Wither skeletons are tall black variants of skeletons equipped with stone swords that inflict the poison-like Wither effect. They are found exclusively in nether fortresses and are the only source of wither skeleton skulls, as well as the only renewable source of coal.
Spawning[]
Wither skeletons spawn in nether fortresses at a light level between 0 and 7, in groups of up to 4. They are the only mobs that can spawn inside wither roses due to their immunity to the damaging effect.
Halloween[]
On Halloween, wither skeletons have a 22.5% chance of spawning wearing a carved pumpkin and a 2.5% chance of spawning wearing a jack o'lantern. This is not dropped, except when killed with Looting, which have a chance of 1-3% to drop depending on the Looting level.
Withers[]
The wither spawns 3-4 wither skeletons when below half health on normal and hard difficulties.
Jockeys[]
Spiders and cave spiders spawned in the Nether have a 0.8% chance of spawning a wither skeleton on their back and form a spider jockey. Spiders do not naturally spawn in this dimension.
Drops[]
- 0 to 2 bones. The maximum drop is increased by 1 per level of Looting, for a maximum of 0 to 5 bones with Looting III.
- There is a 1⁄3 chance to drop a single coal. Each level of Looting increases the maximum drop by 1, so that Looting I drops 0-2 coal with an average of 0.75 coal per kill, Looting II drops 0-3 coal with an average of 1.2 coal per kill and Looting III drops 0-4 coal with an average of 1.67 coal per kill.
- 2.5% chance to drop a wither skeleton skull when killed by a player or tamed wolf. Looting increases the chance by 1% per level[Java Edition only] or 2% per level[Bedrock Edition only], for a maximum of 5.5%[Java Edition only] or 8.5%[Bedrock Edition only] chance with Looting III. Their skull is always dropped if killed by a charged creeper, though only one head[Java Edition only] or all heads[Bedrock Edition only] drop if many are killed by the same charged creeper explosion.
- 8.5% chance of dropping their unenchanted stone sword which has a random durability. This chance increases by 1% per level of Looting, for a maximum of 11.5% chance with Looting III.
- 5 experience orbs when killed by a player or tamed wolf, and an additional 1–3 is dropped per piece of naturally-spawned equipment that does not drop upon death.
- Because all wither skeletons spawn with a stone sword, each of them effectively drop 6–8 if the sword is not dropped.
- If the wither skeleton does drop its stone sword, it drops the default 5 instead.
- If a wither skeleton wearing a carved pumpkin or jack o'lantern is killed using a tool enchanted with Looting, there is a chance equivalent to the level of Looting used to drop the carved pumpkin or jack o'lantern, a maximum of a 3% chance of a drop.
Behavior[]
Wither skeletons wander aimlessly when idle, but sprint to attack players, snow golems, iron golems, baby turtles, piglins, and piglin brutes. They flee from wolves but retaliate if attacked.
When an entity is attacked by a wither skeleton in any difficulty, it is inflicted with the Wither effect for ten seconds, which turns the health bar black (
× 10) and decreases it by 1
every two seconds, similarly to Poison, except that it can cause death.
Some wither skeletons may have the capacity to pick up dropped gear in Normal and Hard difficulties. The chance depends on regional difficulty, with up to 55% of them capable of picking up swords higher than stone tier plus any armor. Wither skeletons never take bows; in Java Edition, if they hold a bow (which can be done with /summon wither_skeleton ~ ~ ~ {HandItems:[{id:bow,Count:1b}]}) they shoot flaming arrows even if their bows are not enchanted. They cannot use crossbows.
Wither skeletons are immune to fire and the Wither effect. They still seek shade or water during daylight if they are in the Overworld although they do not burn in sunlight. Like most undead mobs, they sink in water but do not drown, are healed by Instant Damage and harmed by Instant Health effects, are immune to Regeneration and Poison effects and are not attacked by the wither.
In Bedrock Edition, the player can burn them by throwing a trident enchanted with Channeling during a thunderstorm.
Sounds[]
Java Edition:
Wither skeletons use the Hostile Creatures sound category for entity-dependent sound events.
