Zombie Villager

For the zombie villagers before Village & Pillage, see Zombie Villager (old).

Zombie Villager

Adult in Java Edition

Adult in Bedrock Edition

Baby

Adult in Java Edition

Adult in Bedrock Edition

Baby

Adult in Java Edition

Adult in Bedrock Edition

Baby

Adult in Java Edition

Adult in Bedrock Edition

Baby

Adult in Java Edition

Adult in Bedrock Edition

Baby

Adult in Java Edition

Adult in Bedrock Edition

Baby

Adult in Java Edition

Adult in Bedrock Edition

Baby

View all variants

Health points	20HP × 10 40HP × 20 to 100HP × 50 (leaders)‌[JE only]
Armor points	2 ()
Behavior	Hostile
Mob type	Undead Monster
Attack strength	Easy: 2.5HP × 1.25 Normal: 3HP Hard: 4.5HP × 2.25
Hitbox size	Adult In Java Edition: Height: 1.95 blocks Width: 0.6 blocks Adult In Bedrock Edition: Height: 1.9 blocks Width: 0.6 blocks Baby: Height: 0.98 blocks Width: 0.49 blocks
Speed	0.23 0.345 (baby in Java Edition) 0.35 (baby in Bedrock Edition)
Knockback resistance	0%–5%
Spawn	Light level of 0 in applicable biomes. When a zombie (or variant) kills a villager, see § Spawning for more information. When another zombie villager spawns a reinforcement. ‌[JE only] Abandoned villages Igloo (in basements)
Usable items	Golden Apple (only with the Weakness effect)

A zombie villager is a variant of the zombie that can be cured into a normal villager by using a golden apple on it while it is under the effect of Weakness.

Spawning

In Java Edition, when zombies spawn during the normal cycle, there is a 5% chance that one of them will be replaced with a zombie villager. This chance increases to 20% in old growth pine taiga biomes.

In Bedrock Edition, when zombies spawn during the normal cycle, there is a 5% chance that 2–4 of them will be replaced with zombie villagers.

Zombie Villager spawns in:

Category: Monster	Java Edition			Bedrock Edition
Spawn area	Spawn weight	Spawn chance	Group size	Spawn weight	Group size
Old Growth Pine Taiga[spawn 2]	25⁄540	4.63%	1	5	2–4
Sulfur Caves[spawn 1]	5⁄315	1.59%	1	4.95	2
Grove	5⁄515	0.97%	1	5	2–4
Meadow	5⁄515	0.97%	1	5	2–4
Windswept Hills	5⁄515	0.97%	1	5	2–4
Bamboo Jungle	5⁄515	0.97%	1	5	2–4
Jungle	5⁄515	0.97%	1	5	2–4
Snowy Beach	5⁄515	0.97%	1	5	2–4
Wooded Badlands	5⁄515	0.97%	1	5	2–4
Eroded Badlands	5⁄515	0.97%	1	5	2–4
Flower Forest	5⁄515	0.97%	1	5	2–4
Sparse Jungle	5⁄515	0.97%	1	5	2–4
Birch Forest	5⁄515	0.97%	1	5	2–4
Stony Peaks	5⁄515	0.97%	1	5	2–4
Beach	5⁄515	0.97%	1	5	2–4
Taiga	5⁄515	0.97%	1	5	2–4
Lush Caves	5⁄515	0.97%	1	5	2–4
Cherry Grove	5⁄515	0.97%	1	5	2–4
Dappled Forest	5⁄515	0.97%	1	5	2–4
Snowy Taiga	5⁄515	0.97%	1	5	2–4
Stony Shore	5⁄515	0.97%	1	5	2–4
Old Growth Birch Forest	5⁄515	0.97%	1	5	2–4
Old Growth Spruce Taiga	5⁄515	0.97%	1	5	2–4
Badlands	5⁄515	0.97%	1	5	2–4
Dark Forest	5⁄515	0.97%	1	5	2–4
Windswept Forest	5⁄515	0.97%	1	5	2–4
Pale Garden	5⁄515	0.97%	1	5	2–4
Windswept Gravelly Hills	5⁄515	0.97%	1	5	2–4
Forest	5⁄515	0.97%	1	5	2–4
Mangrove Swamp	5⁄516	0.97%	1	5	1
Swamp	5⁄516	0.97%	1	5	4
Warm Ocean	5⁄520	0.96%	1	5	2–4
Ocean	5⁄520	0.96%	1	5	2–4
Windswept Savanna	5⁄520	0.96%	1	5	2–4
Deep Cold Ocean	5⁄520	0.96%	1	5	2–4
Lukewarm Ocean	5⁄520	0.96%	1	5	2–4
Cold Ocean	5⁄520	0.96%	1	5	2–4
Sunflower Plains	5⁄520	0.96%	1	5	2–4
Plains	5⁄520	0.96%	1	5	2–4
Savanna Plateau	5⁄520	0.96%	1	5	2–4
Savanna	5⁄520	0.96%	1	5	2–4
Deep Ocean	5⁄520	0.96%	1	5	2–4
Deep Lukewarm Ocean	5⁄520	0.96%	1	5	2–4
Ice Caves[spawn 1]	5⁄520	0.96%	1	4.95	2–4
Jagged Peaks	5⁄525	0.95%	1	5	2–4
Snowy Slopes	5⁄525	0.95%	1	5	2–4
Snowy Plains	5⁄530	0.94%	1	—	—
Frozen Peaks	5⁄540	0.93%	1	5	2–4
Ice Spikes	5⁄540	0.93%	1	5	2–4
Frozen River	5⁄541	0.92%	1	—	—
Deep Frozen Ocean	5⁄545	0.92%	1	5	2–4
Frozen Ocean	5⁄545	0.92%	1	5	2–4
Dripstone Caves	5⁄610	0.82%	1	5	2–4
River	5⁄615	0.81%	1	—	—
Desert	1⁄515	0.19%	1	5	2–4

