Zombified Piglin

Zombie Pigmen are neutral mobs that spawn naturally in the Nether and appear in the Overworld when lightning strikes within 3-4 blocks of a pig, which is on very rare occasions, and they can spawn near nether portals, though not very often. Like wild wolves, they are not initially hostile, but all zombie pigmen in the area will converge on the player if a single zombie pigman is attacked. This only applies to the player; mobs that provoke zombie pigmen will only be attacked by that specific zombie pigman.

In the Pocket Edition, they are automatically hostile, but from a shorter distance than for other hostile mobs. Their texture and animations are also slightly different.

Behavior
Zombie Pigmen often spawn in groups of 4. However, groups can merge and form an even bigger group. They spawn twice as much as Ghasts in The Nether. When idle, Zombie Pigmen move relatively slowly, but when attacked their speed will significantly increase. Also be very wary of attacking one since all other zombie pigmen in a 32 block radius will be alarmed and also turn hostile towards you. Also, if you approach an already hostile Pigman it will perform the same hostility trigger as it attacks you, making hostile Pigman swarms easily formed. They will remain hostile until they despawn or are killed, much like aggressive wolves.

If provoked they will make an aggressive noise every 0 to 39 ticks. Zombie Pigmen sometimes catch fire during the day, but it is immediately extinguished. It is because a Zombie Pigman is actually a modified zombie, and zombies catch fire during daylight and die, while Zombie Pigmen are immune to fire. Unlike zombies, Zombie Pigmen do not bang on or break doors (even when hostile), nor do they attack villagers.

Zombie Pigmen have a chance of spawning as Baby Zombie Pigmen. They can also ride chickens much like baby zombies.

Player Interaction

 * Pushing a Zombie Pigman off a cliff or otherwise causing environmental damage to them will not cause response.
 * However, damaging Zombie Pigmen with TNT will cause response.
 * Similarly, damaging Zombie Pigmen with a redirected Ghast's fireball will cause them to attack you.
 * If provoked, Zombie Pigmen will crowd around and try to get at the player by ganging up on them viciously.
 * An aggravated group of Pigmen is a force to be reckoned with, as each member will deal points of damage to the player per sword hit (on Normal difficulty, assuming no armor is worn), and they are faster than the player's normal speed.  To outrun Zombie Pigmen, a player must sprint, get away on a Horse, or use a Potion of Swiftness.
 * A player may also manage to find a location out of reach of the Zombie Pigmen and their swords (pillar jumping and ladders can help). Ideally, this will let the player kill them without being hurt, though Ghasts may pose a problem.
 * Baby Zombie Pigmen can chase the player even faster than normal Zombie Pigmen when provoked, sometimes catching up even when the player is sprinting. This, combined with their ability to squeeze through one-block high gaps, having a one-block high hitbox and their ability to ride Chickens, makes them a more significant threat than their grown brethren if made hostile.
 * While in pursuit of the player, they do not have pathfinding, unlike Zombies and Skeletons. That is, they will not try to go around objects or traps to get to the player, which can be exploited to escape or kill them easier. Placing a few blocks in front of you will help slow down hostile Zombie Pigmen. A small wall will also help hold back groups of Zombie Pigmen. This is fixed in 1.8.
 * If the player enters a portal and returns, any provoked Zombie Pigmen in the area will not eventually become neutral (unless they despawn or die) and sometimes they can enter the portal and chase the player down.
 * For the same reason, dying will not cause Zombie Pigmen to become neutral towards the player, whether caused by the pigmen or not.
 * Switching the difficulty to Peaceful will cause all Zombie Pigmen to de-spawn completely. It will also reset their neutrality if the difficulty is changed to something else afterward, as the newly spawned Zombie Pigmen will be neutral. Baby Pigmen riding chickens will despawn, but their chickens won't, which can lead to the presence of random poultry in the Nether.
 * The range for enraging Zombie Pigmen is twice the range at which they will see and pursue you; that is, 32 blocks for provoking, and 16 for pursuit. This can cause the false effect of them becoming neutral, but if you return into the pursuit range you are still in danger. Travelling far enough from the area will cause them to despawn and make it safe again, provided you do not attack any other Zombie Pigmen on the way back.
 * If the player is riding a pig when lightning hits it a Zombie Pigman will appear on top of the player.
 * Zombie Pigmen are capable of spawning adjacent to the bottom row of obsidian in a Nether portal frame, the same way the player spawns when emerging from a portal.
 * Zombie Pigmen are capable of drowning.
 * Like most mobs, Zombie Pigmen can ride in minecarts, so if you decide to create a rail in the nether or by a portal to it, it is likely that you'll see one riding in it.
 * You can give the Zombie Pigmen another sword by dropping it at them sometimes (this chance increases on harder difficulties). However, in doing so the Zombie Pigman's already strong attack strength will increase. It is highly advised that players avoid dropping their sword, for the Zombie Pigman will use it against the player.
 * After giving a Zombie Pigman a sword that's better than their own, you can "customize" the Pigman by giving it armor, enchanted or not. In the event you do customize your Zombie Pigmen, it is advised that you change into creative mode, or keep them in a pen. You can reclaim your armor and sword without ever making the Pigmen hostile by using drowning or suffocation traps.

