Zombie

The zombie is the most common hostile mob in Minecraft and usually the first enemy new players fight. Zombies shamble toward you at night, groan, bang on doors and attack in groups. On their own they are not very dangerous, but in numbers, in the dark or on Hard difficulty they can overwhelm an unprepared player. This wiki page covers zombie stats, where zombies spawn, every zombie variant, what they drop, how they interact with villagers, and how to fight and farm them in Java and Bedrock Edition.

Zombie stats

Stat	Value
Type	Hostile undead mob
Health	20 (10 hearts)
Attack damage	About 2 on Easy, 3 on Normal, 4 to 5 on Hard
Spawn light level	Block light 0 in the Overworld
Burns in sunlight	Yes, unless wearing a helmet or standing in water or shade
Common drops	0 to 2 rotten flesh
Rare drops	Iron ingot, carrot or potato
Experience	5 XP, more if it wears equipment
Weak to	Smite, splash potions of Healing

Where zombies spawn

Zombies spawn in the Overworld in complete darkness, often in groups of up to four. You see them on the surface at night and in caves at any time. They spawn in most biomes; in deserts they are usually replaced by husks, and in water they appear as drowned. Zombies also appear during zombie sieges, a rare night event where a large group spawns inside a village, and during raids in Bedrock Edition as part of some waves.

Most zombies burn when the sun rises. They catch fire in direct sunlight unless they wear a helmet, stand in water, are in the shade or are babies wearing headgear. Zombies that survive the morning, often under trees, can still attack you during the day.

How zombies attack

Zombies detect players from about 35 blocks away and walk straight toward them, attacking with melee hits. They also target villagers, wandering traders, iron golems and baby turtles, and they trample turtle eggs. On Hard difficulty, zombies can break wooden doors, so a wooden door alone is not enough protection; use an iron door or a raised doorway. When you hurt a zombie on Hard, it may call reinforcements, spawning extra zombies nearby.

Zombies can pick up items and armor from the ground and wear or hold them, so a zombie that killed you might walk away wearing your armor and holding your sword. Some zombies spawn already wearing armor or holding an iron sword or shovel, especially on harder difficulties.

Zombie variants

Variant	Where	Difference
Baby zombie	About 5 percent of zombies	Much faster, smaller hitbox, does not burn with headgear, never grows up
Chicken jockey	Rare baby zombie riding a chicken	Fast and hard to hit
Zombie villager	Villages and natural spawns	Can be cured back into a villager
Husk	Deserts	Does not burn in sunlight; causes Hunger
Drowned	Oceans and rivers, or zombies that drown	Swims, can carry tridents and nautilus shells
Zombified piglin	The Nether	Neutral until attacked; whole group becomes hostile
Zombie horse	Creative or commands, some Bedrock trap events	Rideable undead horse

Baby zombies

Baby zombies are the most dangerous variant for new players. They run much faster than adults, fit through one-block gaps and are hard to hit because of their size. They do not burn in sunlight if they wear any headgear, and they never grow up. Treat them as a priority target.

Zombies turning into drowned

A zombie that stays underwater for about 30 seconds starts converting, and after another 15 seconds it becomes a drowned. Husks underwater become zombies first. This is how players build drowned farms to collect tridents, copper and nautilus shells.

Zombie villagers and curing

When a zombie kills a villager on Normal difficulty there is a 50 percent chance it becomes a zombie villager, and on Hard it always does. You can cure a zombie villager: throw a splash potion of Weakness at it, then feed it a golden apple. It shakes and turns back into a villager after a few minutes. Cured villagers give big trade discounts to the player who cured them, which is one of the best trading tricks in the game. Make weakness potions with the potions guide and keep the zombie villager out of sunlight while it cures.

What zombies drop

• Rotten flesh: 0 to 2. It is edible but gives Hunger most of the time. It is better traded to cleric villagers for emeralds, or fed to wolves, which can eat it safely.
• Iron ingot, carrot or potato: rare drops, more likely with Looting.
• Equipment: anything the zombie picked up or spawned with may drop, sometimes damaged or enchanted.
• Zombie head: when killed by a charged creeper explosion. See the creeper page.

How to fight zombies

• Use a sword enchanted with Smite, which does extra damage to undead mobs; see what Smite does.
• Fight in daylight when possible, so zombies burn.
• Block with a shield and use hit-and-step-back timing so you take fewer hits.
• Splash potions of Healing damage undead mobs instead of healing them.
• Stand in a doorway or a one-block corridor so only one zombie can reach you at a time.
• Light up villages and your base to stop zombies spawning, and build an iron golem to defend villagers.

Zombie spawner farms

Dungeons often contain a zombie spawner. Light up the area until you are ready, then build a water stream that pushes zombies into a drop shaft so they fall and land at low health, or into a killing chamber. A zombie spawner farm gives steady XP for enchanting and repairing Mending gear, plus rotten flesh for trading. Disable the spawner by placing torches around it if you do not want a farm.

Java vs Bedrock differences

Zombies work almost the same in both editions. Bedrock zombies can appear as part of raid waves, and Bedrock has slight differences in zombie siege rules and drop chances. Door breaking on Hard, sunlight burning and curing work the same way.

Zombie FAQ

How much health does a zombie have?

20 health, or 10 hearts.

Do zombies burn in the day?

Yes, unless they wear a helmet, stand in water or shade, or are husks.

Can zombies break doors?

Only wooden doors, and only on Hard difficulty.

How do you cure a zombie villager?

Hit it with a splash potion of Weakness, then feed it a golden apple.

What is the best weapon against zombies?

A Smite sword, plus a shield.

Zombies in villages and raids

Villages are where zombies cause the most damage. A single zombie that slips past at night can turn several villagers into zombie villagers, and a zombie siege can wipe out an unlit village. Protect villages by lighting every street and house, closing gaps in walls, replacing wooden doors with iron doors or fence gates where villagers do not need to path, and building at least one iron golem. Villagers spawn iron golems themselves when enough villagers gossip and sleep, so a healthy village tends to defend itself. If you find a village already overrun, kill the zombies at dawn and cure any zombie villagers to rebuild it, gaining discounts in the process.

Zombie armor and weapons

Zombies that spawn on harder difficulties are more likely to wear armor and carry weapons, and armored zombies take longer to kill and hit harder. Any armor they wear can drop when you kill them, which is an easy way to get early iron and chainmail pieces. Zombies that pick up your dropped items after you die also keep them from despawning, so you can sometimes recover your gear by finding and killing the zombie that grabbed it. Put a name tag on a zombie and it will never despawn, which some players use for decoration or zoo builds.