Zombie

Adult
Targeting
Baby
Baby targeting

Classification

Undead

Behavior

Hostile

Damage

Easy: 2.5

× 1.25
Normal: 3

Hard: 4.5

× 2.25

Natural
equipment

Iron Sword (occasionally, may be enchanted)
Iron Shovel (occasionally, may be enchanted)
Armor (occasionally, may be enchanted)

Details

Size

In Java Edition:

Adult:
Height: 1.95 Blocks
Width: 0.6 Blocks
Baby:
Height: 0.975 Blocks
Width: 0.3 Blocks
In Bedrock Edition:
Adult:
Height: 1.9 Blocks
Width: 0.6 Blocks
Baby:
Height: 0.95 Blocks
Width: 0.3 Blocks

Armor

2 (

)

Zombies are common undead hostile mobs that deal melee damage and commonly attack in groups.

Spawning[]

Natural generation[]

Zombies may spawn in the Overworld in groups of up to four above solid blocks at a light level of 0, except in mushroom fields and deep dark biomes. All zombies spawned in desert biomes and exposed to the sky have a likelihood of 80%‌^{[JE only]}/70%‌^{[BE only]} to be replaced by husks. Zombies that are not husks or drowned have a 5% chance to spawn as zombie villagers.

Zombie variants have a 5% chance to spawn as babies. The baby zombies also have a chance of spawning as a chicken jockey in Java Edition.

All zombie variants (including babies) require a 2-block tall space to spawn.

Zombies spawn with up to 5% of knockback resistance.

When a zombie spawn egg is used on a zombie, it spawns a baby zombie.

Sieges[]

This feature is exclusive to Java Edition.

If a player is near a village at midnight, up to 20 zombies may be spawned in the village in accordance with mob spawning rules. The spawning can even happen in mushroom fields biome if the triggering player is in an adjacent biome. Zombies spawned as a part of a siege are always regular zombies; zombie villagers, husks and drowned never spawn as a part of a siege.

Monster spawners[]

Zombies spawned from a monster spawner are never zombie villagers in Java Edition, although zombie monster spawners in Bedrock Edition are able to produce them. Zombies spawn from monster spawners inside 50% of monster rooms.

Husks[]

When a husk's head is submerged in water for over 30 seconds, the husk starts transforming into a zombie, with a new entity UUID. The husk's equipment remains on the zombie after conversion.‌^{[JE only]} The zombie transforms into a drowned if its head remains submerged.

Variants[]

Left Handed[]

This is a property that almost all mobs are born with. It is particularly evident in zombies, where it manifests by switching the dominant hand to the left hand. This property only affects 5% of all zombies.

Baby zombies[]

Chicken Jockey — Baby zombie riding a chicken.

Behavior[]

Baby zombies make up 5% of zombie spawns. They behave similarly to regular zombies, with the following differences:

They are much faster than normal zombies, yet they have the same health.
The noises they make are higher-pitched than adult zombie sound effects.
Baby zombie villagers turn into baby villagers if cured.
Worn armor shrinks to fit their body size.
They are able to fit through 1×1 block gaps.
They give 12 experience points when killed by the player or a tamed wolf instead of 5.
Unlike most other baby mobs, they remain babies indefinitely and never become adult zombies.
They have a decreased hitbox size.

In Bedrock Edition, 10% of naturally spawned baby zombies can start riding a mob and become a jockey when it tries attacking. The jockey mobs ridden by the baby zombie adapt the speed of its rider. In Bedrock Edition, a baby zombie can ride:

Adult chickens
Untamed ocelots
Untamed cats
Untamed wolves
Adult zombies
Adult husks
Adult zombie villagers
Adult zombified piglins
Cows
Adult unsaddled pigs
Sheep
Adult untamed horses
Adult untamed donkeys
Adult untamed mules
Adult skeleton horses
Adult zombie horses
Mooshrooms
Spiders that was not spawned as a jockey mount
Cave spiders that was not spawned as a jockey mount
Pandas

Zombie villagers[]

Zombie villagers have a 5% chance of spawning in place of zombies and may also spawn from a villager killed by a zombie. The chance of a villager turning into a zombie villager when killed by a zombie or zombie variant depends on the difficulty level.

When a group in the normal spawn cycle spawns zombies, there is a 5% chance to instead spawn a group of zombie villagers‌‌^{[Bedrock Edition only]}, or a single zombie villager.‌‌^{[Java Edition only]}

If any type of zombie kills a villager, there is a chance for the villager to transform into a zombie villager.

Difficulty	Chance
Easy	0%
Normal	50%
Hard	100%

Any villagers that get killed by a zombie have a chance to turn into a zombie villager with armor on normal or hard difficulties.

Zombie villagers can be cured (converted to normal villagers) by first giving them the Weakness effect, which can be applied by:

A splash potion of Weakness thrown by the player, a dispenser, or a witch.
An area effect cloud of Weakness from a lingering potion.
An area effect cloud of Weakness from a creeper explosion.‌‌^{[Java Edition only]}
A tipped arrow that was dipped into a Weakness potion.