Appearance
Zombie Pigmen are humanoids covered with a mixture of pink flesh (like a pig's), and green, rotting flesh, with some bones visible, like a zombie. They wield a golden sword in their right hand, and wear a loincloth. Occasionally, the golden sword will have an enchantment on it, visible as a shimmering purple sheen. This chance increases at higher difficulties, and the sword's enchantment will also be of a higher level.

On Halloween (October 31st), Zombie Pigmen have a chance of spawning with a Pumpkin (22.5%) or Jack 'o' Lantern (2.5%) equipped as headgear. If you want to see this on days other than Halloween, simply change your computer's clock to October 31st; the year or time is irrelevant.

In Pocket Edition, Zombie Pigmen are missing their face (hat layer) and appear to have merely a dry skull for a head (see gallery). It is unknown whether it is a bug or if it's meant to happen. Baby Zombie Pigmen in the PC version also look like this, due to MC-33420.

Combat
To an unprepared or careless player, a charging group of Zombie Pigmen can mean a swift death. However, fighting Zombie Pigmen becomes feasible when you can manage which of them become hostile and which remain neutral. Zombie Pigmen attack on the basis of 'seeing is believing', meaning that they only become hostile when they see one of their own being attacked by the player. Once this happens, all Zombie Pigmen within a 32 blocks radius become hostile. Those which are also within a 16 block radius will charge the player immediately. Those between the two ranges are made hostile, but cannot see the player. However, if they happen to wander within the shorter range, or the player approaches them, they too will charge. This forces you to defend yourself against them, therefore angering yet more Zombie Pigmen near the new fight. Since these mobs are quite common, a player may find themselves constantly in battle. Zombie Pigmen will also notice attacks through walls. The hostility radius is centered around the Zombie Pigman that was attacked, not the player, meaning that you can attack a far-away Zombie Pigman with a bow without nearby Zombie Pigmen becoming hostile (although this is not advisable).

By keeping these rules in mind, it is possible to safely pick off groups of Zombie Pigmen with a bow, or to kill isolated Zombie Pigmen, provided that the other members of the group are outside their aggressive range. This can be used to collect Gold Nuggets (50%) and Rotten Flesh (50%). They can also drop Gold Ingots although this is a rare occurrence. The fact they drop gold nuggets is very useful if gold is not readily available and/or hard to find in your overworld, for 9 gold nuggets can be crafted into a Gold Ingot.

A way to kill them without great difficulty is to create a "booth" - a structure with four walls each three blocks tall, two of them (that must meet at a corner) having gaps at the second block up. A player can mine one block out of the bottom of one of the partial walls and attack a Zombie Pigman, then quickly go back inside and close the way in, then use strike-and-run tactics, running up to the walls with the gaps in them, hitting a Zombie Pigman, then running to the closed corner before it can retaliate, continuing until they are all dead. A bow or stone/iron/diamond sword speeds this process up significantly, the first by allowing the player just to sit in the closed corner and shoot, and the second by reducing the number of hits required. If possible, the booth should be made out of Cobblestone as this will make it invulnerable to Ghasts.

