Zombie

Zombies are the most common hostile mobs (and also most common of all the mobs) that spawn in dark or dimly lit areas, and will attack the player by slowly moving toward them and inflicting damage by making contact. Like Skeletons, Zombies catch fire in sunlight. Zombies can be heard making moaning and growling noises when near.

In addition to generic Zombies, which closely resemble an "undead" version of the Player, several rarer Zombie forms may spawn.


 * Zombies have green skin, empty eye sockets, and identical clothing to the player and other humans. They are 2 blocks tall, 1 block wide, and 0.24 blocks thick.
 * Zombie Villagers have the same bodies as original Zombies, but their heads appear as undead Villager heads.
 * Baby Zombies or Baby Zombie Villagers appear much smaller than normal zombies. They can go through 1-block openings, move much faster, and are not harmed by sunlight.  Despite their small size,  both their health and their hitbox are the same as for full-sized zombies.

Any of the above can also spawn wearing armor and/or wielding a weapons or tools. (These zombies also drop extra experience.) Whether or not they already have such possessions, a small fraction of zombies can pick up dropped items and wear or wield them. The chance for either buff depends on game and/or regional difficulty.

Zombie Villager
Zombie Villagers comprise 5% of all spawned Zombies. They generally behave as ordinary Zombies, but their character model's head and face is reminiscent of that of a villager, especially the nose. Zombie Villagers may occur in any game mode or difficulty except Peaceful.

Zombie Villagers can result from Zombie attacks on ordinary Villagers. If any type of Zombie kills a Villager, there is a chance that the Villager will transform into a Zombie Villager (100% in hard difficulty, 50% in normal, 0% in easy). This often occurs during sieges.

Zombie Villagers can be cured by throwing a Splash Potion of Weakness at them, then feeding them a Golden Apple by right-clicking on the Zombie Villager with it. A loud hissing sound will be heard if successful, and the Zombie Villager will begin to shudder. The transformation will take 2–5 minutes, during which time the Zombie Villager will still attack and must be shielded from other attacks and sun damage. While the zombie is being cured, it will have the Strength I effect in normal difficulty, or Strength II in hard difficulty, making it more important to isolate the zombie.


 * Cured Villagers do not retain the trades they had before they became infected.
 * If the Zombie Villager is wearing any Armor or wielding Tools or Weapons, those items disappear when the villager is cured.
 * During the curing process keep the Zombie Villager away from any other zombies, because the other zombies will stop the curing process.
 * Conversion can be sped up by around 4% by surrounding the zombie villager with a 9x9x9 of beds or iron bars (or combined).

A Zombie Villager cannot be cured by switching from Easy, Normal or Hard difficulty to Peaceful. They will just disappear, like all other monsters when switched to Peaceful.

Baby Zombies
Baby Zombies make up 5% of zombie spawns. They are the same as regular Zombies, with the following oddities:
 * They do not burn in sunlight.
 * They do not grow up unless cured.
 * When they wear armor it shrinks to fit their body size.
 * If they wear a head, jack o'lantern, or pumpkin, it will float above their head. (Bug)
 * They are able to climb ladders.
 * They are faster than the normal zombie.
 * They are able to fit through 1x1 spaces
 * They are able to ride chickens.

Baby Zombie Villagers are spawned when a zombie kills a Baby Villager. The chance of infection are the same as Zombie Villagers. Baby Zombie Villagers also spawn naturally, but the combined chance (5% villagers * 5% babies) is very low at 0.25% of all newly spawned Zombies.

Chicken Jockey
Chicken Jockeys are an extremely rare variant of the baby zombie:
 * Consists of a baby zombie riding a chicken
 * The zombie controls the chicken instead of using the chicken AI
 * Because the zombie is riding a chicken, it cannot take fall damage
 * Extremely rare - spawns only when a baby zombie is spawned
 * Can spawn in Nether - baby zombie pigman instead

Armed Zombie
Along with Skeletons, some spawned Zombies can pick up dropped items from the ground. These Zombies will automatically hold any item they come across, but if those items happen to be Armor, Weapons, or Tools, the Zombie will wear them. Some of these Zombies spawn already sporting such items, and those items may also be enchanted. The chances of said event are listed below and are taken from the game's code. Zombie villagers can spawn naturally with armor on.

If a zombie does spawn with armor, it will always include a helmet, and a 10% to 25% chance of each other piece (depending only on difficulty). The chances of it being of a particular quality are:

Zombie Villagers can pick up armor and items. The percentages of when they can are not yet confirmed.


 * If any Zombie has a Sword in their hand, and a Sword of a better type or with better enchantments is given, they will drop the existing Sword and start using the better one.
 * Zombies capable of taking items will also take mob heads, which they will wear, and will become their new head.
 * Zombies with head armor are immune to sunlight, but the armor piece will take damage.
 * Any zombie that spawns with equipment (picking up items doesn't count) will give extra experience: 1-3 points per item.
 * Zombies, along with Skeletons, Wither Skeletons, and Zombie Pigmen, can also spawn wearing a Pumpkin or Jack 'o' Lantern as a helmet on Halloween (October 31st).

