Head

Head

Rarity	Uncommon
Renewable	Skeleton, Wither Skeleton, Zombie, Creeper Yes Dragon, Player No
Stackable	Yes (64)
Tool	Any tool
Blast resistance	1
Hardness	1
Luminant	Yes[more information needed]
Transparent	Yes
Flammable	No
Catches fire from lava	Yes

A head is a decorative block. There are six types of heads: player, zombie, skeleton, wither skeleton, creeper, and dragon.

Obtaining

Breaking

A mob head can be broken using anything and drops itself when broken.

Block	Mob Head
Hardness	1
Breaking time
Default	1.5

If a head is pushed by a piston or comes in contact with water or lava, it breaks off as an item.

Natural generation

Dragon heads generate on end ships.

Mob loot

A wither skeleton has a 2.5% chance of dropping a wither skeleton skull when killed by a player or tamed wolf. The chance is increased by 1% per level of Looting, for a maximum of 5.5% with Looting III.

In Bedrock Edition, the chance is increased by 2% per level of Looting, for a maximum of 8.5% with Looting III.

Skeleton, wither skeleton, zombie, and creeper heads are also always dropped by the respective mob if it dies due to a charged creeper's explosion. If an ender dragon is killed by a charged creeper, it does not drop its head.

In Bedrock Edition, strays drop a wither skeleton skull when killed by a charged creeper. It is not known whether this is intentional or not, but it is more than likely a bug.

Player heads cannot be obtained as drops.

Usage

Decoration

Mob heads can be oriented in 16 different directions on top of a block, and 4 directions on the sides of blocks, similar to signs. They cannot be placed on top of each other, but they don't require a supporting block.

The dragon head opens and closes its mouth repeatedly like the ender dragon when placed and powered by redstone. The same animation occurs when worn by a (horizontally) moving player, zombie, skeleton, or armor stand (note: the animation does not play if the NoGravity tag is set to 1)

Wearing

The player can wear heads, similarly to pumpkins or helmets. This overlays the second layer of the player's skin.

Disguise

Wearing the corresponding mob head reduces the detection range for skeletons (but not wither skeletons), creepers, and zombies to 50% of the normal range. This is similar to (and stacks with) the reductions in detection range from sneaking and from the Invisibility status effect.

In Bedrock Edition, wearing any mob head or carved pumpkin makes the player invisible to other players on a locator map.

Withers

Wither build configuration

Withers can be created by placing soul sand or soul soil in a T shape, and putting 3 wither skeleton skulls on top of the three upper blocks. The last block placed must be one of the three wither skeleton skulls. A dispenser can also create a wither, by placing the final skull onto soul sand directly in front of and below it.

Dispensers

A dispenser can equip a mob head on a player, mob, or armor stand with an empty helmet slot, within the block the dispenser is facing.

Crafting ingredient

Name	Ingredients	Crafting recipe	Description
Banner Pattern Creeper	Paper + Creeper Head		Creeper face
Banner Pattern Skull	Paper + Wither Skeleton Skull		Skeleton skull and crossbones
Firework Star	Any Mob head + Gunpowder + Any Dye		Forms Creeper shape

Enchantments

Mob heads can receive the following enchantments, but only through an anvil.

Name	Max Level	Method
Curse of Binding	I
Curse of Vanishing	I

Player skins

Human heads have an extra usage for map makers, they can be given NBT data so that they appear with the skin of any Minecraft account. This means if a player knows that a specific account has a head that is desired to display, the NBT data can be edited to make it appear.

The command to give the player a head skinned as another player is /give @p minecraft:player_head{SkullOwner:"<PlayerName>"}. Commonly, this kind of head is called player head.

Another command to give the player a head with another player's skin is /give @p minecraft:player_head{SkullOwner:{Id:"<PlayerUUID>",Properties:{textures:[{Value:"<SkinURL>"}]} } }. SkinURL is a string encoded in Base64 containing the URL of the player's skin. A player head saves the skin of the player from the time it was created, meaning if the player changes their skin, the head still displays the original texture. This kind of head is generally called custom head.

