Creeper

The Creeper is a hostile mob that will ambush players and explode, causing damage to the player and the surrounding blocks. Unlike Zombies and Skeletons, Creepers will not catch fire in direct sunlight, meaning they can wander around unharmed any time of the day until it is killed. The creeper will still be agressive at day. Underground or on the surface, creepers will spawn at night and in dimly lit locations with a light level of 7 or less. They are especially dangerous as they are almost completely silent (except for footsteps and their hissing noises when ready to explode), and their explosion is devastating at short range. Creepers run from Cats and Ocelots and will even ignore the player to run away when a feline is too close. The mob has gained notoriety.

Appearance
The creeper is a handless humanoid creature, with four short curvy legs, large empty eye sockets, a mouth twisted into a sad expression and a greenish skin with some gray spots. When asked to describe the physical texture of a Creeper, Notch said they would feel "crunchy, like dry leaves".

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 ___________ (everything, house, etc.) you've got there... It'd be a (ssss)shame 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
 * Lego Minecraft

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 Creepthulu.

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 very 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 about 147,000 videos.

Flash Games
 * In Stealing the Diamond, when Henry 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.

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.

Uses
Creepers are the easiest obtainable source of gunpowder (the more challenging alternatives being defeating ghasts and conquering dungeons), and are therefore critical to the production of TNT. When killed, a Creeper can drop 0 - 2 units of gunpowder.

Music Discs
Creepers are the only mob that drops Music Discs, and can only do so if killed by a skeleton. How the Creeper is damaged beforehand doesn't matter as 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 put it between you and a skeleton. Come close enough for both mobs to chase you, then keep moving backwards. 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. A Creeper will also stalk the player, making it very hard to escape when the player is busy doing something else.

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 (about 3 - 4 blocks).

If a Creeper is attacked by another mob, they will chase that mob and explode when close enough, just as they do with players. This can happen when a Creeper gets caught in the crossfire between the player and a skeleton. However, they do not do this in 1.2.5 unless you're in creative mode and the creeper isn't aggressive. If the skeleton shoots the creeper it will explode at close range. If you try to do this in survival mode the creeper will get shot but that will push it forward to you.

Creepers make no sound, except for common mob sounds like footsteps, splashing in water, etc. Their only unique sounds are the sharp hissing and clicking noises they make when they get hurt.

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 if they suddenly go into a sneaking position, the creeper will hiss and initialize the countdown. This demonstrates that creepers count down farther away if the player is at a lower elevation, and will only count down if much closer to a player are at a higher elevation - probably because players can outrun explosions at a higher altitude and are more shielded from the blast there.

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

Explosive properties


A creeper's explosion is 25% less powerful than that of TNT, with an explosive power of 3. Charged creeper explosions are 50% more powerful than TNT and twice that of a normal creeper's.

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. In terms of environmental damage, the harder the material caught in an explosion, the less damaging the explosion will be to anything behind the material. Also, if a creeper detonates in water, it does 0% damage toward the environment.

Charged Creepers
A charged creeper is a dangerous type of creeper created when lightning strikes within 3 - 4 blocks of a normal creeper (a rare occurrence). Charged creepers do not otherwise spawn naturally and can be distinguished from normal creepers by the blue aura surrounding them (this blue aura is the power.png in the armor folder in your minecraft.jar file). Many players refer to charged creepers as "Lightning creepers", due to the fact that they are created by lightning striking the creeper.

Charged creepers take damage from the initial lightning strike, so it takes fewer attacks to kill them than an ordinary creeper. Their countdown timers act the same as uncharged creepers, both range-wise and time-wise. However, an explosion caused by a charged creeper is twice as powerful as the explosion caused by a regular creeper (as shown in the image above). This blast is both more powerful and of greater radius.

Charged creepers have the same entity IDs as normal creepers but they have a powered tag set to 1.

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. You can also risk trying to kill it with a sword. Players can take advantage of the creeper's countdown system by hitting it, retreating a few blocks away, and repeating this until it dies.

Swimming creepers can be easily dealt with using melee attacks while the player is underwater. Alternatively, 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.

Another method to kill a creeper is by doing a critical attack (implemented in the 1.8 update) by jumping in the air and, while falling, quickly hit the creeper. Then attack the creeper again normally. This allows a player to slowly work down a creeper's health while remaining out of the explosion radius.

A diamond sword can quickly dispatch a creeper with three successive hits, one right after the other. This is not a recommended tactic around multiple creepers, though it can be a lifesaver when exploring underground should a creeper suddenly fall down behind the player in dim, tight areas.