Drops
When killed, Zombies drop 0–2 pieces of Rotten Flesh. These can be eaten by the player, 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 becoming poisoned.

Zombies will rarely drop iron ingots, carrots and potatoes. If a Zombie spawns with a Sword, Shovel or some Armor there is a small chance of it dropping one or more of its items. This is one of two ways to get the uncraftable Chain Armor in Survival mode, the other being trading with a blacksmith.

Behavior


Zombies spawn in groups of 1-6 and will pursue the player on sight. Zombies will attempt to avoid obstacles, including sheer cliffs and lava, and will try to find the shortest path towards the player. (video demonstrating the Zombie's path finding) Unlike Skeletons, Zombies do not try to avoid being hit, and continue to pursue the player even when being attacked. Zombies can sometimes deal damage through a closed door, as shown on the picture to the right. Like most mobs, Zombies will always float on water, even if their target is below them.

At dawn, generally when the sun is 15 degrees or more above the ground (that is, when the moon can no longer be seen), most Zombies will catch fire and burn once exposed to direct sunlight. They may make some attempt to seek out shade during this time, or enter bodies of water to protect themselves from burning up. Being in water, rain, or shade negates the effects of direct sunlight, preventing them from burning. Zombies will exit protective areas to chase a close player or Villager, whereupon they will again be vulnerable to burning. Zombies wearing headgear will also be protected from burning, and Baby Zombies do not burn. If they attack a player or mob while burning, they will set their victim on fire.

Attacking Villagers
Zombies will attack Villagers within 16 blocks. Once a Zombie has focused on a Villager, the Zombie will ignore any other Villagers, and the player, until its target is dead or the player attacks.

Zombies will bang on closed wooden doors, and can succeed in breaking them down in Hard difficulty. In other difficulties, the door will crack, but not break. Iron Doors are always safe. In Minecraft Pocket Edition, zombies cannot break down wooden doors at all.

If a zombie is attacking a villager and is hurt by another mob, the zombie will then retaliate and attack the offending mob.

Reinforcements
On Hard difficulty, Zombies can call other Zombies in the area to "help", and in a matter of seconds, more Zombies will target the player. When a zombie is damaged by another entity it will attempt to spawn one reinforcement zombie nearby (within an 80x80x80 box centered on the attacked zombie). Both the damaged zombie and the new zombie will have a reduced chance of summoning another reinforcement, so they cannot cause an infinite number of zombies to spawn, but they can multiply significantly.

Damaged zombies will also call all other nearby zombies in the area to attack, regardless of difficulty, not unlike zombie pigmen.

These effects can be combatted by killing the zombie in as few hits as possible, by using environmental damage such as falls or lava, or by ignoring them.

Xbox 360 Edition
In Minecraft Xbox 360 Edition, Zombie sieges are possible as of Title Update 12. However, zombies cannot alter the state of a Villager to a zombie villager. There will be a future update to add this feature in the game.

Difficulties
Zombies are very difficult to trick into their own death because of their new AI recognition of a fall that will potentially kill them. Zombies will also remember a player's path and use it to get to the player with ease. However, they do not use this for wolves. Zombies will also recognize lava traps and any other potential deaths.

Tips
A lone zombie can easily become a large group, as it can spawn more zombies. Furthermore, they hit a lot harder when injured. Killing the zombie rapidly (iron or diamond sword), or leading with environmental damage, can help cut the multiplication. Blocking the zombies off with fences works fairly well, but be wary that reinforcement zombies can appear and approach from all directions.

On the other hand, the multiplication makes it easy to "farm" zombies for experience, Rotten Flesh, and drops. Stone swords and moats are helpful here. Alternatively, if located in the middle of a large, well-lit area with a good view, reinforcements will be coming from a distance, making it easy to prepare and position for their arrival.

A player on sufficiently high ground can repeatedly hit a Zombie as it approaches, knocking it away consistently before it gets close enough to cause damage. Being one block lower than the Zombie makes it easier to prevent contact. Like Zombie Pigmen and skeletons, Zombies have a chance of spawning equipped with armor wielding an iron sword or iron shovel, any of which may also be enchanted.

Zombies, along with Zombie Pigmen, Skeletons and the Wither, are considered "undead". Thus, they can be damaged by Splash Potions of Healing, are healed by Splash Potions of Harming, and are unaffected by poison or regeneration. They likewise take extra damage from any weapon enchanted with Smite. Finally, zombies, like other undead (except the wither), catch fire in sunlight. While this will eventually kill them, it also makes them more dangerous: On top of increasing attack damage as their health drops, a burning zombie can set the player (or other victim) aflame with an attack.

Zombies are vulnerable to all the usual environmental damage: lava/fire, falling, and contact with cacti. They can drown or suffocate when trapped within water or solid blocks respectively.

A popular method of protecting a shelter from Zombies in Hard mode, without wasting iron, is to place a fence gate in front of the door (with optional pressure plate between). That way, the zombie cannot get to the door to break it, while still having the usual benefits of a door.