1. ↑ ^{a b} Internally a 9% chance within a combined weight of 55 for both zombies and zombie villagers.‌^{[Bedrock Edition only]}
2. ↑ Highest chance among all biomes.‌^{[Java Edition only]}

Converting

Additionally, if a zombie, husk, drowned, frostbite​^{[upcoming: Fourth Drop 2026]}, zombie villager, or zombified piglin‌^{[JE only]} kills a villager, from either a melee or ranged attack, that villager has a chance of turning into a zombie villager depending on the game difficulty.

In Java Edition, a converted zombie villager does not despawn if the player has traded with it at least once prior to its conversion, but unlike all other persistent mobs it still counts toward the hostile mob cap. If the zombie villager picks up any item however, it remains persistent but is excluded from the mob cap. In Bedrock Edition all converted zombie villagers are persistent.

Abandoned villages

Zombie villagers may also spawn as part of abandoned villages during world generation, the number of which depends on the buildings in that village, as some buildings generate zombie villagers inside and some do not. Like villagers, the zombie villagers’ biome outfits are based on the type of village. These zombie villagers are persistent and do not despawn. In Bedrock Edition, these zombie villagers can open doors instead of breaking them.

Igloo basements

A zombie villager appears alongside a cleric villager in every igloo basement (a normal zombie villager in Bedrock Edition and a cleric zombie villager in Java Edition), both locked in small cages behind iron bars. One of them transforms into a leatherworker, due to the workstation (a cauldron). The zombie villager is persistent and does not despawn.

Reinforcements

This feature is exclusive to Java Edition.

On Hard difficulty, all zombie villagers have a 0-10% chance to spawn other zombie villagers as reinforcements when receiving damage while targeting an entity. Additionally, up to 5% of zombie villagers spawn as leaders, getting a 50-75% boost to that chance.

Variants

Baby zombie villagers

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

• They are 30% faster than normal zombie villagers, yet they have the same health.
• The noises they make are higher-pitched than adult zombie villager sound effects.
• In Java Edition, baby zombie villagers have a chance to spawn as a chicken jockey.
• In Bedrock Edition, baby zombie villagers have a 15% chance to spawn as a jockey, but cannot ride mobs due to MCPE-234690.
• Baby zombie villagers become baby villagers when cured.
• Worn armor shrinks to fit their body size.
• They drop 12 experience 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 zombie villagers, therefore golden dandelions do not work.
• They have a decreased hitbox size.

Baby zombie villagers are spawned when a zombie kills a baby villager, with the chance of infection being the same as adult zombie villagers. Baby zombie villagers also spawn naturally, but the combined chance (5% villagers × 5% babies) is low at 0.25% (or 1 in 400 chance) of all newly spawned zombies.

Jockeys

In Java Edition, most baby zombie villagers (except ones spawned from a baby villager converting when being zombified) have a chance to spawn as a chicken jockey. In a chicken-free environment, each baby has a 4.75% chance of spawning as a chicken jockey, for a total 0.2375% chance for each spawned zombie villager to spawn as a chicken jockey; if chickens are present, the chance increases to 0.4875%.

In Bedrock Edition, 15% of naturally spawned baby zombie villagers can mount a skeleton horse and become a jockey after they spawn. They are also supposed to be able to mount and ride other mobs that baby zombies, baby husks, gurgles, and baby frostbites​^{[upcoming: Fourth Drop 2026]} can ride but do not due to MCPE-234690.

This is due to the fact that in the zombie_villager_v2.json file, in the baby component group, it has the minecraft:type_family component, which has baby_undead, which makes the baby zombie villager able to ride mobs. However in the minecraft:entity_spawned event, the { "test": "has_component", "operator": "!=", "value", "minecraft:is_baby" } entity filter tries to prevent adding professions to babies, but filters like this only apply when in a "lifetime" event, not a spawning event. Thus, this filter has no effect on the baby zombie villagers that spawn. The component groups of the professions that zombie villagers have contain the minecraft:type_family components that override the baby component group's minecraft:type_family component, preventing baby zombie villagers being part of the baby_undead family, which prevents them from riding mobs. However, they are still part of the zombie family, and skeleton horses are rideable by mobs in said family, which means that baby zombie villager jockeys can only search for nearby skeleton horses to mount.

Using the /ride command, it is possible to make a "converted" baby zombie villager ride:

Villager variants

A zombie villager retains its biome outfit and profession after zombification from a villager. They also retain their trades. Zombie villagers with a profession cannot work at a job site block.

Below is a table listing the various biome outfits and professions, along with the specific job site block that each profession requires:

Profession	Job Site Block	Biome
		Desert	Jungle	Plains	Savanna	Snowy	Swamp	Taiga
Unemployed	N/A
Armorer	Blast furnace
Butcher	Smoker
Cartographer	Cartography table
Cleric	Brewing stand
Farmer	Composter
Fisherman	Barrel
Fletcher	Fletching table
Leatherworker	Cauldron
Librarian	Lectern
Mason	Stonecutter
Nitwit	N/A
Shepherd	Loom
Toolsmith	Smithing table
Weaponsmith	Grindstone

Variant spawning

A zombie villager has variants depending on what biome it had spawned in, a Plains variant spawning in Sunflower Plains is an example.

