Introduction to a Minecraft Mob Guide
Minecraft is one of the most popular games in the world today, and it’s no wonder. With its flexible and replayable gameplay, it’s a treasure trove for all sorts of gamers. Minecraft is a game where you can do anything and be anything you want — and that’s why we love it. Spend the day farming away in your potato fields, or take a night or two (always mine at night, folks!) spelunking away in the mines deep, deep under your cottage. And if you’re playing on a server with friends, there are even more options: like building over the void on your skyblock islands, or clashing with other teams in fierce battles.
One of the things that make Minecraft so fun however is, inarguably, the vast variety of mobs, animals and creatures in the game. From the small desert bunny to the dangerous ender dragon; from the loyal wolf to the protective iron golem, every mob interacts with the player a little differently and are the pillars supporting Minecraft’s rich, diverse and interactive world. And as such, it’s long overdue for us to come up with an Everything to Know About Minecraft Mobs guide, when we’ve covered just about everything else in terms of the basics of Minecraft.
The very first part of this guide will cover, as the name might suggest, how mobs behave and where you can find them around your Minecraft universe. We’ll be releasing a second part to this guide later this week that goes over the basics of how to make mob farms and grinders for most of these — or otherwise how to harvest their drops most efficiently.
Because of the vast amount and variety of Minecraft mobs out there, we’ll be limiting these to mobs that can be encountered and farmed frequently, rather than focusing on bosses and ultra rare mobs — this would be a book, rather than a guide, otherwise!
Minecraft Mob Types
Minecraft has a wide variety of mobs, some we love and some we hate — and some we hate to love (I’m looking at you, creeper!). We’ll be grouping the mobs based on their natural perception of the players — i.e., whether they’ll throw hands at you on sight, or if they’ll never lift a finger to hurt you. So, lets go over the different types of mobs and the five categories which all mobs fall under.
Passive Mobs
First we have Passive mobs, these mobs are harmless mobs that do not attack the player, even when provoked or attacked. They’re perfect for keeping around in your ranch, farm or even into your house if you don’t mind some muddy hoof prints all over your carpet.
Pig
Pigs are rideable passive mobs that spawn on the Overworld. They are typically used as food resources, where they spawn on grass blocks with 2 blocks of open space above it.
Pigs drop 1-3 pieces of raw porkchop (1-3 cooked porkchop if killed while on fire). If a saddle is equipped on them, they will also drop the saddle. Baby pigs do not drop anything.
Carrots, potatoes and beetroots can be used to breed pigs. Once two “parents” are fed, they will breed and spawn 1 pig and will have a 5 minute cooldown until they can breed again. Piglets will mature in 20 minutes or a Minecraft day.
Pigs have a height of 0.875 blocks and act like cows, wandering around, avoiding falling from cliffs and randomly oink. They will follow any player that carries a carrot, carrot on stick, potato or beetroot that is below 5 blocks away. Pigs can be ridden by equipped with a saddle on them and control their direction using a carrot on a stick.
If a pig is struck by lightning, they become Zombie Pigmen, which we’ll cover in the next section.
Bat
Bats are passive flying mobs that spawn inside of caves in the Overworld. They spawn in areas with light levels of 3 or below and only spawn below y level 63. Bats are very small and only half a block in height and width. Bats normally hang off the ceiling until a player approaches them, where they start to fly around aimlessly.
Cat
Cats are passive tamable mobs that are found in or nearby villagers and swamp huts in the Overworld.They spawn in areas where the light level is over 8 and there must be a player within 32 blocks of it in order for it to spawn. They also stop spawning when there are 5 or more cats in the area, to prevent overcrowding — how intuitive!
You can breed tamed cats with raw cod or salmon, once you breed a cat the parents are put on a 5 minutes cooldown before they can breed again.
Cats are great pets to have in Minecraft as creepers tend to avoid them at all costs, so they’ll definitely make your base a tad bit safer from being blown to high heaven.
Chicken
Chicken in Minecraft are pretty similar to chickens in real life, they are an egg laying mob that can be found anywhere in the Overworld, they spawn on top of grass blocks with 2 blocks of free spawn over them and light level over 9.
You can also get chicken to follow you using seeds; and using this method, you can lure wild chicken into pens and then breed them up in the pens to have a lovely, unlimited supply of chicken. And if there aren’t enough of them in the wild, you can breed chickens by feeding two of them wheat, beetroot, melon/pumpkin seeds.
Chickens also passively lay eggs (around 5 to 10 minutes), which are very useful in making a handful of food items in Minecraft. Upon being slain, chickens drop 0-2 feathers and 1 raw chicken, unless you are using a weapon with the looting enchantment.
Cow
Cows are passive mobs that can be found anywhere in the Overworld, they spawn in herds of 4 on top of any opaque block that has 2 spaces free above it.Cows also spawn on world generation but they continue to spawn after if there are no passive mobs in the same chunk.