Zombies can be prevented from calling for reinforcements by putting two trap doors behind a door. Zombies recognize an open trap door as a solid block, and will walk right into the hole. It will need two traps doors next to each other, opened, as baby zombies can run over the 1x1 hole using the edge of the first trap door. Many useful traps can be made using this method.

Surface Zombie populations can be controlled if the player regularly sleeps in a bed at dusk, since Zombies will only spawn at night if the player is awake. However, they can still wander out of caves, as well as spawn in shadowy bits of surface.

Trivia



 * Swords dropped by zombies will usually be very damaged, sometimes with only a few uses left.
 * Both the Zombie and the Player skins share the same model, thus the Zombie skin can be used as the player's skin and vice versa.
 * Zombies will not burn from sunlight if they are standing on Soul Sand.
 * Despite being nocturnal, zombies are the most common mobs in Minecraft, extremely common in dark places like caves, strongholds, dungeons, etc., and outside at night, even more so than the other mobs.
 * A Giant is an unused huge variation of a zombie that can be obtained with the Summon command since the release of snapshot 13w36a. Its appearance is identical to the zombie's, but it has 50 hearts of health, deals 25 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.
 * Zombies and Zombie Villagers will get hurt by a Splash Potion of Healing, and get healed by a Splash Potion of Harming. Splash Potions of Regeneration and Poison have no effect on them. This applies for all the undead mobs, like skeletons.
 * 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.
 * When in daylight while raining, a zombie might make burning sounds, due to the fact that it will catch on fire and immediately be burned out.
 * Even if attacked by an entity or another player, the zombie will still be focused on attacking the player it chased.
 * Zombies can climb ladders, but will only do so if their path finding runs them into one.
 * Zombie Villagers have brown eyes, but normal villagers have green eyes.
 * Zombie Villagers are thinner and slightly taller than Villagers.
 * This is due to the fact that Zombie Villagers are modeled as Zombies with alternate heads instead of using the model of the villager. However, it could be intentional in order to avoid confusions.
 * Zombie Villagers also have their noses sticking through a pumpkin if they are wearing one.
 * When walking in a space that is 2 blocks tall, the top of the Zombie Villager is higher than the ceiling, and goes through it with no effect.
 * When zombies and zombie villagers were added, the textures that could be used did not require modification to be a player skin.
 * On Halloween, zombies sometimes spawn with pumpkins or Jack 'o' Lanterns on their heads.
 * Since Zombies can pick up items, this can make them useful for preventing items from despawning, however the zombie itself will despawn if you walk out of a certain radius, which is approximately 32 blocks for allowed despawn and 128 blocks for instant despawn. A better method that still displays the item in question is to put them into item frames.
 * Any Zombie wearing a helmet, pumpkin, or head will not catch on fire, however this uses up durability if it is wearing a helmet and may eventually be destroyed, causing the zombie to burn.
 * Zombies are one of the two mobs (the other being the Skeletons) to be able to actually pick up any dropped block/item and use it.
 * Zombies are also the first mob to have an attack animation (implemented in Classic, taken out in Indev, put back in 1.4.5), the second being the Iron Golem.
 * Even if a zombie has complete diamond armor, it is limited to 20 armor points (80% damage reduction).
 * A zombie with armor has a 40% chance of it being leather, 49% gold, 9% chain, 1.8% iron, and 0.2% diamond.
 * When a zombie villager child equips a decorative head, the head will float above it.
 * Zombies can frighten villagers from behind walls of glass. Villagers will even run into a fire to "escape" from zombies behind glass.
 * Zombies attack range is a bit higher in the Xbox version then the PC version hence making it harder to kill in the Xbox edition
 * If a zombie spawns wearing multiple pieces of armor, the armor will never be mismatched (i.e. all pieces will be made of the same material); the same applies for skeletons.
 * The hat part of zombie texture can be used for zombie villagers, but it will be cubic instead of a parallelepiped.
 * When making a resource pack, using a regular player skin for the zombie texture results in the zombie's face being on the back of its legs.
 * Zombies will not catch fire if they are caught in Cobwebs.
 * A Zombie holding an item given by a player will not despawn when left alone.
 * If you look at the zombie's arms, they are not straight, they are bent sloping down inwards.
 * If you are using a texture/resource pack, you can see that, as with baby zombie pigmen, baby zombies are also missing their hat layer.
 * As of 1.5.2, in the '.minecraft/resources/newsound/mob/zombie' folder, there are sounds labeled metal 1,2, and 3, and these sounds sound like a loud metal clanging noise. It is most likely these sounds were meant to play whenever a zombie bangs on an Iron Door, but they were never used. This theory is further proven by the fact that the 'Metal' sounds are in the same folder as the 'Wood' sounds. The 'Wood' sounds play whenever a Zombie bangs on a Wooden Door.
 * There is no 'metalbreak' noise like there is a 'woodbreak' noise, (the noise for when the door is broken down) suggesting zombies could originally attempt to break Iron Doors, but would never succeed in doing so.
 * Killing a Baby Zombie will not give the player the "Monster Hunter" achievement.
 * Dinnerbone has stated that the idea for the chicken jockey came from a Reddit post that showed a baby zombie occupying the same space as a chicken, thus appearing like the zombie was riding the chicken.