Plains variant

Taiga variant

Jungle variant

Savanna variant

Snowy variant

Swamp variant

Desert variant

Drops

On death

Java Edition:

Item		Quantity / Chance / Average
		Default			Looting I			Looting II			Looting III
	Rotten Flesh	0–2	66.67%	1.00	0–3	83.33%	1.50	0–4	91.67%	2.00	0–5	94.44%	2.50
	Iron Ingot[A]	0–1	0.83%	0.01	0–1	1.17%	0.01	0–1	1.50%	0.01	0–1	1.83%	0.02
	Carrot[A]	0–1	0.83%	0.01	0–1	1.17%	0.01	0–1	1.50%	0.01	0–1	1.83%	0.02
	Potato[A][B]	0–1	0.83%	0.01	0–1	1.17%	0.01	0–1	1.50%	0.01	0–1	1.83%	0.02
	Baked Potato[A][C]	0–1	0.83%	0.01	0–1	1.17%	0.01	0–1	1.50%	0.01	0–1	1.83%	0.02

Item		Quantity / Chance / Average
		Default			Looting I			Looting II			Looting III
	Rotten Flesh	0–2	2⁄3	1	0–3	5⁄6	3⁄2	0–4	11⁄12	2	0–5	17⁄18	5⁄2
	Iron Ingot[A]	0–1	1⁄120	1⁄120	0–1	7⁄600	7⁄600	0–1	3⁄200	3⁄200	0–1	11⁄600	11⁄600
	Carrot[A]	0–1	1⁄120	1⁄120	0–1	7⁄600	7⁄600	0–1	3⁄200	3⁄200	0–1	11⁄600	11⁄600
	Potato[A][B]	0–1	1⁄120	1⁄120	0–1	7⁄600	7⁄600	0–1	3⁄200	3⁄200	0–1	11⁄600	11⁄600
	Baked Potato[A][C]	0–1	1⁄120	1⁄120	0–1	7⁄600	7⁄600	0–1	3⁄200	3⁄200	0–1	11⁄600	11⁄600

Item		Amount	Probability
			Default	Looting I	Looting II	Looting III
	Rotten Flesh	0	1⁄3 (33.33%)	1⁄6 (16.67%)	1⁄12 (8.33%)	1⁄18 (5.56%)
		1	1⁄3 (33.33%)	1⁄3 (33.33%)	1⁄4 (25.00%)	1⁄6 (16.67%)
		2	1⁄3 (33.33%)	1⁄3 (33.33%)	1⁄3 (33.33%)	5⁄18 (27.78%)
		3	0	1⁄6 (16.67%)	1⁄4 (25.00%)	5⁄18 (27.78%)
		4	0	0	1⁄12 (8.33%)	1⁄6 (16.67%)
		5	0	0	0	1⁄18 (5.56%)
		Average	1 (1.00)	3⁄2 (1.50)	2 (2.00)	5⁄2 (2.50)
	Iron Ingot[A]	0	119⁄120 (99.17%)	593⁄600 (98.83%)	197⁄200 (98.50%)	589⁄600 (98.17%)
		1	1⁄120 (0.83%)	7⁄600 (1.17%)	3⁄200 (1.50%)	11⁄600 (1.83%)
		Average	1⁄120 (0.01)	7⁄600 (0.01)	3⁄200 (0.01)	11⁄600 (0.02)
	Carrot[A]	0	119⁄120 (99.17%)	593⁄600 (98.83%)	197⁄200 (98.50%)	589⁄600 (98.17%)
		1	1⁄120 (0.83%)	7⁄600 (1.17%)	3⁄200 (1.50%)	11⁄600 (1.83%)
		Average	1⁄120 (0.01)	7⁄600 (0.01)	3⁄200 (0.01)	11⁄600 (0.02)
	Potato[A][B]	0	119⁄120 (99.17%)	593⁄600 (98.83%)	197⁄200 (98.50%)	589⁄600 (98.17%)
		1	1⁄120 (0.83%)	7⁄600 (1.17%)	3⁄200 (1.50%)	11⁄600 (1.83%)
		Average	1⁄120 (0.01)	7⁄600 (0.01)	3⁄200 (0.01)	11⁄600 (0.02)
	Baked Potato[A][C]	0	119⁄120 (99.17%)	593⁄600 (98.83%)	197⁄200 (98.50%)	589⁄600 (98.17%)
		1	1⁄120 (0.83%)	7⁄600 (1.17%)	3⁄200 (1.50%)	11⁄600 (1.83%)
		Average	1⁄120 (0.01)	7⁄600 (0.01)	3⁄200 (0.01)	11⁄600 (0.02)

Killed		1
Item		Expected Drops
		Default	Looting I	Looting II	Looting III
	Rotten Flesh	1.00	1.50	2.00	2.50
	Iron Ingot[A]	0.01	0.01	0.01	0.02
	Carrot[A]	0.01	0.01	0.01	0.02
	Potato[A][B]	0.01	0.01	0.01	0.02
	Baked Potato[A][C]	0.01	0.01	0.01	0.02

Bedrock Edition:

Item		Quantity / Chance / Average
		Default			Looting I			Looting II			Looting III
	Rotten Flesh	0–2	66.67%	1.00	0–3	66.67%	1.33	0–4	66.67%	1.67	0–5	66.67%	2.00
	Iron Ingot[A]	0–1	0.83%	0.01	0–1	1.17%	0.01	0–1	1.50%	0.01	0–1	1.83%	0.02
	Carrot[A]	0–1	0.83%	0.01	0–1	1.17%	0.01	0–1	1.50%	0.01	0–1	1.83%	0.02
	Potato[A]	0–1	0.83%	0.01	0–1	1.17%	0.01	0–1	1.50%	0.01	0–1	1.83%	0.02
	Music Disc Lava Chicken[A][B][C]	1	100.00%	1.00	1	100.00%	1.00	1	100.00%	1.00	1	100.00%	1.00

Item		Quantity / Chance / Average
		Default			Looting I			Looting II			Looting III
	Rotten Flesh	0–2	2⁄3	1	0–3	2⁄3	4⁄3	0–4	2⁄3	5⁄3	0–5	2⁄3	2
	Iron Ingot[A]	0–1	1⁄120	1⁄120	0–1	7⁄600	7⁄600	0–1	3⁄200	3⁄200	0–1	11⁄600	11⁄600
	Carrot[A]	0–1	1⁄120	1⁄120	0–1	7⁄600	7⁄600	0–1	3⁄200	3⁄200	0–1	11⁄600	11⁄600
	Potato[A]	0–1	1⁄120	1⁄120	0–1	7⁄600	7⁄600	0–1	3⁄200	3⁄200	0–1	11⁄600	11⁄600
	Music Disc Lava Chicken[A][B][C]	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1

Item		Amount	Probability
			Default	Looting I	Looting II	Looting III
	Rotten Flesh	0	1⁄3 (33.33%)	1⁄3 (33.33%)	1⁄3 (33.33%)	1⁄3 (33.33%)
		1	1⁄3 (33.33%)	1⁄6 (16.67%)	1⁄12 (8.33%)	1⁄18 (5.56%)
		2	1⁄3 (33.33%)	1⁄3 (33.33%)	1⁄4 (25.00%)	1⁄6 (16.67%)
		3	0	1⁄6 (16.67%)	1⁄4 (25.00%)	2⁄9 (22.22%)
		4	0	0	1⁄12 (8.33%)	1⁄6 (16.67%)
		5	0	0	0	1⁄18 (5.56%)
		Average	1 (1.00)	4⁄3 (1.33)	5⁄3 (1.67)	2 (2.00)
	Iron Ingot[A]	0	119⁄120 (99.17%)	593⁄600 (98.83%)	197⁄200 (98.50%)	589⁄600 (98.17%)
		1	1⁄120 (0.83%)	7⁄600 (1.17%)	3⁄200 (1.50%)	11⁄600 (1.83%)
		Average	1⁄120 (0.01)	7⁄600 (0.01)	3⁄200 (0.01)	11⁄600 (0.02)
	Carrot[A]	0	119⁄120 (99.17%)	593⁄600 (98.83%)	197⁄200 (98.50%)	589⁄600 (98.17%)
		1	1⁄120 (0.83%)	7⁄600 (1.17%)	3⁄200 (1.50%)	11⁄600 (1.83%)
		Average	1⁄120 (0.01)	7⁄600 (0.01)	3⁄200 (0.01)	11⁄600 (0.02)
	Potato[A]	0	119⁄120 (99.17%)	593⁄600 (98.83%)	197⁄200 (98.50%)	589⁄600 (98.17%)
		1	1⁄120 (0.83%)	7⁄600 (1.17%)	3⁄200 (1.50%)	11⁄600 (1.83%)
		Average	1⁄120 (0.01)	7⁄600 (0.01)	3⁄200 (0.01)	11⁄600 (0.02)
	Music Disc Lava Chicken[A][B][C]	1	1 (100.00%)	1 (100.00%)	1 (100.00%)	1 (100.00%)
		Average	1 (1.00)	1 (1.00)	1 (1.00)	1 (1.00)

Killed		1
Item		Expected Drops
		Default	Looting I	Looting II	Looting III
	Rotten Flesh	1.00	1.33	1.67	2.00
	Iron Ingot[A]	0.01	0.01	0.01	0.02
	Carrot[A]	0.01	0.01	0.01	0.02
	Potato[A]	0.01	0.01	0.01	0.02
	Music Disc Lava Chicken[A][B][C]	1.00	1.00	1.00	1.00

Any picked-up equipment has a 100% chance of dropping on death or when cured and drops with the same damage level it had when picked up.

Taken equipment

When a zombie villager dies, all of its picked-up equipment drops without changing the damage that has accumulated on it in Java Edition. In Bedrock Edition, the armor's durability is still vulnerable to attacks, as if a player is wearing it.

Naturally-spawned equipment

This feature is exclusive to Java Edition.

In Java Edition^[1], a zombie villager can spawn with any of the following:

• Carved Pumpkin ^{[note 1]}
• Jack o'Lantern^{[note 1]}
• Iron Shovel (sometimes enchanted)
• Iron Sword (sometimes enchanted)
• Iron Spear (sometimes enchanted)
• Random Armor (sometimes enchanted, made from leather, copper, gold, chainmail, iron or diamond)

Zombie villagers have an 8.5% chance of dropping their naturally-spawned equipment (other than Halloween pumpkins), and drop it with a random durability. Each level of Looting increases the chance by 1 percentage point (11.5% with Looting III).

