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Skeleton
| Health points |
20 |
|---|---|
| Behavior |
Hostile |
| Attack strength |
Ranged |
| Size |
Height: 1.99 Blocks |
| Spawn |
Overworld: Light level of 7 or less.
|
| Natural equipment |
|
This article is about the regular skeleton. For their variant that spawns in icy biomes, see Stray. For their variant that spawns in the Nether, see Wither Skeleton. For other uses, see Skeleton (disambiguation).Skeletons are common undead hostile mobs equipped with bows.
Contents
Spawning[edit]
Skeletons spawn at a light level of 7 or less in groups of 4 in Java and 1 to 2 in Bedrock. They can be found above solid blocks from any land biome except mushroom fields. 80% of skeletons spawned directly under the sky spawn as strays in snowy tundras, frozen oceans and variants.
Spiders have a 1% chance to spawn with a skeleton riding them, creating a spider jockey.
Skeleton horsemen spawn when a skeleton trap is triggered. The skeletons ride on skeleton horses and are equipped with enchanted bows and iron helmets, and have damage immunity for 3 seconds after spawning.
- Bedrock Edition
Skeleton horsemen do not have damage immunity. Skeletons, in general, are immune from lightning bolts.
Spawners[edit]
Skeletons spawn from 25% of the spawners found in dungeons.
The Nether[edit]
Some of them may spawn in fortresses, replacing 20% of wither skeletons.
Skeletons are common in soul sand valleys, being found at a light level of 7 or less.
Drops[edit]
Skeletons drop:
- 0–2 bones. The maximum drop is increased by 1 per level of Looting, for a maximum of 0-5 bones with Looting III.
- 0–2 arrows. The maximum drop is increased by 1 per level of Looting, for a maximum of 0-5 arrows with Looting III.
- Picked-up items have a 100% chance of dropping and drop with the same damage level it had when picked up.
- Any naturally spawned equipment (including the bow) has an 8.5% chance of dropping if killed by the player (9.5% with Looting I, 10.5% with Looting II, and 11.5% with Looting III). It is damaged and sometimes enchanted.
- A skeleton drops its skull if killed by a charged creeper's explosion.
- Skeletons drop 5 when killed by a player or tamed wolf and extra 1–3 if the skeleton has equipment.
Behavior[edit]
Skeletons chase players they see within 16 blocks. They climb stairs, navigate mazes and traverse other complex obstacles to get within shooting range. When within 15 blocks of a target, with a clear line of sight, they start shooting with arrows, one arrow every 2 seconds or 1 on hard difficulty. Strafing in circular patterns to dodge attacks, they retreat to a safe range if the player comes within 4 blocks. They are able to climb ladders, but only if they are forced to.
The detection range of skeletons is reduced to 8 blocks while the player wears a skeleton mob head.[JE only]
The skeleton's accuracy is based on the difficulty. Skeletons have an "error" of 10 on easy, 6 on normal and 2 on hard. This is compared to the player's lack of accuracy of 1. To account for gravity, skeletons aim 0.2 blocks higher for every block horizontal they are from.
If their arrows hit most monsters, the mob attacks the skeleton, if it was not hit by a player first. When a skeleton is attacked by other mobs or even another skeleton, it attacks that mob, reorienting on the player once the mob is dead.
Skeletons sink in water and are unable to swim, but do not drown. They can continue shooting underwater, but the water slows down their arrows.
If spawned with no weapon at all (which can be spawned with /summon skeleton ~ ~ ~ {HandItems:[{id:air,Count:1b}]}), a skeleton comes at players with arms outstretched and damages by touching them.
Skeletons holding tipped arrows in their offhand always shoot that type of arrow; these arrows are not consumed.
- Bedrock Edition
When its target is closer, a skeleton shoots faster but deals less damage. They make no attempt to avoid being hit. An underwater skeleton uses a melee attack to attack its target since it is unable to use bows.