An easier tactic is to build a column three blocks high. From here, you can either hit Zombie Pigmen or shoot arrows. They will swarm you, as well as push you around, but you will not receive any damage as long as you remain on the column. A disadvantage is that Ghasts can shoot at you and set you on fire (made more dangerous in the Nether since water can't be placed there). It can possibly destroy your tower unless it is made of a type of stone, and ghast fireballs can also push you off.

Soul Sand slows down Zombie Pigmen considerably, allowing the player to escape or fight a crowd of them more easily. It can also be used to make a one way door by placing the Soul Sand in front of the side of the door you want to block (see below).

Zombie Pigmen, Skeletons and Zombies can be damaged by Splash Potions of Healing, and will be healed by Splash Potions of Harming. In addition, a sword enchanted with Smite will do extra damage to Zombie Pigmen. However, due to their fire resistance, swords enchanted with Fire Aspect will only do normal damage.

Another great way to deal with a pack of charging Zombie Pigmen is to either have a sword enchanted with Knockback, or to backpedal while attacking them, as they can outrun you if you don't sprint or drink a potion of Swiftness. This is not advisable since the Nether is full of sudden drops and lavafalls that can cause serious damage or even death.

An entertaining tactic is to build a bunker with walls composed of diagonally adjacent cacti, throw a snowball from inside, and watch as your target and all their nearby friends beat themselves to death against the cacti. However, this tactic will only yield rotten flesh unless you add in a few attacks of your own, and it's imperative that you take precautions against a pigman climbing over any 1-high cacti in the wall. You can also simply seed an area commonly traveled by zombie pigmen with a few cacti, which (slowly) thins the numbers and creates the gold nuggets.

If Zombie Pigmen often spawn near a cliff, you can dig a three-block-deep tunnel into the cliff, with a Soul Sand one-way gate, and a tunnel with a door for you to use. The Pigmen will swarm the entrance but be unable to enter, and you can stand just outside their attack range and kill them with a sword or bow. Beware: sometimes, when you hit a Pigman, he will bounce oddly and penetrate the gate, especially if others are crowding behind him. This same type of fortress can be made with a 5x5 floating roof surrounded by the sand barrier, but this leaves you exposed to Ghasts and also allows the Pigmen to "ping-pong" you if you get dislodged from the center square.

A useful thing to note when fighting Zombie Pigmen is that they do not share the pathfinding abilities of Zombies and Skeletons. When angered, they blindly charge directly at the player, making no attempt to avoid obstacles in their path. This means that they can easily be lured off cliffs, into cacti, or into a 2-deep trench where they will be trapped.

One last thing to note is that Zombie Pigmen have the ability to spawn zombies when harmed on hard mode. This is probably a bug as zombies have the same ability.

Farming


Since Zombie Pigmen spawn in the Nether and in Nether Portals in the Overworld, players can build a Zombie Pigman farm in either dimension which provides a steady stream of Gold Nuggets. Additionally, players can obtain Gold Ingots and Gold Swords as rare drops.

To construct a farm in the Nether, one can build platforms for Zombie Pigmen to spawn on, with trapdoors on the edge, and place Slabs on the floors of all surrounding areas (or just fill them in) so Pigmen only spawn on these platforms. The use of Lava flows cannot be used to collect the Zombie Pigmen into a central area, as lava currents do not push mobs, so pistons must be used.

To build a farm in the Overworld, one can construct a rectangular prism of interlocking Nether Portals (to save Obsidian) and put open Trapdoors on the edges of the two bottom Obsidian blocks so that the Zombie Pigmen walk off. From here, one can use Water to collect the Zombie Pigmen into a fall or suffocation trap. Snow golems are a nice alternative.

Since the availability of larger portals, it is no longer necessary to make a prism of portals as large portals can do as well. However, the same practice can still be used to make a hyper-efficient farm by building portals in a ring (one open to each cardinal direction) from a largest outer size to decreasing inner sizes, with per space efficiency of 82.8% achievable (out of a 23x23x23 cube with 10,080 portal blocks, using 1,800 obsidian). Walling off the outer side of the largest portals and placing trapdoors on the edge of the smallest inner portals will allow the pigmen to spawn and wander into the drop or push each other into it. If a collector and crusher is placed directly beneath this point, the pigmen inside the farm will become angered and will track the player after the player has attacked one of them. This can be used to draw many of the pigmen out of the farm into the crusher at will.

