Zombie Villager

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Zombie Villager

Plains Zombie Villager Base JE1.png: Infobox image for Minecraft entity 'Zombie Villager'

Adult in Java Edition

Plains Zombie Villager Base BE1.png: Infobox image for Minecraft entity 'Zombie Villager'

Adult in Bedrock Edition

Plains Baby Zombie Villager JE2 BE2.png: Infobox image for Minecraft entity 'Zombie Villager'

Baby

Desert Zombie Villager Base.png: Infobox image for Minecraft entity 'Zombie Villager'

Adult in Java Edition

Desert Zombie Villager Base BE1.png: Infobox image for Minecraft entity 'Zombie Villager'

Adult in Bedrock Edition

Desert Baby Zombie Villager JE2 BE2.png: Infobox image for Minecraft entity 'Zombie Villager'

Baby

Savanna Zombie Villager Base.png: Infobox image for Minecraft entity 'Zombie Villager'

Adult in Java Edition

Savanna Zombie Villager Base BE1.png: Infobox image for Minecraft entity 'Zombie Villager'

Adult in Bedrock Edition

Savanna Baby Zombie Villager JE2 BE2.png: Infobox image for Minecraft entity 'Zombie Villager'

Baby

Taiga Zombie Villager Base.png: Infobox image for Minecraft entity 'Zombie Villager'

Adult in Java Edition

Taiga Zombie Villager Base BE1.png: Infobox image for Minecraft entity 'Zombie Villager'

Adult in Bedrock Edition

Taiga Baby Zombie Villager JE2 BE2.png: Infobox image for Minecraft entity 'Zombie Villager'

Baby

Snowy Zombie Villager Base.png: Infobox image for Minecraft entity 'Zombie Villager'

Adult in Java Edition

Snowy Zombie Villager Base BE1.png: Infobox image for Minecraft entity 'Zombie Villager'

Adult in Bedrock Edition

Snowy Baby Zombie Villager JE2 BE2.png: Infobox image for Minecraft entity 'Zombie Villager'

Baby

Jungle Zombie Villager Base.png: Infobox image for Minecraft entity 'Zombie Villager'

Adult in Java Edition

Jungle Zombie Villager Base BE1.png: Infobox image for Minecraft entity 'Zombie Villager'

Adult in Bedrock Edition

Jungle Baby Zombie Villager JE2 BE2.png: Infobox image for Minecraft entity 'Zombie Villager'

Baby

Swamp Zombie Villager Base.png: Infobox image for Minecraft entity 'Zombie Villager'

Adult in Java Edition

Swamp Zombie Villager Base BE1.png: Infobox image for Minecraft entity 'Zombie Villager'

Adult in Bedrock Edition

Swamp Baby Zombie Villager JE2 BE2.png: Infobox image for Minecraft entity 'Zombie Villager'

Baby

Invicon Zombie Villager Spawn Egg.png: Inventory sprite for Zombie Villager Spawn Egg in Minecraft as shown in-game with description: Zombie Villager Spawn Egg
There is a related tutorial page for this topic!
 

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

Spawning

A plains zombie villager with an enchanted iron sword

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: MonsterJava EditionBedrock Edition
Spawn areaSpawn weightSpawn chanceGroup sizeSpawn weightGroup size
Old Growth Pine Taiga[spawn 1]25⁄5404.63%152–4
Sulfur Caves[spawn 2]5⁄3151.59%14.952
Frozen Peaks5⁄5150.97%152–4
Meadow5⁄5150.97%152–4
Grove5⁄5150.97%152–4
Bamboo Jungle5⁄5150.97%152–4
Jagged Peaks5⁄5150.97%152–4
Windswept Hills5⁄5150.97%152–4
Snowy Beach5⁄5150.97%152–4
Jungle5⁄5150.97%152–4
Eroded Badlands5⁄5150.97%152–4
Flower Forest5⁄5150.97%152–4
Sparse Jungle5⁄5150.97%152–4
Birch Forest5⁄5150.97%152–4
Stony Peaks5⁄5150.97%152–4
Beach5⁄5150.97%152–4
Taiga5⁄5150.97%152–4
Lush Caves5⁄5150.97%152–4
Snowy Slopes5⁄5150.97%152–4
Wooded Badlands5⁄5150.97%152–4
Dappled Forest5⁄5150.97%152–4
Snowy Taiga5⁄5150.97%152–4
Forest5⁄5150.97%152–4
Badlands5⁄5150.97%152–4
Ice Spikes5⁄5150.97%152–4
Pale Garden5⁄5150.97%152–4
Windswept Forest5⁄5150.97%152–4
Old Growth Birch Forest5⁄5150.97%152–4
Old Growth Spruce Taiga5⁄5150.97%152–4
Dark Forest5⁄5150.97%152–4
Windswept Gravelly Hills5⁄5150.97%152–4
Cherry Grove5⁄5150.97%152–4
Stony Shore5⁄5150.97%152–4
Swamp5⁄5160.97%154
Frozen River5⁄5160.97%1——
Mangrove Swamp5⁄5160.97%151
Sunflower Plains5⁄5200.96%152–4
Deep Cold Ocean5⁄5200.96%152–4
Lukewarm Ocean5⁄5200.96%152–4
Deep Frozen Ocean5⁄5200.96%152–4
Snowy Plains5⁄5200.96%1——
Ocean5⁄5200.96%152–4
Deep Lukewarm Ocean5⁄5200.96%152–4
Plains5⁄5200.96%152–4
Windswept Savanna5⁄5200.96%152–4
Savanna Plateau5⁄5200.96%152–4
Frozen Ocean5⁄5200.96%152–4
Deep Ocean5⁄5200.96%152–4
Warm Ocean5⁄5200.96%152–4
Savanna5⁄5200.96%152–4
Cold Ocean5⁄5200.96%152–4
Dripstone Caves5⁄6100.82%152–4
River5⁄6150.81%1——
Desert1⁄5150.19%152–4
  1. ↑ Highest chance among all biomes.‌[Java Edition only]
  2. ↑ Internally a 9% chance within a combined weight of 55 for both zombies and zombie villagers.‌[Bedrock Edition only]

