Mob

Mobs are various different types of monsters found in survival.

Types of mobs
Currently, there are seven types of mobs. Each of these mobs is affected by the same environmental hazards as the player, including burning and collision (falling) damage. In the Minecraft Alpha 1.0.3 update, mobs will make sounds as you near them, i.e., spiders now hiss if you approach them.

All mobs disappear after a while if the player gets out of their radius.

Neutral Mobs
Mobs that will not attack the player.



Pigs
The pig is a neutral mob that appears in Survival, Infdev, and Indev mode. Pigs exist for the express purpose of providing health-replenishing food to the player. Pigs spawn in groups of three or four and wander aimlessly around a map until they are killed. Though they are not hostile, pigs can bump into the player, possibly pushing the player over a cliff to his death. As of now: In Indev Pigs drop anywhere from zero to two units of pork when they are vanquished. In Survival they drop mushrooms, as pork has not been added to Survival mode yet. In InfDev Pigs drop pork like InDev, they eat mushrooms when they touch them, and they can also be ridden via a saddle. The pigs cannot be controlled when ridden and are the only creature that can use said saddle.



Sheep
Sheep are, like pigs, a neutral mob that first appeared in version 0.30. Unlike other mobs, sheep do not stray far from the area they spawn at; they move to an area with grass if they spawn in an area without grass, however. They usually spawn in packs of 2-8. Unlike other mobs, they eat grass they spawn near(currently, only in survival mode). On being hit, they drop between 1 and 3 cloth blocks. If given time, the sheep's wool grows back. On being killed, they do not drop meat. Sheep are often considered completely worthless and not even worth the effort of killing, besides to stop their noises and possible distractions, although sheep will jump right in front of you and waste valuable durability of pickaxes/axes/shovels if they are given the chance. In survival mode, they will drop mushrooms, like pigs. Cloth armor was added, so players can build cloth armor via the workbench.



Cattle
Cattle (or Cows), are another neutral mob that Notch has added in Alpha Version 1.0.8. They take 10 hits by hand before dying. Upon their death, they drop 0-2 pieces of leather each. Notch said that he has added milk, which could be obtained using buckets, provided as there is a sprite of a bucket filled with milk in the game code. However, milking cows with buckets is not possible at this time. Cows have a rather loud sound and make a high pitched squeal when you hit them. They do not eat grass, they just wander around aimlessly. The cows never spawn with more than six in their group. There are occasional lone cows wandering around though.

Cows also share some sound similarities with zombies. Cattle are currently the largest neutral mob in Alpha.

Enemy Mobs
Mobs that will attack the player.



Skeletons
The skeleton is a hostile mob found in Survival, Infdev and Indev. Skeletons are spawned randomly in new Survival maps and follow players when approached, much like zombies. In Indev mode, they only spawn in dark areas, such as unlit areas on the surface at night, or in unlit caves.

Skeletons are vastly different in Survival mode than in InDev and InfDev. Both variations can, however, fire on other mobs (of the same or different type).

In Survival, skeletons are similar to zombies. They take 4-6 hits to kill and can wear NPC armour, although the armour does not give them any additional hit points. They inflict 2 hearts of damage upon attack. Skeletons will fire arrows at you and, upon death, will burst out arrows that the player can collect. Killing said skeleton will net you 120 points.

In Indev and Infdev, skeletons are fairly fast-paced enemies that will shoot arrows at the player at a decent speed. Unlike the skeletons in Survival mode, InDev and InfDev ones do not currently wear armour. A skeleton can take 3-6 hits with a Stone Axe. They randomly drop 0-2 arrows upon death. If touched by sunlight (the sun at a 15 degree angle or greater) InDev and InfDev skeletons will begin to take burn damage until death.



Zombies
The zombie is a hostile mob that appears in Survival, Indev, Infdev and Zombie Siege. As of the September 3, 2009 update, zombies are the fastest mobs in the game. Zombies can navigate and chase players. Their attack deals 3 hearts of damage. They usually appear in packs of two or more. In Indev mode they only spawn in dark areas, such as unlit areas on the surface at night, or in unlit caves. Zombies can sometimes be found wearing one piece of armor or the whole set in Survival mode. When a zombie is killed, the player gets 80 points. They are much slower in Indev/Infdev. Like the Indev/Infdev skeletons, they burst into flames if they come into contact with direct sunlight.