| Sound | Subtitles | Source | Description | Resource location | Translation key | Volume | Pitch | Attenuation distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wither Skeleton rattles | Hostile Creatures | Randomly | entity | subtitles | 1.0 | 0.8-1.2 | 16 | |
| Wither Skeleton dies | Hostile Creatures | When a wither skeleton dies | entity | subtitles | 1.0 | 0.8-1.2 | 16 | |
| Wither Skeleton hurts | Hostile Creatures | When a wither skeleton is damaged | entity | subtitles | 1.0 | 0.8-1.2 | 16 | |
| Footsteps | Hostile Creatures | While a wither skeleton is walking | entity | subtitles | 0.15 | 1.0 | 16 |
Bedrock Edition:[until BE 1.20.40]
| Sound | Source | Description | Resource location | Volume | Pitch |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hostile Creatures | Randomly | mob | 1.0 | 0.8-1.2 | |
| Hostile Creatures | When a wither skeleton dies | mob | 1.0 | 0.8-1.2 | |
| Hostile Creatures | When a wither skeleton is damaged | mob | 0.7 | 0.8-1.2 | |
| Hostile Creatures | While a wither skeleton is walking | mob | 1.0 | 0.8-1.2 |
Bedrock Edition:[upcoming: BE 1.20.40]
| Sound | Source | Description | Resource location | Volume | Pitch |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hostile Creatures | Randomly | entity | 1.0 | 0.8-1.2 | |
| Hostile Creatures | When a wither skeleton dies | entity | 1.0 | 0.8-1.2 | |
| Hostile Creatures | When a wither skeleton is damaged | entity | 1.0 | 0.8-1.2 | |
| Hostile Creatures | Unused sound event | entity | 0.15 | 1.0 |
Data values[]
ID[]
| Name | Identifier | Entity tags (JE) | Translation key |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wither Skeleton | wither_skeleton | skeletons | entity.minecraft.wither_skeleton |
| Name | Identifier | Numeric ID | Translation key |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wither Skeleton | wither_skeleton | 48 | entity.wither_skeleton.name |
Entity data[]
Wither skeleton have entity data associated with them that contains various properties. The wither skeleton is taller than the skeleton.
- Entity data
- Tags common to all entities
- Tags common to all mobs
Achievements[]
| Icon | Achievement | In-game description | Actual requirements (if different) | Gamerscore earned | Trophy type (PS4) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PS4 | Other | |||||
| Sniper Duel | Kill a Skeleton with an arrow from more than 50 meters. | Use a launched arrow to kill a skeleton, spider jockey, wither skeleton, or a stray from 50 or more blocks away, horizontally. | 30G | Bronze | ||
Advancements[]
| Icon | Advancement | In-game description | Parent | Actual requirements (if different) | Resource location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Spooky Scary Skeleton | Obtain a Wither Skeleton's skull | A Terrible Fortress | Have a wither skeleton skull in your inventory. | nether/get_wither_skull
|
| Adventure | Adventure, exploration and combat | — | Kill any entity, or be killed by any entity. | adventure/root
|
| Monster Hunter | Kill any hostile monster | Adventure | Kill one of these 34 mobs:
| adventure/kill_a_mob
|
 | It Spreads | Kill a mob near a Sculk Catalyst | Monster Hunter | Kill one of these 70 mobs near a sculk catalyst:
| adventure/kill_mob_near_sculk_catalyst
|
| Monsters Hunted | Kill one of every hostile monster | Monster Hunter | Kill each of these 36 mobs:
| adventure/kill_all_mobs
|
| Sniper Duel | Kill a Skeleton from at least 50 meters away | Take Aim | Be at least 50 blocks away horizontally when a skeleton is killed by an arrow after the player has attacked it once. | adventure/sniper_duel
|
History[]
| Java Edition | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.4.2 | 12w36a |  Added wither skeletons. | |||
| 12w38b | Wither skeletons now spawn more frequently. | ||||
| 1.4.4 | 1.4.3 | Wither skeletons can now sprint toward the player. | |||
| 1.8 | 14w11a | Wither skeletons now run away from creepers that are about to explode. | |||
| 14w30a | Wither skeletons now drop their skull when killed by a charged creeper. | ||||
 The weapon holding position of wither skeletons has been changed. | |||||
| 1.8.1 | pre1 | Wither skeletons no longer run away from creepers that are about to explode. | |||
| 1.9 | 15w31a |  Wither skeletons now lower their arms when idle and swing their arms when damaging something.
| |||
| Wither skeletons now sometimes (11% of times) spawn with their left hand as their main hand. | |||||
| Wither skeletons now have the ability to hold items in both of their hands. | |||||
| 15w39a | Wither skeletons are now slightly shorter (2.4 blocks tall rather than 2.535) and narrower (0.7 blocks instead of 0.72). | ||||
| 1.10 | 16w20a | Added separate spawn eggs for wither skeletons. | |||
| pre2 | The wither skeleton spawn egg has been removed. | ||||
| 1.11 | 16w32a | The wither skeleton spawn egg has been re-added. | |||
The entity ID has been changed changed from Skeleton to wither_skeleton, SkeletonType tag is removed. | |||||
| The wither skeleton's in-game name is now "Wither Skeleton" instead of "Skeleton". | |||||
| 16w39a | Wither skeletons now have their own unique sounds. | ||||
| 1.13 | 18w19a | Wither skeletons now sink underwater. | |||
| Wither skeletons no longer drown underwater. | |||||
| 1.14 | 18w43a |  The texture of wither skeletons has been changed.
