Chicken Jockey

For other uses, see Jockey (disambiguation).

Chicken Jockey

Java Edition

Bedrock Edition

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Health points	Zombie, zombie villager, husk, gurgle, and zombified piglin riders: 20HP × 10 Frostbite rider: 24HP × 12 Ridden mob: See rideable mobs
Behavior	Zombie, zombie villager, husk, and frostbite rider: Hostile Drowned and zombified piglin rider: Neutral
Attack strength	Easy: 2.5HP × 1.25 Normal: 3HP Hard: 4.5HP × 2.25
Spawn	Zombie rider: Anywhere a baby zombie can spawn Zombie villager rider: Anywhere a baby zombie villager can spawn Husk rider: Anywhere a baby husk can spawn Drowned rider: Anywhere a gurgle can spawn Frostbite rider: Anywhere a baby frostbite can spawn Zombified piglin rider: Anywhere a baby zombified piglin can spawn

A chicken jockey is the rare appearance of a baby zombie, baby husk, gurgle, or baby frostbite​^{[upcoming: Fourth Drop 2026]} (or baby zombie villager or baby zombified piglin in Java Edition^[1]) riding a chicken. In Bedrock Edition, baby zombies and certain variants can also mount other common mobs.

Spawning

In Java Edition, chicken jockeys spawn directly in the world, like all other jockeys. In Bedrock Edition, baby zombies and certain variants do not spawn directly but instead mount other nearby mobs.

Direct spawning

This feature is exclusive to Java Edition.

Each baby zombie, baby zombie villager, baby husk, gurgle, baby frostbite​^{[upcoming: Fourth Drop 2026]} or baby zombified piglin that spawns naturally has a 5% chance to check for an existing chicken within an approximately 10×6×10 (L*H*W) box centered on the baby's spawn location and spawn riding one of those chickens if there are any. If it fails that 5% chance, there is an additional 5% chance of the baby spawning mounted on a new adult chicken.

Therefore, in a chicken-free environment, each baby zombie has a 4.75% chance of spawning directly as a chicken jockey. If chickens are present, this chance increases to 9.75%.

Taking into consideration the fact that each type of zombie has a 5% chance of spawning as a baby, each spawned zombie has a 0.2375% chance of directly spawning as a chicken jockey in a chicken-free environment. If chickens are present, the chance increases to 0.4875%.

Chickens that are mounted by zombies despawn naturally, cannot lay eggs, and drop 10XP experience instead of the usual 1–3XP. If a jockey spawns riding a new chicken, the variant of the chicken depends on the biome it spawns in. If a jockey spawns riding an existing chicken, the chicken keeps its NBT data (variant, health, custom name, age, etc), but its IsChickenJockey tag is set to 1.

Chicken jockey riders can sometimes (or always in the case of zombified piglins) spawn with equipment depending on the type of rider. Zombie, zombie villager and husk chicken jockeys may spawn holding an iron sword, iron spear, or iron shovel, and wearing armor. Drowned chicken jockeys may spawn holding a trident or fishing rod in their main hand and a nautilus shell in their offhand. Frostbite chicken jockeys may spawn holding an ice ball​^{[upcoming: Fourth Drop 2026]}. Zombified piglin chicken jockeys always spawn holding a golden sword or golden spear.

Although chickens take damage from standing on magma blocks, zombified piglin chicken jockeys still spawn on them, killing the chicken and leaving just the baby zombified piglin.

Zombified piglin chicken jockeys do not become hostile if the chicken is attacked or killed.

Due to the biomes the riders spawn in, husk and zombified piglin chicken jockeys can only spawn with a warm chicken, unless they spawn riding an existing chicken. If a zombified piglin chicken jockey spawns from a Nether portal block, the variant of the chicken depends on the biome the portal block is located in.

Mounting

This feature is exclusive to Bedrock Edition.

In Bedrock Edition, 15% of naturally spawned baby zombies, baby husks, gurgles, and baby frostbites can mount other mobs when spawned. This includes baby zombies summoned by monster spawners and spawn eggs.

The following mobs can be mounted:

Due to a bug, baby zombified piglins jockeys don't spawn properly.^[2][3]

Due to another bug, baby zombie villagers can no longer mount mobs as jockeys.^[4]

Summoning

Spawn eggs cannot spawn a chicken jockey or baby zombie rider, but monster spawners and trial spawners can.