- Minecraft Dungeons
Skeletons in Minecraft Dungeons have similar behavior to Java Edition. They shoot at the player with their bows and run away when the player gets close. However, they don't burn in sunlight and they cannot pick up items.
Sunlight[edit]
Skeletons burn at dawn when the sun is 15 degrees or greater above the ground (when the moon can no longer be seen) unless the skeleton is:
- Below an opaque block.
- In a sunlight level of 11 or less.
- In water.
- Standing in soul sand.
- Affected by Fire Resistance.
- Wearing head armor (the helmet absorbs the damage, but may take several day cycles before it wears out completely).
If not wearing a helmet, it seeks out shade during the day or enters water to protect itself. Unlike zombies, which leave the shade to chase a player, skeletons do not exit the shaded area even while attacking.
A burning skeleton has a 50% chance of shooting flaming arrows if the regional difficulty is 3 or greater.
Other mobs[edit]
Skeletons flee from wolves. A skeleton runs from a chasing wolf until the wolf deals damage, after which the skeleton turns to shoot at the wolf that successfully attacked it.
Skeletons shoot at nearby iron golems and baby turtles.
Snow golems are targeted in Bedrock Edition, as well.
Mob type[edit]
Skeletons are undead mobs, causing them to be damaged by the Instant Health status effect, healed by the Instant Damage status effect, and unaffected by the status effects Regeneration and Poison.
Skeletons are ignored by the wither and are affected by the Smite enchantment.
Geared skeletons[edit]
     
|
Some spawned skeletons have the ability to pick up dropped items from the ground. If a picked up item is armor, a carved pumpkin, a jack o'lantern, or a mob head, a skeleton equips itself with the item. If the picked up item is a weapon or tool, the skeleton uses the item as a melee weapon.
Skeletons spawn already-armed with bows, which may be enchanted. The chances of that event are listed below from code. If a skeleton spawns wearing multiple pieces of armor, the armor is never mismatched (all pieces are made of the same material).
| Easy | Normal | Hard | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Armor | 0% | 0%–15%[note 1] | 1.875%–15%[note 1] |
| Weapon[note 2] | 100% | 100% | 100% |
| Pick up | 0% | 0%–55%[note 1] | 6.875%–55%[note 1] |
| Weapon enchantment[note 3] | 0% | 0%–25%[note 1] | 3.125%–25%[note 1] |
| Armor enchantment[note 3] | 0% | 0%–50%[note 1] | 6.25%–50%[note 1] |
If a skeleton does spawn with armor, the chances of specific armor are as follows:
| Armor | Easy & Normal | Hard |
|---|---|---|
| 1 piece | 100% | 100% |
| 2 pieces | 75% | 90% |
| 3 pieces | 56.25% | 81% |
| Full set | 42.19% | 72.9% |
In Java Edition, the armor pieces go from feet to head, and in Bedrock Edition, they go from head to feet.
The chances of it being of a particular material are:
| Armor Type | Chance |
|---|---|
| Leather | 37.06% |
| Gold | 48.73% |
| Chain | 12.90% |
| Iron | 1.27% |
| Diamond | 0.04% |
Skeleton armor is not damaged from most damage sources; it cannot "wear out" the way player armor does. Helmets (not blocks like carved pumpkins) on skeletons can break if the skeleton is exposed to daylight or has an anvil or other falling block dropped on its hitbox.
If a skeleton has a bow and a sword is given, it drops the bow, with the same chance as if killed with Looting I and starts using the sword. If a skeleton has a sword or bow in its hand, and one of a better type or with better enchantments is given, the skeleton drops the existing weapon, with the same chance as if killed with Looting I in favor of the better one. Any skeleton that spawns with equipment (picked-up items do not count) gives 1–3 extra experience points per item.