| |||
| Wither skeletons are now immune to the Wither effect. | |||||
| September 28, 2019 | Announced piglins, which attack wither skeletons. | ||||
| 1.15 | 19w37a | Mobs that spawn wearing carved pumpkins or jack o'lanterns on Halloween no longer drop them. | |||
| 1.16 | 20w07a | Added piglins, which attack wither skeletons. | |||
| 20w10a | Wither skeletons now attack piglins on sight.[1] | ||||
| 20w21a | Wither skeletons are now the only mobs that can spawn on wither roses. | ||||
| 1.19 | Pre-release 1 | Wither skeletons now spawn from light level 0 to 11. | |||
| 1.19.3 | 22w46a | Wither skeletons now spawn from light level 0 to 7 in the Nether. | |||
| Pocket Edition Alpha | |||||
| v0.12.1 | build 1 | Added wither skeletons. | |||
| build 9 | Wither skeletons are now larger than regular skeletons. | ||||
| build 12 | Added new sounds for dying wither skeletons. | ||||
| v0.15.0 | build 1 | Wither skeletons now lower their arms when idle and swing their arms when damaging something.
| |||
| Added separate spawn eggs for wither skeletons. | |||||
| v0.16.0 | build 4 | Wither skeletons now spawn when a wither's health reaches 50%. | |||
| Pocket Edition | |||||
| 1.1.0 | alpha 1.1.0.0 | The entity ID has been changed from skeleton.wither to wither_skeleton. | |||
| Bedrock Edition | |||||
| ? | Wither skeletons no longer spawn with gear (or enchanted gear). | ||||
| 1.5.0 | beta 1.5.0.0 | Wither skeletons now sink in water. | |||
| Wither skeletons no longer drown underwater. | |||||
| beta 1.5.0.4 | Wither skeletons now seek and attack baby turtles. | ||||
| 1.10.0 | beta 1.10.0.3 | The texture of wither skeletons has been changed. | |||
| 1.16.0 | beta 1.16.0.51 | Wither skeletons now have ability to pick up items. | |||
| Added piglins, which attack wither skeletons. | |||||
| 1.19.60 | beta 1.19.60.22 | Wither skeletons now spawn from light level 0 to 7 in the Nether. | |||
| 1.20.40 | beta 1.20.40.20 | Wither skeletons now have the same sounds as in Java Edition. | |||
| Legacy Console Edition | |||||
| TU19 | CU7 | 1.12 | Patch 1 | 1.0.1 | Added wither skeletons. |
| TU31 | CU19 | 1.22 | Patch 3 | Wither skeletons now drop their skull when killed by a charged creeper. | |
| TU46 | CU36 | 1.38 | Patch 15 | Wither skeletons now lower their arms when idle and swing their arms when damaging something. | |
| TU54 | CU44 | 1.52 | Patch 24 | 1.0.4 | Added separate spawn eggs for wither skeletons. |
| TU57 | CU49 | 1.56 | Patch 27 | 1.0.7 | Wither skeletons no longer fear daylight and attack anything that lives. |
| TU60 | CU51 | 1.64 | Patch 30 | 1.0.11 | Wither skeletons now spawn when a wither's health reaches 50%. |
| TU69 | 1.76 | Patch 38 | Wither skeletons now sink in water. | ||
| Wither skeletons no longer drown underwater. | |||||
| Wither skeletons now have the same sounds as in Java Edition. | |||||
| New Nintendo 3DS Edition | |||||
| 0.1.0 | Added wither skeletons. | ||||
Issues[]
Issues relating to "Wither Skeleton" are maintained on the bug tracker. Report issues there.
Trivia[]
- Wither skeletons can't fit through the gap under the staircase of the nether wart room in fortresses.
Gallery[]
Renders[]
The specific instructions are: A render of a wither skeleton using a bow
A wither skeleton
A wither skeleton with a carved pumpkin on its head.
A wither skeleton targeting without a weapon.
Screenshots[]
A wither skeleton in the Overworld.
A wither jockey.
A wither skeleton next to the wall of a nether fortress.
A preview of two wither skeletons in the soul sand valley.
A wither skeleton and a blaze idling in a nether fortress.
A wither skeleton and two blazes near a blaze monster spawner.
Wither skeleton wearing a pumpkin on Halloween.
A wither skeleton in a nether fortress.
A wither skeleton compared to a tall player.[Bedrock Edition only]
![A wither skeleton compared to a tall player.[Bedrock Edition only]](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/minecraft_gamepedia/images/2/29/Wither_Skeleton_with_Tall_Kai.png/revision/latest?cb=20230923174139)
In other media[]
Wither Skeleton in promotional artwork for the Pretty Scary Update.
Wither Skeletons in promotional artwork for the Nether Update.
A Wither Skeleton, as it appears in Minecraft Dungeons.
LEGO Minecraft Wither Skeleton.
"Acid Wither Skeleton," an officially licensed T-Shirt design.
An officially licensed cup featuring a wither skeleton.