Experience

Adult zombie villagers drop 5XP and baby zombie villagers drop 12XP when they are killed by a player or a tamed wolf. Any zombie villager that spawns with equipment drops an additional 1–3XP per item.

Behavior

Zombie villagers behave like ordinary zombies, except that they do not convert into drowned when submerged in water or into frostbites​^{[upcoming: Fourth Drop 2026]} when freezing in powder snow.

Zombie villagers that were converted from villagers retain their professions and clothes, which gain a tattered appearance. Naturally spawned zombie villagers (or ones spawned with spawn eggs) have a random profession, and can also spawn with unemployed or nitwit outfits. In Bedrock Edition, due to a bug, baby zombie villagers can have professions.

In Java Edition, zombie villagers are never spawned as part of a zombie siege, but if a zombie villager naturally spawns nearby, it will join the siege and behave like all other zombies.

Using spears

Zombie villagers wielding spears have different attacking behavior. When attacking, they use the spear's charge attack while moving toward their target. They hold the charge through its full duration, using all 3 stages. Once the charge attack has ended or they get too close to their target, they walk away to increase the distance between them and their target before turning around to begin another charge. If a zombie villager accidentally damages a neutral or hostile mob (except goats) with a spear's charge attack, the mob retaliates and attacks that zombie villager.

Mob type

Being an undead mob, they are:

• damaged by the status effect Instant Health and healed by the status effect Instant Damage.
• unaffected by the status effects Regeneration and Poison.
• ignored by the wither.
• affected by the Smite enchantment.
• a threat to armadillos, causing them to hide in their shell.

As they are undead and do not grow up, golden dandelions do not work on baby zombie villagers.

Picking up items

Like zombies, some zombie villagers spawn with the ability to pick up dropped items from the ground in Normal and Hard difficulty, with the chance being higher in the latter. In Java Edition, zombie villagers pick up items that they happen to walk near. In Bedrock Edition, they actively search for and walk toward dropped items.

Standard zombie villagers can pick up all items except for glow ink sacs. Chicken jockey riders also cannot pick up any variant of an egg.

If the picked up item is armor, the zombie villager equips the armor into its respective armor slot. Carved pumpkins and heads are worn on their heads, and elytra are worn in the their chestplate slot. If the picked up item is a shield, the zombie villager equips it to their offhand. It cannot use the shield to block incoming attacks, however.

If a zombie villager encounters another similar item, it may drop the previous item in favor of the new one if:

• both items are armor/weapons and the new item is better damage-wise (reduces higher damage for armor, or inflicts more damage for weapons) without considering enchantments,
• both items are armor/weapons with the same damage reduction/infliction, the new item has NBT tags while the old does not‌^{[JE only]} or the new item is less damaged than the old item

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 villager equipped with a picked-up item becomes persistent and does not despawn, similar to being named.

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

In Bedrock Edition, due to a bug, zombies villagers, as well as zombies, husks, and drowned can also wear horse armor, nautilus armor, and wolf armor.^[2]

Geared zombie villagers

Along with skeletons and regular zombies, some zombie villagers are capable of picking up dropped items. These zombie villagers automatically pick up and hold any item that they come across (except jack o'lanterns‌^{[Java Edition only]}, mob heads and pumpkins, as these are worn on their heads), and use any armor, weapons, or tools picked up. If they encounter another similar item, they pick it up and drop their previous item:

• if the new item is armor or a sword and the old item was not (for example, zombie villagers prefer swords to pickaxes and helmets to pumpkins),
• if both items are armor/swords and the new item is better damage-wise (reduces more damage for armor, or inflicts more damage for swords),
• if 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
• if 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.

Armor worn by zombie villagers is not damaged from most damage sources, which means it cannot "wear out" the way player armor does. Helmets (not blocks like pumpkins) on zombie villagers can wear away and break if the zombie villager is exposed to daylight, or has an anvil or other falling block dropped on its head. Zombie villagers also have a natural armor rating of 2 (), which gives 1.6 - 8% damage reduction from most sources.

Some zombie villagers that are capable of picking up items spawn already in possession of such items, and those items may also be enchanted. The chances of that event are listed below. If a zombie villager spawns wearing multiple pieces of armor, the armor is never mismatched (i.e. all pieces are made of the same material).

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

The chances of particular materials are:

Any zombie villager that spawns with equipment‌^{[Java Edition only]} (picked-up items don't count) drops 1–3 extra experience per item.

Curing

"Curing" redirects here. For the enchantment, see Mending.

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.
• A lingering potion of Weakness thrown by the player or a dispenser.
• An arrow of Weakness shot by the player, a dispenser, or a parched.
• An area effect cloud caused by the explosion of a creeper inflicted with Weakness.‌^{[Java Edition only]}
• The /effect command, if cheats are enabled.

The weakened zombie villager must then be healed by using a (non-enchanted^[3]) golden apple on it. The zombie villager begins to shudder to signal that curing is in progress. Also, the Weakness effect is removed, replaced by Strength for the duration of the curing process. An internal countdown timer is then started, counting down the total time to cure.