One problem with Overworld gold farms is that it can occasionally be possible for angered pigmen to return to the Nether through a portal. If precautions are not taken in the form of extra portals leading to a containment area, the player may be ambushed by one or more angry pigmen when they return to the Nether though a nearby portal. Similarly, one must be careful not to use a portal in the Nether which takes them into the farm for the same reason.

Using a fall trap has the benefit of automation, but with a suffocation trap, one is able to use pistons to control the amount of damage to the Pigmen. This way, one can obtain experience and rare drops by finishing off the Pigmen manually, perhaps with a Looting enchantment.

If care is taken, a fall trap may also be used to collect experience and rare drops as well. Water may be used to force the Pigmen off of a cliff that is 22 blocks high, ending in a landing area far below their spawn point. This landing area should be next to a room that whose floor is one block lower than the landing area, with a ceiling that is only 2 blocks high. This will allow the player to see and attack the feet of the Pigmen, without the Pigmen being able to attack the player. Slabs or a similar block must also be used to block baby pigmen from escaping. The player may then descend to this room and finish off the Pigmen with one or two sword strikes. To absolutely kill all pigmen automatically, use a fall of more than 24 blocks.

Spawn rate
When a portal block is ticked the game generates a number between 0 and 2000 inclusive, if that value is less than the difficulty setting, a pigman is generated. This means more pigmen will spawn the higher the level of difficulty.

History
The green liquid in the Zombie Pigman skin was originally blood red, but this was changed for an unknown reason, probably because it looked too gory. The skin file has "THX XAPHOBIA" written on it as a credit by Notch to the skin's original creator, XaPhobia.

Zombie Pigmen were originally presented as unarmed passive creatures in a preview before the Halloween Update.