If multiple viable items exist, the skeleton endlessly picks up and drops the items. This feature has been intentionally programmed into the game.[1]
Halloween[edit]
In Java Edition, during Halloween (October 31), skeletons have a 22.5% chance of spawning wearing a carved pumpkin and a 2.5% chance of spawning wearing a jack o'lantern. If these skeletons are killed using a tool enchanted with Looting, the pumpkin or jack o'lantern can drop with a chance equivalent to the level of Looting, up to 3 percent chance with Looting III.
Sounds[edit]
| Sound | Subtitle | Source | Description | Namespaced ID | Translation key | Volume | Pitch | Attenuation distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Skeleton rattles | ? | ? | entity.skeleton.ambient | subtitles.entity.skeleton.ambient | ? | ? | 16 | |
| Skeleton dies | ? | ? | entity.skeleton.death | subtitles.entity.skeleton.death | ? | ? | 16 | |
| Skeleton hurts | ? | ? | entity.skeleton.hurt | subtitles.entity.skeleton.hurt | ? | ? | 16 | |
| Skeleton shoots | ? | ? | entity.skeleton.shoot | subtitles.entity.skeleton.shoot | ? | ? | 16 | |
| Footsteps | ? | ? | entity.skeleton.step | subtitles.block.generic.footsteps | ? | ? | 16 |
Data values[edit]
ID[edit]
| Name | Namespaced ID | Translation key |
|---|---|---|
| Skeleton | skeleton | entity.minecraft.skeleton |
| Name | Namespaced ID | Numeric ID | Translation key |
|---|---|---|---|
| Skeleton | skeleton | 34 | entity.skeleton.name |
Entity data[edit]
Skeletons have entity data associated with them that contains various properties.
- Entity data
- Tags common to all entities see Template:Nbt inherit/entity/template
- Tags common to all mobs see Template:Nbt inherit/mob/template
Achievements[edit]
| Icon | Achievement | In-game description | Actual requirements (if different) | Gamerscore earned | Trophy type (PS) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sniper Duel | Kill a Skeleton with an arrow from more than 50 meters. | Use a launched arrow to kill a skeleton, wither skeleton, or a stray from 50 or more blocks away, horizontally. | 30G | Bronze |
Advancements[edit]
| Icon | Advancement | In-game description | Parent | Actual requirements (if different) | Namespaced ID |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| Not Today, Thank You | Deflect a projectile with a shield | Suit Up | Deflect any projectile with a shield. | story/deflect_arrow |
|
| Adventure | Adventure, exploration, and combat | — | Kill any entity, or be killed by any entity. | adventure/root |
|
| Monster Hunter | Kill any hostile monster | Adventure | Kill one of these 33 mobs. In Java Edition 1.16.2[upcoming], piglin brutes can also be killed for this advancement. Other mobs, if any, may be killed, but are ignored for this advancement. | adventure/kill_a_mob |
|
| A Throwaway Joke | Throw a trident at something. Note: Throwing away your only weapon is not a good idea. | Monster Hunter | Hit an entity with a thrown trident. | adventure/throw_trident |
|
| Take Aim | Shoot something with an arrow | Monster Hunter | Using a bow or a crossbow, shoot an entity with an arrow, tipped arrow, or spectral arrow. | adventure/shoot_arrow |
|
| Monsters Hunted | Kill one of every hostile monster | Monster Hunter | Kill each of these 33 mobs. In Java Edition 1.16.2[upcoming], piglin brutes are also required for this advancement. Other mobs, if any, may be killed, but are ignored for this advancement. | adventure/kill_all_mobs |
|
| Sniper Duel | Kill a Skeleton from at least 50 meters away | Take Aim | Kill a skeleton with a projectile while being at least 50 blocks away horizontally. | adventure/sniper_duel |
History[edit]
| Java Edition Classic | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 14, 2009 | Notch teased skeletons. | ||||
| 0.24_SURVIVAL_TEST |  Added skeletons.