Cows in Minecraft are also like cows in real life — they also produce milk slowly! If you right-click on a Cow while holding a bucket, you’ll get a bucket of milk, which can be used in a ton of wonderful food crafting recipes.
Much like most passive animals, cows can also be bred! Just feed 2 fully grown cows with wheat and they will produce a little calf; though doing this will put the 2 parent cows into a 5 minute cooldown before they can breed again.
When slain, cows drop 0-2 leather and 1-3 raw beef. Cow farms are great to have as they provide easy access to food and are easy to come across.
Rabbit
Rabbits are small, passive mobs that can be found in the Overworld. They naturally spawn in the deserts, flower forests, taiga, mega taiga, cold taiga, ice plains, ice mountains, ice spike biomes.
They spawn in groups of 2-3, so if you find one you are sure to find at least one more in that area. You can also breed rabbits by feeding 2 grown rabbits a carrot each, and they’ll produce a cute baby rabbit. When slain, rabbits drop 0-1 rabbit hide and 0-1 raw rabbit. Rabbits are nice to have around as they are absolutely adorable and sure to fill your Minecraft base full of life.
Rabbits also come with a small easter egg in the code, wherein if you name a rabbit Toast, it will give the rabbit a unique skin of a black spotted rabbit!
Sheep
Sheep are an essential mob in Minecraft as they drop both food and wool. Sheep are passive mobs that are found throughout the Overworld, where they spawn on grass blocks that have at least 2 free spaces above. They often spawn in groups of 4.
Sheep are also, of course, breedable, you can feed 2 adult sheep a wheat each, which will cause them to produce a little baby sheep. You can use shears on Sheep to collect wool from them without killing them and when they are killed they drop 1-3 wool and 1-2 raw mutton.
Mooshroom
The Mooshroom is a variant of the Cow, which can be found in the Overworld. Mooshrooms only spawn on the rare Mooshroom island and can only spawn on the mycelium blocks of the island. There can only be 4-8 Mooshroom per island so if you’re lucky enough to come across this rare cow variant, be sure to bring it home with you!
They function essentially the same as Cows, but if you use a bowl on them instead of a bucket you will get a bowl of mushroom stew. You can also use shears on them to get 5 red mushrooms — but if you do this they will convert back into a normal cow, so be careful!
Just like cows, they can be bred by using wheat on fully grown Mooshrooms. When slain, they’ll drop 0-2 leather and 1-3 raw beef.
Snow Golem
The Snow Golem is a passive defence mob that can be found… nowhere? Yup, the Snow Golem can not be found naturally, and so you can only get a Snow Golem by making one.
In order to make a Snow Golem, you first need to place 2 snow blocks on top of one another, then place a carved pumpkin or a jack o’lantern on top.
Snow Golems are defensive mobs that will protect you from neutral and hostile mobs. Though they do not have much health, they’ll attack neutral and hostile mobs that get too close. Their attacks don’t actually do damage but have a really strong knockback effect on creatures that are hit.
However, you’ll have to be careful where you make the Snow Golems as they melt in areas where the temperature is above 1 or if it is raining. On death, they drop 0-15 snowballs.
Squid
Squids are the only passive water mob in Minecraft as of right now! They can spawn in any body of water between layer 46 and sea level.
Upon being slain, squids drop 1-3 ink sacks which are used to make black dye.
Villager
The Villager is probably one of the best known passive mobs in Minecraft. They can be found within villages, which can in turn be found in the plains, snowy tundras, savannas, deserts, taigas and snowy taiga biomes that naturally spawn throughout the Overworld.
They are one of the few mobs that can interact with players (besides monsters that can eat our faces) and will actively trade with players. Most villagers don’t offer trades to players, but there are at least 2 villagers in every village that do. You can trade in emeralds to them for a wide range of items — these items depend on what the villagers profession is, they also offer a couple very rare items that you can only get from Villager trades, such as the Mending enchanted book.
Neutral Mobs
Next up we have the neutral mobs! Neutral mobs are mobs that are not aggressive normally but are extremely defensive if attacked or become aggressive under certain situations.
They are typically wild animals, though some spawned monsters also act like this. They do not attack you on sight like the Hostile mobs but they do fight back when attacked.
Cave Spiders
Cave Spiders are similar to the normal Spiders, where they are neutral as long as the light level is above 10.
Unfortunately, however, due to where they are naturally found, they are typically aggressive right from the spawn unless you have already come by the area before and lit it up. They can be found in abandoned mineshafts, where they spawn from plentiful mob spawners. If you dont like the idea of Caves why not checkout the Minecraft Interior Design resources on the Team Visionary website.
On kill they drop 0-2 strings and have a 33% chance of dropping a spider eye.
