The Allays have arrived in Minecraft . They are not only cute but also really good helpers. We reveal what they can do.
The next big patch of Minecraft will bring the really dark Warden as enemies, but there is also an increase in allied creatures. The latest snapshot of the upcoming patch brings the Allays: blue, musical flying creatures that like to help players.
What are the Allays? Even though there is some disagreement about the pronunciation of the name, the name “Allay” comes from the English word “Ally”, meaning “partner”. And that’s exactly what the little flying angel creatures are.
They produce quite pleasant, soft tinkling sounds while floating through the air at a low altitude. Players can use them to expand their inventory or to search for specific items.
What do Allays do? Basically, you can view Allays as little servants or “harvest helpers”. The winged beings can collect resources for you. They have a relatively small inventory of a single slot, but they can accumulate an entire stack of an item in it – for example, 64 wool, 64 stone, or 16 snowballs.
Essentially, these beings are not tamed like animals in Minecraft. Instead, you simply give them a specific item, such as a piece of coal. Afterwards, the Allay will fly around within a 60-block radius of the player, looking for mined coal and collecting it.
You don’t need to worry about the Allays getting lost. They search for resources within a radius of 60 blocks but can locate “their” player from a distance of up to 1024 blocks and approach them – as long as that area of the world is currently “loaded”.
Allays “like” the last player who gave them an item and will bring the collected items to them. They approach and then throw the items to the player – just as other players in Minecraft would do.
Allays react to music: It is particularly interesting that the Allays react to note blocks (the blocks that produce sound). When a note block is played nearby, the Allay will try to find items near the note block and deliver them there for 30 seconds.
Can Allays fight? No. Allays avoid combat and do not have the ability to defend themselves or support the player. Once they are hit, they enter a kind of “panic mode”, speed up, and fly back and forth in a zigzag – until the danger is gone or they are dead.
Allays only have 10 health points (5 hearts) and are therefore extremely fragile. A few attacks are enough to kill them. However, you don’t need to worry about accidentally killing one of your Allays with a sword strike – Allays cannot take damage when bound to you (meaning you last gave them an item). Other players, however, can certainly kill them.
How can you use Allays? The simplest form of application is probably on the farm as additional “workforce”. For example, if you have a large pen full of sheep and you shear them from the outside, you can give an Allay a piece of wool afterwards. The Allay will then simply fly into the pen, collect the wool for you, and then return – without you ever having to enter the pen yourself.
Where can you find Allays? Allays are relatively rare in the game world, appearing by default only near Illager Outposts or the large mansions in the woods. There, the Allays are kept in prison cells, waiting for their rescuers. There are between 1 and 3 Allays per cell.
When are the Allays coming? So far, the Allays are only playable in the current snapshot. This is basically a small preview of the next patch – a mini-beta, so to speak. You can already try out the snapshot via the Minecraft launcher. By the way, there is still no exact release date for the live version with the Allays.
What do you think of the Allays? Are they a cool addition to Minecraft and do you already have potential uses for them?
