Zombie

A Zombie is a hostile mob that appears in 2 slightly different forms: the most common form closely resembles the player and, as of snapshot 12w32a, a rarer form that resembles a villager, called a Zombie Villager. 10% of all zombies spawned are zombie villagers. If a zombie attacks a villager and kills them, there is also a chance (100% in Hard difficulty and 50% in Normal) that the villager becomes infected and transforms into a zombie villager. This often occurs during sieges at night-time.

Zombies spawn in dimly or lesser lit areas, and will attack the player by slowly moving toward them, touching them and thereby inflicting damage. Like skeletons, zombies catch fire in sunlight.

Appearance
Zombies have 2 different forms:
 * The most common and the original form of zombies have green skin, empty eye sockets, and identical clothing to the player and humans. They are 2 blocks tall, 1 block wide, and 0.25 blocks thick.
 * Zombie villagers have bodies that are exactly like the bodies of normal zombies but their heads are recolored versions of the heads of villagers.

Uses
When killed, zombies drop 0-2 pieces of Rotten Flesh. These can be eaten, but have an 80% chance of giving the player food poisoning. Rotten flesh can safely be used to heal and breed tamed Wolves without any risk of the Wolf being poisoned.

Zombies will rarely drop iron ingots, helmets, shovels, swords, and, as of 12w34a, carrots and potatoes. These items will only drop from zombies killed by the player. As of 12w32a, zombies may be spawned wearing armor, and upon death may drop some of their armor.

Behavior


Zombies moan when wandering around aimlessly, but snarl and gurgle when attacking or injured. Zombies spawn in groups of 2-6 and will pursue the player on sight. Zombies will attempt to avoid obstacles, including sheer cliffs and lava, and would try to find the shortest path towards the player. Unlike skeletons, zombies do not try to avoid being hit, and continue to pursue the player even when being counter-attacked. Zombies can sometimes deal damage through a closed door, as shown on the picture to the right. This is because when they occupy the space of the door, the game considers their hits as reaching past the door into an adjacent block. The behavior of the zombies is demonstrated in this video.

At dawn (when the Sun is 15 degrees or more above the ground), zombies will catch fire and burn once exposed to direct sunlight. However, zombies will make some attempt to seek out shade from the sunlight, or enter bodies of water to protect themselves from burning up. Being in water negates the effects of direct sunlight, preventing them from burning. If they exit water, they will again be vulnerable to direct sunlight. Zombies standing under trees will prevent them from being burned. This will also happen if it is raining.

Zombies will attempt to break down wooden doors, continuously banging on them. This is only successful on Hard and Hardcore though; on other difficulties, the door will crack, but not break. Iron Doors are always safe from zombie attack and destruction. Zombies will attack Villagers within 16 blocks of themselves, ignoring the hazard of direct sunlight. The Villager(s) will attempt to flee from pursuing zombies. Once a zombie has focused on a Villager, the zombie will ignore any other Villagers and the player until its target is killed or when the player attacks it.

Like most mobs, zombies will always float on water even if their target is below them.

Combat
Zombies do not pose much of a threat unless encountered in large groups or in a narrow space. A player on sufficiently high ground can repeatedly hit a zombie as it approaches, knocking it away each time it comes close. If the player is being pursued by several zombies, then it is necessary to knock each one away in turn so that no single zombie can close in. If a player is in a small room with several zombies and no escape route, it is advisable to use a blocking and slashing technique; this slowly kills the zombies while reducing the damage they inflict. As of snapshot 12w32, like Zombie Pigmen and Skeletons, zombies have a chance of spawning equipped with armor, enchanted or not, wielding an iron sword or iron shovel. Zombies, along with Zombie Pigmen and skeletons, can be damaged by Splash Potions of Healing.

Despite their weaknesses, zombies must NOT be underestimated. They are famous for their ability to join other zombies to chase down their target. Sieges are a great example. If a player and his/her wolves are caught in a siege, there is a slim chance for survival or escape. Zombies are also known for always spawning near Creepers during the night, making them a dangerous duo. To those who started anew world in survival, head to ground where zombies or their minions will not spawn and build a base there. This is crucial for survival.

In caves, zombies are even more dangerous. They can come out of nowhere or from dark shadows and kill the player. More easily if the player is on a ledge. So bring as many lights as possible to prevent them from spawning.