Time to cure is initially a random integer between 3600 and 6000 ticks (180 to 300 seconds, 3 to 5 minutes). On each tick, there is a 1% chance for the game to look for cure accelerants. It checks each block within a 9×9×9 cube centered on the villager for either iron bars or a bed (either half of a bed, detected separately; copper bars are ignored). For each one found up to 14, there is a 30% chance of decreasing the countdown timer by 1 more tick. Therefore, having at least 14 half-beds and/or iron bars within range speeds up conversion by an average of 4.2%.^[4]

During the curing process, the zombie villager behaves like a normal zombie except that it gains Strength (with a potency that doesn't depend on the difficulty level). Thus, a zombie villager is more dangerous during curing than at other times.

At the end of the curing process, the zombie villager transforms into a villager and gains the Nausea effect for 10 seconds (which has no effect on the villager's behavior). If it was holding any item it picked up, that item is dropped (unless it was enchanted with Curse of Binding, in which case it remains in the villager's inventory but is not worn and does not drop if the villager is killed). If it was a baby before it was transformed into a zombie villager, it remains a baby after the cure. If it had traded with a player at least once, it recovers its former profession and inventory of trades. Otherwise, it recovers its profession but might immediately change it if it finds and claims a workstation block for a different profession.

A newly-cured villager, if it had a profession prior to being zombified, offers a trading discount to the player who administered the cure. These discounts are permanent. If a villager is cured more than once, no additional discounts are applied. Villagers near the cured villager are also affected but offer fewer, smaller discounts.

Zombie villagers that are in the process of converting do not despawn if the player moves far away from them, but like all monsters, they despawn if the difficulty is changed to Peaceful.

Specific to Java Edition

• If a zombie villager spawned as a nitwit or was a nitwit before it was transformed into a zombie villager, it remains a nitwit if cured.
• If cured, naturally spawned zombie villagers keep their profession for one tick then become unemployed.
• A cured villager gains both the permanent and the temporary but spreadable type of positive gossip from curing.
• There is a bug whereby if a zombie villager chicken jockey is recently cured, the baby villager will still ride the chicken. The rider will grow to a normal villager after 20 minutes and, if struck by lightning, can be turned into a witch jockey.

Specific to Bedrock Edition

• A former nitwit zombie villager becomes an unemployed villager and can learn a profession after the cure.
• Villagers in a range of 16 blocks in a cube surrounding the cured villager also offer a small discount proportional to the number of cured villagers (up to 10).
• Saving and reloading the world causes the curing process to finish as soon as the chunk containing the villager is ticked. This does not happen if the player moves out of range, then returns: In that case, the countdown timer pauses until the player returns.
• After the curing process, naturally spawned zombie villagers can gain a different profession from the one they had while zombified.

Jockey

This feature is exclusive to Bedrock Edition.

15% of nearby baby zombies, baby husks, gurgles, or baby frostbites​^{[upcoming: Fourth Drop 2026]} may ride an adult zombie villager to form a jockey.

Sounds

Data values

ID

Java Edition:

Name	Identifier	Entity tags	Translation key
Zombie Villager	zombie_villager	burn_in_daylight can_breathe_under_water ignores_poison_and_regen inverted_healing_and_harm undead wither_friends zombies sensitive_to_smite	entity.minecraft.zombie_villager

Bedrock Edition:

Name	Identifier	Numeric ID	Family	Translation key
Zombie Villager (old)	zombie_villager	44	armorer butcher cartographer cleric farmer fisherman fletcher leatherworker librarian mob monster nitwit shepherd stone_mason toolsmith undead weaponsmith zombie zombie_villager	entity.zombie_villager.name
Zombie Villager (new)	zombie_villager_v2	116	armorer baby_undead butcher cartographer cleric farmer fisherman fletcher leatherworker librarian mob monster nitwit shepherd stone_mason toolsmith undead unskilled weaponsmith zombie zombie_villager	entity.zombie_villager_v2.name

Entity data

Zombie villagers have entity data associated with them that contains various properties.

Bedrock Edition:

See Bedrock Edition level format/Entity format.

Java Edition:

Type	Data value
Desert	minecraft:desert
Jungle	minecraft:jungle
Plains	minecraft:plains
Savanna	minecraft:savanna
Snowy	minecraft:snow
Swamp	minecraft:swamp
Taiga	minecraft:taiga

Profession	Data value
Armorer	minecraft:armorer
Butcher	minecraft:butcher
Cartographer	minecraft:cartographer
Cleric	minecraft:cleric
Farmer	minecraft:farmer
Fisherman	minecraft:fisherman
Fletcher	minecraft:fletcher
Leatherworker	minecraft:leatherworker
Librarian	minecraft:librarian
Nitwit	minecraft:nitwit
Unemployed	minecraft:none
Mason	minecraft:mason
Shepherd	minecraft:shepherd
Toolsmith	minecraft:toolsmith
Weaponsmith	minecraft:weaponsmith

Achievements

Icon		Achievement	In-game description	Actual requirements (if different)	Gamerscore earned	Trophy type (PS)
PS4	Other
		Monster Hunter	Attack and destroy a monster.	Kill one of these 41 monsters: Blaze Bogged Breeze Camel Husk Cave Spider Creaking (by destroying its creaking heart) Creeper Drowned Elder Guardian Ender Dragon Enderman Endermite Evoker Ghast Guardian Hoglin Husk Magma Cube Parched Phantom Piglin Piglin Brute Pillager Ravager Shulker Silverfish Skeleton Slime Spider Stray Vex Vindicator Witch Wither Wither Skeleton Zoglin Zombie Zombie Horse Zombie Nautilus Zombie Villager Zombified Piglin Other mobs may be killed, but are ignored for this achievement.	15	Bronze
		Diamonds to you!	Throw diamonds at another player.	Drop a diamond. Another player or a zombie must then pick up this diamond.	15	Bronze
		Zombie Doctor	Cure a zombie villager.	Throw a splash potion of weakness at a zombie villager and give it a golden apple (by facing the zombie and pressing the use key with a golden apple in your hand).	40	Gold
		It Spreads	Kill a mob next to a catalyst	Kill any mob that drops experience near a sculk catalyst, with the sole exception of the ender dragon. Mobs that drop no experience are ignored for this achievement.	10	Bronze