Converting

Additionally, if a zombie, husk, drowned, zombie villager, or zombified piglin‌[JE only] kills a villager, that villager has a chance of turning into a zombie villager depending on the game difficulty.

Difficulty Chance
Easy 0%
Normal 50%
Hard 100%

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[verify], 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 as normal zombies. This makes baby zombie villagers more dangerous than their bigger counterparts.
  • 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 instead of 5.
  • They have a decreased hitbox size.

Baby zombie villagers are spawned when a zombie kills a baby villager, 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.

Mounts
This feature is exclusive to Bedrock Edition, but is currently broken.
 

In Bedrock Edition, 15% of naturally spawned baby zombie villagers can start riding a skeleton horse and become a jockey after it spawns. They are also supposed to ride mobs that baby zombies, baby husks, and gurgles 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:

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).

Chances of zombie villagers wearing or picking up armor, per difficulty
Easy Normal Hard
Can pick up loot 0% 0%-55%[note 1] 6.875%-55%[note 1]
Armor 0% 0%-15%[note 1] 1.875%-15%[note 1]
Armor enchantment[note 2] 0% 0%-50%[note 1] 6.25%-50%[note 1]
Weapon[note 3] 1% 1% 5%
Weapon enchantment[note 2] 0% 0%-25%[note 1] 3.125%-25%[note 1]
  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i Value is based on the regional difficulty.
  2. ↑ a b Enchantment is the same as on an enchantment table at level 5–22.[note 1]
  3. ↑ 1⁄6 chance of an iron sword, 1⁄6 chance of an iron spear, 2⁄3 chance of an iron shovel

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

Chances of different armor pieces, per difficulty
Armor Easy & Normal Hard
Helmet 100% 100%
Helmet & chestplate 75% 90%
Helmet & chestplate & leggings 56.25% 81%
Full set 42.19% 72.9%

The chances of particular materials are:

Chances of different armor types
Armor type Chance
Leather 23.60%
Copper 32.23%
Gold 33.29%
Chain 9.73%
Iron 1.10%
Diamond 0.04%

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

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:

ItemQuantity / Chance / Average
DefaultLooting ILooting IILooting III
Rotten Flesh0–266.67%1.000–383.33%1.500–491.67%2.000–594.44%2.50
Iron Ingot[A]0–10.83%0.010–11.17%0.010–11.50%0.010–11.83%0.02
Carrot[A]0–10.83%0.010–11.17%0.010–11.50%0.010–11.83%0.02
Potato[A][B]0–10.83%0.010–11.17%0.010–11.50%0.010–11.83%0.02
Baked Potato[A][C]0–10.83%0.010–11.17%0.010–11.50%0.010–11.83%0.02

ItemQuantity / Chance / Average
DefaultLooting ILooting IILooting III
Rotten Flesh0–22⁄310–35⁄63⁄20–411⁄1220–517⁄185⁄2
Iron Ingot[A]0–11⁄1201⁄1200–17⁄6007⁄6000–13⁄2003⁄2000–111⁄60011⁄600
Carrot[A]0–11⁄1201⁄1200–17⁄6007⁄6000–13⁄2003⁄2000–111⁄60011⁄600
Potato[A][B]0–11⁄1201⁄1200–17⁄6007⁄6000–13⁄2003⁄2000–111⁄60011⁄600
Baked Potato[A][C]0–11⁄1201⁄1200–17⁄6007⁄6000–13⁄2003⁄2000–111⁄60011⁄600