Defensive measures
Zombies are vulnerable to daylight, lava, fire, and contact with cacti. Surface zombie populations can be controlled if the player regularly sleeps in a bed at dusk, since zombies will spawn at night if given the chance to do so.

Should a player be trapped on the surface outside at dusk, they can dig a single block wide pit 3 blocks deep, seal off the top with a block, and wait for morning light to burn away the undead before climbing out. However, this leaves the player vulnerable to creepers that may have spawned in the area due to their immunity to sunlight.

The Player can also kill zombie mobs by using a bow from a distance so the player will not be vulnerable to attacks.

If the player places a door rotated so having one "closed" appears "open" and vice versa, zombies will not attempt to break them, simply standing in front of them if they wish to enter.

A popular method of protecting your shelter from zombies in Hard mode without wasting iron is to place a fence gate and wooden pressure plate in front of your door. That way, the zombie cannot get to the door to break it, and you stay protected from the arrows of Skeletons and the detection of other mobs as you would with a door in your shelter.

Bugs

 * Zombies will stand still in daylight if it is raining. This bug makes them appear 'scared' to move as if they feared catching on fire, even though the rain would douse the flames. (may not be a bug, they could be 'scared' just in the case that the rain stops when they go outside).
 * In Pocket Edition Alpha 0.2.0, some zombies will not catch fire in the sunlight.
 * In Pocket Edition, zombies can attack the player through doors if the player is standing directly in front of it and cannot move any further. This also means the player can attack the zombie the same way.
 * Zombies won't run away from sunlight.
 * Zombies sometimes start spinning around in circles randomly.
 * If a zombie is trying to break down a door to kill NPC villagers or players, if you walk in front of the zombie which is trying to break down a door, they inflict damage on you and the zombie still isn't hostile to you if pursuing NPC villagers or other players.
 * A zombie can be harmed if in a building packed with NPC villagers and there's no room for a zombie to move around in a building.
 * In a room with slabs on both the floor and ceiling where there is still a space of 2 blocks a zombie will stand still and will make no attempt to harm the player, this maybe useful for a mob trap where they are pushed in to a room by water and it would be safe to stand and kill them because they will not attempt to move to attack the player
 * In 1.3.1 doors cannot be broken due to a breaking bug. The door will stay broken if the zombie leaves or is killed. Breaking the broken door will create a new crack in the door and if removed, will create broken air.
 * (possible bug) In 1.3.1, zombies can break doors on Normal difficulty & SMP.

Trivia



 * Because a zombie has identical dimensions to the player model, the zombie's skin can easily be used as a player skin and vice versa.
 * A Giant is an unused variation of a zombie that can only be spawned through third party programs or SMP commands. Its behavior is identical to the zombie's, but it has 50 hearts of health, deals 8.5 damage in a single hit, and is unable to damage the player unless they are right beneath it.
 * A Splash Potion of Fire Resistance can be used to prevent zombies from burning in direct sunlight.
 * A zombie hit by a Splash Potion of Harming will gain health, and when it is hit by a Splash Potion of Healing it will lose health. Zombies are unaffected by Splash Potions of Regeneration and Poison.
 * Zombie armor has no durability score, which means it can never 'wear out' the way player armor does. Two points of armor gives 8% damage reduction from most sources. This means the player would need to deal  physical damage to kill a zombie. When dropped from a height of 23 blocks, a zombie would have its health dropped to half a heart but still takes two unarmed hits to kill. As unarmed hits deal half a heart each hit, the first hit would be reduced by the armor and send the zombie's health down below half a heart, thus a second hit is required. There is no one-hit (unarmed) method to kill zombies in a falling trap.
 * In the Snapshot 12w04a, when spawning a Zombie in daylight with an egg on Soul Sand, it will not catch fire.
 * When killed in the day while raining, a zombie might make a "hiss" sound, due to the fact that it will catch on fire and immediately be burned out.
 * Even if attacked by an arrow from a Skeleton, the zombie will still be focused on attacking the player.
 * Zombies can climb ladders, but will only do so if their path finding runs them into one.
 * After snapshot 12w32a, zombie NBT tags can be edited to make them use any item in the game with any enchantment as a weapon and wear any armor with any enchantment.
 * Villager zombies have brown eyes, but normal villagers have green eyes.