Trivia

 * If a pig in the overworld is struck by multiple lightning bolts simultaneously, multiple zombie pigmen will spawn. This is so unlikely, though, that it can practically only happen if the game is modded.
 * Despite riding a Chicken, Zombie Pigmen cannot control the chicken unlike ordinary zombies.
 * It is possible to use Zombie Pigmen as a shield to block Ghast fireballs, just as you could use mobs to block skeleton arrows in the Overworld. This method can also be used to easily obtain a Gold Nugget without ever turning Zombie Pigmen hostile to you.
 * Oddly enough, Zombie Pigmen do not have an arm animation when they hit a target, unlike armed Zombies and Wither Skeletons.
 * As of snapshot 14w06b Zombie Pigman do have an attacking animation like other hostile mobs.
 * Like all other zombie-type mobs, they have a chance to spawn with the ability to pick up items.
 * A direct hit by a Ghast's fireball will cause a Zombie Pigman to run directly towards the Ghast and attempt to attack it, should it survive the explosion. This behavior has only been observed if the Ghast is touching the ground, usually occurring when the Ghast spawns under a low ceiling. This is likely because Zombie Pigmen cannot find a path to an airborne Ghast. However, only the Zombie Pigman which was hit by the fireball will attack the Ghast, nearby Zombie Pigmen will not change their behavior.
 * The Ghast's large body also prevents the Zombie pigmen from reaching its hitbox and hurting it.
 * Since Ghast noises travel exceedingly far, it is a common misconception that Zombie Pigmen make the high-pitched whines that actually belong to Ghasts.
 * You can hear their sound effects of them being angry far away and even all the way down to the bedrock layer, like thunder and the aforementioned Ghast noises.
 * Like all mobs, Zombie Pigmen can climb up ladders and attack the player while doing so; however, they will not use this to their advantage, and only use a ladder if it is right in front of them.
 * The Zombie Pigman's armor has no durability (i.e. cannot be damaged). Two points of armor gives 8% damage reduction from most sources. This means that you need to deal  physical damage to kill a Zombie Pigman. It is one of three mobs with this natural damage reduction, the others being the Zombie and the Magma Cube.
 * Zombie Pigmen will turn hostile towards the player even when hit by "non-harmful" projectiles such as eggs, ender pearls and snowballs.
 * 50% of Zombie Pigmen will drop a Gold Nugget.
 * If a mob with a projectile attack, such as a Skeleton, hits a Zombie Pigman, only the Zombie Pigman who was shot will attack it.
 * On Halloween Zombie Pigmen sometimes spawn with pumpkins or Jack 'o' Lanterns on their heads.
 * Zombie pigman spawners cannot be disabled with torches or any light. They will spawn in any light level.
 * You can teleport a neutral Zombie Pigman by pushing it into the Nether Portal, just like any other mob.
 * In 1.4.6 and later versions, Pigs turned into Zombie Pigmen via lightning in the overworld will not wield golden swords.
 * However, they will wield their gold swords in the overworld if they spawn by a Nether Portal or via the use of Spawn Eggs.
 * In Minecraft Pocket Edition Zombie pigmen will burn in Sunlight like any other Zombie.
 * However, they still have an immunity to fire, so they will not die.
 * Zombie pigmen that remained from the Nether Reactor will despawn when the player leaves them.
 * When a sword is dropped near a Zombie Pigman they will occasionally drop their sword (but only if their sword is enchanted) and replace it with the one dropped.
 * If a Pigman Wears a mob Head, it will only show on the "skeleton" part of its face.
 * This is because the pig half is the hat layer of the Zombie Pigman's skin, and mob heads will not cover the hat layer.
 * Zombie Pigmen are one of the three mobs that carry a weapon by default, the other two being the Skeleton and the Wither Skeleton.
 * Despite having a similar mess-with-one-mess-with-all mechanic, hitting a Zombie in the presence of zombie pigmen will not anger them.
 * If you leave the Nether (including by dying), any provoked Zombie Pigmen in the area will remain that way until they despawn or are killed. Do not let this happen if the pigmen can reach your portal, as this will result in them effectively spawn-camping you.
 * Zombie Pigmen are immune against lightning, due to their resistance to fire.
 * Villagers are afraid of Zombie Pigmen, due to their similarities to the Zombie. If a Zombie Pigman is close to a Villager, the Villager will run away. However, Zombie Pigmen will not give chase to Villagers if one is nearby.
 * When riding a minecart, a hostile Zombie Pigman can slowly move the minecart by itself along the rail while trying to chase the player.
 * The pigmen in the pocket edition and the baby pigmen that rarely spawn are missing the face layer, which is the pig part, and just have a skull. These are likely bugs.
 * Zombie Pigmen DO burn in sunlight, however their immunity against fire-based damage prevents them from being harmed by it, and the fire disappears after about a fraction of a second.
 * In Pocket edition, zombie pigmen do not hold out their hands like zombies, instead they have their hands to their sides similar to the player . Also, unlike the PC and other editions, they have an attack animation which is identical to that of the player.
 * When trying to sleep at night while a neutral zombie pigman is nearby, the zombie pigman will be treated as a hostile mob, giving the message "You may not rest now, there are monsters nearby.", whether or not the zombie pigman is neutral towards you or not. This also applies to Endermen and Spiders.
 * As they are undead, Zombie Pigmen are healed by Splash Potions of Harming, and harmed (and thus provoked) by Splash Potions of Healing.
 * Baby zombie pigmen can only spawn with only a skull or only dead pig flesh. It appears it can't spawn with both.
 * A zombie pigman that can pick up items will take a stone sword (or even a wooden one if it has enchantments) with a chance of dropping their gold one.
 * They can drop their sword, but have an even rarer chance for it to be used.
 * Occasionally, zombie pigmen may swim up lava springs. Due to their fire resistance, though, this will not harm them directly, but they may take fall damage (and possibly even be killed) upon touching solid ground afterwards since lava does not prevent fall damage.
 * Zombie Pigmen spawning in the Nether wield Golden Swords when gold does not exist naturally in the Nether.
 * There is a cooldown effect for making Zombie Pigmen neutral again, but is currently unused.
 * In rare cases, if there is a Zombie Pigman between the Player and a Skeleton which forms a straight line for a few seconds, the Zombie Pigman may be shot by the skeleton, causing it to become hostile to the skeleton.
 * The Zombie Pigman class extends the Zombie class in the source code, causing many similarities in the ways villagers react, and leading to the fact that you can have a Zombie Pigman Villager.