurt sound and knockback associated with the hit. If you omit the `on_damage` filter or set the `cause` to `all`, the rule applies universally to every damage source in the game.

{
  "format_version": "1.20.40",
  "minecraft:entity": {
    "description": {
      "identifier": "custom:quest_npc",
      "is_spawnable": true,
      "is_summonable": true
    },
    "components": {
      "minecraft:health": {
        "value": 20,
        "max": 20
      },
      "minecraft:damage_sensor": {
        "triggers": [
          {
            "cause": "all",
            "deals_damage": false
          }
        ]
      }
    }
  }
}

Even with `deals_damage` set to `false` for `all` causes, there are two ways an entity can usually still be destroyed: falling into the void below the world, and being targeted by the `/kill` command. Both of these apply the `void` and `suicide` or ` magic` damage causes under the hood, bypassing normal armor and health calculations to force entity cleanup.

In modern Bedrock versions, a damage sensor with `"cause": "all"` and `"deals_damage": false` will actually prevent `/kill` from working on your entity. While this guarantees absolute invulnerability, it quickly becomes frustrating during development or map maintenance when you cannot remove a test mob. Furthermore, if an invulnerable entity falls into the void, it will fall forever or sit at the bottom of the void taking zero damage, consuming server resources.

To keep your entities manageable, put a specific trigger for `void` and `suicide` above your catch-all trigger. Because Bedrock evaluates the `triggers` array from top to bottom and stops at the first match, placing an exception at the top allows `/kill` and the void to function normally while blocking everything else.

{
  "minecraft:damage_sensor": {
    "triggers": [
      {
        "cause": "void",
        "deals_damage": true
      },
      {
        "cause": "suicide",
        "deals_damage": true
      },
      {
        "cause": "all",
        "deals_damage": false
      }
    ]
  }
}

For custom furniture, statues, or vehicles, you generally want the entity to be invulnerable to survival hazards like Creepers or stray arrows, but still removable by a player in Creative mode or someone holding a specific tool (like a wrench). You can achieve this by combining `deals_damage: false` with an `on_damage` filter that triggers an instant despawn event.

Instead of letting the player beat the entity to death over several hits, the sensor blocks all health damage, checks if the attacker meets your criteria via a filter, and then fires an event that activates `minecraft:instant_despawn`. This removes the entity cleanly in a single click without playing death animations or dropping corpse smoke.

{
  "format_version": "1.20.40",
  "minecraft:entity": {
    "description": {
      "identifier": "custom:statue",
      "is_spawnable": true,
      "is_summonable": true
    },
    "component_groups": {
      "custom:despawn_group": {
        "minecraft:instant_despawn": {}
      }
    },
    "components": {
      "minecraft:health": {
        "value": 1,
        "max": 1
      },
      "minecraft:damage_sensor": {
        "triggers": [
          {
            "on_damage": {
              "filters": {
                "all_of": [
                  {
                    "test": "is_family",
                    "subject": "other",
                    "value": "player"
                  },
                  {
                    "test": "has_ability",
                    "subject": "other",
                    "value": "instabuild"
                  }
                ]
              },
              "event": "custom:remove_entity"
            },
            "deals_damage": false
          },
          {
            "cause": "all",
            "deals_damage": false
          }
        ]
      }
    },
    "events": {
      "custom:remove_entity": {
        "add": {
          "component_groups": [
            "custom:despawn_group"
          ]
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

An entity that takes no damage can still be pushed around by pistons, water currents, or players walking into it. It can also catch fire visually when walking through lava, even if the fire deals no damage. To make an entity feel truly solid and impervious, you need to lock down its physical and environmental properties alongside the damage sensor.

Use `minecraft:pushable` with both boolean flags set to `false` so neither mobs nor pistons can shove the entity out of place. Add `minecraft:fire_immune` so the entity does not display the burning flame overlay when exposed to fire or lava. Finally, adding `minecraft:knockback_resistance` with a value of `1.0` ensures that any edge-case effects, such as explosions or wind charges that apply impulse outside the standard damage pipeline, fail to move the entity.

{
  "components": {
    "minecraft:fire_immune": {},
    "minecraft:knockback_resistance": {
      "value": 1.0
    },
    "minecraft:pushable": {
      "is_pushable": false,
      "is_pushable_by_piston": false
    },
    "minecraft:physics": {
      "has_gravity": true,
      "has_collision": true
    }
  }
}

Sometimes an entity does not need to be hit at all. If you are making an invisible marker, a floating text display, or a visual effect anchor, using a damage sensor is unnecessary overhead if you simply remove the entity's hitbox. When an entity has a collision box with zero width and height, swings and projectiles pass right through it.

Set both `width` and `height` to `0.0` in `minecraft:collision_box`, and disable gravity and collision in `minecraft:physics`. Pair this with a damage sensor anyway so area-of-effect damage like explosions or potions cannot destroy the marker.

{
  "components": {
    "minecraft:collision_box": {
      "width": 0.0,
      "height": 0.0
    },
    "minecraft:physics": {
      "has_collision": false,
      "has_gravity": false
    },
    "minecraft:pushable": {
      "is_pushable": false,
      "is_pushable_by_piston": false
    },
    "minecraft:damage_sensor": {
      "triggers": [
        {
          "cause": "all",
          "deals_damage": false
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}

Applies to all modern Bedrock versions (1.16.0 through 1.21+). All components shown (`minecraft:damage_sensor`, `minecraft:pushable`, `minecraft:fire_immune`, `minecraft:knockback_resistance`, `minecraft:instant_despawn`) are stable and do not require any experimental toggles.

Read out of the game itself, so the ids match the version you are building for.