Creeper

Creepers are common hostile mobs that use a suicide-style attack: They approach players and then explode, causing massive damage to players, entities, and blocks within a short radius.

Creepers spawn in the overworld at night, and in locations with a light level of 7 or less, just like most other hostile mobs. However, unlike Zombies and Skeletons, Creepers will not catch fire in sunlight, and those spawned in darkness will continue to roam in daylight until they perform an attack, are killed, or despawn.

Creepers are especially dangerous due to their near-silent approach, save for light footsteps and an occasional rustling noise. A Creeper will warn the player with an infamous fuse burning noise mere seconds before it explodes. If the player can manage to move far enough away within about one second of this noise, the explosion will be canceled, and the creeper will attempt to approach again.

Creepers run from cats and ocelots, and will ignore the player to run away when a feline is too close. As cats can be acquired and controlled by the player, this provides an important avenue of defense from Creeper attacks.

Creepers have become notorious and infamous among Minecraft players for their infuriating habit of sneaking up on the Player to inflict devastating damage following an all-too-short warning sound. They have arguably become the most recognizable image from Minecraft, as well as the game's unofficial mascot.

Appearance
The creeper is a handless humanoid creature with four short legs hanging off the bottom edges of its rectangular body. It has large, empty eye sockets, a mouth twisted into a signature sad expression, and a greenish, grass-like camouflage skin. When asked to describe the physical texture of a Creeper, Notch said they would feel "crunchy, like dry leaves".

Spawning
A creeper will spawn naturally in the Overworld with a light level of seven or less.

Uses
Creepers represent the most readily available source of gunpowder (the more challenging alternatives being defeating Ghasts, conquering dungeons or hunting witches), and are therefore critical to the production of TNT, Fire Charges, Splash Potions, Firework Stars and Firework Rockets.

Music Discs
Creepers are the only mobs that drop Music Discs, but will only do so if killed by a Skeleton. How the Creeper is damaged beforehand doesn't matter, so long as the killing blow is made by a skeleton's arrow.

The easiest way to arrange this is to significantly hurt the Creeper (for example, shooting it twice with a full-charge, unenchanted bow), then attempt to position it between you and a skeleton and get both mobs to chase you. The skeleton will shoot its arrows into the creeper until it dies.

A music disc must be put into a jukebox to be used. Charged Creepers can also drop music discs.

Behavior


Creepers will chase after any player they see within a 16 block radius. Creepers will climb steps, navigate mazes, and traverse other complex obstacles in order to get as close as possible to the player. They will cease pursuit if the player moves more than 16 blocks away.

When within one block of a player, a Creeper will hiss loudly, start flashing and inflating, and violently explode after 1.5 seconds. Killing a Creeper before the countdown finishes will prevent it from detonating. A Creeper's detonation can be halted if the player moves out of the blast radius, or knocks the Creeper back sufficiently to do the same via an attack (about 3 - 5 blocks, depending on the difficulty setting).

Creepers will flee from cats and ocelots if one is too close, even if the player is within their range of sight. A Creeper that sees a cat will run directly away from the cat and come to a stop after a "safe" distance has been reached. This distance is smaller than the creeper's range of sight, which this results in a possible endless cycle of approach and fleeing if a player is standing near a cat. Creepers will still detonate in their fleeing mode and thus are still a danger if the player gets too close.

If the player manages to block a creeper behind a soul sand one-way entrance, they can approach up to two blocks without triggering the countdown, but entering a sneaking position will cause the Creeper to hiss and initiate the countdown.

Explosive properties
A Creeper's explosion is dependent on the difficulty level. In hard mode, in full diamond armor, and in close range, it can knock a player down to only 2 hearts. Charged Creeper explosions are 50% more powerful than TNT and twice that of a normal Creeper.

As with TNT and Ghast fireballs, all dropped items in the explosion radius will be destroyed. A certain percentage of blocks destroyed by the Creeper will survive the blast and can be picked up. Harder blocks caught in an explosion will shield blocks behind them to some degree. If a creeper detonates in water, it does no damage to the environment.

