Mob

Mobs are the various types of creatures and monsters found in Minecraft. Currently, there are twelve types of mobs. Each of these mobs are affected by the same environmental hazards as the player, including  burning and collision (falling) damage. Up to 200 hostile mobs and 15 neutral mobs can be on a map at a time. Mobs spawn no closer than 24 blocks and disappear if they are more than 4 chunks away from the  player.

The term "mob" is short for "mobile" and is pronounced as such. It has been used as a general term referring to any moving entities in games since the first MUDs surfaced.

Passive Mobs
Passive mobs* will not attack the player and spawn only on grass panels with sufficient level of light (9 or greater).

{| class="wikitable" ! Description ! width="180" | Image ! width="180" | Loot
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Pigs

 * - valign="top"
 * The Pig is a passive 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. Though they are not  hostile, pigs can bump into the player, possibly pushing the player over  a cliff to their death.

In Survival Test, Pigs can be killed to drop Brown Mushrooms.

In Alpha pigs 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. Alpha:
 * Pig.png
 * Survival:
 * 0-2 brown mushrooms
 * 0-2 pieces of pork
 * colspan=3|
 * colspan=3|

Sheep

 * - valign="top"
 * Sheep are, like pigs, a passive 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. When sheep are hit they  drop White Cloth.

In Survival Test, Sheep eat grass which makes the blocks Dirt. A Sheep's cloth grows back after they eat Grass. Sheep can be killed to drop Brown Mushrooms.

In Alpha, sheep act much like pigs, wandering and idling aimlessly. In this mode, sheep do not drop any food when killed. Alpha:
 * Sheep2.png
 * Survival:
 * 1-3 cloth blocks (on hit)
 * 0-2 brown mushrooms
 * 1-3 cloth blocks (on hit)
 * colspan=3|
 * colspan=3|

Cows

 * - valign="top"
 * Cows are currently the largest passive mob. They were added in Alpha Version  1.0.8. Cows can be milked by using a Bucket, although Milk has  no current use. When killed, cows produce 0-3 pieces of  leather that can be used to make armor. Cows  make rather loud moos when idle and squeal when you hit them. Cows never  spawn with more than twelve (rarely) in their group.  However, cows do  have a tendency to wander around alone.

With the update to Alpha Version 1.0.14, cows were given a new skin in addition to horns.
 * Cow.png
 * Alpha:
 * 0-3 pieces of leather
 * Milk (using a Bucket)
 * colspan=3|
 * colspan=3|

Chickens

 * - valign="top"
 * Chickens were added in Alpha Version 1.0.14. Chickens can fly when falling, which prevents any Falling Damage. Currently, Chickens can spawn in  groups of 2-4 but are mostly spotted individually. The chicken is currently the smallest passive mob. They occasionally drop Eggs at random and give 0-2 feathers when they are killed. In the 1.0.17_02 update, they were given sounds. Chickens can be killed by a single sword-blow, unlike other mobs.
 * Chicken.png
 * Alpha:
 * 0-2 feathers
 * Eggs (Random)
 * colspan=3|
 * colspan=3|

Fish

 * - valign="top"
 * Fish were added in the Halloween update. Fish are currently not visible, but are planned to be visible when you're swimming underwater in a future update. Fish are caught with the fishing rod and drop one raw fish which can then be cooked.
 * TBA
 * Alpha:
 * 1 piece of fish
 * }

Neutral Mobs
Neutral Mobs will not attack you unless you attack first.

{| class="wikitable" ! Description ! width="180" | Image ! width="180" | Loot
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Zombie Pigmen

 * - valign="top"
 * Zombie Pigmen were added in the Halloween Update on October 31st 2010. They are found only in The Nether, and do not serve a purpose currently, besides as a renewable source of food within the Nether. They stand idly in packs of 4-10. Zombie Pigmen are passive until attacked, upon which the entire pack will charge at the player with deadly speed. They will continue to be hostile every time the player returns to the Nether unless difficulty is changed to peaceful and back. They wield gold swords. When killed, they drop Grilled Pork and Feathers

The Zombie Pigmen idea was suggested by player Miclee, though Notch changed X__x's gory texture to the current one. Notch confirmed living pigmen, so zombies may become prefixes.


 * Zombiepigmsword.png
 * Alpha:
 * 0-2 Grilled Pork
 * 0-2 Feather
 * }

Enemy Mobs
Enemy mobs will attack the player and spawn on every type of block with the exception of glass and half-blocks in a light level of 7 or  less. There are exceptions.

