A skeleton is a fairly fast-paced enemy that will shoot arrows at the player and any mobs that attacks it. Like zombies and endermen, skeletons spawn in dimly lit areas, and will burn in daylight (when the sun is 15 degrees or greater above the ground) unless they are swimming in water or are standing in the shade of a tree or outcropping of a mountain or player-built structure.
Uses
Skeletons are the sole source of bones (and bone meal) and can also drop fully formed arrows. Each skeleton will drop 0 - 2 bones and/or 0 - 2 arrows upon death. Although skeletons will fire arrows into walls and the ground, the player cannot pick up and re-use these arrows.
Creepers must be killed by a skeleton's arrow in order to drop a Music Disc.
Behavior
The presence of a skeleton is identifiable by the soft rattling sound of its bones. It will walk and jump around aimlessly until it spots the player. At that point, it will start firing arrows in the player's direction with moderate accuracy, aiming at head level when it is at full health and at torso level when injured. When approaching a target, a skeleton will strafe to its right and bunny-hop, making itself more difficult to hit. However, these tendencies often get skeletons stuck in small alcoves and caves.
If a skeleton's arrow hits another hostile mob, that mob will then attack the skeleton the same way it would attack the player - creepers will detonate near the skeleton after being hit. The skeleton will continue to attack the player until it is damaged by the mob. In short, mobs will always attempt to attack the last mob (including a player) that cause damage to them.
If a skeleton hits another skeleton with an arrow, they will attack each other until one is killed.
Combat
Skeletons pose more of a threat because they have ranged attacks and will strafe, jump, and dodge when approaching the player. This can prove especially problematic if the player does not have a bow. By carefully maneuvering behind corners, skeletons can be trapped against the walls and cautiously dispatched with a sword.
Going after skeletons while swimming is not advised, as the water will slow the player's movement down to the point of making them an easy target for the skeleton's arrows. It is possible (but extremely difficult) to deflect a skeleton's arrow by hitting it with anything or casting a fishing rod towards it at the right time and place (like reflecting a ghast's fireball).
Their arrows travel in a straight line as of 1.8, however, pre 1.8 their arrows use to travel to in a wide arc, which would sometimes causes the arrows to get stuck in the ceiling. If skeletons are in a 2 block high area, they could almost never hit you unless they were very close, or if their health was low, and they were shooting from their torso.
Defensive Measures
Skeletons are vulnerable to daylight (when not standing in water), lava, fire, falling, and contact with cacti. They are also able to climb ladders. Surface skeleton populations can be controlled if the player regularly sleeps in a bed at dusk, since skeletons will spawn in the dark if given the chance to. Players can keep an ear out for the clicking and xylophone-like sounds of nearby skeletons in caves and use certain corners and tight spaces to their advantage.
If skeletons do get close to your home, the player must note that a door is not an adequate safety barrier, unless it was placed from the outside. Skeletons can shoot arrows through doors if placed from the inside and will not desist until daytime, and the player is advised to have some form of preliminary defenses to prevent a skeleton getting so close.
Construction Safeguards
Proper lighting around and inside structures is essential to preventing skeletons (and other hostile mobs) from spawning.
History
Skeletons were a hostile mob introduced to the game in Survival Test. They spawned randomly in new Survival maps and followed players when approached, much like zombies. They fired purple arrows, appeared to fire arrows at a faster and more random rate and shot 6 arrows outward a short range in all directions when dying. Arrows fired by skeletons at that time could be picked up and used by players. Skeletons took 5 hits to kill and could appear wearing NPC armor (that gave them no additional protection) and gave 120 points when killed.
In Alpha, skeletons would drop 0 - 2 arrows upon death. After Alpha 1.2, skeletons held a bow in their hands.
In the Beta update, skeletons could drop 0 - 2 bones in addition to the arrows. As of Beta 1.2, bones could be turned into bone meal, and mixed with other ingredients to make dyes or applied to wheat and saplings to mature the crop instantly. In Beta 1.4, skeleton bones could be used to tame wolves. As of Beta 1.6.6, bone meal applied to grass blocks will grow tall grass and flowers. As of Beta 1.8, they now hold full-sized bows and their rate of fire is reduced. Their arrows however, will be shot with more force. Also as of Beta 1.8, bone meal can also be used on a mushroom to create Huge Mushrooms.
Gallery
A Skeleton in 1.8. You can see him wielding his bow with both hands.
Two skeletons shooting each other in 1.9pre4. The skeleton on the right is a Spider Jockey skeleton riding a spider.
Trivia
- Skeletons cannot hit you if you stand perfectly still and the skeleton doesn't move.
- Skeletons have the same face as zombies, but with a different colour.
- Skeletons' legs have the same texture as their arms.
- If you are under the skeleton, it will shoot itself.
- Though they have the same pose as a zombie, they will not damage the player through contact (touching).
- In terms of potential threat, this makes little difference; while skeletons cannot fire arrows as rapidly as zombies will hit, they will continue to fire their bows at the player from point-blank range.
- A skeleton in a Minecart will not burn on contact with sunlight.
- Despite holding a bow, they do not drop it when they die.
- In 1.8, Skeletons hold their bows more realistically (two-handed, ready to use) than in previous versions (in one hand).
- Skeletons may spawn on top of a spider creating a "Spider Jockey"
- In 1.8 creative mode, when a skeleton shoots an arrow at you, the arrow deflects back to the skeleton, taking damage from it. Sometimes the arrow passes through the skeleton when deflected.
- 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.
- In Survival Test, Skeletons shot arrows with a magenta coloured shaft. This texture is currently unused but it still can be seen in arrows.png
- A Skeleton can kill itself with its own arrows when the arrows fall back down if the player stays directly above it (while flying in Creative Mode).
- If a skeleton shoots itself with its own arrow, the arrow does not stick to the skeleton.