In Java Edition, chicken jockeys can be summoned directly with /summon by setting the IsChickenJockey boolean flag to 1 (true):

/summon minecraft:chicken ~ ~ ~ {IsChickenJockey:1b,Passengers:[{id:"minecraft:zombie",IsBaby:1b}]}

In Bedrock Edition, summoning a baby zombie rider requires the following command:

/summon zombie ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ minecraft:as_baby

It can then be forced to form a jockey with the following command:

/ride @e[family=baby_undead,c=1] summon_ride chicken (or any mountable mob)

In both editions, zombie can be replaced by any zombie variant.

Drops

The baby zombie (or variant) and the ridden mob each drop the same items they normally would. In addition to this, if the baby zombie or baby husk‌^{[BE only][5]} rider is killed by a player or tamed wolf while riding a chicken, it also drops the Lava Chicken music disc. Note that the rider must be a baby zombie, not a baby zombie villager, baby husk‌^{[JE only]}, gurgle, baby frostbite​^{[upcoming: Fourth Drop 2026]}, or baby zombified piglin, and it must be riding a chicken.

Behavior

The jockey’s behavior is controlled by the rider.

• Chicken jockeys fall slowly and do not take fall damage, like normal chickens.
• The ridden mob can run through 1 block high gaps if its hitbox allows it. The rider suffocates unless the above block is transparent.
• The rider can pick up/equip items if capable.
• Chickens (unless spawned with commands without the IsChickenJockey tag) do not lay eggs.^[6] However, they can still breed with other chickens, and the offspring do lay eggs. In Bedrock Edition, if a baby zombie or a variant mounts a normal chicken, the chicken stops laying eggs. If the rider is killed, the chicken starts laying eggs again.
• Zombie riders (both the riders and ridden mobs^[7]) despawn like regular hostile mobs.
• In Java Edition, the chicken acts like a regular passive mob again if the rider is killed, but still does not lay eggs and may despawn.
• Only the ridden mob needs a name tag to prevent both the ridden mob and rider from despawning.
• Curing a zombie villager jockey:
  • In Java Edition: turns it into a villager chicken jockey. The baby villager continues to ride the chicken if it grows up^[8] or turns into a witch.
  • In Bedrock Edition: dismounts the villager riding the jockey after it has been cured.

History

Development

Java Edition

Java Edition
1.7.4			13w49a				Added chicken jockeys.
1.7.5							Chickens that are part of chicken jockeys can now despawn when no longer ridden.
1.8			14w02a				Chicken jockeys no longer lay eggs.
1.9			15w35a				Zombie villagers now retain their professions and clothes, which have a tattered appearance. This has caused zombie villager chicken jockeys to have a changed appearance, as well.
1.10			16w20a				Added a baby husk jockey variant.
1.13			18w11a				Added a baby drowned jockey variant.
1.14			18w43a				The texture of zombie chicken jockeys has been changed.
							The texture of husk chicken jockeys has been changed.
							The texture of zombie pigman chicken jockeys has been changed.
							The texture of baby drowned chicken jockeys has been changed.
			18w50a				Zombie villager chicken jockeys now have different clothes in desert, jungle, plains, savanna, snowy, swamp and taiga biomes.
							Zombie villager chicken jockeys no longer have a profession.
							Giants now use zombie AI so they can be spawned as giant chicken jockeys.
			19w03a				Reverted the changes made to giants from 18w50a, removing giant chicken jockeys.
							Existing giant chicken jockeys now appear as adults.
1.16			20w09a				"Zombie pigman jockey" has been renamed to "zombified piglin jockey".
							The model and texture of zombified piglin jockeys have been changed.
			20w22a				The model of zombified piglin jockeys has been changed, again.
			pre4				The model of the zombified piglin jockey wasn't positioned properly due to a bug.
1.16.2			20w30a				The model of the zombified piglin jockey has been fixed.[9]
1.21.5			25w06a				Chicken jockeys now spawn as warm or cold chicken variants in their respective biomes.
							Baby zombie villagers now spawn as warm or cold chicken variants in their respective biomes.
							Baby husks now spawn as the warm chicken variant.
							Gurgle now spawn as warm or cold chicken variants in their respective biomes.
							Baby zombified piglins now spawn as warm or cold chicken variants in their respective biomes.
1.21.7			Release Candidate 1				Zombie chicken jockeys now drop the Lava Chicken music disc when killed by a player or tamed wolf.
26.1			snap7				The models and textures of baby zombie variants have changed.
			snap10				The models and textures of gurgles, baby zombies, and baby husks have changed.
							The riding positions of baby zombies, husks, piglins, zombified piglins, and zombie villagers, as well as gurgles, have been changed.[10]
26.2			snap5				Tweaked the riding positions of chickens.

