How to Claim a Pillager Outpost in Minecraft Bedrock

Pillager outposts are some of the coolest structures in Minecraft. A tall watchtower, tents, cages, loot chests, and a great vantage point. Plenty of players look at one and think "this would make an amazing base." Then they try to move in and discover the problem: pillagers respawn constantly, forever, no matter how many you kill.

The bad news: Bedrock has no built-in way to "claim" an outpost. There's no banner to destroy that flips ownership. The good news: you can absolutely stop the spawns and make the place yours. It just takes some work. Here's how to do it properly.

Why Pillagers Keep Respawning

Clearing out the pillagers does nothing long-term. The outpost is a designated spawn structure, and the game keeps spawning new pillagers in its area regardless of how many you defeat or whether you're standing inside the tower.

On Bedrock, pillagers spawn at a specific spot: the northwest corner of the highest opaque block that has a non-solid block above it, within the outpost's spawn region. They spawn on any valid solid block where the light level is 8 or lower. This is the same light rule as zombies and skeletons, but with an important twist: the outpost forces spawn attempts in its area constantly, so just fighting them off is a losing battle.

To claim the outpost, you need to make every spawnable surface in the area unable to host a spawn. There are two ways to do that: light and block coverage.

Method 1: Light Up Everything (Partial Solution)

Pillagers can't spawn on blocks with a light level above 8. Flooding the area with light stops most spawns.

Place torches, lanterns, glowstone, sea lanterns, or froglights across every surface in the outpost area
Cover the ground, the tower platforms, the tent roofs, and any exposed block within roughly 74 blocks of the tower in each direction
Pay special attention to the top of the watchtower and any flat opaque surfaces, since those are prime spawn spots

Light alone helps a lot but isn't a complete fix. The spawn area is large and 3D, and it's easy to miss shadowed corners, block undersides, and platforms. For a truly pillager-free outpost, combine light with the block method below.

Method 2: Cover or Replace Spawnable Surfaces (Complete Solution)

The only way to fully stop spawns is to make sure there are no valid spawn blocks left. Pillagers need a full opaque block to stand on. Take that away and they can't spawn at all, regardless of light.

Options for making surfaces unspawnable:

Slabs. Place bottom slabs across every flat surface. Mobs can't spawn on bottom slabs. This is the most popular method because slabs look clean and are cheap to craft.
Carpets. Cover the ground in carpet. Mobs can't spawn on carpet either, and it's easy to place across large areas.
Non-full blocks. Stairs, glass, leaves, fences, and other non-solid blocks are all unspawnable.
Light-emitting blocks. Placing glowstone or sea lanterns as the actual surface block kills two birds: it's a solid block but emits light level 14+, which blocks spawns.

The catch is coverage. The outpost spawn area extends well beyond the tower itself, roughly 74 blocks horizontally in each direction and a good chunk vertically. To fully claim it, you need to slab or carpet every exposed grass, sand, dirt, and stone surface in that radius. It's a big job, but it's the only method that works 100%.

The Practical Approach: Combine Both

For most players, the realistic strategy is a mix:

Clear the current pillagers first so you can work in peace. Bring a shield (their crossbows hit hard) and pick them off from cover.
Slab or carpet the tower and immediate structures. Cover every platform, tent roof, and flat surface in and around the buildings.
Light the surrounding terrain heavily. You probably won't slab a full 74-block radius by hand, so use light to suppress spawns in the outer area.
Slab the priority spawn spots. The top of the watchtower and large flat platforms are the most common spawn locations. Prioritize covering those completely.
Patrol and patch. After a few in-game days, note where pillagers still appear and cover those specific blocks. Over time you'll seal every gap.

This gets you a functional, mostly pillager-free outpost base without the insane task of hand-covering thousands of blocks.

The Cheat Option: A Command Block Killer

If you have cheats enabled and just want the pillagers gone without landscaping the whole region, a command block does the job:

Get a command block: /give @s command_block
Place it in the center of the outpost
Set the command: /kill @e[type=pillager,r=100]
Set the block to Repeat and Always Active

This continuously kills any pillager within 100 blocks. They'll still spawn, but they die instantly, so you'll never see them. Note that this disables achievements (cheats do), and it's a bit of a brute-force approach. But if you just want a peaceful outpost and don't care about doing it survival-legit, it's the fastest solution.

Bonus: Turn It Into a Pillager Farm Instead

Here's a thought: instead of fighting the constant spawns, use them. The outpost's endless pillager generation makes it a natural spot for a pillager farm. Funnel the spawns into a kill chamber and you get a steady supply of:

Crossbows (often enchanted)
Arrows
Ominous Banners (used to start raids for even more loot)
XP

If you build spawn platforms and water channels to collect the pillagers, the outpost becomes a farm rather than a base. Some players do both: claim the tower itself with slabs for a safe living space, and leave the surrounding platforms open to funnel spawns into a farm below.

Don't Want the Hassle? Start Near a Great Outpost

Claiming an outpost is a lot of work in an existing world. If you're starting fresh and love the idea of an outpost base, it's much easier to begin on a seed where a great outpost is right at spawn. There's a Bedrock seed with a very tall pillager outpost and a desert temple near spawn, which gives you a dramatic tower to convert into a base plus a temple to loot early. Starting with the structure right there saves you the trek and lets you plan your claim from day one.

Wrapping Up

Bedrock doesn't let you formally claim an outpost, but you can absolutely make one yours. Slab and carpet the surfaces, light up the terrain, and prioritize the tower and platforms where pillagers spawn most. For a quick fix, a repeating command block wipes them out instantly. Or lean into the chaos and build a pillager farm on top of the endless spawns. However you approach it, that watchtower can become one of the most striking bases in your world.