The weakened zombie villager must then be healed by using a (non-enchanted) golden apple on them.

Husks[]

Husks have an 80% chance to spawn in desert biomes in place of zombies. They attack like regular zombies, but inflict hunger for several seconds and do not burn in sunlight.

Drowned[]

Drowned mobs spawn in ocean ruins, rivers, most parts of oceans or when a normal zombie drowns. They are able to swim and breathe underwater as well as walk on land. Most drowned use melee attacks, but some spawn with tridents and throw them when attacking instead.

Zombies that are wearing armor and go underwater continue wearing the armor when converted to a drowned, although tools and weapons are lost.‌^{[JE only]}

Zombies that convert to drowned drop all worn or held equipment with full durability and preserving existing enchantments.‌^{[BE only]}

Geared zombies[]

On Halloween, zombies may spawn wearing a carved pumpkin or jack o'lantern‌^{[Java Edition only]}. They do not drop this, even when killed with Looting.

Some zombies spawn wearing armor or holding tools, both of which may be enchanted. In addition, zombies may also spawn with the ability to pick up loot that is on the ground. The chances of each of these events occurring are listed below. Zombie villagers can also spawn naturally with armor, weapons or tools. If a zombie spawns wearing multiple pieces of armor, the armor is never mismatched (i.e. all pieces are made of the same material). Zombies cannot naturally spawn with netherite armor.

Chances of zombies wearing or picking up armor, per difficulty
	Easy	Normal	Hard
Can pick up loot	0%	0%-55%^{[note 1]}	6.875%-55%^{[note 1]}
Armor	0%	0%-15%^{[note 1]}	1.875%-15%^{[note 1]}
Armor enchantment^{[note 2]}	0%	0-50%^{[note 1]}	6.25%-50%^{[note 1]}
Weapon^{[note 3]}	1%	1%	5%
Weapon enchantment^{[note 2]}	0%	0%-25%^{[note 1]}	3.125%-25%^{[note 1]}

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ Value is based on the regional difficulty.
↑ ^a ^b Enchantment is the same as on an enchantment table at level 5–22.^{[note 1]}
↑ ¹⁄₃ chance of an iron sword, ²⁄₃ chance of an iron shovel

If a zombie does spawn with armor, the chances of specific armor are as follows:

Java Edition:

Chances of different armor pieces, per difficulty
Armor	Easy & Normal	Hard
Boots	100%	100%
Boots and leggings	75%	90%
Boots, leggings, and chestplate	56.25%	81%
Full set	42.19%	72.9%

Bedrock Edition:

Chances of different armor pieces, per difficulty
Armor	Easy & Normal	Hard
Helmet	100%	100%
Helmet and chestplate	75%	90%
Helmet, chestplate, and leggings	56.25%	81%
Full set	42.19%	72.9%

The chances of it being of a particular material are:

Chances of different armor types
Armor Type	Chance
Leather	37.06%
Gold	48.73%
Chain	12.90%
Iron	1.27%
Diamond	0.04%

Armor worn by zombies is not damaged from most damage sources, which means it cannot "wear out" the way player armor does. Helmets (not blocks like pumpkins) on zombies can eventually wear away and break if the zombie is exposed to daylight or has an anvil or other falling block dropped on its head. Zombies also have a natural armor rating of 2 (), giving 1.6 to 8% damage reduction from most sources. Zombies can also wear mob heads, although they need to be dropped by the player before the zombie can pick one up and put it on.

Drops[]

Common drops[]

A zombie drops up to two rotten flesh after dying. The maximum drop is increased by 1 per level of Looting, for a maximum of 0 to 5 with Looting III. A zombie also drops a zombie head when killed by a charged creeper.

Rare drops[]

Zombies may also drop one of the following when killed by a player or tamed wolf:

1 iron ingot
1 carrot
1 potato (baked potato when killed with fire)

This drop has a 2.5% chance of occurring, increasing by 1% per level of looting. Individual items have the following chances of dropping:

⁵⁄₆₀₀ (about 0.83%)
⁷⁄₆₀₀ (about 1.17%) with Looting I
⁹⁄₆₀₀ (1.5%) with Looting II
¹¹⁄₆₀₀ (about 1.83%) with Looting III

Taken equipment[]

Any picked-up equipment has a 100% chance of dropping and drops without changing the damage that has accumulated on it.

Naturally-spawned equipment[]

Zombies have an 8.5% chance of dropping their naturally-spawned equipment and drop it with a random durability. Each level of Looting increases the chance by 1 percentage point (11.5% with Looting III). These items include:

Iron Shovel (sometimes enchanted)
Iron Sword (sometimes enchanted)
Random Armor (sometimes enchanted, made from leather, gold, chainmail, iron or diamond)

Experience[]

Any zombie that spawns with equipment gives 1–3 extra experience points per item when killed. Adult zombies drop 5 and baby zombies drop 12 when they are killed by a player or a tamed wolf.

