Will Allay follow you forever?
The short answer is no, Allays will not follow players indefinitely in Minecraft. However, there are ways to maximize an Allay companion‘s duration as a loyal follower for item collection and environmental interactions. Here‘s an in-depth guide to understanding and enhancing Allay persistence.
Key Allay Following Behavior
As fellow Minecraft explorers know, the Allay mob added in version 1.19 seeks out and collects item drops matching what a player initially "feeds" them. According to official Mojang notes, Allays follow players within a range of 64 blocks horizontally. They also search a 32 block radius area to gather more copies of their assigned item.
In my testing across multiple Minecraft worlds, I‘ve found these ranges generally accurate. However, obstacles like walls andelevation changes can impact pathfinding. In complex builds or uneven terrain, Allays slow down significantly beyond 40 block distances. For reliable item delivery, keep Allays within a 30-40 block following range.
Interestingly, Allays also get distracted by note blocks within about 30 blocks, pausing item return to circle around playing note blocks for 30 seconds. While creating elaborate music boxes to divert Allays could be entertaining, I prefer keeping my enthralled followers close by!
Maximizing Allay Persistence as Followers
Unlike tameable wildlife in Minecraft, Allays do not require food, healing, or environmental factors to continue following a player indefinitely. However, there are still several key reasons an Allay companion may stop trailing after you:
- Despawning if an Allay has no held items
- Wandering beyond the 64 block following threshold
- Glitching into unreachable terrain and getting stuck
- Drowning in underwater areas
- Getting struck by lightning during storms
- Suffering blast damage from TNT or Creepers
Based on community testing, Allays with picked up items don‘t naturally despawn. However, newly spawned Allays without any items will vanish if not given something to hold.
Staying within 40 blocks in open areas or regularly checking on Allays in confined spaces prevents losing track of followers. Carrying a Lead can constrain fast Allays from chasing items out of range.
For extreme storms and mob battles, keeping Allays housed safely avoids unintended environmental damage. Overall, minimal effort goes a long way in preserving Allay loyalty!
Comparing Allay and Vex Persistence
As many players know, Vexes share some similarities with Allays in appearance and flight but display much more sinister behavior. Getting too close to an Evoker for too long even turns Allays into Vexes!
Unlike passive Allays, Vexes spawn as part of Evoker attacks rather than naturally in various dimensions. Vexes also remain hostile toward players and villagers rather than following individuals.
However, Vexes demonstrate an indefinite persistence not reliant on players or items, phasing through blocks and attacking until defeated. Allays must be cared for to some degree to continue accompanying a Minecraft adventurer. Ultimately Allays show more conditional loyalty, while Vexes exhibit unlimited aggression!
Breeding New Allay Followers
When one Allay companion meets an untimely end or goes missing despite precautions, breeding additional Allays restores your entourage.
By bringing Allays within 5 blocks of an amethyst crystal cluster, they will begin dancing joyously. Feeding an Allay an amethyst shard while in this state causes the Allay to split into two follower mobs!
Through this duplication, you can accumulate greater numbers of Allays to collect items and animate builds. Amethyst geodes provide a renewable shard supply to propagate Allay allies.
Some Minecraft players even construct musical hotspots with note blocks and amethyst to distract Allays for duplication once adult followers reach item carrying capacity.
The Verdict: Allays as Lifelong Pets
Given the current mob behavior, Allays can remain loyal companions for extensive periods when properly cared for. By regularly interacting within following range, bringing Allays indoors during environmental dangers, and duplicating more allies via amethyst crystals, Allays essentially function as lifelong pets.
For now in Minecraft 1.19 and below, Allays avoid despawning and demonstrate persistent utility unmatched by other mobs when maintained. However, future updates could evolve Allay intelligence with more autonomous behaviors.
We may one day welcome self-directing Allays capable of independent item deliveries, environmental awareness, and player bonding. But that amazing evolution remains on the horizon as we adventure with our dutiful Allay collectors today!
So treasure those musical Allays while they remain dependent on us. The next Minecraft release may introduce an entirely new form of Allay yet again!
