Mob infighting

Mob infighting is a mechanic in Minecraft in which certain mobs retaliate against other mobs, as part of their mob AI.

Overview

A skeleton and a spider jockey rider fighting each other

If a mob capable of attacking is directly attacked by a player or another mob, the damaged mob stops attacking its current target and attacks the mob or player that damaged it. This causes the mob that did the damage to retaliate in turn, and the two of them become locked into a duel until one of them dies. This is useful in combat as it distracts two monsters temporarily, kills one of them, and severely weakens the other.

Once a mob has taken damage from a mob or player, that mob or player is set as the mob's permanent target. This means that even if another mob or player attacks an infighting mob, the infighting mob does not stop trying to attack its permanent target. A mob can refuse to infight with another monster if the player or a mob already attacked it, so the player or a mob was already set as the mob's permanent target. That mob does not infight with any other mob until the attacking player or mob dies. If the attacker goes beyond the mob's sight range, this resets the retaliating behavior and the mob either returns to neutral mode or searches for a new target.

Specific mob behavior

Retaliation

Not all mobs have the same infighting behavior. Below is a list of how each mob reacts to being attacked by another.

Mob	Behavior
Bogged Cave Spider Enderman Iron Golem Nautilus Parched Skeleton Spider Stray Witch Wither Skeleton Zombie Nautilus *In Bedrock Edition* only: Blaze Drowned Frostbite Ghast Husk Shulker Zombie Zombie Villager In Java Edition only:** Killer Bunny	Retaliates normally, as described above.
Dolphin Piglin Piglin Brute Silverfish Vex Wolf Zombified Piglin *In Java Edition* only:** Blaze Drowned Endermite Frostbite Husk Zombie Zombie Villager Shulker	These are pack mobs. When they retaliate, they call nearby mobs of the same type to help them if those mobs aren't already targeting another mob or player. Mobs that respond to the call set the victim as their permanent target. Additionally, piglins and piglin brutes retaliate in groups if a piglin/piglin brute is attacked by any mob including goats.‌^{[JE only]}^[1]
Bee	Bees are a pack mob (see above) but they attack back only once.
Hoglin	Hoglins are a pack mob (see above) but only adults can alert others, when attacked. Babies cannot.
Zoglin	Only adults retaliate. Babies cannot.
Polar Bear	Retaliates as a pack mob only when a baby polar bear is attacked.
Wither	Retaliates normally, but not against undead mobs.
Breeze‌^{[BE only]}	Retaliates normally, but not against trial chambers mobs.
Creeper Warden	Retaliates only if it is not already chasing the player.
Evoker Pillager Ravager Vindicator *In Java Edition* only:** Illusioner	These are all the illager monsters. They retaliate against non-illager monsters. Additionally, evokers sometimes forget their target and focus back on the player. In Java Edition, ravagers are also a pack mob and call other ravagers when attacked.
Llama, Trader Llama	Attacks back only once, although two llamas can alternate spitting at each other until one of them dies or is attacked by a different mob.
Panda	Only aggressive pandas retaliate. All other types try to attack back only once.
Axolotl Cat Creaking Elder Guardian Ender Dragon Frog Fox Giant Goat Guardian Magma Cube Ocelot Phantom Pufferfish Slime Snow Golem Sulfur Cube *In Bedrock Edition* only: Agent Elder Guardian Ghost Endermite In Java Edition only:** Breeze Ghast	Does not retaliate.

Notes

Endermen retaliate, but this rarely happens because they are immune to most projectiles unless they are riding a boat or minecart. Endermen become hostile toward iron golems, the ender dragon, withers, zoglins and "Johnny" vindicators if damaged by any one of them. They also become hostile towards spear-wielding mobs like zombies or piglins when accidentally hit by by them with their charge attack.
Witches don't usually fight one another, but when a battle between two witches begins, it does not end without outside interference, because they continually heal themselves with potions of Healing.
Skeletons and witches can get into an eternal infighting battle. The witch's harming potions heal the skeleton, and the witch also drinks enough healing potions to counter the skeleton's arrows.
Most mobs do not retaliate to being rammed by a goat, except for piglins, piglin brutes, hoglins, zoglins, vindicators named "Johnny," and wardens.
In Bedrock Edition, mobs do not retaliate to being damaged by firework rockets.
A creeper retaliates against a mob that attacks it, but only if the player is outside the creeper's sight range. If not, the creeper continues pursuing the player.
Breaking gold, opening a chest, or failing to wear gold armor near a piglin causes the piglin to set the player as its permanent target. This means that a piglin does not infight with other mobs once it becomes angry at the player, even if the player never directly attacks the piglin.
The warden prioritizes attacking players over mobs, meaning if a warden is targeting a player, it doesn't retaliate against other mobs until the player dies.
The wither in Bedrock Edition can retaliate only against invisible mobs, because it would already attack non-undead mobs instantly.