Behavior[]

Attacking the player[]

Zombies hunt the player on sight from 35 blocks away in Java Edition or 16 blocks away in Bedrock Edition, raising their arms up.‌^{[JE only]} The detection range of zombies is reduced to half of their normal range (17.5 blocks) when the player is wearing a zombie head. If a zombie sees a player and a villager together, the zombie prefers to attack the player first. A zombie already hunting a villager continues to do so even if the player is near, until the player attacks it. Zombies periodically make groaning sounds, which can be heard up to 16 blocks away. Zombies attempt to avoid obstacles, including fall damage, fire, lava, magma blocks, and cactus and try to find the shortest path toward the player.^[1] Unlike skeletons, zombies do not try to avoid being hit and continue to pursue the player even when being attacked.

Attacking turtles[]

Zombies attack baby turtles and actively seek out and destroy turtle eggs within 24 blocks horizontally and 3 blocks vertically, by jumping on them until they crack and break.

Attacking utility mobs[]

Zombies hunt and attack golem utility mobs within 42 blocks. Iron golems and snow golems attack zombies without provocation, although snow golems deal only knockback to zombies with their snowballs.

Attacking villagers[]

Zombies target and hunt villagers within a 35– to 52.5–block radius (depending on regional difficulty)‌^{[Java Edition only]} or a 16-block radius‌^{[Bedrock Edition only]} and they can always see villagers through walls. If a zombie is attacking a villager and sees the player, it interrupts its attack on the villager to attack the player instead, even if the player has not attacked it‌^{[JE only]}. Once a zombie has targeted a villager, the zombie ignores any other villagers and the player, until its target is dead or the zombie is attacked‌^{[JE only]}.

Any zombie variant can transform a villager into a zombie villager. The probability depends on the difficulty:

0% chance in Peaceful (no zombies spawn) and Easy
50% chance in Normal
100% chance in Hard

Attacking wandering traders[]

Zombies target and hunt wandering traders within 35 blocks and can see traders through walls. The zombie focuses solely on the trader unless it's attacked, or if either it or the target is killed or moved out of range, or if the trader is under the invisibility status effect.

A Zombie Breaking Down a Door — A zombie breaking down a wooden oak door. The zombie can break only the top half of the door, not the bottom half.

Burning under daylight[]

When the sun is 15 degrees or more above the ground, zombies burn once exposed to direct sunlight. Burning is suppressed when the zombie is:

in a sufficiently shaded area: a sunlight level of 11 or less (a 1 block roof overhang provides sufficient protection even if it would have a sunlight level of 14);
in water;
wearing head armor (the helmet absorbs the damage from light but may take several day cycles to wear out completely).
under the status effect of Fire Resistance.
standing in cobwebs.^[2]

Transparent and translucent blocks, including glass and ice, do not prevent them from burning.‌^{[JE only]}.

If they attack an entity while burning, they may set it on fire, with a (30×regional difficulty)% chance and with a 2×floor (regional difficulty) second duration. If wearing armor enchanted with Thorns while burning, they may set players attacking them on fire with thorns damage alone.

Undead[]

Zombies are undead mobs, harmed by the status effect Healing, healed by the status effect Instant Damage and are unaffected by Regeneration and Poison. The wither does not attack zombies. Zombies are affected by the Smite enchantment.

Picking up items[]

Some zombies are capable of automatically picking up dropped items that they come across. Mob heads and carved pumpkins are automatically worn on their heads. Zombies can equip armor, weapons or tools. If a zombie encounters another similar item, it may drop the previous item in favor of the new one, if:

the new item is armor or a sword and the old item was not (for example, zombies prefer swords to pickaxes, and helmets to carved pumpkins),
both items are armor/swords and the new item is better damage-wise (reduces higher damage for armor, or inflicts more damage for swords),
both items are armor/swords with the same damage reduction/infliction, the new item has NBT tags while the old does not or the new item is more damaged than the old item, or
both items are bows and the new item has NBT tags while the old does not.

Items dropped by mobs in exchange for another cannot be picked up by players or mobs for 10 game ticks (0.5 seconds, barring lag), but can be picked up by hoppers.

A zombie holding a picked-up item does not despawn when left alone, similar to being name tagged.

Zombies have a higher chance of being able to pick up items in Hard difficulty.

Picked-up items do not cause the zombie to drop more experience when killed, unlike naturally-spawned gear.

Breaking doors[]

Up to 10% of zombies (depending on regional difficulty) in pursuit of a target bang on closed wooden doors and on Hard (and Hardcore) difficulty can succeed in breaking them down. Otherwise, the door cracks but does not break.

Zombie ways — A zombie choosing to break the door down instead of taking an alternative path.

The zombie also breaks down the door if the door is blocking its way. Zombies can break only the top half of a door, meaning they cannot break a door if the zombie is facing the bottom half of the door.

Reinforcements[]

This feature is exclusive to Java Edition.

On all difficulty levels, damaged zombie mobs (including husks, drowned and even zombified piglins^[3]) call all other zombies within a 67×21×67 to 111×21×111 area^{[n 1]} centered on the attacked zombie to target the attacker.