Achievements that apply to all mobs:

Icon		Achievement	In-game description	Actual requirements (if different)	Gamerscore earned	Trophy type (PS)
PS4	Other
		Overkill	Deal nine hearts of damage in a single hit.	Damage can be dealt to any mob, even those that do not have nine hearts of health overall.	30	Bronze
		Over-Overkill	Deal 50 hearts of damage in a single hit using the Mace	Damage can be dealt to any mob, even those that do not have 50 hearts of health overall.	20	Silver
		Mob Kabob	Hit five mobs in the same Charge attack using the Spear	Armor stands and players also count for this achievement as they are technically mobs.	10	Bronze

Advancements

Icon	Advancement	In-game description	Actual requirements (if different)
	Zombie Doctor	Weaken and then cure a Zombie Villager	Use a golden apple on a zombie villager under the Weakness effect; the advancement is granted when the zombie villager converts into a villager. In multiplayer, only the player that feeds the golden apple gets the advancement.
	Monster Hunter	Kill any hostile monster	Kill one of these 41​[until: Fourth Drop 2026]/42​[upcoming] monsters: Blaze Bogged Breeze Camel Husk Cave Spider Creaking (by destroying its creaking heart) Creeper Drowned Elder Guardian Ender Dragon Enderman Endermite Evoker Frostbite​[upcoming: Fourth Drop 2026] Ghast Guardian Hoglin Husk Magma Cube Parched Phantom Piglin Piglin Brute Pillager Ravager Shulker Silverfish Skeleton Slime Spider Stray Vex Vindicator Witch Wither Wither Skeleton Zoglin Zombie Zombie Horse Zombie Nautilus Zombie Villager Zombified Piglin Other mobs may be killed, but are ignored for this advancement.
	It Spreads	Kill a mob near a Sculk Catalyst	Kill any mob that drops experience near a sculk catalyst, with the sole exception of the ender dragon. Mobs that drop no experience are ignored for this advancement.
	Monsters Hunted	Kill one of every hostile monster	Kill each of these 41​[upcoming: Fourth Drop 2026]/42​[upcoming] monsters: Blaze Bogged Breeze Camel Husk Cave Spider Creaking (by destroying its creaking heart) Creeper Drowned Elder Guardian Ender Dragon Enderman Endermite Evoker Frostbite​[upcoming: Fourth Drop 2026] Ghast Guardian Hoglin Husk Magma Cube Parched Phantom Piglin Piglin Brute Pillager Ravager Shulker Silverfish Skeleton Slime Spider Stray Vex Vindicator Witch Wither Wither Skeleton Zoglin Zombie Zombie Horse Zombie Nautilus Zombie Villager Zombified Piglin Other mobs may be killed, but are ignored for this advancement.

Advancements that apply to all mobs:

Icon	Advancement	In-game description	Actual requirements (if different)
	Adventure	Adventure, exploration and combat	Kill any mob, or be killed by any living entity.
	A Throwaway Joke	Throw a Trident at something. Note: Throwing away your only weapon is not a good idea.	Hit a mob with a thrown trident.
	Take Aim	Shoot something with an Arrow	Using a bow or a crossbow, shoot a mob with an arrow, tipped arrow, or spectral arrow.
	Mob Kabob	Hit five mobs in the same Charge attack using the Spear	Armor Stand and Mannequin also count for this advancement.
	Arbalistic	Kill five unique mobs with one crossbow shot	Armor Stand and Mannequin also count for this advancement. This is a hidden advancement, meaning that it can be viewed by the player only after completing it, regardless of if its child advancement(s), if any, have been completed.
	Over-Overkill	Deal 50 hearts of damage in a single hit using the Mace	Damage can be dealt to any mob, even those that do not have 50 hearts of health overall.