ItemAmountProbability
DefaultLooting ILooting IILooting III
Rotten Flesh01⁄3 (33.33%)1⁄6 (16.67%)1⁄12 (8.33%)1⁄18 (5.56%)
11⁄3 (33.33%)1⁄3 (33.33%)1⁄4 (25.00%)1⁄6 (16.67%)
21⁄3 (33.33%)1⁄3 (33.33%)1⁄3 (33.33%)5⁄18 (27.78%)
301⁄6 (16.67%)1⁄4 (25.00%)5⁄18 (27.78%)
4001⁄12 (8.33%)1⁄6 (16.67%)
50001⁄18 (5.56%)
Average1 (1.00)3⁄2 (1.50)2 (2.00)5⁄2 (2.50)
Iron Ingot[A]0119⁄120 (99.17%)593⁄600 (98.83%)197⁄200 (98.50%)589⁄600 (98.17%)
11⁄120 (0.83%)7⁄600 (1.17%)3⁄200 (1.50%)11⁄600 (1.83%)
Average1⁄120 (0.01)7⁄600 (0.01)3⁄200 (0.01)11⁄600 (0.02)
Carrot[A]0119⁄120 (99.17%)593⁄600 (98.83%)197⁄200 (98.50%)589⁄600 (98.17%)
11⁄120 (0.83%)7⁄600 (1.17%)3⁄200 (1.50%)11⁄600 (1.83%)
Average1⁄120 (0.01)7⁄600 (0.01)3⁄200 (0.01)11⁄600 (0.02)
Potato[A][B]0119⁄120 (99.17%)593⁄600 (98.83%)197⁄200 (98.50%)589⁄600 (98.17%)
11⁄120 (0.83%)7⁄600 (1.17%)3⁄200 (1.50%)11⁄600 (1.83%)
Average1⁄120 (0.01)7⁄600 (0.01)3⁄200 (0.01)11⁄600 (0.02)
Baked Potato[A][C]0119⁄120 (99.17%)593⁄600 (98.83%)197⁄200 (98.50%)589⁄600 (98.17%)
11⁄120 (0.83%)7⁄600 (1.17%)3⁄200 (1.50%)11⁄600 (1.83%)
Average1⁄120 (0.01)7⁄600 (0.01)3⁄200 (0.01)11⁄600 (0.02)

Killed1
ItemExpected Drops
DefaultLooting ILooting IILooting III
Rotten Flesh1.001.502.002.50
Iron Ingot[A]0.010.010.010.02
Carrot[A]0.010.010.010.02
Potato[A][B]0.010.010.010.02
Baked Potato[A][C]0.010.010.010.02

  1. ↑ a b c d Only when killed by a player or a tamed wolf.
  2. ↑ Only when not on fire and not killed with a weapon enchanted with Fire Aspect.
  3. ↑ Only when on fire or killed with a weapon enchanted with Fire Aspect.

Bedrock Edition:

ItemQuantity / Chance / Average
DefaultLooting ILooting IILooting III
Rotten Flesh0–266.67%1.000–366.67%1.330–466.67%1.670–566.67%2.00
Iron Ingot[A]0–10.83%0.010–11.17%0.010–11.50%0.010–11.83%0.02
Carrot[A]0–10.83%0.010–11.17%0.010–11.50%0.010–11.83%0.02
Potato[A]0–10.83%0.010–11.17%0.010–11.50%0.010–11.83%0.02
Music Disc Lava Chicken[A][B][C]1100.00%1.001100.00%1.001100.00%1.001100.00%1.00

ItemQuantity / Chance / Average
DefaultLooting ILooting IILooting III
Rotten Flesh0–22⁄310–32⁄34⁄30–42⁄35⁄30–52⁄32
Iron Ingot[A]0–11⁄1201⁄1200–17⁄6007⁄6000–13⁄2003⁄2000–111⁄60011⁄600
Carrot[A]0–11⁄1201⁄1200–17⁄6007⁄6000–13⁄2003⁄2000–111⁄60011⁄600
Potato[A]0–11⁄1201⁄1200–17⁄6007⁄6000–13⁄2003⁄2000–111⁄60011⁄600
Music Disc Lava Chicken[A][B][C]111111111111

ItemAmountProbability
DefaultLooting ILooting IILooting III
Rotten Flesh01⁄3 (33.33%)1⁄3 (33.33%)1⁄3 (33.33%)1⁄3 (33.33%)
11⁄3 (33.33%)1⁄6 (16.67%)1⁄12 (8.33%)1⁄18 (5.56%)
21⁄3 (33.33%)1⁄3 (33.33%)1⁄4 (25.00%)1⁄6 (16.67%)
301⁄6 (16.67%)1⁄4 (25.00%)2⁄9 (22.22%)
4001⁄12 (8.33%)1⁄6 (16.67%)
50001⁄18 (5.56%)
Average1 (1.00)4⁄3 (1.33)5⁄3 (1.67)2 (2.00)
Iron Ingot[A]0119⁄120 (99.17%)593⁄600 (98.83%)197⁄200 (98.50%)589⁄600 (98.17%)
11⁄120 (0.83%)7⁄600 (1.17%)3⁄200 (1.50%)11⁄600 (1.83%)
Average1⁄120 (0.01)7⁄600 (0.01)3⁄200 (0.01)11⁄600 (0.02)
Carrot[A]0119⁄120 (99.17%)593⁄600 (98.83%)197⁄200 (98.50%)589⁄600 (98.17%)
11⁄120 (0.83%)7⁄600 (1.17%)3⁄200 (1.50%)11⁄600 (1.83%)
Average1⁄120 (0.01)7⁄600 (0.01)3⁄200 (0.01)11⁄600 (0.02)
Potato[A]0119⁄120 (99.17%)593⁄600 (98.83%)197⁄200 (98.50%)589⁄600 (98.17%)
11⁄120 (0.83%)7⁄600 (1.17%)3⁄200 (1.50%)11⁄600 (1.83%)
Average1⁄120 (0.01)7⁄600 (0.01)3⁄200 (0.01)11⁄600 (0.02)
Music Disc Lava Chicken[A][B][C]11 (100.00%)1 (100.00%)1 (100.00%)1 (100.00%)
Average1 (1.00)1 (1.00)1 (1.00)1 (1.00)