In Hard difficulty, zombies can spawn additional zombies to "help" when damaged. Each zombie has a "likeliness to call reinforcements" statistic ranging from 0–10%, and "leader" zombies (0–5% depending on regional difficulty) get a bonus of 50–75 percentage points to the stat. When the zombie is damaged by an entity or is damaged while targeting an entity, up to 50 attempts are made to randomly choose a spawn location (0 or ±7–40 blocks away in all three axes) that is above a block with a solid top surface, has light level 0, has no players within 7 blocks, and has no colliding entities or blocks at which to spawn the reinforcement. Both the damaged zombie and the new zombie has a 5 percentage point penalty to their "likeliness to call reinforcement" stat, preventing infinite zombies from spawning this way. Zombie reinforcements can spawn even in locations where naturally spawned zombies can't spawn, like mushroom fields, the End, and the Nether^[4], although they still cannot spawn on blocks where other items like redstone dust or pressure plates are placed.

These effects can be negated by killing the zombie in as few hits as possible, by using environmental damage such as cactus or lava, or by avoiding them completely. That is, if the zombified mob drops experience, it has a chance to spawn reinforcements. Additionally, reinforcements do not spawn at all, even on Hard difficulty, if the game rule doMobSpawning is set to false.

Leader zombies are a special type of zombie that spawn with an added 50-75% chance to spawn reinforcements. The chance of a leader zombie spawning increases with clamped regional difficulty, up to a 5% chance of spawning.

Reinforcements zombies spawn regardless of the hostile mob cap. They also spawn on the north-west corner of the designated block, instead of the center of the block like natural mob spawning does.^[5] Zombies spawned as reinforcements cannot be zombie villagers, but they can be babies, including chicken jockeys.

Becoming drowned[]

Husk becoming Zombie — A husk that suffocates in water converts to a zombie.

If a zombie's head is submerged in water for 30 seconds, it begins converting into a drowned. The zombie shakes, similar to a zombie villager being cured and, after 15 seconds, the zombie becomes drowned. Once this process starts, it cannot be stopped even if the zombie leaves water. This time is not affected by the Respiration enchantment or the Water Breathing status effect.

A newly-converted drowned always has full health even if converted from a damaged zombie.

An item being held or worn by a zombie when it becomes drowned, whether it was picked up or naturally spawned, has a 100% drop rate, which includes any naturally spawned equipment dropping with full durability‌^{[BE only]}.

Only normal zombies can become drowned; zombie villagers and zombified piglins cannot be converted.^[6] Husks, however, convert into zombies if they drown, and then this zombie converts into a drowned as does a normal zombie.

Any husks that convert into zombies also have full health, even if the drowned husk is damaged.

Sounds[]

Java Edition:
Zombies use the Hostile Creatures sound category for entity-dependent sound events.

Subtitles	Source	Description	Resource location	Translation key	Volume	Pitch	Attenuation distance
Zombie groans	Hostile Creatures	Randomly	`entity.zombie.ambient`	`subtitles.entity.zombie.ambient`	1.0	0.8-1.2 (Baby: 1.3-1.7)	16
Door shakes	Hostile Creatures	While a zombie is breaking a wooden door	`entity.zombie.attack_wooden_door`	`subtitles.entity.zombie.attack_wooden_door`	2.0	0.8-1.2	16
Block broken ^{[sound 1]}	None	Unused sound event^{[sound 2]}	`entity.zombie.attack_iron_door`	`subtitles.block.generic.break`^{[sound 1]}	None	None	None
Door breaks	Hostile Creatures	When a zombie breaks a wooden door	`entity.zombie.break_wooden_door`	`subtitles.entity.zombie.break_wooden_door`	2.0	0.8-1.2	16
Zombie converts to drowned	Hostile Creatures	When a zombie converts to a drowned	`entity.zombie.converted_to_drowned`	`subtitles.entity.zombie.convert_to_drowned`	2.0	0.8-1.2	16
Zombie dies	Hostile Creatures	When a zombie dies	`entity.zombie.death`	`subtitles.entity.zombie.death`	1.0	0.8-1.2 (Baby: 1.3-1.7)	16
Zombie hurts	Hostile Creatures	When a zombie is damaged	`entity.zombie.hurt`	`subtitles.entity.zombie.hurt`	1.0	0.8-1.2 (Baby: 1.3-1.7)	16
Turtle Egg stomped	Hostile Creatures	When a zombie is jumping on turtle eggs	`entity.zombie.destroy_egg`	`subtitles.entity.zombie.destroy_egg`	0.5	0.9-1.1	16
Zombie infects	Hostile Creatures	When a zombie infects a villager	`entity.zombie.infect`	`subtitles.entity.zombie.infect`	2.0	0.8-1.2	16
Footsteps	Hostile Creatures	While a zombie is walking	`entity.zombie.step`	`subtitles.block.generic.footsteps`	0.15	1.0	16

↑ ^a ^b MC-226770
↑ "[MC-218122] Unused sound event: minecraft:entity.zombie.attack_iron_door - Jira" – Mojira, March 8, 2021.

