Raids in Minecraft: how to trigger, survive and win one

Drink an Ominous Bottle and walk into a village: 30 seconds later a raid starts on the spot. Easy has 3 waves, Normal 5 and Hard 7, plus a bonus wave from omen level II. All numbers below come from the Java Edition 26.3 game files. Bedrock Edition uses the same bottle and omens; its raider mix is not checked here, so the wave table is for Java.

A pillager captain carries a banner on its head. Kill one and it always drops an Ominous Bottle, level I to V at random. Captains lead patrols, which only appear after the first 5 in-game days, and guard every pillager outpost. In a world with cheats:

/locate structure minecraft:pillager_outpost

Keep the bottle: you choose when and where the raid happens. A higher level means a bonus wave and better-armed raiders (step 4).

• Villagers: they run inside during a raid. Doors and enclosed houses keep them alive, and you lose if too many die.
• Light and walls: raiders spawn at the edge of the village and walk in. A wall with a few gaps makes them arrive where you wait.
• Bell: ring the village Bell to make every raider within 48 blocks glow for 3 seconds.
• Your gear: full armor, a Shield against crossbow bolts, a bow or crossbow, food, and Healing potions if you have them.

Drinking gives you Bad Omen for 100 minutes, at the bottle's level. As soon as you stand in a village (not on Peaceful), it becomes Raid Omen for 30 seconds. When those 30 seconds end, the raid starts at the place where you got the Raid Omen. A boss bar called "Raid" appears.

Base number of raiders per wave. Easy plays waves 1 to 3, Normal 1 to 5, Hard 1 to 7:

Random extra pillagers and vindicators can join each wave. The bonus wave (omen II or higher) copies the last wave of your difficulty. The omen level also gives raiders a chance of enchanted gear: 10% at level II, 25% at III, 50% at IV, 75% at V.

• There are 15 seconds between two waves. Use them to eat, repair and get back in position.
• Block crossbow bolts with your Shield and close the distance on pillagers.
• Kill the Evoker first in waves 5 to 7: it summons fangs and Vexes, which fly through walls.
• Stay out of reach of a Ravager's charge and hit it from the side.
• When 2 raiders or fewer are left, the bar shows "Raiders Remaining". If one is stuck somewhere, ring the Bell to see it glow.

When the last wave is dead, the bar reads "Raid - Victory". Every player who took part gets Hero of the Village for 40 minutes, at the level of the omen: the higher the level, the bigger the discount on trades. Villagers also throw you gifts. Trade right away: see trading with villagers.

The raiders' drops are worth as much: every Evoker drops a Totem of Undying, every Ravager a Saddle. A raid captain drops no Ominous Bottle: the game only counts a patrol leader as a captain, so get the next bottle from a patrol or an outpost.

You lose ("Raid - Defeat") if the raiders kill enough villagers that the place no longer counts as a village. After 40 minutes a raid also stops on its own, without a winner.