Mojang Studios skins

Most of the MHF mob heads provided by Mojang.

^[verify] Mojang Studios has created a number of accounts with specific skins, so that map makers can use common heads without the risk of someone changing their skins. These accounts have names in the format MHF_<Name>, for example MHF_PigZombie is the name of a Minecraft user with a zombie pigman head. MHF stands for "Marc's Head Format". There are also a few blocks and "bonus" heads, for more variety.

Because these are names of player accounts, these heads are obtained or placed using the SkullOwner tag, for instance: /give @s minecraft:player_head{SkullOwner:"MHF_<Name>"}.

The following names/heads have been made available:

Mobs

• MHF_Alex
• MHF_Blaze
• MHF_CaveSpider
• MHF_Chicken
• MHF_Cow
• MHF_Creeper
• MHF_Enderman
• MHF_Ghast
• MHF_Golem
• MHF_Herobrine
• MHF_LavaSlime
• MHF_MushroomCow
• MHF_Ocelot
• MHF_Pig
• MHF_PigZombie
• MHF_Sheep
• MHF_Skeleton
• MHF_Slime
• MHF_Spider
• MHF_Squid
• MHF_Steve
• MHF_Villager
• MHF_WSkeleton
• MHF_Zombie

Blocks

• MHF_Cactus
• MHF_Cake
• MHF_Chest
• MHF_CoconutB
• MHF_CoconutG
• MHF_Melon
• MHF_OakLog
• MHF_Present1
• MHF_Present2
• MHF_Pumpkin
• MHF_TNT
• MHF_TNT2

Bonus

• MHF_ArrowUp
• MHF_ArrowDown
• MHF_ArrowLeft
• MHF_ArrowRight
• MHF_Exclamation
• MHF_Question

Sounds

Java Edition:

Sound	Subtitle	Source	Description	Namespaced ID	Translation key	Volume	Pitch	Attenuation distance
	Block broken	Blocks	Breaking the block	block.stone.break	subtitles.block.generic.break	1.0	0.8	16
	None	Blocks	Falling on the block with fall damage	block.stone.fall	None	0.5	0.75	16
	Block breaking	Blocks	Mining the block	block.stone.hit	subtitles.block.generic.hit	0.25	0.5	16
	Block placed	Blocks	Placing the block	block.stone.place	subtitles.block.generic.place	1.0	0.8	16
	Footsteps	Blocks	Walking on the block	block.stone.step	subtitles.block.generic.footsteps	0.15	1.0	16

Bedrock Edition: ^{[needs in-game testing]}

Sound	Source‌[upcoming: BE 1.16.200]	Description	Namespaced ID	Volume	Pitch
	?	Breaking the block	dig.stone	?	0.8
	?	Falling on the block with fall damage	fall.stone	?	?
	?	Mining the block	hit.stone	?	0.5
?	?	Jumping from the block	jump.stone	?	?
?	?	Falling on the block without fall damage	land.stone	?	?
	?	Walking on the block	step.stone	?	?
	?	Placing the block	use.stone	?	0.8

Data values

ID

Java Edition:

Name	Namespaced ID	Item form?	Translation key
Skeleton Skull	skeleton_skull	Yes	block.minecraft.skeleton_skull
Wither Skeleton Skull	wither_skeleton_skull	Yes	block.minecraft.wither_skeleton_skull
Zombie Head	zombie_head	Yes	block.minecraft.zombie_head
Player Head	player_head	Yes	block.minecraft.player_head
Creeper Head	creeper_head	Yes	block.minecraft.creeper_head
Dragon Head	dragon_head	Yes	block.minecraft.dragon_head
Skeleton Wall Skull	skeleton_wall_skull	No	block.minecraft.skeleton_wall_skull
Wither Skeleton Wall Skull	wither_skeleton_wall_skull	No	block.minecraft.wither_skeleton_wall_skull
Zombie Wall Head	zombie_wall_head	No	block.minecraft.zombie_wall_head
Player Wall Head	player_wall_head	No	block.minecraft.player_wall_head
Creeper Wall Head	creeper_wall_head	No	block.minecraft.creeper_wall_head
Dragon Wall Head	dragon_wall_head	No	block.minecraft.dragon_wall_head

