Zombie

Zombies are aggressive mobs that first appeared in Survival Test. When killed, Zombies often drop feathers (which can also be obtained from Chickens). Zombies are 2 blocks tall, 1 block wide and 0.25 blocks thick.

Behavior
Zombies often spawn in groups of 2-6. Zombies will pursue the player, making no attempt to avoid cliffs. When they come to an obstacle they will often try to breach it by jumping, and this makes for some odd behavior when they meet obstacles they cannot overcome. They will also make no attempt to stay out of water.

Like skeletons, zombies will be set on fire at dawn, making them only a threat to be found at night. However, if they are in water, flowing or not, they will not burn.

Information & History

 * Like skeletons, zombies burst into flames if they come into contact with direct sunlight.
 * Zombies were the fastest mob in the game until spiders were added. In Survival Test, Zombies could run as fast as the player.
 * In Survival Test, Zombies would occasionally wear armor. This had no effect on their health and was merely cosmetic. It was removed when the game went into Indev.

Appearance & Sound

 * The Zombie skin has the same dimensions and shape of the player skin, so it can be used as a player skin.
 * Zombies make an ominous moaning sound, but when they are attacking or being attacked, they make a type of snarling sound.

Threat level and tips
Zombies are one of the easiest enemies and don't pose much of a threat unless there is a large group of them. If encountered, simply hit away and find higher ground and hold it back until it dies. If they approach you in a group, then use a sword to keep them back, constantly holding the left mouse button. They are one of the easier hostile mobs to kill. However, they pose a significant threat if they are able to corner you. They also tend to benefit greatly from the lag that is usual on many multiplayer servers, where it becomes almost impossible to strike one with a sword without being struck in return.

Drops
Survival Test:
 * No dropped items
 * 80 points

Alpha and Beta:
 * 0-2 feathers

Trivia

 * Notch confessed that the zombie drops feathers because he wasn't sure what they should drop, and back then there were no chickens.
 * Due to a glitch in the Beta 1.3 update, zombies may not be able to hurt you unless they are at least 1 block above you. If at the same level or below they will simply nudge you. This was fixed in Beta 1.4.
 * Because they have identical dimensions to the Player model, the Zombie skin can easily be used as a Player Skin. Conversely, any Player skin can also be applied to Zombies.
 * Due to a glitch in the Beta 1.5 update, zombies are unable to attack you if you are 1 block above them, and they are unable to jump. They will simply nudge you around with their arms.
 * There is a giant variation of zombies that can only be spawned through hacking. Its behaviour is identical to the Zombie's; however, it has 100 hearts, deals 8 1/2 damage in one single hit, and is unable to reach you until you are right under it. It is usually spawned on SMP servers.

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