| ||||
| Skeletons spawn randomly in new Survival maps and follow players when approached, much like zombies. | |||||
| 0.25 SURVIVAL TEST | Skeletons now fire arrows with a purple/magenta colored shaft, appear to fire arrows at a faster and more random rate, and shoot 6 arrows outward a short range in all directions when dying. Arrows fired by skeletons can be picked up and used by players. | ||||
| Skeletons now take five hits to kill and can appear wearing NPC armor (that gave them no additional protection) and gave 120 points when killed. | |||||
| Java Edition Indev | |||||
| 0.31 | ? | Skeletons no longer wear armor. | |||
| The skeleton's attacking animation has been removed. | |||||
| The purple arrows that skeletons throw have been removed and have been replaced by brown arrows. | |||||
| Skeletons now drop 0–2 arrows upon death. | |||||
| February 14, 2010, 1 | Skeletons now catch on fire when exposed to sunlight. | ||||
| February 18, 2010 | The chances of catching on fire in sunlight have been tweaked for skeletons. | ||||
| Skeletons now burn only when the sunlight level is greater than 7, and not due to torches at night.[is this the correct version?] | |||||
| February 19, 2010 | Skeletons now drop arrows. | ||||
| Java Edition Alpha | |||||
| v1.2.0 |  Skeletons now hold a bow in their right hand, however they were held as an item just like a player would hold it at this period. | ||||
| Java Edition Beta | |||||
| 1.2 | Skeletons can now drop 0-2 bones, in addition to arrows. | ||||
| 1.8 | Pre-release |  The bows of skeletons are now larger and held realistically (full-sized bows, two-handed, and pulling the arrow back).
| |||
| Skeletons now fire arrows slower but further. | |||||
| Java Edition | |||||
| 1.0.0 | Beta 1.9 Prerelease |  Skeletons now hold their bow with one hand again, but they still have the larger and held realistically bow. | |||
| 1.2.1 | 12w04a | The skeleton's AI has been improved: if a skeleton catches fire in daylight, it rushes to the nearest shadow or body of water. | |||
| 12w06a | There now is a 8.5% chance that a skeleton drops a bow when killed. There is also a small chance of the bow being enchanted. | ||||
| 1.4.2 | 12w32a | Skeletons, zombies and zombie pigmen can now pick up dropped items. They also have the ability to wear armor and wield a weapon, so if they pick up armor, they wear it. | |||
| Skeletons, zombies, and zombie pigmen can now spawn wearing any type of armor (including chain); both armor and weapons may be enchanted. | |||||
| 12w36a | Skeletons may now be found in nether fortresses along with wither skeletons. | ||||
| ? |  On Halloween, skeletons, wither skeletons, zombies and zombie pigmen now have a chance of spawning with a pumpkin or jack o'lantern. | ||||
| 12w38a | Skeletons now have new sounds. | ||||
| 1.4.4 | 1.4.3-pre | Skeletons now rush toward the player, instead of shooting arrows, if they don't have a bow. | |||
| 1.5 | 13w02a | Skeletons now shoot from a range of 15 blocks instead of 10. | |||
| 13w03a | Skeletons now fire rapidly at players who come within close range, in an attempt to knock them back. This makes melee combat in water hard. | ||||
| 1.8 | 14w10a | Skeletons now run away from wolves, instead of fighting back. | |||
| 14w11a | Skeletons now run away from creepers that are about to explode. | ||||
| 14w30a | Skeletons now drop their skulls when killed by a charged creeper. | ||||
| 1.8.1 | pre1 | Skeletons no longer run away from creepers that are about to explode due to performance. | |||
| 1.9 | 15w31a |  Skeletons now lower their arms when idle.