In the free version of Survival mode, armored zombies appear randomly along with groups of normal zombies. These zombies are easily distinguishable by their body armor and/or helmets. Their armor does not however give them any additional hit points, the difference is purely cosmetic.



Creepers
The creeper is a type of mob, found in Survival, Infdev and Indev. Like the skeleton, the creeper differs heavily from one version to another. The creeper design is based on a failed attempt to make a pig model, hence the four legs.

Survival: The creeper behaves much like a zombie, except its attack deals only two hearts worth of damage instead of three. After taking some damage, it flashes, showing it is about to detonate. Upon being killed, it causes an explosion which can hurt the player, and leaves a small crater, destroying plenty of blocks. Currently, their explosions have no effect on "hard" materials such as rock, cobblestone, ore, or metal tiles. Unlike the zombie, it does not wear armour. In groups, they can cause a chain reaction of explosions, which can be very dangerous to the player. The creeper is worth 200 points.

Indev/Infdev: The creeper is a slow-moving kamikaze mob. Upon getting close enough, it will let out a "burning fuse" sound and detonate after 3 seconds. This count-down can be halted, If the player moves out of the Creeper's blast radius, the Creeper will cancel its detonation, run up to the player, and start again. This can be useful by smacking the Creeper, moving back so it follows you, smacking it again, and so on until it is defeated. Killing the creeper before this countdown starts or finishes will not cause the creeper to detonate. The creeper will cause a 4x4x4 spherical crater upon detonation. Unlike in Survival mode, the explosion caused by a creeper in Indev mode can destroy stone and other hard materials. Creepers do not catch fire when daylight comes. It drops 0-3 units of gunpowder when killed.

Warning: on Hard mode you cannot escape a creeper before it explodes, you must kill it before it starts detonating.



Spiders
The Spider was the second mob added to the game. Unlike the zombie (1x1x2) the spider is a flat mob (2x2x1). It cannot enter the same narrow spaces that zombies and other tall mobs can, but it can crawl into places where the ceiling is too low for any other mobs.

Alpha: In the Minecraft Alpha mode the spider is drastically different from the zombie. For starters, their eyes glow red and it has multiple model skins. It moves at the same speed as in Survival, but its jumping ability is significantly improved. You cannot out-run a spider in Indev/Infdev mode. Spiders will not burn during the day, but will also be much more passive, not becoming aggressive until you attack them. If they were chasing the player during night they will usually continue.

When killed in Indev/Infdev Mode, spiders drop 0-2 string.

Humans
Humans are non-playable characters (NPCs) which take the form of clones of the default skin. They used to be be created by pressing 'G' while playing in Creative mode, but this function was later removed. It has never been possible to spawn humans in Survival mode. If the player has a custom skin, any humans created will still use default skin and will not assume the look of the player. Humans could not create or delete blocks, they would just move around the map aimlessly. They were affected by blocks and fluids the same way the player is. Humans currently do not appear in any form of Minecraft. The human model was originally going to be used for a top-down game called "Zombie Town" by Notch.

Rana
"Rana" were mobs who resembled little girls with frog hats. They were originally in-game as a test; Rana was made by "Dock", Minecraft's past artist, for another project of his. The player's character was supposed to look like Rana, albeit with a miner hat, no ponytails and a different skin. This was scrapped with Dock's removal, with a fair few people arguing for her to stay.

Slimes
Not a lot is known about slimes. It has been confirmed by Notch that he wants to implement them, and that they will be able to climb walls.

Chickens
Chickens have been confirmed to be added soon; they will likely drop feathers and eggs.

Prefix Mobs
Notch confirmed during the Brocraft.net stream that he will be adding 'prefix mobs'. This meaning that there will be mobs such as 'Burning Spider' 'Giant Zombie' 'Cobble Creeper' and etc. It's unknown how many prefixes there will be. A similar comparison could be that of the creatures from Borderlands.

Sea monsters
Notch commented that Sea Monsters are a possibility on Minecast, 7/21/2010.