Charged Creepers


A charged Creeper is created when lightning strikes within 3–4 blocks of a normal Creeper, which significantly increases its explosive power. This is a rare occurrence, though third-party software can be used to create them. Charged Creepers are distinguished from normal Creepers by the blue aura surrounding them (can be found in power.png in the armor folder). Many players refer to charged Creepers as "Electric" or "Lightning" Creepers. Creepers never spawn initially charged.

Charged Creepers take damage from the initial lightning strike, so it takes fewer attacks to kill them than ordinary Creepers. Their countdown timers act the same as uncharged Creepers, both in terms of range and time. An explosion caused by a charged creeper is more powerful than the explosion caused by a regular creeper (see image) or from a single block of TNT, both in force and radius.

It is possible for lightning-struck Creepers to catch fire from adjacent struck ground and burn to death.

Charged creepers have the same entity ID as normal creepers. The only difference is that the value of the boolean "powered" tag is set to "1" (true) rather than "0" (false).

Charged creeper explosions will cause a zombie, skeleton, wither skeleton, or other creeper to drop the corresponding mob head, one per explosion.

Combat
The safest way to engage a creeper is from a distance by shooting two fully charged arrows at it with a bow so it cannot explode near the player. Trying to kill it with a sword is risky, but it is possible in Easy or Normal modes, or with a knockback enchantment. In Hard mode, many of the following methods are foiled, as the creeper will continue its countdown at a much greater distance.
 * The most basic melee takedown is simply hitting it and retreating a block or two away (out of range, aborting the countdown). This can be repeated until it dies, but mind your footing behind you! If the creeper is climbing to reach the player, say emerging from a hole, knocking it back down is also likely to abort the countdown.
 * Swimming or wading creepers can be easily dealt with using melee attacks, since in water the knockback is far enough to put the creeper out of range. (Note that if it does blow up, water won't protect the player, but will at least prevent cratering.)
 * A sword enchanted with Knockback is useful for fighting creepers as the player can knock creepers out of countdown range before they can explode. Similarly, players can take advantage of the sprinting knockback to prevent creepers from exploding.
 * Another method to kill a creeper is to start with a critical hit, by jumping in the air and, while falling, quickly hit the creeper. Depending on weapon, this may kill the creeper outright, otherwise it will probably be hurt badly enough for one more (non-critical) blow to kill it.
 * The player can find sufficiently high ground, or build a pillar of blocks beneath him or herself, to strike a creeper from above with a melee weapon without the detonation sequence being activated. However, the player should keep in mind that creepers move forwards and to the right (your left) when in pursuit.
 * Various "non-combat attacks" such as lava, or suffocation under gravel, also work as usual. Also as usual, a creeper killed by such means won't drop experience.
 * Individual creepers can be reliably killed in two hits by using an iron or diamond sword enchanted with Sharpness IV or V. Simply charge into the creeper while slashing at it as fast as possible, in order to bring it down before it can explode.  This works best in open spaces that are free of clutter - confined terrain such as dense forest or narrow ledges can make it difficult to keep the creeper targeted, delaying the kill, and possibly giving the creeper enough time to explode.  This tactic can work against multiple creepers, provided they are not too closely bunched; however, this is risky.  If more than one creeper triggers at once, there will not be enough time to kill them all before one of them explodes.
 * The player can reliably one-shot creepers by using a Sharpness V diamond sword and drinking a Potion of Strength I. (Sharpness V can be legitimately obtained by combining two Sharpness IV swords on an Anvil.)  At that point, even large packs of creepers can be quickly cut down, provided that the player is careful.  The player should approach the pack slowly until the creepers begin to approach.  Once the creepers are grouped into a tight bunch, or better yet, a line, the player can make short work of them.
 * A bow enchanted with Flame I and Power V will either one-shot creepers outright, or else burn them to death. This is only reliable with Power V.  This is a very safe way for removing large packs of creepers.
 * If opting for a high-Sharpness direct melee approach, be careful to keep the crosshairs on the creeper. Creepers are very narrow and it can be hard to stay on target when moving around a lot.  Be especially careful if the creepers are mixed in with other mobs.  Close-approach tactics are very efficient, but they do depend on good control and execution.  Skeletons can be especially disruptive in this regard, so it might be worthwhile to eliminate those at range before engaging the creepers in melee.