| |||
| Skeletons can now, once again, animate their bow; they pull it out when becoming hostile and draw it back to fire arrows. | |||||
| Skeletons now have a 11% chance of spawning with their bow in their left hand. | |||||
| Skeletons can dual wield. | |||||
 Skeletons now hold their bow with two hands again when aiming. | |||||
| 15w32a | The detection range of skeletons is halved when the player is wearing a skeleton mob head. | ||||
| 15w38a | Skeletons now shoot one arrow per second and have improved behavior, allowing them to be a bit faster and strafe while shooting. | ||||
| Skeletons spawn from skeleton trap horses. | |||||
| 15w39a | Skeletons are slightly taller (1.99 blocks tall rather than 1.95). | ||||
| pre1 | Skeletons shoot flaming arrows only when burning and regional difficulty is 3 or greater. | ||||
| Skeletons holding tipped arrows in their off hand now shoot that type of arrow. | |||||
Entity ID Skeleton is now skeleton, wither_skeleton and stray for those respective mobs. | |||||
| 1.9.1 | Skeletons shoot an arrow per 2 seconds on easy and normal instead of 1. | ||||
| 1.13 | 18w07a | Skeletons seek and attack baby turtles. | |||
| 18w19a | Skeletons sink underwater. | ||||
| Skeletons no longer drown underwater. | |||||
| 1.14 | 18w43a | The texture of skeletons has been changed. | |||
| 1.16 | 20w06a | Skeletons can now spawn in soul sand valley biomes. | |||
| Pre-release 4 | Increased skeleton's spawning weight in soul sand valleys from 2 to 10. | ||||
| Pocket Edition Alpha | |||||
| 0.3.3 | Added skeletons. | ||||
| 0.5.0 | Skeletons now have new animations. | ||||
| 0.9.0 | build 8 | Skeletons now have new AI. | |||
| build 9 | Skeletons now use the old AI again because they weren't firing arrows correctly. | ||||
| 0.11.0 | build 1 | Skeletons no longer hold bows with 2 arms.
| |||
| Skeletons may now spawn as rider from spiders or cave spiders. | |||||
| build 14 | Skeletons now have a improved accuracy. | ||||
| 0.12.1 | build 1 | Skeletons now use the new AI again, thus improving accuracy and intelligence.
When skeletons catches fire in the daylight, they hides to the nearest shadow or body of water. | |||
| Skeletons may now spawn wearing armor. | |||||
| Skeletons may now spawn with enchanted bows. | |||||
| build 12 | New sounds have been added for dying skeletons. | ||||
| 0.13.0 | build 1 | Skeletons now run away from wolves. | |||
| Skeletons now fire faster when players get closer to knock them back. | |||||
| 0.14.0 | build 1 | Skeletons are now slightly taller (1.99 blocks tall rather than 1.95). | |||
| 0.15.0 | build 1 | Skeletons now animate their bow, they pull it out when becoming hostile and draw it back to shoot arrows.
| |||
| Skeletons now spawn from skeleton trap horses. | |||||
| ? | Burning skeletons now shoot flaming arrows only if the regional difficulty is 3 or greater. Prior to this, burning skeletons would always shoot flaming arrows regardless of regional difficulty. | ||||
| Bedrock Edition | |||||
| 1.2.0 | beta 1.2.0.2 | Skeletons now have a 8.5% chance of dropping their equipment. Prior to this, skeletons would never drop their bow and would always drop always their armor. | |||
| 1.5.0 | beta 1.5.0.0 | Skeletons now sink underwater. | |||
| Skeletons no longer die from drowning. | |||||
| Skeletons now use melee attacks and stop shooting when underwater. | |||||
| beta 1.5.0.4 | Skeletons now seek and attack baby turtles. | ||||
| 1.10.0 | beta 1.10.0.3 | The texture of skeletons has been changed. | |||
| 1.16.0 | beta 1.16.0.51 | Skeletons can now spawn in soul sand valley biomes. | |||
| Skeletons can now pick up items. | |||||
| Skeleton now use melee attack when not holding bow on their hand, prior to this, skeleton use any items as ranged weapon to shoot arrow normaly. | |||||
| Legacy Console Edition | |||||
| TU1 | CU1 | 1.0 | Patch 1 | 1.0.1 | Added skeletons. |
| TU5 | The skeleton's bow is now larger and held more realistically (full-sized bows, two-handed, and pulling the arrow back) than in previous versions (in one hand).