Prior the Halloween Update enemy mobs can spawn in higher light levels than 7 depending on the depth above bedrock. For example, Mobs will spawn at level 14 light at depths of 16 and below, which means that torches are useless, and you'll have to fill the entire place with Lava, Fire, Jack-O-Lanterns, Lightstone, or Sunlight to stop mobs from spawning. At level 8 and below, even those won't stop mobs spawning.

The formula for the depth monster spawning is 16 - Layer (calculated from the bedrock) * 1 / 8, rounded down. So, at layer 64 monsters will spawn in level 8 light, and at layer 32 monsters will spawn in level 12 light. Higher layers, like 100, would require level 3 light.

{| class="wikitable" ! Description ! width="180" | Image ! width="180" | Loot
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Skeletons

 * - valign="top"
 * 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, attack other hostile 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. One important note about skeletons is that they can shoot arrows through water with little to no effect on speed and  accuracy. Therefore, it is extremely hard to kill a skeleton in water, it is best to fight skeletons on land.

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. 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.

After a Seeecret Friday Update, skeletons are able to ride spiders (see below).

After the Halloween Update, skeletons now hold a bow in their hands.


 * SkeletonOO.png
 * Alpha:
 * 0-2 arrows
 * colspan=3|
 * colspan=3|

Zombies

 * - valign="top"
 * 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 but this is merely cosmetic. When a zombie is killed, the player gets 80 points. They are much slower in Indev/Infdev. Like the  Indev/Infdev skeletons, zombies burst into flames if they come into contact with direct sunlight. In Alpha, the zombie's sounds are arguably the most realistic in the game.

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.
 * ZombieR.png
 * Alpha:
 * 0-2 feathers
 * colspan=3|
 * colspan=3|

Creepers

 * - valign="top"
 * The creeper is a type of mob, found in Survival, Infdev, Indev, and the newest Alpha version. 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. Creepers make no idle noise therefore you will only know if one is nearby if you see it first.

Indev/Infdev/Alpha
The creeper is a slow-moving kamikaze mob. Upon getting close enough, it will let out a loud "burning fuse" sound and detonate after 1.5 seconds, but never make any other noises. 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. The player can also get close enough to a Creeper from above to hit it with a melee weapon without the Creeper's detonation being activated. 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 but the harder the material, the less effective the explosion. Creepers do not catch fire when daylight comes. They were given a new taking damage sound after the Halloween Update.

If Creepers are hit by a Skeleton's arrow the detonation will be activated, regardless of the players distance to the Creeper, unless the Skeleton's shot actually kills the Creeper (see below).

Creepers can drop records. How they get hurt does not matter, as long as the final blow is made by a skeleton. The most efficient way to do this is to hit a creeper with an iron sword twice, and have a skeleton shoot it after.

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.

Notch has described Creepers as "being crunchy, like dry leaves".

Warning: on hard mode you can escape creepers before they explode; however, it is more difficult to do so than on easier difficulties. Also, creepers are infamous for sneaking up behind unsuspecting players just as they think they're safe.


 * Twocreepers.png
 * Alpha:
 * 0-3 units of Gunpowder
 * 1 Record (when killed by a skeleton)
 * colspan=3|
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Spiders

 * - valign="top"
 * The spider was the second mob added to the game. Unlike other hostile  mobs (1x1x2 box), the spider is a flat mob (2x2x1 box). 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: 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. Like in Indev/Infdev mode, you cannot out-run a spider. Spiders will not burn during the day, but will also become neutral, not becoming aggressive until you attack them. If they were chasing the player during night they will usually continue. Spiders make a sound somewhat like someone slurping a straw and their distinctive noise can warn you of their presence.

When a spider is spawned it has a 1 in 100 chance of having a skeleton spawn with it riding on its back. They are separate enemies though and have separate health bars. This "Spider jockey" has both the ranged arrow attack of a skeleton and the mobility of a spider as well as larger combined health.


 * Spider2.png
 * Alpha:
 * 0-2 units of string
 * colspan=3|
 * colspan=3|

Slimes

 * - valign="top"
 * The slime is the fifth hostile mob, added in Minecraft Alpha 1.0.11. They appear as green semi-transparent cubes. Slimes come in four official sizes: huge, big, normal, and small. When a player attacks a huge, big or normal-sized slime, it will break off into four smaller sized slimes (huge to big, big to normal, normal to small) unless a sword is used. Slimes will not grow larger over time. Slimes of any size will burn instantly upon touching lava and die moments later without splitting into smaller slimes. Only huge, big and normal-size slimes can deal damage; small ones are harmless but can still push you around.