Defensive Measures
Due to Creepers' natural stealth and potential hazards to the player and his/her structures, the player must be vigilant at all times, especially in caverns and heavily wooded areas. In addition to being ready for combat (see above) and sleeping in a bed to keep hostile mobs from spawning, certain construction methods can prevent or negate Creeper damage.

General Tips
Most of these tips will help prevent damage from any kind of hostile mob.


 * To minimize the likelihood of Creepers spawning, the surrounding, interior, and roof areas should be well-lit.
 * Pressure plates connected to doors should not be placed outside, as creepers, along with all other mobs, can trigger them and enter the structure.
 * Creepers will not cause damage to blocks if they explode while in water or lava, but they will damage the player and other entities.
 * Cats will scare away creepers if they get in a certain range of the cat. It is advised to have cats stationed around your house to minimize the chance of creepers exploding and destroying your house

Establishing a perimeter
Creating a perimeter around a work area (such as a wall around a castle or a fence around a house) can prevent Creepers from reaching important or delicate buildings inside.


 * Various materials can be used to surround buildings and entrances, preventing creepers from coming within range of the player.
 * Glass: Glass walls around entrances can preempt the Creepers' habit of hiding in ambush around corners (though this is offset by the disadvantage that glass is not very durable in an explosion). Glass can also be used in place of fence to create a completely transparent perimeter.
 * Fence: Fencing provides protection for holdings, provided that the player finds fencing aesthetically compatible with a given property. Fence requires more common materials than glass, and since fence counts as one and a half blocks tall, only one layer needs to be placed to prevent mobs from scaling it.
 * Rails: Creepers will not walk over a flat rail track, however can walk over a rail that is a ramp.
 * Creating a checkerboard pattern of holes 1 block wide and long by 3+ blocks deep (sometimes referred to as a deadfall field) or digging a larger pit in the form of a moat will prevent single-block mobs from approaching player buildings. Placing cactus, lava, or burning netherrack in the bottom of the holes or moats (or digging them sufficiently deep) will kill mobs immediately. Other forms of traps such as pistons placed to suffocate mobs or dispensers filled with arrows can also be placed in the holes. Players can bypass deadfall fields using drawbridges or S-shaped paths. Deadfall fields and moats are confirmed to work with new mob AI.
 * If you don't have cats, lit Netherrack can be placed at regular intervals. As well as providing lighting, this will provide burn damage if Creepers touch it, and even if the AI avoids them, they will still impede Creeper movement if placed close enough together.
 * Creepers avoid lava, but it still serves as a barrier, and they can be knocked into it for various means.
 * They do not avoid water, but a moat offers a special advantage: If a creeper explodes in water, they will not damage blocks, even blocks above water level.  Water also slows their advance, as well.
 * A ring of sitting cats may fend them off, at the cost of annoying noise from the cats. Perhaps more practical is to set cats guarding your entrances, to cut down on surprise attacks. Unlike the above methods, cats won't help against any other monster.

Reinforcing buildings
Players can build structures out of materials with high blast resistance to reduce damage caused by an explosion. For example, while an explosion will only destroy a cobblestone construction to a depth of one block, it will destroy several blocks of dirt, sand, Netherrack, and gravel. There are benefits to using certain materials.


 * Obsidian has the highest blast resistance of any mineable block, making it a robust material for withstanding explosions. Obsidian can be used in door frames, panic rooms, and elsewhere to build resilient structures.