Killed1
ItemExpected Drops
DefaultLooting ILooting IILooting III
Rotten Flesh1.001.331.672.00
Iron Ingot[A]0.010.010.010.02
Carrot[A]0.010.010.010.02
Potato[A]0.010.010.010.02
Music Disc Lava Chicken[A][B][C]1.001.001.001.00

  1. ↑ a b c d Only when killed by a player or a tamed wolf.
  2. ↑ Only if it is a baby and is riding a chicken.
  3. ↑ Zombie villagers and husks unintentionally drop the Lava Chicken Music Disc due to MCPE-224103, as they use the zombie.json loot table.

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.[verify]

Naturally-spawned equipment
This feature is exclusive to Java Edition.
 

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

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).

  1. ↑ a b Zombie villagers spawn with pumpkins and jack o'lanterns‌[Java Edition only] only during Halloween.

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 as ordinary zombies, except that they do not convert to drowned when submerged.

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 towards 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.

Mob type

Being an undead mob, they are:

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. They can pick up all items except for the glow ink sac. In Java Edition, zombie villagers pick up items that they happen to walk near. In Bedrock Edition, they actively search for and walk towards dropped items.

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. 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.

Zombie villagers have a higher chance of being able to pick up items in Hard difficulty.

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

Chicken jockey riders cannot pick up any variant of an egg.

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][3]

Curing

There is a related tutorial page for this topic!
 

Zombie villagers can be cured (converted to normal villagers) by first giving them the Weakness effect, which can be applied by:

The weakened zombie villager must then be healed by using a (non-enchanted[4]) 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%.[5]

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.
 
A plains zombie villager ridden by a baby zombie

15% of nearby baby zombies, husks, or gurgles may ride an adult zombie villager to form a jockey.

Sounds

Java Edition:

Sounds
SoundClosed captionsSourceDescriptionIdentifierTranslation keyVolumePitchAttenuation
distance
​Zombie Villager groansHostile MobsRandomlyentity.zombie_villager.ambientsubtitles.entity.zombie_villager.ambient​1.00.8–1.2
(Baby: 1.8–2.2)
16
​Zombie Villager hurtsHostile MobsWhen a zombie villager is damagedentity.zombie_villager.hurtsubtitles.entity.zombie_villager.hurt​1.00.8–1.2
(Baby: 1.8–2.2)
16
​Zombie Villager diesHostile MobsWhen a zombie villager diesentity.zombie_villager.deathsubtitles.entity.zombie_villager.death​1.00.8–1.2
(Baby: 1.8–2.2)
16
​FootstepsHostile MobsWhile a zombie villager is walkingentity.zombie_villager.stepsubtitles.entity.zombie_villager.step​0.151.016
​Zombie infectsHostile MobsWhen a zombie villager infects a villagerentity.zombie.infectsubtitles.entity.zombie.infect​2.00.8–1.216
​Door shakesHostile MobsWhile a zombie villager is breaking a wooden doorentity.zombie.attack_wooden_doorsubtitles.entity.zombie.attack_wooden_door​2.00.8–1.216
​Door breaksHostile MobsWhen a zombie villager breaks a wooden doorentity.zombie.break_wooden_doorsubtitles.entity.zombie.break_wooden_door​2.00.8–1.216
​Turtle Egg stompedHostile MobsWhen a zombie villager is jumping on turtle eggsentity.zombie.destroy_eggsubtitles.entity.zombie.destroy_egg​0.50.9–1.116
​Zombie Villager snufflesHostile MobsWhen a zombie villager begins curingentity.zombie_villager.curesubtitles.entity.zombie_villager.cure​1.0–2.00.3–1.016
​Zombie Villager vociferatesHostile MobsWhen a zombie villager finishes curingentity.zombie_villager.convertedsubtitles.entity.zombie_villager.converted​2.00.8–1.216
​Block broken [sound 1]?Unused sound event[sound 2]entity.zombie.attack_iron_doorsubtitles.block.generic.break​​[sound 1]​NoneNoneNone
  1. ↑ a b MC-226770
  2. ↑ MC-218122

Bedrock Edition:

Sounds
SoundClosed captionsSourceDescriptionIdentifierTranslation keyVolumePitch
​ ?Hostile MobsRandomlymob.zombie_villager.say​ ?1.00.8–1.2 (Baby: 1.3–1.7)
​ ?Hostile MobsWhen a zombie villager is damagedmob.zombie_villager.hurt​ ?1.00.8–1.2 (Baby: 1.3–1.7)
​ ?Hostile MobsWhen a zombie villager diesmob.zombie_villager.death​ ?1.00.8–1.2 (Baby: 1.3–1.7)
​ ?Hostile MobsWhile a zombie villager is walkingmob.zombie.step​ ?0.451.0 (Baby: 1.5)
​ ?Hostile MobsWhile a zombie villager is breaking a wooden doormob.zombie.wood​ ?1.01.0
​ ?Hostile MobsWhen a zombie villager breaks a wooden doormob.zombie.woodbreak​ ?1.01.0
​ ?PlayersWhen a zombie villager is jumping on turtle eggsfall.egg​ ?0.50.9–1.0
​ ?Hostile MobsWhen a zombie villager begins curingmob.zombie.remedy​ ?1.0–2.00.3–1.0
​ ?Hostile MobsWhen a zombie villager finishes curingmob.zombie.unfect​ ?1.0–2.00.3–1.0

Data values

ID

Java Edition:

NameIdentifierEntity tags Translation key
EntitySprite zombie-villager.png: Sprite image for zombie-villager in Minecraft Zombie Villagerzombie_villagerburn_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:

NameIdentifierNumeric ID FamilyTranslation key
EntitySprite zombie-villager-revision-1.png: Sprite image for zombie-villager-revision-1 in Minecraft Zombie Villager (old)zombie_villager44 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
EntitySprite zombie-villager.png: Sprite image for zombie-villager in Minecraft Zombie Villager (new)zombie_villager_v2116 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:

  • [NBT Compound / JSON Object] Entity data
    • Tags common to all entities see Template:Nbt inherit/entity/template
    • Tags common to all mobs see Template:Nbt inherit/mob/template
    • [NBT List / JSON Array] Gossips: Pieces of gossip that can be exchanged between villagers when they meet. Is not preserved when removed.
      • [NBT Compound / JSON Object] A piece of gossip.
        • [Int] Value: The strength of the gossip.
          • for major_negative: weight -5, max 100, +25 if the villager sees you kill another villager, -10 every 20min, -10 when shared
          • for minor_negative: weight -1, max 200, +25 when hit, -20 every 20min, -20 when shared
          • for major_positive: weight 5, max 20, +20 when cured, does not decrease and never shared
          • for minor_positive: weight 1, max 200, +25 when cured, -1 every 20min, -5 when shared
          • for trading: weight 1, max 25, +2 per trade, -2 every 20min, -20 when shared
        • [Int Array] Target: The UUID of the player who caused the gossip, stored as four ints.
        • [String] Type: An ID value indicating the type of gossip. The possible values are major_negative, minor_negative, major_positive, minor_positive, and trading.
    • [NBT Compound / JSON Object] Offers: Is generated when the trading menu is opened for the first time.
      • [NBT List / JSON Array] Recipes: List of trade options.
        • [NBT Compound / JSON Object] A trade option.
          • [NBT Compound / JSON Object] buy: The first 'cost' item, without the Slot tag.
          • [NBT Compound / JSON Object] buyB: Optional. The second 'cost' item, without the Slot tag.
          • [Int] demand: The price adjuster of the first 'cost' item based on demand. Updated when a villager resupply.
          • [Int] maxUses: The maximum number of times this trade can be used before it is disabled. Increases by a random amount from 2 to 12 when offers are refreshed.
          • [Float] priceMultiplier: The multiplier on the [Int] demand price adjuster; the final adjusted price is added to the first 'cost' item's price.
          • [Byte] rewardExp: 1 or 0 (true/false) – Whether this trade provides XP orb drops. All trades from naturally-generated villagers in Java Edition reward XP orbs.
          • [NBT Compound / JSON Object] sell: The item being sold for each set of cost items, without the Slot tag.
          • [Int] specialPrice: A modifier added to the original price of the first 'cost' item.
          • [Int] uses: The number of times this trade has been used. The trade becomes disabled when this is greater or equal to maxUses.
          • [Int] xp: How much experience the villager gets from this trade.
    • [NBT Compound / JSON Object] VillagerData: Information about the villager’s type, profession, and level.
      • [Int] level: The current level of this villager's profession. Influences the trading options generated by the villager. If it is greater than their profession's maximum level, no new offers are generated. Increments when the villager fills his trading xp bar. Also used for badge rendering.
        • 1: Novice
        • 2: Apprentice
        • 3: Journeyman
        • 4: Expert
        • 5: Master
      • [String] profession: A resource location indicating the villager's profession; see Villager § Professions.
      • [String] type: A resource location indicating the villager's type; see Villager § Appearance. Represents the minecraft:villager/variant component.
    • [Int] Xp: How much experience the villager currently has, increases with trading in various amounts.
      • 0 to 9: Novice
      • 10 to 69: Apprentice
      • 70 to 149: Journeyman
      • 150 to 249: Expert
      • 250 and more: Master
    • [Byte] CanBreakDoors: 1 or 0 (true/false) - true if the zombie can break doors (default value is 0).
    • [Int] DrownedConversionTime: The number of ticks until this zombie converts to a drowned, or husk to zombie. (default value is -1, when no conversion is under way).
    • [Int] InWaterTime: The number of ticks this zombie or husk has been under water, used to start the drowning conversion. (default value is -1, when no conversion is under way).
    • [Byte] IsBaby: 1 or 0 (true/false) - true if this zombie is a baby. May be absent.
    • [Int] ConversionTime: -1 when not being converted back to a villager, positive for the number of ticks until conversion back into a villager. The regeneration effect parallels this.
    • [Int Array] ConversionPlayer: The UUID of the player who started curing the zombie, stored as four ints.
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

