Skeleton

Skeletons are hostile mobs armed with bows, that shoot arrows at The Player and any other mob that attacks it. Skeletons spawn in dimly lit areas, and like Zombie Pigmen and Zombies will burn in sunlight.

Like other mobs that burn in sunlight, burning occurs at dawn when the sun is 15 degrees or greater above the ground, unless the skeleton is within shade or water. They will attempt to find shade or water to keep from burning.

Appearance
Skeletons have gray bone bodies and the same basic heads as most other hostile mobs. They always carry bows in their right hand, which can rarely be droppable upon their death; in those cases, the bow also has a chance of being enchanted. Skeletons can also spawn with the ability to pick up armor, and in those cases, they can spawn already wearing armor, which has a chance of being dropped.

On Halloween (based on your computer's date reading October 31st), skeletons, zombies, and Zombie Pigmen can be seen with either pumpkin or Jack 'o' Lantern heads.

Uses
Skeletons are the most readily available source of bones, and thereby bone meal, a useful resource. They can also drop arrows. Each skeleton will drop 0-2 bones and/or 0-2 arrows upon death. Although skeletons' fired arrows can often be seen stuck in blocks, those cannot be picked up by players. Because of its valuable drops, dungeons containing skeleton spawners are sought for mob grinding purposes.

Creepers killed by a skeleton's arrow will drop a music disc (See Tutorials/Music Disc farming).

Skeletons also have a 1/40 chance of dropping a bow, only when they are killed by the player. There is a 1/5 chance that a dropped bow is enchanted with Power I, with rarer chances of Power II, Power III, Punch I, Flame I, or Infinity I. Although extremely rare, it is also possible for a bow to drop with all three of these enchantments.

Killing a skeleton from 50 meters away is necessary for the achievement "Sniper Duel". (See below.)

Behavior


When skeletons are nearby, their presence is indicated by the intermittent soft rattling sound of their bones. Skeletons will chase any player they see within a 16 block radius. They will climb stairs, navigate mazes, and traverse other complex obstacles in order to get close to the player. When they are within 10 blocks of the player, with a clear line of sight, they will stop chasing and start shooting the player with arrows. If the player moves more than 16 blocks away from the skeleton, it will cease pursuit. Skeletons will attempt to avoid damage from the player by continuously circling around them while in combat. The general path finding capabilities of the skeleton is demonstrated in this video.

If a skeleton's arrow hits another hostile mob, that mob will then attack the skeleton the same way it would attack the player (with the exception of zombies and creepers, which usually manage to continue pursuing the player).

Skeletons can hit Endermen with their arrows, which the player can't do. This usually results in the Enderman becoming hostile towards the skeleton and killing it in a few blows.

Skeletons normally attack with a bow, however some can spawn with the ability to pick up items, and will switch to a melee weapon if they pick one up. If the skeleton already has a sword and finds a better one, they will drop the current sword and use the better one. When killed, the sword will be dropped again, with its durability unchanged. They will also wear any armor items and mob heads they pick up, and wear pumpkins or Jack 'o' Lanterns as headgear.

Skeletons burn in sunlight, unless wearing head armor (including Pumpkins and Jack-o lanterns). Skeletons will attempt to avoid burning in sunlight by running under shade or into water.

Skeletons are also able to climb ladders.

Combat
Cleanly killing a skeleton generally requires the use of a bow and arrows. Melee combat will usually result in the player getting hit by at least one arrow before dispatching the skeleton, as dodging their arrows is very unlikely. The closer the player gets to the skeleton, the faster it will shoot its arrows. If ranged combat is not an option, it is possible to minimize damage by blocking with a sword. This strategy can be used effectively by blocking just before the skeleton shoots an arrow and rushing forward after the shot. Repeating this process even while the skeleton is in melee range will allow the player to kill the skeleton while taking as little damage as possible from arrows.

An effective strategy for melee combat is to lure the skeleton to an obstacle and ambush it when it comes around the corner. This is effective for taking out single skeletons, but can be very tedious if more than one skeleton, or worse, a Creeper or a Spider Jockey, is pursuing you.

As skeletons are not solid, it is also possible to back them into a corner and stand inside them, hitting them with the sword. The knockback will keep them in the corner, and they will fire arrows directly into the ground, not harming the player.

Sugar cane can be used to shield oneself from skeleton arrows, as skeletons cannot shoot through sugar cane blocks. If you hide inside sugar cane, skeletons will approach you but not fire, which is very useful for getting close to skeletons. Note though you will have to cut through the sugar cane to hit the skeleton.