Certain building methods can also reduce the likelihood of Creeper damage.
 * Thick walls with decorative outer layers and reinforced inner layers are more resistant to damage than single-layer-thick walls.
 * Buildings raised above the ground outside the reach of a Creeper's blast radius or on a platform on the surface of a deep ocean or lake cannot be damaged as long as no creepers spawn on the building.
 * Narrow walkways on raised buildings provide opportunities to push Creepers onto lower ground before they explode.
 * Storage chests should ideally be placed one block deep in the ground, and surrounded by either cobblestone, or preferably obsidian. In addition to allowing the player to walk over them, this greatly reduces the chance of chests being destroyed by even relatively close Creeper explosions.
 * Stone slabs can mitigate the blast radius of a Creeper explosion almost entirely. Typically, while slabs directly beneath the explosion will be destroyed, the blocks immediately below the slabs will be undamaged.  As a result, in addition to their ability to prevent spawning, stone slabs make excellent floor material in areas where Creepers are expected.

Entry points

 * A wooden door connected to a pressure plate on the inside of a structure or perimeter allows players to pass through while guaranteeing that the door closes behind them. An iron door can be used in the same manner, but players must incorporate a button on the outside. This can make it difficult for new players or players with less than optimum systems/data connections to navigate easily.
 * Soul Sand can be used to make a one-way door. By placing soul sand one block outside of an opening, the sinking effect prevents entry into a 1x2 doorway/opening. Players can circumvent this with a diagonal jump over the Soul Sand and into the doorway itself.
 * Trapdoors, placed on the floor within a 1x2 doorway/opening, can more readily serve as a one-way door device. A drawback is that the roof of the entry side would need to be extended. Some advantages are that it can be disabled/enabled and that mobs can plot paths through it, but would not be able to cross the blocking side.
 * Drawbridges made with sticky pistons can be employed to deny access to creepers. When used in conjunction with a wall or moat, a drawbridge activated by a switch (not a pressure plate) will temporarily create passage for players as needed.
 * Mine branches and stairways should ideally be no more than a single block wide by two blocks high, and should be well lit in order to discourage spawning.

Trivia



 * Notch stated on Twitter that "I imagine [creepers] as being made out of leaves or similar. I'm not sure why they explode."
 * Like all explosions, if a Creeper detonates whilst surrounded/in water, its explosion has no effect on blocks, but will still cause damage to entities.
 * Curiously, even with their explosive properties and the fact that they drop gunpowder when killed, Creepers will not detonate when exposed to lava or fire.
 * A Creeper's fuse countdown lasts a little longer if it encounters a cobweb, buying a little time for a player to flee if they are low on health.
 * In SMP, if a Creeper is attacked by another player, and the other player runs out of sight, it will not attack any other players.
 * Creepers have a separate "armor". When they are normal Creepers, they are in their un-armored state. When hit by lightning, the charged field of electricity is their armor. This "armor" does not protect them and has infinite durability.
 * In the game files, this "armor" is labeled as "creeper_armor.png"
 * Despite having no arms, Creepers can climb up ladders and vines like any other mob.
 * In the goodie-bags given out at Minecon 2011, Creepers were given as a fold-able and tapable decoration for ones room or collection, along with diamond and grass.
 * The Creeper's path finding allows for it to notice lava, and it will not attempt to chase the player if they are on the other side of the lava. This happens regardless of how close the player is (as long as they are not within detonation range).
 * A creeper face can be seen on the chiseled sandstone.
 * While Creepers cannot be targeted by other mobs, they can be attacked by them. For example, a skeleton can hit a Creeper while aimlessly shooting randomly (usually seen in Creative) and Iron Golems can hit Creepers when attempting to kill another hostile mob, such as a zombie.
 * When retaliating against mobs, they will walk directly at them, and explode in a manner similar to attacking the player.
 * Creepers are also one of two mobs that can never be targeted by any other mob (the other being the Ghast, with the exception of Zombie Pigmen). Allied and utility mobs that can attack hostile mobs, such as Tamed wolves, Snow Golems, and Iron Golems will never purposely attack Creepers. This is because of their destructive nature upon being provoked.
 * When about to detonate, Creepers will cease movement and its head will face directly forward. (Tested in the PC edition).
 * When asked how Creepers trigger their explosive nature, Dinnerbone said "They're so nervous that they shake a lot, and then this sets them off the same way as how rubbing two sticks makes fire".
 * Creepers are the oldest mob in the game. Humans, the first mob added, used to be the oldest mob until their removal; Creepers became the oldest mob since they were the second mob added.
 * When attacking, creepers walk straight, and then once they reach detonation zone, they always strafe to the left of the target entity.
 * Creepers can be forced to detonate by right-clicking them with a Flint and Steel.