IconAchievementIn-game descriptionActual requirements (if different)Gamerscore earnedTrophy type (PS)
PS4Other
Monster HunterAttack and destroy a monster. Other mobs may be killed, but are ignored for this achievement.15Bronze
Diamonds to you!Throw diamonds at another player.Drop a diamond. Another player or a zombie must then pick up this diamond.15Bronze
Zombie DoctorCure 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).40Gold
It SpreadsKill a mob next to a catalystKill 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.10Bronze

Achievements that apply to all mobs:

Advancements

IconAdvancementIn-game descriptionActual requirements (if different)
Zombie DoctorWeaken and then cure a Zombie VillagerUse 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 HunterKill any hostile monster Other mobs may be killed, but are ignored for this advancement.
It SpreadsKill a mob near a Sculk CatalystKill 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 HuntedKill one of every hostile monster Other mobs may be killed, but are ignored for this advancement.

Advancements that apply to all mobs:

Videos

Note: Zombie villagers have new textures and sounds as of Village and Pillage.

History

Java Edition

Java Edition
1.4.212w32a 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.
12w34aZombie villagers now have two new rare drops – carrots and potatoes.
12w34bZombie villagers can now pick up and equip dropped items.[6][7]
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.[8]
12w37a On Halloween, zombie villagers can now spawn wearing pumpkins or jack o'lanterns.
1.513w03aZombie 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.
1.6.113w17aWhen damaged, zombie villagers now have a low chance to spawn more zombies.
13w21aZombie villager damage increasing with decreasing health has been removed.
13w23bZombie 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.
1.6.2preBaby zombie villagers now spawn among regular ones.
Baby zombie villagers now have the same percentage of spawning as zombie villagers.
1.7.213w36aBaby zombie villagers now drop loot and experience.
1.7.413w49aAdded zombie villager chicken jockeys – a rare version of the baby zombie villager.
1.814w11aZombie villagers now run away from creepers that are about to explode.
14w30aZombie villagers now drop a zombie head when killed by a charged creeper.
1.8.1pre1Zombie villagers no longer run away from creepers that are about to explode.
1.915w32aThe detection range of zombie villagers is now halved when the player is wearing a zombie mob head.
15w33cThe zombie villager's detection range for players wearing the zombie head has been adjusted, now 37.5% of the normal range.
15w34aZombie 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.
15w36aThe zombie villager's detection range for players wearing the zombie head is now again 50% of the normal range.
15w43aA zombie villager priest can now be found caged in an igloo basement.
1.1016w20a"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.
pre1The 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.
1.1116w32aAdded 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.[9]
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.
16w39aZombie villagers now have their own sounds.
1.1318w07aZombie villagers now intentionally stomp on turtle eggs and attack turtles.
18w10dBaby zombie villagers now burn in the sun.
18w19aZombie villagers now sink in water.
Zombie villagers no longer drown underwater.
1.1418w50aZombie 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.
1.1519w37aMobs that spawn wearing carved pumpkins or jack o'lanterns on Halloween no longer drop them.
19w41aZombie villagers that were converted from villagers are supposed to no longer despawn. However, they still do.[10]
19w46aBaby zombie villagers can now be spawned by using a zombie villager spawn egg on an existing zombie villager.[11]
1.1620w06aZombie villagers that were converted from villagers no longer despawn.[10]
1.1721w11a The overlay texture of the zombie librarian now have been changed.
21w13aLegacy zombie villager texture[12] have been removed.
Zombie villagers drop baked potatoes instead of normal potatoes if on fire when killed or killed by a fire source.
1.17.1pre1Zombie villagers no longer pick up glow ink sacs, to prevent them from persisting after picking up loot from a dead glow squid.
1.1821w41aThe profession textures of Zombie Armorer and Zombie Weaponsmith have been changed.

1.1922w17aThe sole textures of the Jungle, Plains, Savannna, and Snowy and arms of Weaponsmith have been changed.
1.20.223w31aVillagers no longer offer additional discounts after being cured more than once [13]
1.20.323w40aZombie villagers are now part of the #can_breathe_under_water, #undead and #zombies tags.
1.21.224w33aZombie villagers now spawn more zombie villagers as zombie reinforcements instead of regular zombies.[14]
Now naturally spawn with armor in the order of (most likely to least likely): helmet, chestplate, leggings, boots.[15]
1.21.1125w41aZombie villagers can now use spears.
26.1snap1Leader zombie villagers now spawn with their maximum health instead of 20 health.[16]
snap7 The model and textures of baby zombie villagers have been changed.
26.2snap5The heights of baby zombie villagers have been changed from 0.99 blocks to 0.98 blocks, to match Bedrock Edition.