Videos

History

Java Edition

Java Edition
1.4.2			12w32a				Added zombie villagers.
							Added baby zombie villagers.
							5% of zombies spawned are zombie villagers, and villagers now become infected when killed by a zombie. Infecting a baby villager creates a baby zombie villager, which is faster than a normal zombie and does not age.
							Zombie villagers under the effects of a potion of Weakness can be cured by using a golden apple on them.
			12w34a				Zombie villagers now have two new rare drops – carrots and potatoes.
			12w34b				Zombie villagers can now pick up and equip dropped items.[5][6]
							If killed, zombie villagers now drop the item they are holding.
							Zombie villagers can now survive in sunlight, if they are wearing a helmet or a pumpkin.[7]
			12w37a				On Halloween, zombie villagers can now spawn wearing pumpkins or jack o'lanterns.
1.5			13w03a				Zombie villagers are now able to set the player on fire, if they are on fire and they attack the player.
							Zombie villagers 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 villager.
							Zombie villagers now cause more damage when their health is lower.
1.6.1			13w17a				When damaged, zombie villagers now have a low chance to spawn more zombies.
			13w21a				Zombie villager damage increasing with decreasing health has been removed.
			13w23b				Zombie villager AI and mechanics have been changed – this has now made them much more horde-like.
							Zombie villagers are now able to detect the player up to 40 blocks.
1.6.2			pre				Baby zombie villagers now spawn among regular ones.
							Baby zombie villagers now have the same percentage of spawning as zombie villagers.
1.7.2			13w36a				Baby zombie villagers now drop loot and experience.
1.7.4			13w49a				Added zombie villager chicken jockeys – a rare version of the baby zombie villager.
1.8			14w11a				Zombie villagers now run away from creepers that are about to explode.
			14w30a				Zombie villagers now drop a zombie head when killed by a charged creeper.
1.8.1			pre1				Zombie villagers no longer run away from creepers that are about to explode.
1.9			15w32a				The detection range of zombie villagers is now halved when the player is wearing a zombie mob head.
			15w33c				The zombie villager's detection range for players wearing the zombie head has been adjusted, now 37.5% of the normal range.
			15w34a				Zombie villagers now have an attack animation similar to the one they had in Survival Test, even without weapons.
			15w35a				Zombie villagers now retain their professions and clothes, which have a tattered appearance. Before this version, the zombie villager's body texture shared the same texture as the regular zombie's, including Steve's clothes.
							Baby zombie villagers now retain their professions and clothes, which have a tattered appearance.
			15w36a				The zombie villager's detection range for players wearing the zombie head is now again 50% of the normal range.
			15w43a				A zombie villager priest can now be found caged in an igloo basement.
1.10			16w20a				"Generic" green-robed zombie villager has been removed, due to the new ZombieType tag not allowing invalid villager professions.
							Zombie villagers now spawn in abandoned villages.
			pre1				The chance of a zombie villager setting the target on fire when burning, and the duration of the effect, now depends on raw regional difficulty.
							Zombie villagers that spawn as part of abandoned villages no longer despawn.
1.11			16w32a				Added a zombie villager spawn egg.
							The zombie villager's in-game name has been changed to "Zombie Villager" instead of "Zombie".
							Zombie villagers no longer drop zombie heads when killed by a charged creeper.
							Zombie villagers no longer spawn from zombie spawners.[8]
							Zombie villagers can no longer spawn from normal zombie spawn eggs.
			16w32b				Generic zombie villagers have been re-added, along with their normal villager counterpart.
			16w39a				Zombie villagers now have their own sounds.
1.13			18w07a				Zombie villagers now intentionally stomp on turtle eggs and attack turtles.
			18w10d				Baby zombie villagers now burn in the sun.
			18w19a				Zombie villagers now sink in water.
							Zombie villagers no longer drown underwater.
1.14			18w50a				Zombie villagers now have new skins, corresponding to biome and profession.
							Added desert zombie villagers, which all have unique textures for that biome. These zombie villagers also spawn in badlands biomes.
							Added jungle zombie villagers, which all have unique textures for that biome.
							Added plains zombie villagers, which all have unique textures for that biome.
							Added savanna zombie villagers, which all have unique textures for that biome.
							Added snowy zombie villagers, which all have unique textures in snowy biomes. These zombie villagers spawn in any snowy biome, including frozen rivers, frozen oceans (and their variants) and snowy beaches.
							Added swamp zombie villagers, which all have unique textures for that biome.
							Added taiga zombie villagers, which all have unique textures for the biome. These zombie villagers also spawn in giant tree taiga and mountains biomes.
							Added baby zombie villagers to desert, jungle, plains, savanna, snowy, swamp and taiga biomes.
							Cured zombie villagers now retain their trades.
1.15			19w37a				Mobs that spawn wearing carved pumpkins or jack o'lanterns on Halloween no longer drop them.
			19w41a				Zombie villagers that were converted from villagers are supposed to no longer despawn. However, they still do.[9]
			19w46a				Baby zombie villagers can now be spawned by using a zombie villager spawn egg on an existing zombie villager.[10]
1.16			20w06a				Zombie villagers that were converted from villagers no longer despawn.[9]
1.17			21w11a				The overlay texture of the zombie librarian now have been changed.
			21w13a				Legacy zombie villager texture[11] have been removed.
							Zombie villagers drop baked potatoes instead of normal potatoes if on fire when killed or killed by a fire source.
1.17.1			pre1				Zombie villagers no longer pick up glow ink sacs, to prevent them from persisting after picking up loot from a dead glow squid.
1.18			21w41a				The profession textures of Zombie Armorer and Zombie Weaponsmith have been changed.
1.19			22w17a				The sole textures of the Jungle, Plains, Savannna, and Snowy and arms of Weaponsmith have been changed.
1.20.2			23w31a				Villagers no longer offer additional discounts after being cured more than once [12]
1.20.3			23w40a				Zombie villagers are now part of the #can_breathe_under_water, #undead and #zombies tags.
1.21.2			24w33a				Zombie villagers now spawn more zombie villagers as zombie reinforcements instead of regular zombies.[13]
							Now naturally spawn with armor in the order of (most likely to least likely): helmet, chestplate, leggings, boots.[14]
1.21.11			25w41a				Zombie villagers can now use spears.
26.1			snap1				Leader zombie villagers now spawn with their maximum health instead of 20 health.[15]
			snap7				The model and textures of baby zombie villagers have been changed.
26.2			snap5				The heights of baby zombie villagers have been changed from 0.99 blocks to 0.98 blocks, to match Bedrock Edition.

Bedrock Edition