Slimes are found in deep caves, usually in large, cavernous spaces (making them appear often in large, open mines). This is partially caused by the fact that they will not spawn more than 15 squares above the bottom of the map (10 squares  before the topmost bedrock). They are currently available in all difficulties, even in peaceful where small slimes will spawn. In addition, a bug causes slimes of any size to not be removed when switching to peaceful. The slime is the first mob that can spawn in both light and dark areas.

By editing the mob's files, it is possible to make the slimes much bigger, some values creating 50 block high slimes. Slimes cannot swim, therefore they will drown if they are submerged completely in water, and jumping does not get them out of water. On 10/10/10, Notch added slimes into SMP.


 * Slime1.png
 * Alpha:
 * 0-2 units of Slime Balls
 * colspan=3|
 * colspan=3|

Ghasts

 * - valign="top"
 * The Ghast is a floating jellyfish-esque mob that shoot fireballs from its mouth. Its body is a 4x4x4 block cube with several tentacle-like body parts emerging from the bottom. They first appeared in the Halloween Update.

Ghasts are able to spawn anywhere in The Nether, as long as there is sufficient space (5x5x5, occasionally 4x4x4; it is unknown whether this is a glitch or intentional). They are rumored to spawn near Portals in the regular world if given enough space to do so. Notch has confirmed this via Twitter, though he has said it is extremely uncommon.

Ghasts normally float around with their eyes and mouth closed, making a sound like giggling children. They open their eyes and mouth when attacking. They scream when shooting or taking damage. The sounds that ghasts make are currently not affected by distance, so they always sound very close, regardless of their actual position. They are said to be extremely difficult to handle when there are many of them.

The ghast's attack is a projectile fireball. The player can reflect the ball of flame by hitting it using anything, even your bare hands. Ghasts will not shoot at you if they cannot see you. They cannot see through glass. Hellstone and imported Dirt blocks can be destroyed by the Ghast's fireballs. Hellstone will burn forever once struck. Stone buttons can also be destroyed. Materials that cannot be destroyed include, Cobblestone, Stone, diamond, Iron Doors, and Obsidian. If a ghast's fireball hits a portal (or close to it) the portal will be closed, requiring re-ignition.

The ghast is not invisible, as was thought when it was first announced.

It can be hurt with normal weapons. Contrary to popular belief, ghasts can be set on fire, but will only be hurt for the duration of touching the fire/lava block it floats into. this also happens with Zombie Pigmen. It drops Gunpowder when killed, but this can be hard to collect - as it is the only mob that floats, the Gunpowder may fall into Lava or an inaccessible area.

It is interesting to note, flying creepers have been an "in joke" among the community, creepers that fly, and descend at the player to explode at them. It is possible that Ghasts were inspired by this joke, as they fly and shoot exploding orbs at the player.


 * Ghast.png
 * Alpha:
 * 0-2 units of Gunpowder
 * }

Past Mobs
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 * colspan=2|
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Humans

 * - valign="top"
 * 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.
 * Mob1.png
 * colspan=2|
 * colspan=2|

Rana

 * - valign="top"
 * "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. There were also other mobs that were styled like Rana,  called Steve, Black Steve and Beastboy. however, these were pulled from  the game at the same time as Rana.
 * [[file:Rana.png|180px]]
 * }

Pigmen
Alongside zombie pigmen, notch confirmed adding living pigmen, the zombies may become prefixes of these afterwards.

Bats
Notch briefly mentioned coding bats, not much has been mentioned about them since.

Giants
Notch briefly ran a test of giant zombies during the very first version of survival, .31. (video)

It is possible Giants may become a future mob.

Dragons
Notch hinted during the Spider-riding skeleton update that he will add Dragons to the game. It is likely they will be classified as mega-mobs and will likely be found in caves underground or exposed to the surface. Dragons may also be able to fly or breathe fire.

Notch confirmed in his Twitter that he will definitely add a form of flying transportation. There is a chance that Dragons may be able to be ridden in a similar manner to pigs.

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 or Dwarf Fortress.

Sea monsters
On July 21st, 2010, Notch commented via  that Sea Monsters are a possibility. He particularly noted the possibility of sharks. Whales have recently been confirmed as a sea mob, although their purpose hasn't been specified.

Other Future Mobs
Notch has stated that wolves are going to be a definite addition, along with goblins who live in NPC Villages.

NPCs