Bedrock Edition

Pocket Edition Alpha
v0.12.1build 1 Added zombie villagers.
Added baby zombie villagers.
Zombie villagers retain their professions and clothes, which have a tattered appearance.
v0.14.0build 1Baby zombie villagers now have a 15% chance of becoming a jockey. Before becoming a jockey, upon nearing the player, they check for one of the following to mount prior attacking: adult chickens, adult ocelots, adult wolves, adult zombies, adult zombie villager, adult zombie pigmen, cows, pigs, sheep, cave spiders, or spiders.
v0.15.0build 1Baby zombie villagers can now mount adult husks and horse variants.
Pocket Edition
1.1.0alpha 1.1.0.9Zombie villagers now have their own sounds.
Bedrock Edition
?Baby zombie villagers can no longer mount adult zombie pigmen.
1.4.0beta 1.2.20.1Baby zombie villagers now burn in daylight.
1.5.0beta 1.5.0.0Zombie villagers now sink underwater.
beta 1.5.0.4Zombie villagers now attack baby turtles and stomp on turtle eggs.
1.8.0beta 1.8.0.8Baby zombie villagers can now mount pandas and stray cats.
1.10.0
Experiment
Experimental Gameplay
beta 1.10.0.3Zombie villagers are now split into 2 different mobs, new zombie villagers (which are only available behind Experimental Gameplay) now have new skins, coresponding 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.
Added nitwit, mason, and unemployed zombie villager professions.
Zombie villagers now attack wandering traders.
Cured zombie villagers can now retain their trades.
1.11.0beta 1.11.0.3The new zombie villagers are now available outside of Experimental Gameplay.
1.12.0beta 1.12.0.2The new zombie villagers now have sounds.
1.13.0beta 1.13.0.1The old zombie villagers no longer spawn naturally. However, they still exist.
1.16.0beta 1.15.0.51Zombie villagers can no longer break iron doors.[17]
beta 1.16.0.51Zombie villagers now have ability to pick up items.
1.17.30beta 1.17.30.20Zombie villagers no longer pick up glow ink sacs, to prevent them from persisting after picking up loot from a dead glow squid.
1.19.20Preview 1.19.20.2010% of zombie villagers that spawn can now break doors, instead of all of them.[18]
1.20.30Preview 1.20.30.21Zombie villagers being cured back into villagers more than once no longer offer additional discounts after.
1.20.40Preview 1.20.40.20Zombie villager curing time is no longer a set value of 2000 ticks, and is instead a random value between 3600 and 6000 ticks.
1.21.60Preview 1.21.60.21Zombie villagers that spawn in mangrove swamps now use the swamp skin.
1.21.130Preview 1.21.130.26Baby zombie villagers can no longer mount other mobs as jockeys.
Preview 1.21.130.27Zombie villagers can now pick up spears and use their charge attack. However, unlike Java Edition, they cannot spawn holding iron spears.
26.0Preview 26.0.23Zombie villagers are now part of the monster spawn category.
Preview 26.0.27Due to a bug, baby zombie villagers can still not mount mobs as jockeys.[19]
26.10Preview 26.10.23 The model and textures of baby zombie villagers have been changed.
Preview 26.10.24Baby zombie villagers no longer raise their arms when holding items.[20]
26.20Preview 26.20.22The hitboxes of baby zombie villagers have been changed, to closely match Java Edition.[21]

Legacy Console Edition

Legacy Console Edition
Xbox 360Xbox OnePS3PS4PS VitaWii USwitch
TU14CU11.041.001.00Patch 11.0.1 Added zombie villagers.
Added baby zombie villagers.
Baby zombie villagers can be obtained only by having a zombie kill a baby villager, as a zombie spawn egg does not spawn them, due to baby zombies not being in game.
TU151.05The rare loot of zombie villagers' drops have been changed to be carrots, potatoes or iron ingots.
TU19CU71.121.121.12Zombie villagers can now pick up items and occasionally spawn with armor and/or weapons.
Baby zombie villagers can now be spawned with a zombie spawn egg.
When damaged, zombie villagers now have a low chance to spawn more zombies.[verify]
On Halloween, zombie villagers can now spawn wearing pumpkins or jack o'lanterns.[is this the correct version?]
TU31CU191.221.221.22Patch 3Baby zombie villagers now drop experience.
Added zombie villager chicken jockeys – a rare version of the baby zombie villager.
Zombie villagers now drop a zombie head when killed by a charged creeper.
TU43CU331.361.361.36Patch 13A zombie villager can now be found in igloo basements. Since the new zombie villager skins were not added yet, the zombie villager received a random profession when cured.
TU46CU361.381.381.38Patch 15 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 body.
When the curing process of zombie villagers finishes, they now make the same sound as when the curing process starts.
The zombie villager in igloo basements is now a cleric.
TU54CU451.571.561.56Patch 241.0.4Zombie Villagers no longer spawn from zombie spawn eggs or spawners, since they now have their own spawn egg.
TU56CU471.551.551.55Patch 261.0.6Zombie villagers now spawn in abandoned villages.
TU60CU511.641.641.64Patch 301.0.11Baby zombie villagers now have a 15% chance of becoming a jockey. Before becoming a jockey, upon nearing the player, they check for one of the following to mount prior attacking: adult chickens, adult ocelots, adult wolves, adult zombies, cows, pigs, sheep, spiders or cave spiders.
TU69 1.761.761.76Patch 38 Zombie villagers now have their own sounds.
Zombie villagers now sink in water.
Zombie villagers no longer drown underwater.
1.91 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. However, jungles do not contain villages, so these zombie villagers spawn only after the player has a jungle village.
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. However, swamps do not contain villages, so these zombie villagers spawn only after the player has created a village in a swamp.
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. However, jungles and swamps do not contain villages, so these zombie villagers spawn only after the player has created a village in those biomes.