Hunting

Some mobs fight others for other reasons than retaliation, such as hunting and fighting natural enemies.

Predator	Prey
Axolotl	Cod Drowned Elder Guardian Glow Squid Guardian Pufferfish Salmon Squid Tadpole Tropical Fish
Bogged Parched Skeleton Stray	Baby Turtle Iron Golem
Breeze	Iron Golem
Cave Spider Spider	Iron Golem
Stray Cat	Baby Turtle Rabbit
Drowned	Axolotl Baby Turtle Iron Golem Villager Wandering Trader *In Bedrock Edition* only:** Snow Golem
Elder Guardian Guardian	Axolotl Glow Squid Squid
Enderman	Endermite
Endermite	Enderman‌^{[BE only]}
Evoker Vindicator *In Java Edition* only:** Illusioner	Iron Golem Adult Villager Wandering Trader *In Bedrock Edition* only:** Snow Golem
Frog	Small Magma Cube Small Slime
Wild Fox	Baby Turtle Cod Chicken Rabbit Salmon Tropical Fish
Goat	Randomly attack mobs (including armor stands‌^{[JE only]} and cameras) that remain stationary for too long.
Husk Zombie Zombie Villager *In Bedrock Edition* only:** Old Zombie Villager	Baby Turtle Iron Golem Villager Wandering Trader *In Bedrock Edition* only:** Old Villager Snow Golem
Iron Golem	Every monster except camel husks, creepers, skeleton horses, sulfur cubes, zombie horses and zombie nautiluses.‌^{[JE only]}
Killer Bunny‌^{[JE only]}	Fox Wolf
Llama	Wild Wolf
Magma Cube	Iron Golem
Nautilus Zombie Nautilus	Pufferfish
Ocelot	Baby Turtle Chicken
Adult Piglin Piglin Brute	Wither Wither Skeleton Hoglin (occasionally hunted) Iron Golem Snow Golem (immediately if any of those golems attacks a piglin or a piglin brute)
Pillager Ravager Vex	Iron Golem Adult Villager Wandering Trader
Adult Polar Bear	Fox
Pufferfish	Defensively attack: Axolotl All non-aquatic mobs
Silverfish	*In Bedrock Edition* only:** Iron Golem Snow Golem
Slime	Iron Golem Snow Golem‌^{[BE only]}
Snow Golem	Every monster except for the ghast and hoglin‌^{[BE only]}
Tamed Wolf	Every mob that the owner attacks except for creepers, ghasts and other tamed wolves with the same owner.
Trader Llama	Wild Wolf Any mob that attacks its wandering trader *In Java Edition* only:** Drowned Evoker Husk Pillager Ravager Vex Vindicator Illusioner Zombie Zombie Villager
Trusting Fox	Any mob that attacks its trusted player except other trusting foxes and ghasts. *Natural enemies in Java Edition* only:** Baby Turtle Cod Chicken Rabbit Salmon Tropical Fish
Vindicator named "Johnny"	Every mob except fellow illagers, ghasts, and agents. *In Bedrock Edition* and Minecraft Education only:** Armor Stand Camera
Warden	Every mob except other wardens. *In Bedrock Edition* and Minecraft Education only:** Camera
Witch	*In Bedrock Edition* only: Iron Golem Snow Golem Only as part of a patrol in Java Edition only:** Iron Golem
Wither	Every mob except undead mobs, ghasts, and agents. *In Bedrock Edition* and Minecraft Education only:** Camera
Wither Skeleton	Iron Golem Baby Turtle Piglin Piglin Brute
Wild Wolf	Baby Turtle Bogged Fox Parched Rabbit Sheep Skeleton Stray Wither Wither Skeleton
Zoglin	Every mob except creepers, ghasts, agents and other zoglins. Armor Stand *In Bedrock Edition* and Minecraft Education only:** Camera