Using other mobs to kill the skeleton can also be done. You need to get the skeleton to shoot another hostile mob that isn't a zombie or creeper. Although starting "mobfights" is not very useful, it is fun to watch.

Approaching skeletons in water is best done in deep water, where you should sink underneath the skeleton and attack from below. Like most mobs, skeletons always float, and will not sink down to fight you.

Skeletons, like zombies and zombie pigmen, can be damaged by splash potions of healing and also are damaged heavily by a sword with the Smite enchantment.

Be careful in caves, the threat is not from dying from arrows but the knock back from the arrow. Often times caves will have massive ledges or lava rivers/lakes near by, if one is too close then a single shot from an arrow can push you off and kill you from the fall or burn you in magma. Light up the caves to give less places for skeletons to spawn.

Defensive measures
Skeletons are vulnerable to daylight (when not standing in water or in the shade), lava, fire, falling, suffocation, and contact with cacti. Surface skeleton populations can be controlled if the player regularly sleeps in a bed at dusk, since skeletons will only spawn if a player is awake at night. Players can keep an ear out for the clicking and xylophone-like sounds of nearby skeletons in caves and use corners and tight spaces to their advantage.

Trivia

 * It is possible for a skeleton to spawn, shoot you, then despawn on peaceful difficulty. It will still deal damage.
 * A skeleton that is wearing any headgear (regardless of other armor) will not burn in sunlight, similar to zombies.
 * Skeletons don't burn from the sunlight if they are standing on Soul Sand.
 * Skeletons' arrows will often miss the player if they stand perfectly still and the skeleton doesn't move.
 * Despite appearing to not be enchanted, skeletons' bows are treated as though they have the infinity enchantment; they fire infinitely and their arrows cannot be picked up.
 * Skeletons' legs have the same texture as their arms.
 * If alerted to a player's presence, skeletons can (and will) fire arrows backwards (behind them).
 * If the player is under a skeleton, it will shoot itself.
 * Skeletons may spawn on top of a spider creating a dangerous Spider Jockey.
 * Skeletons can climb up ladders, but they will not shoot the players while climbing up. They do not use ladders to their advantage, and often simply use it if it is directly in front of them while in pursuit of the player.
 * A skeleton hit by a splash potion of harming will gain health, however, when it is hit by a splash potion of healing it will lose health. It is also unaffected by potions of regeneration and poison. This is because skeletons are undead.
 * Skeletons cannot see the player through glass unless the skeleton already knows you're there.
 * Skeletons will not go in pursuit mode when it is under the shade at any time of day. When it reaches nighttime however, they will start giving chase. But, they will always shoot the player when in range, regardless of the time of day.
 * If a skeleton shoots a Zombie Pigman, only the Zombie Pigman that was shot will attack the skeleton rather than all nearby Zombie Pigmen.
 * If you stand inside of the skeleton he can't hurt you, but you can hurt him.
 * Skeletons and Zombie Pigmen are the only mobs that can naturally occur in both the Overworld and the Nether.
 * Sometimes, if a skeleton is engaging the player, and the player leaves the game and quickly returns, the skeleton will be invisible for a short amount of time. The skeleton will still fire arrows, and be acknowledged by other mobs with glances, but its arrows will not cause damage for the time it is invisible, and will bounce off the player.
 * 25% of dungeons are skeleton dungeons.
 * There is a bug that skeletons holding a weapon that is not a bow will not retaliate when a snow golem attacks them.
 * In Pocket Edition, if you get the skeleton to walk into glass panes, it will then be able to shoot arrows through the glass panes.
 * If a skeleton obtains a sword of any kind, it will run at the same speed as a player walks towards a target.
 * In Pocket Edition, the skeleton's left arm is pointing towards the bow, as if holding it with two hands.
 * The reason why skeletons are fast when a bow is not equipped is because they share the same Mob ID as a Wither Skeleton, and vise versa.
 * Skeletons are one of the three mobs that carry a weapon by default, the other two being the Wither Skeleton and the Zombie Pigman.
 * When wearing a helmet, the durability on the helmet goes down slowly because the skeleton is supposed to burn. The helmet will eventually break, setting the skeleton on fire. This also happens with zombies.
 * In Pocket Edition, Skeletons are less accurate than in the PC or Xbox 360 versions.
 * When fighting a horde of 10 or more skeletons, it is best to get them to shoot each other by moving around a lot. You can then easily dispatch the skeletons that are still shooting you, and once the other skeletons are done shooting, those can be dispatched as well. If there are still too many for you to handle, repeat this until you can handle the remaining skeletons.