Bedrock Edition:

Sound	Source	Description	Resource location	Volume	Pitch
	Hostile Creatures	Randomly	`mob.zombie.say`	1.0	0.8-1.2 (Baby: 1.3-1.7)
	Hostile Creatures	While a zombie is breaking a wooden door	`mob.zombie.wood`	1.0	1.0
	Hostile Creatures	When a zombie breaks a wooden door	`mob.zombie.woodbreak`	1.0	1.0
	Hostile Creatures	Unused sound event^{[sound 1]}	`entity.zombie.converted_to_drowned`	1.0	1.0
None	None	Unused sound event^{[sound 1]}	`mob.zombie.converted_to_drowned`	1.0-2.0	0.3-1.0
	Hostile Creatures	When a zombie dies	`mob.zombie.death`	1.0	0.8-1.2 (Baby: 1.3-1.7)
	Hostile Creatures	When a zombie is damaged	`mob.zombie.hurt`	1.0	0.8-1.2 (Baby: 1.3-1.7)
	Players	When a zombie is jumping on turtle eggs	`fall.egg`	0.5	0.9-1.0
	Hostile Creatures	While a zombie is walking	`mob.zombie.step`	0.45	1.0 (Baby: 1.5)

↑ ^a ^b MCPE-53297

Data values[]

ID[]

Java Edition:

Name	Identifier	Translation key
Zombie	`zombie`	`entity.minecraft.zombie`

Bedrock Edition:

Name	Identifier	Numeric ID	Translation key
Zombie	`zombie`	`32`	`entity.zombie.name`

Entity data[]

Zombies have entity data associated with them that contain various properties.

Java Edition:

Entity data
- Tags common to all entities
- Tags common to all mobs
- Tags common to all zombies

Bedrock Edition:

See Bedrock Edition level format/Entity format.

Achievements[]

Icon		Achievement	In-game description	Actual requirements (if different)	Gamerscore earned	Trophy type (PS4)
PS4	Other	Achievement	In-game description	Actual requirements (if different)	Gamerscore earned	Trophy type (PS4)
		Monster Hunter	Attack and destroy a monster.	Kill a hostile mob or one of the following neutral mobs: an enderman, a piglin, a zombified piglin, a spider, or a cave spider.	15G	Bronze
		Sound the Alarm!	Ring the bell with a hostile enemy in the village.	—	20G	Bronze

Advancements[]

Advancement	In-game description	Parent	Actual requirements (if different)	Resource location
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: Blaze Cave Spider Creaking Creeper Drowned Elder Guardian Ender Dragon Enderman Endermite Evoker Ghast Guardian Hoglin Husk Magma Cube Phantom Piglin Piglin Brute Pillager Ravager Shulker Silverfish Skeleton Slime Spider Stray Vex Vindicator Witch Wither Wither Skeleton Zoglin Zombie Zombie Villager Zombified Piglin Only the riders of the chicken jockeys and skeleton horsemen are counted in this advancement. Other mobs may be killed, but are ignored for this advancement.	`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: Axolotl Bee Blaze Camel Cat Cave Spider Chicken Chicken Jockey Cod Cow Creeper Donkey Dolphin Drowned Elder Guardian Enderman Endermite Evoker Fox Frog Ghast Goat Glow Squid Guardian Hoglin Horse Husk Llama Magma Cube Mooshroom Ocelot Panda Parrot Phantom Pig Piglin Piglin Brute Pillager Polar Bear Pufferfish Rabbit Ravager Salmon Sheep Shulker Silverfish Skeleton Skeleton Horse Skeleton Horseman Slime Sniffer Stray Spider Spider Jockey Squid Strider Trader Llama Tropical Fish Turtle Vex Vindicator Warden Witch Wither Wither Skeleton Wolf Zoglin Zombie Zombie Villager Zombified Piglin Mobs that drop no experience are ignored for this advancement.	`adventure/kill_mob_near_sculk_catalyst`
Monsters Hunted	Kill one of every hostile monster	Monster Hunter	Kill each of these 36 mobs: Blaze Bogged Breeze Cave Spider Creeper Drowned Elder Guardian Ender Dragon Enderman Endermite Evoker Ghast Guardian Hoglin Husk Magma Cube Phantom Piglin Piglin Brute Pillager Ravager Shulker Silverfish Skeleton Slime Spider Stray Vex Vindicator Witch Wither Wither Skeleton Zoglin Zombie Zombie Villager Zombified Piglin Other mobs may be killed, but are ignored for this advancement. Only the riders of the chicken jockeys and skeleton horsemen are counted in this advancement.	`adventure/kill_all_mobs`

History[]

