Spawning Tiers and Loot
Note: This section talks about normal Elite Mob spawning, not Custom Bosses. It also assumes you're using the default configuration settings. Many of these mechanics are configurable by server administrators.
When does an Elite Mob spawn?
When a normal mob spawns near a player with a combat level of at least 1. The player's combat level is calculated from their weapon and armor skill levels (see below), and higher combat levels spawn higher level mobs.
They spawn based on a percentage chance, which is configurable in the MobCombatSettings.yml file.
If the player has no combat level (no skill progression), no Elite Mobs will spawn. Brand new players who haven't leveled any skills yet will not find any Elite Mobs.
Hunter Enchantment: The Hunter enchantment on gear increases the chance that nearby mob spawns will be converted to Elite Mobs.
What determines the level of the Elite Mob?
In EliteMobs 10, mob spawn levels are now determined by the player's combat level from the skill system rather than by averaging equipped gear tiers. Your combat level is calculated as: (highest weapon skill level + second highest weapon skill level + armor skill level) / 3.
Party Scaling
When multiple players are nearby, mob levels increase by +2 per nearby player (including the triggering player). This means groups will face significantly tougher elites.
Level Variance
Mob levels have a random variance of +/- 2 levels, so you may occasionally encounter mobs slightly above or below your combat level.
Spawn Distance Scaling
If enabled in MobCombatSettings.yml, mobs that spawn further from the world spawn point can receive additional level bonuses.
What determines the level of an item?
Non-elite items have levels equal to the level of the material (listed below). Elite Items have levels that are usually based on the level of the elite killed.
Material levels
- Netherite material: Level 8
- Diamond material: Level 7
- Iron material: Level 6
- Stone / Chain material: Level 5
- Gold / Wood / Leather material: Level 3
What kind of rewards can I get from Elite Mobs?
Before talking about the special rewards, it's important to note that only naturally spawned Elite Mobs will drop special loot.
Mob Spawner Restriction
Mob spawners never drop special loot. Even if configured to spawn Elite Mobs (optional setting), spawner-created elites will not drop special items.
Damage Participation Requirement
To receive loot from an Elite Mob, you must deal at least 10% of its total health in damage. This prevents kill-stealing.
Anti-Exploit System
The anti-cheat mechanisms may remove an Elite Mob's eligibility to drop special loot. The anti-exploit system detects many specific situations including: mobs that cannot pathfind to you, dark room farming, height exploits, using mounts for safety, and honey block jumping.
The system uses a counter that accumulates when exploits are detected and decreases over time. When exploits are detected, the mob will no longer drop any special loot.
Farming Protection
In EliteMobs 10, a farming protection system limits rewards from natural elite mobs:
- Hourly kill cap: Players can earn rewards from a maximum of 30 natural elite kills per hour.
- Burst cap: Killing 10 or more natural elites within 10 minutes will trigger a temporary cooldown.
- Level difference limits: Mobs more than 5 levels below your combat level will not drop loot or award XP. Mobs more than 5 levels above your combat level have XP capped as if they were 5 levels above. Specifically, the effective mob level used for XP calculation is capped at
combatLevel + 5; any mob level above that threshold is treated ascombatLevel + 5for XP purposes.
These limits do not apply to Custom Boss kills.
Loot Types
The loot system includes several types of items:
Procedurally Generated Items
Procedurally generated items are items that are generated semi-randomly based on the server's configuration settings. There is a nearly endless amount of possibilities for procedurally generated items.
Usually procedurally generated items are armor, weapons and tools of any material quality with varying enchantment quantities and levels.
Soulbind: All procedurally generated items are automatically soulbound to the player who receives them.
Quality Indicators: Procedurally generated items are color-coded by quality and may have special visual appearances at higher levels.
Custom Items
Custom items are items either preloaded in the plugin (such as MagmaGuy's toothpick and charms) or added by admins. These items are fully customized, and can give players potion effects when either worn or held in the main hand or offhand.
The loot system also includes several types of configured items: fixed items (tier-specific), weighed items (with drop probabilities), limited scalable items, and fully scalable items.
Unique Items
Unique items are special drops from Custom Bosses which are similar to custom items. They may sometimes also have unique powers, such as the flamethrower power for the Zombie King's axe.
Vanilla Loot
Elite Mobs drop guaranteed additional vanilla loot (non-armor items) based on the formula: mob level x 0.1 x configured multiplier. They also drop more experience orbs. Very high level mobs have a cap to prevent excessive drops.
The drop chance for special items is not 100%, but the odds of getting loot increase with the mob level.
Skill-Based Gear Restriction
Loot drops are no longer downgraded by guild tier. Instead, players must meet the skill level requirement to equip items. Weapons check the corresponding weapon skill (e.g., a sword checks the Swords skill), while armor checks the Armor skill. This means you can receive loot above your current skill level, but you will not be able to use it until you level up.
How can I get better loot?
The higher the level of Elite Mob killed, the better the item dropped!