Abstract: Growing electromagnetic pollution has plagued researchers in the field of electromagnetic (EM) energy dissipation for many years; it is increasingly important to solve this problem efficiently. Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs), a shining star of functional materials, have attracted great attention for their advantages, which include highly tunable porosity, structure, and versatility. MOF-derived electromagnetic wave (EMW) absorbers, with advantages such as light weight, thin matching thickness, strong capacity, and wide effective bandwidth, are widely reported. However, current studies lack a systematic summary of the ternary synergistic effects of the precursor component–structure–EMW absorption behavior of MOF derivatives. Here we describe in detail the electromagnetic (EM) energy dissipation mechanism and strategy for preparing MOF-derived EMW absorbers. On the basis of this description, the following means are suggested for adjusting the EM parameters of MOF derivatives, achieving excellent EM energy dissipation: (1) changing the metal and ligands to regulate the chemical composition and morphology of the precursor, (2) controlling pyrolysis parameters (including temperature, heating rate, and gas atmosphere) to manipulate the structure and components of derivatives, and (3) compounding with enhancement phases, including carbon nanomaterials, metals, or other MOFs.