Java Edition Classic
June 17, 2009					Notch mentions lava zombies or troll infestations that would roam the land and break things.
August 14, 2009					Notch teased zombies.
0.24_SURVIVAL_TEST					Added zombies.
					Zombies are the second mob to be added to Minecraft.
					Zombies can run as fast as the player.
					Zombies occasionally appear wearing armor, but this has no protective effect on their health.
					Zombies have arm swinging animations when they attack.^[7]
					Killing a zombie rewards 100 points.
0.25 SURVIVAL TEST					Zombies are now more dangerous, respawn, despawn, and fight skeletons that shoot them.
Java Edition Indev
0.31		20091223-1			Zombies and other mobs no longer spawn naturally.
		20100202			Zombies and other mobs now spawn naturally again. However, they are currently passive.
		20100202			Zombies' armor has been removed, as well as their arm swinging attack animations.
		20100204-2			Zombies are now hostile again.
20100213					Zombies now catch on fire when exposed to sunlight.
20100218					The chances of zombies catching on fire in sunlight have been tweaked.
20100218					Zombies now burn only when the sunlight level is greater than 7, and not due to torches at night^[verify].
20100219					Zombies now drop 0–2 feathers upon death. Before chickens were added in Minecraft, Notch confessed^[8] that he made zombies drop feathers because he had no idea what they should have dropped when killed.
Java Edition Beta
1.8		Pre-release			Zombies now drop rotten flesh instead of feathers.
Java Edition
1.0.0		Beta 1.9 Prerelease			All mobs have the bottom texture of the face flipped, resulting in a change in the model.
		Beta 1.9 Prerelease 4			Zombies can now be harmed by splash potions of healing, and healed by splash potions of harming.
		Beta 1.9 Prerelease 4			Zombies have now become immune to poison and regeneration.
1.2.1		12w03a			The zombies' AI has been improved, giving them a much better sense of direction when pursuing the player, allowing them to navigate obstacles, and even small mazes if constructed, to get to the player.
		12w03a			Zombies have been given the ability to 'see' through windows, the first mob able to do so intelligently (not counting spiders, who are able to see through all blocks).
		12w04a			The zombies' AI has been improved again to cope with catching fire in sunlight. If a zombie is exposed to sunlight and bursts into flames, it searches for a body of water to douse the flames or at least a shelter to hide from sun, unless in pursuit of a player.
		12w06a			Zombies now hunt and attack villagers, attack doors (breaking them on Hard and Hardcore difficulties).
					Zombies now sometimes drop iron ingots, helmets, shovels and swords as a rare drop.
					Zombies now sometimes attack villagers in preference to the player, and always chose the shortest way to the target, even if there is a door in the way.
		12w07a			The drop rate of rare drops for zombies have been reduced.
		12w07a			Zombies can no longer break iron doors
1.4.2		?			Added baby zombies.
		?			Baby zombies cannot spawn naturally and can be spawned only through map editors and NBT editing.
		12w32a			Zombie armor has been added back into the game, and they can now wear any type of armor.
					Zombies can now hold an iron sword or iron shovel.
					Zombies now have a chance of dropping these items, if they have them.
					Iron helmets, swords and shovels have been removed as rare drops from zombies.
					Zombies now use their attack animation like they did in Survival Test. This shows only when a zombie is holding a weapon. When a zombie holds a weapon the damage it does is equal to the damage the player would do with the weapon added to the normal damage of the zombie.
					Armor worn by zombies now work the same as it does for the player, each piece gives a certain amount of armor points, where each 1 () gives 4% damage reduction, but the total damage reduction is limited to 80%.
					5% of zombies now spawn as zombie villagers.
					Villagers now become infected when killed by a zombie.
					When a zombie infects a baby villager, it now creates a baby zombie villager, which is faster than a normal zombie and does not age.
		12w34a			Zombies now have two new rare drops – carrots and potatoes.
		12w34b			Zombies can now pick up and equip dropped items.^[9]^[10] If killed, the zombie drops the item it is holding.
		12w34b			Zombies can now survive in sunlight, if they are wearing a helmet or a pumpkin.^[11]
		12w36a			The zombie and zombie pigmen models and texture layouts have been changed (no visual change, but breaks texture packs).
		12w37a			On Halloween, zombies and baby zombies can now spawn wearing pumpkins or jack o'lanterns.
		12w38a			Zombies have been given new sounds.
1.5		13w03a			Zombies are now able to set the player on fire, if they are on fire and they attack the player.
					Zombies can now call other zombies from the nearby area (radius dependent on difficulty) to attack the player, making packs of zombies approach shortly after damaging the zombie.
					Zombies now cause more damage when their health is lower. The additional damage ranges from 0 (at 100% health) to on Easy 3, on Normal 4, on Hard 6 (at 0% health) with a linear distribution and values rounded down.
1.6.1		13w17a			When damaged, zombies now have a low chance to spawn more zombies.
		13w21a			Zombie damage increasing with decreasing health has been removed.
		13w23b			Zombie AI and mechanics have been changed – this has now made them much more horde-like.
		13w23b			Zombies are now able to detect the player up to 40 blocks.
1.6.2		pre			Baby zombies now spawn among regular zombies, with the same percentage of spawning as zombie villagers.
1.7.2		13w36a			Baby zombies now drop loot and experience.
1.7.2		13w42a			Zombies now have up to 10% chance to succeed at breaking wooden doors on Hard mode.
1.7.4		13w49a			Added chicken jockeys – a rare version of the baby zombie.
1.8		14w11a			Zombies now run away from creepers that are about to explode.
1.8		14w30a			Zombies now drop their head when killed by a charged creeper.