| ||||
| Skeletons now fire their arrows slightly slower. Their arrows, however, are shot with more force. | |||||
| TU12 | The skeleton's AI has been updated, so they are "smarter", i.e. if a skeleton catches fire in daylight, it rushes to the nearest shadow or body of water for safety. | ||||
| There is now a small chance that skeletons drop a bow when killed. There is now also a small chance of the bow being enchanted. | |||||
| TU19 | CU7 | 1.12 | Skeletons can now spawn wearing armor and weapons. | ||
| Once the player gets closer to a skeleton, the skeleton now fires arrows more frequently. | |||||
| TU31 | CU19 | 1.22 | Patch 3 | Skeletons now run away from wolves, instead of fighting back. | |
| Skeletons now drop their skull when killed by a charged creeper. | |||||
| TU46 | CU36 | 1.38 | Patch 15 | Skeletons may now spawn from skeleton trap horses. | |
| Skeletons now have a new AI that allows them to strafe while attacking. | |||||
| Skeletons now animate their bow. | |||||
| 1.90 | The texture of skeletons has been changed. | ||||
| New Nintendo 3DS Edition | |||||
| 0.1.0 | Added skeletons. | ||||
| Minecraft Earth | |||||
| 0.2.0 | Added skeletons. | ||||
Historical sounds:
| Sound | From | to | Pitch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hurt/Die | ? | 1.4.2[is this the correct version?] | 1.0 |
Issues[edit]
Issues relating to "Skeleton" are maintained on the bug tracker. Report issues there.
Trivia[edit]
- If alerted to a player's presence, a skeleton can fire arrows backward, occasionally hitting themselves.
- Skeletons cannot see the player through glass, fences, or other transparent blocks.
- If a skeleton kills a creeper, the creeper drops a music disc.
- Skeletons and their variants do not know how to use a crossbow, despite the same using method as a bow.
- The artificial intelligence of skeletons in Bedrock Edition is a mix of skeleton AI from Java Edition between versions 1.5 and 1.8.9 and the skeletons in Update Aquatic. They shoot faster when they are on land and the target underwater, causing knockback enough to make combat hard. Additionally, they do not strafe left to right, and they shoot more rapidly at closer targets. Skeletons also use ranged attacks on land and switch to melee attacks when sinking underwater.
- Skeletons and endermen are the only mobs that can spawn in both the Overworld and the Nether. Additionally zombies may also rarely spawn if an attacked zombified piglin spawns in reinforcements.
- 89% of skeletons hold their bow in their right hand and 11% with the left.
- If a skeleton has a sword or any other melee item, generally with commands, its AI resembles the wither skeleton's AI.
Gallery[edit]
A skeleton in java Edition Beta 1.8. The player can see it wielding its bow with both hands.
Dying skeleton mob in Bedrock Edition.
Dying skeleton mob in Java Edition.
Two skeletons shooting each other. The skeleton on the right is a spider jockey.
A skeleton in the Nether used as the 12w36a snapshot image.
A skeleton from then-Pocket Edition (before 0.11.0). Like in Beta 1.8, it holds its bow with both hands.
A skeleton riding a minecart.
A skeleton kills an attacking wolf.
A stray standing next to a normal skeleton.
A skeleton wearing an iron helmet.
A skeleton wearing a leather cap.
A player trying to give armor to a skeleton.
Skeletons spawned from skeleton trap horses.
A glitch where skeletons have no bow.
Naturally armored skeletons.
A skeleton that naturally spawned with the bow on their left hand.
A skeleton with a white-dyed leather full set.
A spider jockey with a skeleton.
A cave spider jockey with a skeleton.
A preview featuring skeletons in the Soul Sand Valley.
References[edit]