If a creeper is below the player, the player can suffocate a creeper (and many other mobs) by placing a block of sand or gravel above the creeper as long as the block they are placing is on a wall or a block in front of the player and above the target mob. It will usually take one to two blocks to cover the creeper and when it is covered, the creeper will slowly suffocate to death. This is a slow way of eliminating a creeper but it will keep the player out of harm's way and preserve the durability of their weapon.

If caught in a difficult place without a weapon, the player can run away if he or she is outdoors or tunnel down towards bedrock and wait for the creeper to de-spawn before surfacing. On singleplayer, one failsafe is to set the difficulty to peaceful, removing all hostile mobs, although this is considered cheating by many players.

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.

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.
 * Ladders should be placed carefully as creepers are capable of climbing ladders (despite lacking arms). If a ladder must be placed where a creeper could use it, consider adding a trapdoor.
 * Pressure plates connected to doors should not be placed outside, as creepers 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.

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.
 * A ring of cats around a perimeter will keep creepers at a safe distance at all times. However, since 1.2.5, cats no longer remain sitting indefinitely.
 * Planting a field of cactus outside the perimeter will damage Creepers that come in contact with it. This field causes less damage to the player than alternatives like lava. Cactus is also less likely to destroy dropped Creeper loot.
 * 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. Mobs trapped in holes will die at sunrise (in the case of undead mobs). 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.

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.

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.

Antiquated methods

 * Since wooden slabs are a damage value of stone, they can be used to make wooden creeper-resistant houses. This no longer works as of 12w17a.

History


Creepers were first introduced in Survival Test version 0.24 on August 24, 2009. They were based on a failed pig model Notch had created.

In Survival Test, the creeper's default look was a darker shade of green and flashed to a lighter green upon being hit. Before creepers spotted the player their heads would droop down. Creepers behaved much like zombies except their attacks dealt only two hearts worth of damage rather than the zombies' three (or the more recent range of 8+). After taking damage, it would flash as an indicator of impending detonation. When killed, this creeper caused a 4x4x4 spherical explosion that left a sizable crater, destroyed plenty of blocks (with the exception of stone) and hurt any players nearby. The creeper was worth 250 points when killed, but this was later decreased to 200 points.

As of Beta 1.4, the 'A' in the Minecraft logo included a Creeper's face.

Before Beta 1.6, creepers (and other mobs) could be attacked through the windows of both iron and wooden doors as long as the doors were placed from the outside of the shelter.

When the ability to sprint and hit mobs was introduced in Beta 1.8, creepers could be quickly knocked out of detonation range by an unarmed player.

As of Beta 1.8 Pre-release, Creepers are much more deadly and will definitely kill the player if in a radius of 4 to 5 blocks around the Creeper. This damage is also difficulty-independent.

As of November 12, 2011 Creeper explosions have a new sound.

Creepers were one of the mobs in 1.9 Pre-release 5's Creative mode that do not attack the player unless provoked.


 * Before 1.2.3, a Creeper shot by a Skeleton would attack the skeleton, creating a crater in the process. This made music discs much harder to obtain.

In 12w30a, creepers were made stronger. Depending on difficulty, creeper damage is scaled now. Easy: ~50% less damage. Normal: same damage as before. Hard: ~33% more damage than before.

Trivia


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 * 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.
 * Creepers are the only mob that a tamed Wolf doesn't attack; there was a bug in 1.2.1 that caused them to attack but as of 1.2.2, Wolves will not attack Creepers.
 * 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.
 * The Minecraft profile picture on Facebook looks like a Creeper face, but smoother. It used to look almost exactly like a Creeper face.
 * Creepers were given a new taking damage sound after the Halloween Update.
 * As a Creeper approaches a player, it tends to circle to its right (player's left). This behavior, which is also seen in skeletons, makes them slightly more challenging to kill than many other mobs, particularly if the player is using a sword or other melee distance tool rather than a bow.
 * 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 found in the Armor files and is labeled as "power.png"
 * Despite having no arms, Creepers can climb up ladders and vines like any other mob.
 * Creepers do drop gunpowder when blown up by TNT.
 * Creepers are called Creepus Explodus on one of the T-shirts.
 * In the goodie-bags given out at Minecon 2011, Creepers were given as a foldable and tapable decoration for ones room or collection, along with diamond and grass.
 * The Creepers 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 withtin detonation range).
 * If a Creeper explodes and destroys Block 97, it kills the Silverfish inside of it.
 * A Creeper is featured as a "Micro Mob" in LEGO set 21102 LEGO Minecraft Micro World.
 * In Creative Mode if you hit a creeper and then get away fast (or fly away) it will turn on passive state again.
 * On Monday, June 18, 2012, A Creeper was sent above the clouds into space.
 * A creeper face can be seen on one type of sandstone.