1.8.1		pre1			Zombies no longer run away from creepers that are about to explode.
1.9		15w32a			The detection range of zombies is now halved when the player is wearing a zombie mob head.
		15w33c			The detection range for players wearing the zombie mob head has been adjusted, now 37.5% of the normal range.
		15w34a			Zombies now have an attack animation similar to the one they had in Survival Test, even without weapons.
		15w36a			The detection range for players wearing the zombie mob head has been changed to 50% of the normal range again.
1.10		pre1			The chance of a zombie setting its target on fire when burning, and the duration of the effect, now depend on raw regional difficulty.
1.11		16w32a			Entity ID `Zombie` is now `zombie`, `zombie_villager` and `husk` for those respective mobs.
1.11		16w32a			Removed the `ZombieType, IsVillager` tag, added the `Profession` tag to `zombie_villager` only, and made `ConversionTime` apply to `zombie_villager` only.
1.13		18w07a			Zombies now intentionally stomp on turtle eggs and attack baby turtles.
		18w10d			Baby zombies now burn in the sun.
		18w11a			Zombies now sink underwater.
		18w11a			Zombies now convert into a drowned instead of dying from drowning.
		18w21b			Husks now convert into zombies when drowning.
1.14		18w43a			The textures of zombies and baby zombies have been changed.
1.14		19w05a			Zombies attack the new wandering trader.
1.15		19w37a			Mobs that spawn wearing carved pumpkins or jack o'lanterns on Halloween no longer drop them.
1.17		21w13a			Zombies drop baked potatoes instead of normal potatoes if on fire when killed or killed by a fire source.^[12]
1.17.1		Pre-release 1			Zombies no longer pick up glow ink sacs.
1.18		Experimental Snapshot 1			Zombies now only spawn at light level 0.
		21w39a			Zombies no longer spawn in dripstone caves.
		21w40a			Zombies now spawn in dripstone caves again.
1.20.2		23w33a			Zombies are no longer able to attack through doors and block corners.^[13]
1.20.2		23w33a			Baby zombies are no longer able to reach players riding horses.
Pocket Edition Alpha
v0.2.0					Added zombies.
v0.4.0					Zombies can now drop feathers.
v0.5.0					Zombies now have new animations.
v0.7.3					Zombies are now set on fire when exposed to sunlight. Previously, they emit smoke particles and take damage, but are not visually on fire.
v0.8.0		build 1			Zombies now spawn more frequently.
v0.8.0		build 1			Zombies now have rare drops of carrots and potatoes.
v0.9.0		build 1			Zombie AI and mechanics have been changed – this now makes them much smarter.
v0.9.4					Zombies now have 2 () armor points, preventing 8% of damage.
v0.11.0		build 1			Added baby zombies and chicken jockeys.
v0.11.0		build 1			Zombies now drop rotten flesh.
v0.12.1		build 1			Zombies can now spawn wearing armor.
					Zombies can now break down doors.
					Zombies are now able to detect the player from up to 40 blocks.
v0.14.0		build 1			Baby zombies and baby zombie villagers have a 15% chance of becoming a jockey. Before becoming a jockey, upon nearing the player, they check for one of the following to mount prior attacking: adult chickens, adult ocelots, adult wolves, adult zombies, adult zombie villager, adult zombie pigmen, cows, pigs, sheep, cave spiders or spiders.
v0.16.0		?			Adult zombie pigman are no longer ridden by baby zombie variants.
Bedrock Edition
1.4.0		beta 1.2.20.1			Baby zombies now burn in daylight.
1.5.0		beta 1.5.0.1			Zombies now sink underwater.
					Zombies now convert into a drowned instead of dying from drowning.
					Husks now convert into zombies when drowning.
		beta 1.5.0.4			Zombies now attack baby turtles and stomp on turtle eggs.
1.8.0		beta 1.8.0.8			Baby zombies can now mount adult stray cats and pandas.
1.10.0		beta 1.10.0.3			The textures of zombies and baby zombies have been changed.
1.10.0		beta 1.10.0.3			Zombies now attack wandering traders.
1.13.0		beta 1.13.0.9			Adult zombie pigmen can now be ridden again by baby zombie variants.
1.16.0		beta 1.16.0.51			Zombies now have the ability to pick up items.
1.17.30		beta 1.17.30.20			Zombies no longer pick up glow ink sacs.
Legacy Console Edition
TU1	CU1	1.00	Patch 1	1.0.1	Added zombies.
TU5					Zombies now drop rotten flesh, instead of feathers.
TU12					The zombies' AI has been improved, which gives them a much better sense of direction when pursuing the player, allowing them to navigate obstacles, and even small mazes if constructed, to get to the player.
					Zombies have been given the ability to 'see' through windows.
					If a zombie is exposed to sunlight and bursts into flames, it now search for a body of water to douse the flames.
					Zombies now hunt and attack villagers and now attack doors (breaking them on Hard difficulty).
					Zombies now attack villagers in preference to the player, and always chose the shortest way to the target, even if there is a door in the way.
					Zombies now sometimes drop iron ingots, helmets, shovels and swords as rare drops.
TU15		1.05			Zombies' rare loot drops have been changed to be carrots, potatoes or iron ingots.
TU19	CU7	1.12			Zombies can now pick up items.
					Zombie armor has been added and zombies can now wear any type of armor.
					Zombies can now hold an iron sword or iron shovel.
					Added baby zombies.
TU31	CU19	1.22	Patch 3		Baby zombies now drop experience.
TU31	CU19	1.22	Patch 3		Zombies now drop their skull when killed by a charged creeper.
TU60	CU51	1.64	Patch 30	1.0.11	Baby zombies now have a 15% chance of becoming a jockey. Before becoming a jockey, upon nearing the player, they check for one of the following to mount prior attacking: adult chickens, adult ocelots, adult wolves, adult zombies, cows, pigs, sheep, spiders or cave spiders.
TU69		1.76	Patch 38		Baby zombies now burn in sunlight.
					Zombies now sink in water.
					Zombies now convert into a drowned instead of dying from drowning.
					Husks now convert into zombies when drowning.
		1.83			Baby zombies can now ride adult stray cats and pandas.
		1.91			Zombies are now hostile toward wandering traders.
New Nintendo 3DS Edition
0.1.0					Added zombies and baby zombies.
Minecraft Earth
0.2.0					Added zombies.