Bedrock Edition

Pocket Edition Alpha
v0.11.0			build 1				Added baby zombies and chicken jockeys.
			build 2				Added baby zombie pigmen and their chicken jockeys.
v0.12.1			build 1				Added baby zombie villagers and their chicken jockey.
v0.14.0			build 1				Overhauled the jockey mechanics. Baby zombies, baby zombie villagers, and baby zombie pigmen that are not jockeys already now have a 15% chance of becoming able to mount certain mobs, including chickens, when angered.
v0.15.0			build 1				Added baby husks which can become a chicken jockey.
v0.16.0			?				Baby zombie pigmen can no longer mount mobs.
Bedrock Edition
1.10.0			beta 1.10.0.3				The texture of zombie chicken jockeys has been changed.
							The texture of husk chicken jockeys has been changed.
							The texture of zombie villager chicken jockeys has been changed.
							Zombie villager chicken jockeys no longer have a profession.
1.21.70 Experiment Drop 1 2025			Preview 1.21.70.22				Added cold and warm chickens, which can be mounted by baby zombies, baby zombie villagers, and baby husks.
1.21.93							Zombie chicken jockeys now drop the Lava Chicken music disc when killed by a player.
1.21.120			Preview 1.21.120.20				Zombie chicken jockeys now drop the Lava Chicken music disc when killed by a tamed wolf.
1.21.130			Preview 1.21.130.20				Baby zombie villagers and baby husks can no longer mount chickens and adult zombies, however can still find other mounts.
			Preview 1.21.130.26				Baby husks can once again mount chickens and adult zombies.
							Baby zombie villagers can no longer mount mobs as jockeys.
26.0			Preview 26.0.27				15% of baby drowned that spawn now find mobs to mount.
							Due to a bug, baby zombified piglins jockeys don't spawn correctly.[11]
							Due to more bugs, baby husks no longer mount mobs as jockeys, and baby zombie villagers can still not mount mobs as jockeys.[12]
26.10			Preview 26.10.23				The models of baby zombies and their variants have changed.
			Preview 26.10.24				Fixed a family typo preventing baby husks jockeys from mounting mobs.
			Preview 26.10.25				The models of gurgles, baby zombies, and baby husks have been changed.

Legacy Console Edition

Legacy Console Edition
Xbox 360	Xbox One	PS3	PS4	PS Vita	Wii U	Switch
TU31	CU19	1.22	1.22	1.22	Patch 3		Added chicken jockeys.
TU60	CU51	1.64	1.64	1.64	Patch 30	1.0.11	Baby zombies can now ride most mobs, that match as bedrock edition's. However, normal chicken jockeys are still spawned.
			1.90				The texture of chicken jockeys has been changed.
							The texture of baby zombie pigman jockeys has been changed.

New Nintendo 3DS Edition

New Nintendo 3DS Edition
0.1.0							Added chicken jockeys.

Issues

Issues relating to "Chicken Jockey" are maintained on the bug tracker. Issues should be reported and viewed there.

Trivia

• In Java Edition, the chance for a baby zombie villager to spawn wearing full enchanted diamond armor holding an enchanted iron sword in its left hand while riding a chicken is about 1 in 2.91082×10²², however it is still not the rarest jockey.
• In Java Edition, the rarest mob is the zombie villager chicken jockey from abandoned jungle village with fully enchanted diamond armor, jack o'lantern, leader attributes, and an enchanted iron sword in its left hand.
• In Bedrock Edition, the rarest jockey is a baby zombie with full enchanted diamond armor with an enchanted iron spear riding a baby brown panda.
• In Bedrock Edition as of 26.0, if there were no bugs, there are 3074 possible zombie (variant) riders, when including all mob variants. This does not include different armor configurations for zombies, husks, and zombified piglins, cat, chicken, cow, pig, and wolf sound variants, and statistics.
• Zombified piglin chicken jockeys can spawn from portals in the Overworld.
• A chicken jockey is the main protagonist of the openings for MINECON Live 2019 and Minecraft Live 2020.

