> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.nmentities.net/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# What are NPCs

> Standing characters managed with /npc: separate from mobs, invulnerable, restart-safe, placeable in many spots at once.

NPCs are the standing characters of your server: shopkeepers, quest givers, guides, decoration with a name. Unlike [mobs](my-first-mob), they don't fight, wander or despawn. They stand where you put them, look pretty, and survive restarts.

\[Image here: A modeled shopkeeper NPC standing at a market stall, name floating above]

## NPCs are not mobs

NMEntities keeps the two fully separate:

|              | Mobs                                   | NPCs                                    |
| ------------ | -------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------- |
| Live in      | `Mobs/`                                | `NPCs/`                                 |
| Managed with | `/nme spawn`, the [Entities menu](gui) | `/npc` commands                         |
| Behavior     | AI, combat, effects                    | stand still, silent, invulnerable       |
| Persistence  | normal entities                        | respawned from config, never duplicated |

NPCs never appear in the Entities menu and can't be spawned with `/nme spawn`. Everything goes through the `/npc` commands.

## How NPCs behave

* They **stand still** (AI off), make no sounds and can't be hurt.
* They face the direction they were placed in, or **track the nearest player** within 8 blocks when their `look` option is on.
* They're **never saved with the world**. NMEntities respawns each instance from config when its chunk loads, so a crash or restart can never duplicate or lose one.
* `/nme reload` re-reads the `NPCs/` folder and respawns everything.

## Definitions and instances

One NPC can stand in **many places at once**. The NPC itself (its base entity, model, name) is the *definition*; each spot where it stands is an *instance*. Place your "Shopkeeper" at every market in every town: rename the definition once and all of them update, remove one instance and the rest stay.

This split runs through the whole system, and the [commands](npc-commands) are divided along it: some act on the definition (all instances at once), others on the one instance you have selected.

## Where to go

* [Creating an NPC](creating-an-npc): the five-minute walkthrough.
* [NPC Files](npc-files): the YAML format behind it all.
* [NPC Commands](npc-commands): the full `/npc` reference.