Sleeping Under Zombie Watch: A Courage Test in Minecraft

Hello everyone! Today, I want to share the results of a very strange but, in my opinion, important experiment. While continuing my research with artificially created mobs in Minecraft 1.21, I came across a question that wouldn’t leave me alone. The first thought in my head was ridiculously simple: «Is it possible to lie down and sleep peacefully if there’s a hostile mob nearby with its artificial intelligence completely disabled?»

Honestly, logic suggested it should work. After all, if the mob is just a brainless statue, incapable of attacking or moving, what threat could it pose? I was almost certain the game would understand this nuance and let me rest. Well, reality turned out to be much more mundane and amusing.

Preparing for the Experiment: Creating a Dummy Army

To ensure the experiment’s accuracy, I decided not to hold back. My main goal was to create ideal conditions: night, a bed, and a room full of «frozen» enemies. Using command blocks, I began summoning various mobs with the magical NoAI tag. This tag completely disables their brains, leaving only the model.

The command looked something like this: /summon zombie ~ ~ ~ {NoAI:1b}. One click — and a zombie appeared in front of me, just standing there staring into the void. I repeated this several times, creating an entire army of zombies, skeletons, and even creepers. It was something else: a room full of monsters, yet dead silent. Perfect conditions to test my hypothesis.

Night, Street, Bed... and a Crowd of Zombies

So, night fell. I eagerly approached my bed, surrounded by silent enemies, and right-clicked. And what do you think happened? The game immediately gave me the painfully familiar message: «You can’t sleep, there are monsters nearby». I didn’t give up. I tried placing the bed at different distances, reducing and increasing the number of mobs, changing their types. But the result was always the same.

The conclusion was undeniable: sleeping near a hostile mob, even if it’s as harmless as a decorative object, is absolutely impossible. For the game’s mechanics, it doesn’t matter whether the mob’s AI is active or not. The game simply scans a certain radius around the bed for hostile creatures. If it finds any — sleep is canceled. Their mere presence is the trigger, not their intentions.

Pros and Cons of Mobs Without AI

Despite the failure of my sleeping experiment, this mechanic has its strengths and weaknesses.

Pros:

• Perfect NPCs and Decorations. You can create invulnerable and immovable traders, guards, or residents for your cities who will never run away.
• Safe Displays. Want to showcase a creeper or a wither skeleton in a museum? NoAI is your best friend. The mob will stand still and cause no harm.
• Scene Control. For adventure map creators, this is a real treasure. You can create complex scenes where mobs act as extras without disrupting the author’s design.

Cons:

• Game Limitations. As my experience showed, the game still considers them full-fledged monsters, which blocks certain mechanics, like sleeping.
• Complete Lifelessness. The mob doesn’t just refrain from attacking; it does absolutely nothing: it doesn’t look at the player, make sounds (unless you add the Silent tag), or react to the environment. It’s literally a living statue.

This was an unexpected but insightful result. The mechanic turned out to be both useful and limited. What other crazy tests should I conduct with these «dummies»? Share your boldest ideas in the comments! If there’s enough interest, I might even prepare a datapack template.