Gallery

Renders

Chicken jockey

Jockey		Chicken variant
		Temperate	Warm	Cold
Zombie
Husk
Gurgle
Zombified piglin
Frostbite​[upcoming: Fourth Drop 2026]
Zombie villager jockey renders
Zombie villager	Plains
	Desert
	Savanna
	Taiga
	Snowy
	Jungle
	Swamp

• 
  A zombie villager chicken jockey, wearing full enchanted diamond armor and holding an enchanted iron sword in its left hand. This is one of the rarest possible jockeys in Java Edition.
• 
  A zombie chicken jockey with diamond armor and a diamond sword

Mounts

This feature is exclusive to Bedrock Edition.

• 
  Adult zombie jockey
• 
  Adult zombie villager jockey
• 
  Adult husk jockey
• 
  Adult frostbite jockey​^{[upcoming: Fourth Drop 2026]}
• 
  Adult zombified piglin jockey
• 
  Pig jockey
• 
  Cow jockey
• 
  Donkey jockey
• 
  Mooshroom jockey
• 
  Mule jockey
• 
  Sheep jockey
• 
  Wolf jockey
• 
  Ocelot jockey
• 
  Stray cat jockey
• 
  Horse jockey
• 
  Panda jockey
• 
  Spider jockey
• 
  Cave spider jockey
• 
  Zombie horse jockey
• 
  Skeleton horse jockey
• 
  Adult husk jockey
• 
  Zombie nautilus jockey

Screenshots

• 
  A baby zombie inside a chicken before 1.7.4 and in 14w25b
• 
  A chicken jockey with some other chickens walking around
• 
  Chickens can still lay eggs while being ridden when spawned with commands without the IsChickenJockey tag.
• 
  A chicken jockey named "Dinnerbone"
• 
  A baby zombie villager chicken jockey
• 
  The chicken hitbox below the zombie
• 
  Hitting from below leaves the zombie unharmed
• 
  The four variations of chicken jockeys using "Grumm" or "Dinnerbone" name tags
• 
  The zombie on the chicken jockey (pre-1.8) has picked up an egg that the chicken laid.
• 
  A chicken jockey in Bedrock Edition
• 
  A chicken jockey that broke into a house before Tiny Takeover
• 
  A drowned chicken jockey
• 
  A zombified piglin chicken jockey in the Nether
• 
  A detached chicken jockey
• 
  A chicken jockey's zombie burning up in the sun
• 
  A baby zombified piglin chicken jockey spawned by a monster spawner
• 
  A chicken jockey found in a cave
• 
  A baby zombified piglin riding an existing baby cold chicken
• 
  A giant chicken jockey
• 
  A chicken jockey leading 3 chicks

Mojang screenshots

• 
  The first image of chicken jockeys
• 
  An image that inspired the chicken jockey
• 
  Ditto
• 
  A chicken jockey in a chicken pen
• 
  Ari and Zuri facing a chicken jockey

In other media

• 
  A chicken jockey in the Mounts of Mayhem key art
• 
  Front and back of a chicken jockey
• 
  Chicken jockey artwork
• 
  Chicken jockeys artwork
• 
  Animation of a chicken running, created for the Mounts of Mayhem trailer
• 
  Chicken jockey animated artwork
• 
  A chicken jockey trying to keep up with an array of minecarts
• 
  Chicken jockey from the Mobestiary
• 
  Lego Minecraft chicken jockey
• 
  Ditto, but as a larger build
• 
  Flippin' Figs figure of a chicken jockey
• 
  Teaser for the chicken jockey Youtooz figure
• 
  Magnetic chicken jockey plush toy
• 
  The chicken jockey in A Minecraft Movie
• 
  Chicken jockeys racing
• 
  Youtooz chicken jockey and saddled happy ghast
• 
  Hot Wheels chicken jockey
• 
  A chicken jockey in Minecraft Dungeons
• 
  A chicken jockey tower in Minecraft Dungeons
• 
  A chicken jockey in Minecraft: Story Mode

References

External links

• "Meet the Chicken Jockey" by Emily Richardson – Minecraft.net, October 10, 2017.