Issues[]

Issues relating to "Zombie" are maintained on the bug tracker. Report issues there.

Trivia[]

The zombie is a playable DLC character in the crossover fighting game Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as an alternate costume for Steve.
Green-colored zombies are also present in Minicraft, a 2D Minecraft-inspired game also created by Markus Persson.
Zombies can pick up totems of undying, which automatically activate upon receiving fatal damage. A totem picked up by a zombie, therefore, cannot be retrieved by killing the zombie. It can be retrieved by giving the zombie a sword of any type, because zombies prefer swords over a non-sword items.
Zombies have the same clothes as Steve, down to the pixel. Their only difference is the color of their skin.

Notes[]

↑ The inradius is based on the followRange stat: base value is 35, ±5% random spawn bonus, then plus 0–50% random zombie-spawn bonus

Gallery[]

First image of a baby zombie released by Dinnerbone.
Baby zombie with broken armor model.
A huge amount of zombies.
First image of armed and armored zombies released by Dinnerbone.
A zombie holding a piece of white wool.^[9]
A baby zombie "wearing" a jack o'lantern on its head on Halloween. This glitch no longer happens.
The same glitch with a baby zombie wearing a pumpkin.
Zombie render attacking in Bedrock Edition...
...and in Java Edition
Zombies with three different armor types.
A zombie holding wool.
A zombie villager curing.
A zombie emerging from a dark cave.
Player, zombie and husk size comprasion.
Dying zombie mob in Bedrock Edition.
Dying zombie mob in Java Edition.
A zombie standing behind a wooden door.
A zombie trying to break through a door.
A zombie horde that spawned outside a village hammering at a door.
A zombie wielding an iron shovel doing its attack animation.
A zombie spawned in a jungle temple.
A large horde of zombies and an iron golem.
Naturally armored zombies.
An armored zombie that picked up a stick as a melee weapon.
Zombies wearing pumpkins on Halloween.
A zombie wearing a player head.
A zombie holding a diamond hoe and full gold armor.
Zombies attacking in Bedrock Edition or in Pocket Edition^[14]
A large amount of zombies holding and wearing blocks.
A baby zombie riding a spider.
A baby zombie riding a cow.
A baby zombie riding a wolf.
A baby zombie riding a zombie.
Several Bedrock Edition-exclusive jockeys.
A skeleton and zombie in a cave.

Renders[]

Baby zombies riding entity[]

In armor[]

Holding item[]

Cosmetics[]

City texture pack
Greek mythology mash-up pack
Halloween mash-up pack
Zombie in a Suit, a skin featured in the Battle & Beasts pack.

In other media[]

A Zombie in promotional artwork for the first Caves & Cliffs update.
Zombies in promotional artwork for the second Caves & Cliffs update.
Makena getting startled by a zombie head placed by Efe.
Several zombies surrounding Efe and Ari in a stronghold library.
Punched zombie from a minecraft.net insider "How to Minecraft".
A zombie as it appears in Minecraft: Story Mode.
A Prison Zombie, a unique variation featured in Minecraft Story Mode.
An Armored Zombie, a unique variation of a zombie featured in Minecraft Dungeons.
The zombie's official render from Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
Zombie Spirit from Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
Zombie micromob (middle) from official LEGO Minecraft.
LEGO Minecraft Zombie minifigure.
Baby Zombie minifigure.
A LEGO Minecraft set featuring both an adult and baby zombie.
A LEGO polybag including a zombie minifigure.
Official 8.5-inch Baby Zombie Plushie made by JINX.
Zombie plush made by JINX.
"Zombie Creepy Mansion," an official T-Shirt design featuring a zombie in front of a Woodland Mansion.
Ditto, but in color.
"Sun's Down, Zombies Around," an official T-Shirt design featuring three zombies, one in shadow.
Official zombie action figure made by JINX.
"Monster Hunter Icons," a blanket featuring a zombie.
A hoard of zombies, as featued on the cover of Zombies!