Enderman
The Enderman is a tall, black humanoid mob that usually spawns in The End.
They can also scarcely be found in the Overworld where they can spawn on any solid block where the light level is below 7. Endermen drop 0-1 enderpearls when killed.
Endermen also have the ability to pick up a single block and if you kill an Enderman while they are holding a block, they will drop that block..Endermen also hates water, so you will never find an Enderman in water or while it is raining (and if they are unfortunate enough to be caught out while it’s wet, they’ll immediately zip away.)
Enderman are the only mob in Minecraft that can teleport around at will; they can teleport onto any block within a 64x64x64 block area from their current location.Enderman are also 3 blocks tall, which means if your house is only 2 blocks tall, they will not be able to teleport into you house. You can learn more about the Enderman mob on this useful resource.
Enderman are only aggressive when you attack them, or if you look into their eyes — which is absolutely terrifying!
Iron Golem
The Iron Golem is a neutral mob that can only be naturally found inside of villages in the Overworld.They are strong utility mobs that defend players and Villagers, they are also one of the few mobs that can be built in the game.If found in a village the Iron Golem will not attack you unless you attack it or any of the Villagers, but if you leave it and the Villagers alone, they will also protect you and the villagers from hostile mobs. You can make your very own Iron Golem but placing 4 Iron blocks in a T shape and by placing a carved pumpkin or jack o’lantern on top of it, if you make a Iron Golem, it will protect you from hostile creatures and any creature that becomes aggressive towards you. On kill they drop 3-5 Iron Ingots and 0-2 poppies.
Polar Bear
Polar bears are typically neutral mobs that can be found in ice plains, ice mountains, and ice spike biomes. When killed, they have a 75% chance of dropping 0-2 raw fish and a 25% chance to drop 0-2 raw salmon.
If you attack a Polar Bear, all other fully grown Polar Bears in a 21x21x21 block range will also become aggressive towards you, and if you attack a Polar Bear cub all other fully grown Polar Bears in a 41x21x41 block range will become aggressive towards you.
Spider
The spider is an extremely common mob that can climb walls. They spawn in the Overworld on any solid 3×3 area where there’s 2 blocks of free space above it. They also spawn from monster spawners that can be found in dungeons.
Spiders are listed as neutral but are one of the few mobs where they are only aggressive under certain conditions — that condition being the light level. In any area where the light level is 11 or lower, the Spider turns aggressive, but otherwise they do not attack on sight unless attacked first, meaning if you come across a spider in the day it will not just attack.
However, this does not mean if you are standing on a torch that the Spider will stop attacking you; this is only true if you come across the Spider when the light level is above 11. Once it becomes aggressive there is only one way to stop it, which is by killing it.
On kill the Spider drops 0-2 string and has a 33% chance in dropping a spider eye.
Zombie Pigman
Zombie Pigmen are the most common neutral mobs that live in the Nether. They are humanoid pig-zombies that hold a gold sword in their hand. Zombie Pigman are normally slow, but when they become aggressive they become faster.
Once one Zombie Pigman is angry, it’ll make all other Zombie Pigman from a 67x67x21 to 111x111x21 block area also angry at you.
On kill, they drop 0-1 rotten flesh and 0-1 gold nugget .
Aggressive Mobs
Finally, we have hostile, or aggressive mobs. These mobs are aggressive entities in Minecraft that will attack the player as soon as they see them or once they detect that a player has entered its attack range. Most of these mobs typically spawn during nightfall.
Creeper
I am sure that everyone has had their fair share of experiences with this monster, the Creeper.
Theorized to have been spawned from a glitched pig model, the Creeper is a common hostile mob that spawns in the Overworld. It is infamous for its ability to explode like TNT when in close proximity to something they deem an enemy — usually players.
They can spawn on any solid block space with at least 2 free spaces above it and the light level below 7. If killed by a player, they drop 0-2 gunpowder but if killed by a skeleton, they can drop a music disk!
Ghast
I personally think Ghast’s hold the record for one of the scariest mobs in Minecraft; there’s something about their cry when they shoot a fireball that sends shivers down my spine.
The Ghast is a huge flying mob that spawns in the Nether. They can only spawn in the Nether and require 5x4x5 free space above solid blocks in order to spawn. On kill, they drop 0-2 gunpowder and more rarely, a ghast tear.
Blaze
Blaze are floating hostile mobs that can be found in the Nether. They naturally spawn in areas with a light level of 11 or less. They can also more commonly be found, in Nether fortresses via monster spawners.
You can find 2 blaze monster spawners per Nether fortress. On kill, they drop 1 blaze rod.
Silverfish
Silverfish are small bug-like hostile mobs that hide inside of blocks in strongholds, igloo basements and extreme hill biomes. They can also spawn from monster spawners as long as the light area is above 11.