Name	Namespaced ID
Block entity	skull

Bedrock Edition:

Head	Namespaced ID	Numeric ID	Translation key
Block	skull	144	tile.skull.name
Item	skull	397	item.skull.skeleton.name item.skull.wither.name item.skull.zombie.name item.skull.char.name item.skull.creeper.name item.skull.dragon.name

Name	Savegame ID
Block entity	Skull

Block data

See also: Data values

In Bedrock Edition, mob heads use the following data values: For the block, data values determine the block placement:

	DV	Description
	0	(unused)
	1	On the floor (rotation is stored in the tile entity)
	2	On a wall, facing north
	3	On a wall, facing south
	4	On a wall, facing east
	5	On a wall, facing west

For the item and for the tile entity, data values determine the skull type:

	DV	Description
	0	Skeleton Skull
	1	Wither Skeleton Skull
	2	Zombie Head
	3	Head
	4	Creeper Head
	5	Dragon Head

Item data

Player heads use item NBT to save the owner.

•  tag: The item's tag tag.

• •  SkullOwner: The username of the player this is a skull of. This gets converted to the compound version on almost any action.
  •  SkullOwner: Different definition for the skull's owner.
    •  Id: UUID of owner, stored as four ints. Optional. Used to update the other tags when the chunk loads or the holder logs in, in case the owner's name has changed.
    •  Name: Username of owner. If missing or empty, the head appears as a Steve head. Otherwise, used to store or retrieve the downloaded skin in the cache. Need not be a valid player name, but must not be all spaces.
    •  Properties
      •  textures
        • : An individual texture.
          •  Signature: Optional.
          •  Value: A Base64-encoded JSON object.
            •  timestamp: Optional: Unix time in milliseconds.
            •  profileId: Optional: The hexadecimal text form of the player's UUID, without hyphens.
            •  profileName: Optional: Player name.
            •  isPublic: Optional.
            •  textures
              •  SKIN
                •  url: URL of a player skin on textures.minecraft.net.
              •  CAPE: Optional.
                •  url: URL of a player cape (64x32 PNG).

Block states

See also: Block states

Java Edition:
Floor

Name	Default value	Allowed values	Description
rotation	0	0	The block is facing south.
		1	The block is facing south-southwest.
		2	The block is facing southwest.
		3	The block is facing west-southwest.
		4	The block is facing west.
		5	The block is facing west-northwest.
		6	The block is facing northwest.
		7	The block is facing north-northwest.
		8	The block is facing north.
		9	The block is facing north-northeast.
		10	The block is facing northeast.
		11	The block is facing east-northeast.
		12	The block is facing east.
		13	The block is facing east-southeast.
		14	The block is facing southeast.
		15	The block is facing south-southeast.

Wall

Name	Default value	Allowed values	Description
facing	north	east north south west	The direction the head is facing. Opposite from the direction a player is facing when placing it.

Bedrock Edition:

Name	Default value	Allowed values	Description
facing_direction	0	0 1 2 3	The skull is attached to this side of a block, and the skull's eyes look in this direction. The direction from the block the skull is attached to, to the skull.
		4	The skull sits on the floor.
		5	Not accessible by placing the mob head item. Appears as an east-facing skull, but with the hit-box of an up-facing skull.
nodrop_bit	0	0 1	If true, the skull does not drop as an item.

Block entity

See also: Block entity format

A mob head has a block entity associated with it that holds additional data about the block.