Publicity
Creepers have a formidable reputation in the community because of their potential to hurt players and destroy structures. Their distinct appearance and destructive abilities have made them a widely-recognizable Minecraft icon. Creepers are referenced in several of the items available at the Minecraft merchandise depot, and have become an internet meme complete with fan art, web comic references, and demotivational posters. A central part of the meme is the Creeper's unofficial catchphrase derived from the mob's tendency to sneak up on the player and hiss before detonating:

"That'sssss a very nice you've got there... It'd be a ssssshame if anything were to happen to it..."

Merchandise
Creepers have been portrayed in many Minecraft products including but not limited to:
 * Stuffed toys.
 * Action figures.
 * Bracelets.
 * T-shirts
 * The Creeper Anatomy t-shirt reveals the insides of a Creeper, and also reveals its scientific name: Creepus Explodus.
 * LEGO Minecraft
 * Papercraft
 * Minecraft Facebook profile image

Appearances
Minecraft Maps
 * The Custom Map OXM Land made by Oxm Magazine on the Xbox 360 version of Minecraft has a giant Creeper head on it, known as the land's god Creepthulhu.

TV Series
 * Several Creepers have appeared on TV during episodes of the TV show Mad (Criminal Minecraft and ThunderLolcats ) In ThunderLolcats they use the catchphrase, saying "That'ssss.. a nice wall you've got there."

Youtube Videos
 * YouTube hosts many videos that feature Creepers, including review videos, "Let's Play"'s, cartoons, and cameos in many other videos. When searching for the query "Minecraft Creeper", YouTube returns over 500,000 videos.

Console/PC Games
 * In Borderlands 2, Creepers appear in a mineshaft in the most north-west part of Caustic Caverns, including Dirt, Coal Ore, Stone, Gold Ore, and a "Badass Creeper" that is twice the strength and size of a regular Creeper.
 * In Airmech, Creepers appear as a unit "skin" for the suicide bomber unit the boomer. Creepers can be either green, blue, or red, depending on the color of the team that makes them.
 * In Octodad: Dadliest Catch, a Creeper head is seen on a shelf in the grocery store along with 2 Pickaxes and some grass blocks. It is part of a collection known as "Mintcraft".
 * Seen As A Halloween Costume in a game called Terraria.

Flash Games
 * In Stealing the Diamond, when Henry Stickmin sneaks up to the museum's outer wall with a pickaxe, a Creeper comes up behind him and explodes, destroying part of the wall instead.
 * At the far end of the map in Stick RPG2, a smiling creeper can be seen in a hole at ground level.
 * One of the things you can hit in Katawa Crash is a Creeper.
 * In the game Transformice, there is a creeper head that you may purchase as a hat for your mouse.

Other Games
 * In a game called Quube Twodee made by Universal Chicken in Adelaide, Australia, one of the levels has a Creeper face.
 * PixelJunk Shooter 2 for the PS3 shows a small creeper in the title screen hidden among other enemies native to Shooter 2.
 * In a Notch-designed custom level for VVVVVV, "Pyramid Escape", a Creeper's face can be seen carved into the background to the far left of the pyramid.
 * In Torchlight 2 the Creeper plays an important role in an "Easter egg" mission in the cave named "Notch's cave" where the player walks in and sees a group of Creeper charging the player then exploding. Near the end of the cave you can find a minecraft skinned sword.
 * In a game called Strollin, there is a purchasable creeper item, which makes bombs throw you farther.

Other
 * On Monday, June 18, 2012, A Creeper was sent above the clouds into space.