New Nintendo 3DS Edition

New Nintendo 3DS Edition
0.1.0 Added zombie villagers.
Added baby zombie villagers.

Data history

Java Edition
1.915w35aA new VillagerProfession tag that determines what profession the zombie villager is, as well its profession when cured, has been added.
1.1116w32aThe entity ID Zombie has been changed to zombie, zombie_villager and husk for those respective mobs.
The ZombieType, IsVillager tag has been removed and the Profession tag to the zombie_villager has been added, and the ConversionTime has been made to apply to zombie_villager only.
Setting the Profession tag to 5 now makes green-robed villagers.
1.1217w14aAdded ConversionPlayerLeast and ConversionPlayerMost tags to the zombie villager, for the purpose of the minecraft:cured_zombie_villager trigger for advancements.
1.1317w47aNumeric IDs for entities were presumably deprecated in this version.​[more information needed]

Issues

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

Trivia

  • When a zombie villager wears a carved pumpkin or jack o'lantern, its head is so tall that it pokes out the top of the pumpkin.
  • In Java Edition, zombie villagers have a glitched design when using the programmer art resource pack.[22]
  • In Bedrock Edition, when a zombie villager holds a trident, the hand that holds the trident lowers.
  • In Bedrock Edition, if a zombie villager is summoned using the /summon command with an invalid spawn event, a generic zombie villager spawns with the following issues.
    • They are not in any family.
    • They move extremely fast.
  • In Bedrock Edition, the icon for the achievement "Zombie Doctor" uses the old zombie villager texture.
  • Curing a zombie villager chicken jockey is the only way to get a villager riding a chicken without the use of commands.[23]‌[Java Edition only]
  • Green-colored zombies are also present in Minicraft, a 2D Minecraft-inspired game also created by Markus Persson.
  • In Java Edition, the rarest mob is a baby zombie villager riding a chicken, with 3 pieces of enchanted diamond armor, an enchanted iron sword and a jack o'lantern on its head. It has approximately a 1 in 948 trillion (948,148,148,148,148) chance to spawn and can be found only during Halloween, as this is when mobs can spawn wearing jack o' lanterns.
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The specific instructions are:
  • Updated baby renders as of 26.1 / 26.10
  • Targeting zombie villager

Textures

Renders

Halloween

Screenshots

In other media

References

  1. ↑ MCPE-174944 – Zombie villagers never spawn with armor or weapon
  2. ↑ MCPE-233468 – Zombies can wear Wolf Armor
  3. ↑ MCPE-239868 – All types of zombies including zombie villagers can equip wolf armor, nautilus armor and horse armor. – resolved as "Duplicate".
  4. ↑ MC-107909 – Can't cure zombie villager with enchanted golden apple – resolved as "Works As Intended".
  5. ↑ https://youtube.com/watch?v=CYIAfv291k4
  6. ↑ https://twitter.com/jeb_/status/240381873480687616
  7. ↑ http://www.reddit.com/r/Minecraft/comments/yrjp8/zombies_can_pick_up_items_from_the_ground_in_the/c5y7uma
  8. ↑ https://twitter.com/Dinnerbone/status/243645556872855552
  9. ↑ MC-106146 – resolved as "Works As Intended".
  10. ↑ a b MC-159300
  11. ↑ MC-2871
  12. ↑ /assets/minecraft/textures/entity/zombie/zombie_villager.png
  13. ↑ MC-181190
  14. ↑ MC-14800
  15. ↑ "[MC-182478] Mob armor generates starting with boots rather than helmet – Jira" – Mojira, May 5, 2020.
  16. ↑ MC-219981 – Leader zombie-type mobs spawn with 20 health despite having increased max health – resolved as "Fixed".
  17. ↑ MCPE-43725 – resolved as "Fixed".
  18. ↑ MCPE-79636 – resolved as "Fixed".
  19. ↑ MCPE-234690
  20. ↑ MCPE-236381 – resolved as "Works As Intended".
  21. ↑ MCPE-236077
  22. ↑ MC-140954 – Zombie villager fists render around the head while using Programmer Art texture pack
  23. ↑ MC-200418 – Cured baby zombie villagers stay as jockey variant
  24. ↑ "Minecraft LoFi: Laid back lutes for leading the charge" – Minecraft on YouTube, September 18, 2023

Sources