Entity names
Any object in Minecraft that moves and is not a block is considered an entity. It's a little more complicated, but that's the simple explanation. Some items such as armor stands are entities. However, most of the entities are animals, monsters, or the player himself.
Some entities may be given a name. The game remembers this name and displays it above it. This is especially useful with monsters, as a named monster will not disappear, unless the difficulty is set to peaceful.
Animal names
Animals are entities and, as such, they can be named. Animals and monsters show their name above their head, unlike other entities, as a support for armor.
How to name the animals?
All mobs (animals and monsters) can have a name assigned, with the exception of the dragon and the player himself. To name an animal, you need to create or create a name tag .
Name tags
Name tags are hard to find in the Minecraft world since they cannot be created. There are three ways to get them: i coffers dungeons, abandoned mines and forest mansions may hold name tags and are the easiest way to get them.
In the Java version, Abandoned Mine Chests have a 42% chance of containing Name Tags, Dungeon Chests 28,3% and Mansion Chests 28,3%. There is also a 0,8% chance of getting them fishing. Also, you can buy them from a villager with the profession of high-level librarian.
How to use name tags
To name an animal, you must first name the tag. To do this you need to make an anvil and it also costs an experience level. Simply place the label in the first space of the anvil and change the name in the area above. The resulting label will have the desired name.
To name the animal, you need to take your name tag and press the "Use" button on the animal. This way, the pet will already have the name you want.
After using a name tag, it disappears; so you have to think very well about how you want to use it. Also, naming a tag always costs one experience level, no matter how many tags you name at one time.
If you have managed to tame a horse, using the tag will make you ride. To "use" the tag instead of riding it, crouch and then use the tag.
After renaming an animal, you can never remove the name, but you can use another tag to rename anything else. Animals only show their name if you see them from less than 4 blocks of distance and there are some angles that do not allow you to see their name.
Other uses of the name tag
Monsters and animals in the game tend to disappear if the player is not nearby. So a practice very common is to use tags to prevent this from happening. A named animal does not disappear unless it dies, and a named monster only disappears if the difficulty becomes peaceful.
Also, the creator of Minecraft has added some "Easter eggs" or jokes inside that you can trigger with tags, some of them are:
- An avenger named "Johnny" will be much more aggressive than normal. This is a reference to the movie "The Shining".
- Any mob called 'Dinnerbone' or 'Grumm' will appear backwards. This is a reference to developer Nathan Adams, aka Dinnerbone, who identifies with his avatar in reverse.