• Block entity data
  • Tags common to all block entities see Template:Nbt inherit/blockentity/template
  •  SkullOwner: The definition of the skull's owner. When this is a player_head or player_wall_head, shows this player's skin; if missing, shows the head of the default Steve skin.
    •  Id: UUID of owner, stored as four ints. Optional. Used to update the other tags when the chunk loads or the holder logs in, in case the owner's name has changed.
    •  Name: Username of owner. If missing or empty, the head appears as a Steve head. Otherwise, used to store or retrieve the downloaded skin in the cache. Need not be a valid player name, but must not be all spaces.
    •  Properties
      •  textures
        • : An individual texture.
          •  Signature: Optional.
          •  Value: A Base64-encoded JSON object.
            •  timestamp: Optional: Unix time in milliseconds.
            •  profileId: Optional: The hexadecimal text form of the player's UUID, without hyphens.
            •  profileName: Optional: Player name.
            •  isPublic: Optional.
            •  textures
              •  SKIN
                •  url: URL of a player skin on textures.minecraft.net.
              •  CAPE: Optional.
                •  url: URL of a player cape (64x32 PNG).

Achievements

Icon		Achievement	In-game description	Actual requirements (if different)	Gamerscore earned	Trophy type (PS)
		Camouflage	Kill a mob while wearing the same type of mob head.	—	30G	Bronze

Advancements

Icon	Advancement	In-game description	Parent	Actual requirements (if different)	Namespaced ID
	Spooky Scary Skeleton	Obtain a Wither Skeleton's skull	A Terrible Fortress	Have a wither skeleton skull in your inventory.	nether/get_wither_skull

