Each mob in Minecraft offers up a different amount of XP depending on how difficult or common it is. Some you can drop in a few swipes, others take some serious planning.
If you want to know which mods and which critters you should be focusing on to maximize your XP gain, read on to find out which mobs are worth your time.
And when you’re done, be sure to check out our other Minecraft guides including how to build a kitchen in Minecraft, and if you’ve got a Steam Deck, here’s how to install Minecraft mods on Steam Deck.
The Best XP Is The Ender Dragon – 12,000 XP
Mobs that give the same XP: None
She drops how much XP? 12,000! That is a ridiculous amount of XP. Nothing even comes close to offering this amount.
For real, if you’re after XP fast, go beat the Ender Dragon, there simply isn’t anything in Minecraft that gives the same amount of XP. Even when you respawn the Ender Dragon after you’ve beaten it the first time, you still net 500 XP per win. Even that on its own is a silly amount of XP.
12,000! Seriously, what madness is that?
How to Beat
Given how old Minecraft is, there are a host of different tactics to beating the Ender Dragon.
The straightforward method is to build up alongside each of the pillars and shoot the crystals. Shooting the crystals stops the Ender Dragon from regaining health, so it’s a must in this fight.
Just keep in mind, the crystals explode, so if you haven’t built something to catch you when you’re blown back, you’ll get yeeted from high up. In case this isn’t clear, that is quite bad.
From here it’s just a case of sniping the Ender Dragon and when it flies down into the middle area with the exit, start swiping at it.
The other tactic for those who like to live dangerously, grab a camp full of beds and when the Ender Dragon flies down to the middle area, drop a bed on top of the pillar and hit sleep. You can’t sleep in The End (or the Nether) which causes the bed to explode.
This will damage you as well, so be sure to bring enhanced apples, but it also damages the Ender Dragon, and on Java, you can finish the Ender Dragon off before it has a chance to heal.
Yes, this is by far the most dangerous tactic, but if you’ve felled the Ender Dragon more times than you can count, this is one super-fun and exciting way to do it.
