How to Make Guards Defend Your Village Reliably

Give them a village to defend

Guards in this mod are tied to village logic. A Guard with no nearby village, beds, or villagers will often idle instead of patrolling. The fix is simple: make sure the area qualifies as a village. Place beds, at least one villager, and a workstation (like a bell or a job block) near where you want guards stationed. Once the game recognizes the settlement, Guards begin walking patrol routes and reacting to threats.

Equip and support them

1. Guards spawn with their own gear, but you can improve survivability by keeping the village lit and walled so they aren't ambushed at night.

2. Place Iron Golems at chokepoints and Guards along the perimeter — Guards intercept pillagers and zombies while golems soak damage.

3. Keep a bell in the village center. Ringing it during a raid pulls villagers indoors and lets Guards focus on attackers instead of chasing fleeing villagers.

4. Don't box Guards in. They need open paths to reach mobs; a guard stuck behind a fence gate won't help during a raid.

Troubleshooting

If Guards ignore hostiles, verify the mob is actually a threat to villagers (some neutral mobs won't trigger them). If Guards wander off, you likely have two villages merging — separate them with distance or walls so patrol zones stay clean.