Silverfish do not spawn naturally in the world other than what’s mentioned above, and they also do not drop anything when killed, they simply exist to scare you while you mine. Fun!
Endermite
Endermites are one of the rarer mobs, and that’s because they can only spawn from the usage of ender pearls.
Endermites have a 5% chance of spawning when an ender pearl has been used. They have similar mechanics as Silverfish and will attack players within 16 blocks of it. Endermites also despawn after 2 minutes, and the only way to keep them from despawning is by putting a nametag on them — if you for some reason want to keep one as a very bitey pet, that is!
Guardian
The Guardian is an underwater hostile mob that only spawns around ocean monuments.
Guardians are pretty tough mobs; they shoot lasers out of their eyes and have defensive spikes that shoot out and do 2 damage each time you attack them. When killed, they drop 0-2 prismarine shards and have a 40% chance to drop a prismarine crystal.
Slime
Slimes are hostile mobs that can be found in the Overworld. Slimes have one of the most difficult to predict spawning mechanics in Minecraft. They can be found very rarely in swamp biomes and in predetermined “slime chunks”.
Unless in a swamp biome, they can only spawn below Y level 40, they only spawn if a player is further then 24 blocks of the area but if the player is further than 32 blocks away the Slime will despawn overtime. On kill, they either break into smaller slimes or, if they’re already in their smallest possible form, drop a slime ball.
Magma Cube
Magma Cubes are hostile mobs that can be found in the Nether. They are similar to slimes, but instead have the black and red color of magma.
They can spawn rarely in the Nether at all light levels, but are more commonly found in Nether fortresses. They also have the same mechanics as Slimes when it comes to them splitting and dividing when killed. Upon being killed, the big and small sized Magma cubes have a 25% chance to drop a single magma cream.
Shulker
The Shulker is a hostile mob that is found in The End. They can only be found inside of the End Cities along the outer islands of The End. The Shulker has a unique purple shell that it hides within; every 1-3 seconds the shell opens and if there is a player within 16 blocks of it, it will launch a tracking projectile. If you get hit by this projectile, it’ll cause you to levitate for 10 seconds — yeet!
On kill the Shulker has a 50% chance to drop a shulker shell, which can be used to make a shulker box, a sort of chest that holds its inventory when mined and picked up. Super convenient for moving bases or redecorating!
Witch
The Witch is an uncommon hostile mob that can be found in the Overworld.They spawn in swamp huts and can also be created when lightning strikes villagers. Though they look alot like Villager and Illagers, they are not considered either and are their own mob.
They are hostile to any mob that gets within 64 blocks of them and will start pursuing and throwing potions at you. They launch nasty potions at you every 3 seconds and have a maximum range of 10 blocks. The potions that they can throw include splash potion of slowness, splash potion of poison and have a 25% chance of throwing a splash potion of weakness.
If none of those potions affect the player, then they will start throwing splash potions of harming. On kill they have a 12.5% chance of dropping a glass bottle, glowstone dust, gunpowder or redstone sugar respectively and a 25% chance of dropping sticks. In total, they drop 1-3 of the above drops and 0-2 items of each drop for a total of 6 drops.
Wither Skeleton
Wither Skeletons are hostile mobs that are found in the Nether. They can only spawn inside of a Nether fortress in areas where the light level is 7 or lower, and they spawn in groups of 4.
All attacks made by the Wither Skeletons apply the Wither effect for 10 seconds (which deals 1 heart of damage every 2 seconds for a total of 5 hearts of damage — like a nastier poison!) On kill they drop 0-2 bones and have a 33% chance of dropping 1 coal, 2.5% chance of dropping a wither skeleton skull and a 8.5% chance of dropping their unenchanted stone sword with a random durability.
Zombie
Zombies are one of the most common hostile mobs that can be found in the Overworld. They can spawn in groups of up to 4, requiring a solid block below them and a light layer of 7 or lower. Zombies also have a small chance to spawn naturally with iron weapons and armour, along with an extremely rare chance that those equipment are enchanted. ‘
On kill they drop 0-2 rotten flesh and a chance to drop an iron ingot, carrot or potato. If the Zombie has any naturally spawned items, there is also a 8.5 % chance of dropping that.
Zombie Villager
Zombie Villagers are a variant of the Zombie that can be found in the Overworld. They spawn the same way that Zombies do, except when a group of Zombies spawn there is a 5% chance that it spawns a group of Zombie Villagers instead.
Zombie Villagers are like any other Zombies, with the only difference being that you can convert them back into normal Villagers. To do this you must first throw a splash potion of weakness on them then feed them a golden apple.
This is a good way to get a Villager into your base if you have no villages near your base, or in any skyblock-esque modpack or world. You just need to keep your eyes open at night and if you see a group of Zombie Villagers, simply lure them into your base and then convert them back into normal Villager.
