Creating Spawns

What are Custom Spawns?

Custom Spawns are used by Events and global reinforcements to set how, where and when an event should spawn the boss for that event.

Events and global reinforcements set which spawn they are using by writing down its filename.

Creating Custom Spawns

Custom Spawns go into the customspawns folder. One Custom Spawn can be used by several events at the same time, so you don't have to create one per event.

Here is an example Custom Spawn:

isEnabled: true
validWorldEnvironments:
- NORMAL
- CUSTOM
bypassWorldGuard: false
isSurfaceSpawn: true

Making an Anywhere Spawn

To make a spawn that can occur anywhere, your configuration should resemble the following:

isEnabled: true
canSpawnInLight: true

This configuration allows mobs to spawn in any location, in any world, at any time, and during any moon phase.

If you're interested in creating a more customized spawn, keep reading below.

Values

---

isEnabled

Sets if the spawn is enabled.

Key	Values	Default
isEnabled	Boolean	true

Example

isEnabled: true

---

lowestYLevel

Sets the lowest y level (map height) used. Note that the default of 0 stops underground spawns from ever going below sea level - set this to a negative value such as -64 if you want spawns in deep caves.

Key	Values	Default
lowestYLevel	Integer	0

Example

lowestYLevel: 0

---

highestYLevel

Sets the highest y level (map height) used.

Key	Values	Default
highestYLevel	Integer	320

Example

highestYLevel: 320

---

validWorlds

Sets the list of the worlds where the custom spawn can happen. This setting can be left out to allow all your worlds to be valid.

Key	Values	Default
validWorlds	String List	none

Example

validWorlds:
- WORLD
- FUN_LAND

If you want all your worlds to be valid you can just not use the setting or format it like this:

validWorlds: []

---

validWorldEnvironments

Sets the list of valid world environments where the custom spawn can happen. This setting can be left out to allow all environments to be valid.

Key	Values	Default
validWorldEnvironments	Environment List	none

Example

validWorldEnvironments:
- NORMAL
- NETHER

If you want all environments to be valid you can just not use the setting or format it like this:

validWorldEnvironments: []

---

validBiomesV2

Intended to set the list of valid biomes where the custom spawn can happen. This setting used to be called validBiomes in older versions of EM.

This setting currently does nothing. EliteMobs writes the key into your spawn file but never reads it back, so whatever you put in it is ignored and the spawn behaves as though no biome restriction were set.

Do not rely on it to keep a boss inside a specific biome. Use validWorlds or validWorldEnvironments instead, or restrict the spawn with isSurfaceSpawn / isUndergroundSpawn and the Y level settings.

Key	Values	Default
validBiomesV2	Biome List	none

---

earliestTime

Sets the earliest in-game time at which the custom spawn can happen. Unlike the other settings, earliestTime, latestTime and moonPhase are checked at the moment the boss is about to be placed rather than while the location is being searched for, so a spawn whose location was already found will simply wait until the time and moon conditions are met.

Key	Values	Default
earliestTime	Long	0

Example

earliestTime: 0

---

latestTime

Sets the latest in-game time at which the custom spawn can happen.

Key	Values	Default
latestTime	Long	24000

Example

latestTime: 24000

---

moonPhase

Sets the required moon phase for the custom spawn to occur.

Key	Values	Default
moonPhase	Special [1]	none

Example

moonPhase: FULL_MOON

Special [1]

Expand Table

Moon Phase	Preview
NEW_MOON	🌑
WAXING_CRESCENT	🌒
FIRST_QUARTER	🌓
WAXING_GIBBOUS	🌔
FULL_MOON	🌕
WANING_GIBBOUS	🌖
WANING_CRESCENT	🌘
LAST_QUARTER	🌗

---

bypassWorldGuard

Intended to make the custom spawn bypass protection systems such as WorldGuard.

This setting currently does nothing. EliteMobs reads the key out of your spawn file but never acts on it, so WorldGuard flags are always checked regardless of what you set here. To let a spawn happen inside a protected region, set the relevant WorldGuard flags on that region instead.

Key	Values	Default
bypassWorldGuard	Boolean	false

---

canSpawnInLight

Specifies whether the custom spawn can occur on blocks illuminated by light sources. When set to false, spawns only occur at light level 8 or below. When set to true, spawns can occur at any light level.

Key	Values	Default
canSpawnInLight	Boolean	false

Example

canSpawnInLight: false

---

isSurfaceSpawn

Sets if the custom spawn can only happen at the surface of a world.

Key	Values	Default
isSurfaceSpawn	Boolean	false

Example

isSurfaceSpawn: false

---

isUndergroundSpawn

Sets if the custom spawn can only happen underground.

Key	Values	Default
isUndergroundSpawn	Boolean	false

Example

isUndergroundSpawn: false

How a spawn location is picked

EliteMobs does not scan the world for a spot. It picks a random online player and offsets from them:

1. A player is chosen at random from the players that are eligible for this spawn. A player is skipped if their world is not in ValidWorlds.yml, if they are inside an arena or dungeon instance, if mob spawning is turned off in their world, or if the spawn's validWorlds / validWorldEnvironments exclude their world. Timed events additionally skip players who are inside an EliteMobs dungeon world.
2. A candidate spot is picked between 24 and 128 blocks away from that player on both the X and Z axes, in any direction.
3. The Y level is resolved according to isSurfaceSpawn, isUndergroundSpawn or, if neither is set, by searching upwards for the first block with solid ground below it and two blocks of air above it.
4. The candidate is then run through the validations below.

Up to 100 candidates are tried, 4 per tick. If none of them work, EliteMobs waits a minute and tries again, so an event can take a while to actually appear on a busy or heavily protected server.

Spawn Validation Behavior

When EliteMobs attempts to spawn a boss using a Custom Spawn configuration, it performs several automatic validations beyond the configured fields:

• Player Proximity: Bosses will not spawn within 24 blocks of any player
• Nether Ceiling: Spawns above Y=127 are blocked in the Nether dimension
• Block Safety: Ensures spawns occur with solid ground and air space above
• Y Level: The final location must sit between lowestYLevel and highestYLevel
• Game Rules: Respects the world's mob spawning game rule (spawnMobs on Minecraft 1.21.11 and newer, doMobSpawning before that)
• WorldGuard Flags: Checks the elitemobs-events, elitemob-spawning and WorldGuard's own mob-spawning flags
• Peace Banners: If suppressEvents is enabled in PeaceBanner.yml (it is by default), areas protected by a peace banner are skipped
• Final test spawn: Right before the boss appears, EliteMobs spawns and immediately removes a plain vanilla zombie at the location. If some other protection plugin blocks that zombie, the location is thrown out and the search restarts

These validations occur automatically and cannot be disabled through configuration.