History

Java Edition
August 28, 2012					Jeb released images of the skeleton head, hinting of more types to come.
PAX 2012					At PAX, Dinnerbone revealed that there would be rare drops of these mobs.
1.4.2		12w36a			Added skeleton, wither skeleton, zombie, human, and creeper heads.
					Wither skeleton skulls are rarely dropped by the wither skeleton upon death (2.5% chance), while the other four are obtainable only from the creative inventory.
					The head block itself, which is obtainable via commands, uses a sheet of soul sand as its texture.
		12w37a			Added as a hidden and disabled feature, human heads can now have the skin of a specific player. A line in the language file implies that there either used to be, or in a future update, the possibility of obtaining a specific player's head.
					Player heads do not drop in vanilla, but mapmakers/modders/etc. can make them by adding an NBT string tag {"SkullOwner":"player_name"} on the skull items.
November 7, 2012					Jeb states that the official opinion is that "[dropping] player heads [on player kills] are a bit too gory for Minecraft, so it's better suited for a plugin or mod."
1.4.6		12w49a			Any kind of mob head can now be used to craft a firework star with creeper-face effect.
1.5		13w02a			Following texture storage reforms, the usually-unobtainable skull block now appears completely invisible as an item.
		13w02b			The skull block now uses the skeleton skull item texture as its texture.
1.7.2		13w36a			Custom heads can now be obtained without third party programs via /give.
		13w37a			The item form of block ID 144, skull, has been removed from the game. It can no longer exist in inventories, only as a block in the world.
1.8		14w03a			Player heads now show the skin's hat layer (this also works when a mob/player wears the head).
		14w29a			Heads now display a cracking animation.
		14w30a			Player and mob heads in inventories and held by mobs/players now display as blocks.
					Skulls worn by mobs and players are now displayed on the armor layer. Previously, the skull replaced the mob/player's head texture; the hat layer appeared over the skull.
					Skeleton, zombie, and creeper heads are now available in survival. The player can obtain them by killing the appropriate mob with a charged creeper.
					Creeper heads and wither skeleton skulls are now used in crafting specific banner patterns.
		14w30b			A single charged creeper explosion no longer yields more than one mob head. The mob head that drops is chosen randomly.
1.8.4		release			For security reasons, custom heads can now have textures only from mojang.com and minecraft.net.
1.9		15w31a			Added dragon heads.
					Dragon heads are currently available only in creative mode.
					Mob heads now appear larger in the inventory.
		15w32a			Creeper, zombie, and skeleton heads can now be worn to reduce detection by the corresponding mobs by 50%.
		15w32c			Dragon heads now generate on end ships, meaning they are now obtainable in survival.
		15w33c			The disguise that is given by mob heads now reduces detection range to 37.5% of normal.
		15w36a			The disguise that is given by mob heads now reduces detection range to 50% of normal again.
		15w39a			Dispensers can now equip mob heads onto players, mobs and armor stands.
1.13		17w47a			The ID of heads have been split into 12; one of each available standard head, as well as a wall counterpart of each.
					skeleton_skull, wither_skeleton_skull, player_head, zombie_head, creeper_head and dragon_head are now available as items and placed blocks with a rotation block state of 0-15.
					skeleton_wall_skull, wither_skeleton_wall_skull, player_wall_head, zombie_wall_head, creeper_wall_head and dragon_wall_head are available only as placed blocks with a facing block state of north, south, east or west.
					Prior to The Flattening, this block's numeral ID was 144, and the item's 397.
Pocket Edition Alpha
0.12.1		build 1			Added skeleton, wither skeleton, zombie, human, and creeper heads.
					The skeleton, wither skeleton, zombie, human and creeper heads use the Java textures prior to 14w30a.
0.14.0		build 1			Mob heads can now be worn as armor.
0.16.0		build 4			Wither skeleton skulls can now be used to spawn the wither.
Pocket Edition
1.0.0		alpha 0.17.0.1			Added dragon heads.
					Dragon heads use a two-dimensional sprite, unlike Java does.
Bedrock Edition
1.2.0		beta 1.2.0.2			Mob heads can now be used to craft firework stars.
					Creeper heads and wither skeleton skulls are now used to craft specific patterns on banners.
		beta 1.2.0.11			Player and mob heads in inventories and when held by mobs/players now display as blocks.
1.10.0		beta 1.10.0.3			Wither skeleton skulls and creeper heads can now be used to craft banner patterns.
Legacy Console Edition
TU12	CU1	1.0	Patch 1	1.0.1	Added skeleton, wither skeleton, zombie, human, and creeper heads to the creative inventory.
					Wither skeleton skulls currently do not have a use.
TU19	CU7	1.12			Wither skeleton skulls can now be obtained by killing wither skeletons.
					Wither skeleton skulls can now be used to build the wither.
TU31	CU19	1.22	Patch 3		Skeleton, zombie, and creeper heads are now available in survival. The player can obtain them by killing the appropriate mob with a charged creeper.
TU46	CU36	1.38	Patch 15		Added dragon heads.
New Nintendo 3DS Edition
0.1.0					Added skeleton, wither skeleton, zombie, human, and creeper heads.
1.7.10					Added dragon heads.

Issues

Issues relating to "Head" are maintained on the bug tracker. Report issues there.

Trivia

• When destroyed by an explosion, the block always drops as an item.
• Heads are one of the few blocks that do not have their own textures and take their textures from other objects.
• When breaking any head, the particle effect of breaking it is the same as soul sand.
• Interestingly, despite there being a default Steve head, an Alex head cannot be obtained without using custom names.
• If a player accidentally wears a mob head with the curse of binding enchant or if it is put on them by a dispenser then they cannot remove it unless they die. This is particularly troubling in hardcore mode.

Gallery

• 

  First screenshot released of heads.

• 

  All of the heads.

• 

  Heads oriented in different directions.

• 

  Heads are the same scale as cobblestone wall posts.

• 

  A picture of player heads, including some Mojang characters.

• 

  An image of some of the heads on accounts that Marc Watson made.

• 

  A dragon head found at an end ship.

• 

  An animation of the dragon head when the redstone power is supplied.

References

Blocks

View at: Template:Blocks/content [edit]

Items

View at: Template:Items/content [edit]