Skeleton

Health points	20 ( × 10)
Attack strength	Bow: Easy: 1 () – 4 () Normal: 1 () – 4 () Hard: 1 () – 5 () (Varies with proximity)‌^{[BE only]} (random factor)‌^{[LCE & JE only]} Melee (only without bow): Easy: 2 () Normal: 2 () Hard: 3 ()
Size	Height: 1.99 Blocks Width: 0.6 Blocks
Spawn	Overworld: Light level of 7 or less. Nether: Nether fortresses in light level 7 or less.
First appearances	See § History
Drops	See § Drops
Natural equipment	Bow (right hand: 89%; left hand: 11%; may be enchanted) Jack o'Lantern (Head) Pumpkin (Head)
Experience	5
Sounds	Idle Step Hurt Death
Internal ID	JE: 51 BE: 46
Entity ID	skeleton

This article is about the regular skeleton. For their variant that spawns in icy biomes, see Stray. For other uses, see Skeleton (disambiguation).

Skeletons are common undead humanoid hostile mobs equipped with bows.

Spawning[edit]

Skeletons can spawn almost anywhere in the Overworld at a light level of 7 or less, in groups of up to 4 in Java and Legacy Console editions or to 2 in Bedrock Edition. 80% of skeletons spawned directly under the sky in Snowy Tundra, Snowy Mountains, Ice Spikes, Frozen River, Frozen Ocean, and Deep Frozen Ocean biomes will spawn as strays instead. In the Nether, they can also spawn in nether fortresses at a light level of 7 or less in place of a wither skeleton.

Spiders have a 1% chance to spawn with a skeleton riding them, creating a spider jockey. In Bedrock Edition, cave spiders have 1% chance to spawn with a skeleton riding them, creating a cave spider jockey.

Skeleton riders spawn when a skeleton trap is triggered by a player. The skeletons ride on skeleton horses and are equipped with enchanted bows and iron helmets, and have the Resistance effect for 3 seconds after spawning.

Skeletons are 1.99 blocks tall.

Monster spawners[edit]

Skeletons can spawn from naturally-generated spawners found in dungeons.

Drops[edit]

Skeletons drop:

0–2 bones
0–2 arrows
Any picked-up equipment has a 100% chance of dropping and will drop with the same damage level it had when picked up.
Any naturally spawned equipment (including the bow) has a 8.5% chance of dropping (9.5% with Looting I, 10.5% with Looting II and 11.5% with Looting III). It will usually be badly damaged, and has a chance of being enchanted.
A skeleton will drop its head if killed by a charged creeper's explosion.
Skeletons drop 5 experience when killed by a player or tamed wolf, and 1–3 extra experience if the skeleton has equipment.

Variants[edit]

Wither Skeleton[edit]

A wither skeleton in the nether.

Main article: Wither Skeleton

Wither Skeletons are a variant of skeletons, but taller, darker and arguably more dangerous than regular skeletons. They have a sword instead of a bow, and spawn in nether fortresses, and also in the general Nether‌^{[Legacy Console Edition only]}. They inflict the Wither status effect while attacked by one. See here for more information of the mob.

Stray[edit]

A stray.

Main article: Stray

Strays are another variant of skeleton. 80% of skeletons that spawn in icy biomes will be strays instead. They attack like normal skeletons, but shoot and drop tipped arrows of slowness instead.

Halloween[edit]

During Halloween (October 31), skeletons have a 22.5% chance of spawning wearing a pumpkin and a 2.5% chance of spawning wearing a jack o'lantern. If these skeletons are killed using a tool enchanted with Looting, there will be a chance equivalent to the level of Looting used to drop the pumpkin or jack o'lantern, up to a maximum of a 3% chance of a drop.

Behavior[edit]

Dueling skeletons. Note that the skeleton on the left has turned red due to taking damage from the other skeleton.

Attacking the player[edit]

Skeletons will chase any player they see within 16 blocks, and will climb stairs, navigate mazes, and traverse other complex obstacles in order to get within shooting range. When they are within about 16 blocks of the player with a clear line of sight, they will stop chasing and start shooting the player with arrows, one arrow on each 2 seconds (1 in hard difficulty). They will strafe at player's walking speed in circle patterns to try to dodge attacks during the process, and will retreat to safe range if the player comes too close (4 blocks or less) to them ‌^{[Java and Legacy Console editions only]}. If the player moves more than 16 blocks away from the skeleton, it will not see the player. The detection range of skeletons is reduced to half of their normal range (8 blocks) when the player is wearing a skeleton mob head‌^{[Java Edition only]}. If a player shoots a skeleton outside its detection range, then it will temporarily hold up its bow in a shooting position‌^{[Bedrock Edition 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 "error" of 1. When their target is closer, skeletons shoot faster, but do less damage‌^{[Bedrock Edition only]}. To account for gravity, skeletons aim 0.2 blocks higher for every block horizontal they are from the target.

Skeleton shooting

If a skeleton's arrow hits certain hostile mobs, that mob will then attack the skeleton the same way it would attack the player, given it was not hit by the player first. If a skeleton is attacked by another mob (usually another skeleton), it may attack that mob, reorienting on the player once that mob is dead.

If spawned with no weapon at all (which can be spawned with /summon skeleton ~ ~ ~ {HandItems:[{id:air,Count:1b}]}),‌^{[Java Edition only]} a skeleton acts like a zombie (though faster), coming at the player with arms outstretched and damaging the player by touching them.

Skeletons are also able to climb ladders, but only when forced to, as their AI does not handle ladders in a special way.

Skeletons holding tipped arrows in their offhand will shoot that type of arrow; these arrows are not consumed.‌^{[Java Edition only]}

Skeletons sink in water and are unable to swim, but they do not drown. Underwater skeletons can only use a melee attack to attack the player and cannot use their bow‌^{[Bedrock Edition only]}.

Burning in sunlight[edit]

Like zombies, skeleton burning occurs at dawn when the sun is 15 degrees or greater above the ground (that is, 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 (but the armor will take damage).

If not wearing a helmet, they may make some attempt to seek out shade during the day, or enter bodies of water to protect themselves from burning up. Unlike zombies, which will always chase the player if they see one, skeletons will not exit the shade area even if attacking a player. Burning skeletons have a 50% chance of shooting flaming arrows if the regional difficulty is 3 or greater.

A pack of wolves attacking a skeleton. Note the red angry eyes on the wolves.

Wolves[edit]

Skeletons run from wolves, as wolves attack and chase skeletons. When skeletons are safe from sunlight, they will shoot at any wolves that attack it.

Attacking other mobs[edit]

Skeletons will shoot at any nearby iron golems. Skeletons also search for and attack baby turtles.

Mob type[edit]

Skeletons are undead mobs, causing them to be damaged by the status effect Healing, healed by the status effect Harming, and unaffected by the status effects Regeneration and Poison.

Skeletons are also ignored by the wither and are affected by the Smite enchantment.

Armed and armored skeletons[edit]

A skeleton in full gold armor.

Also, like zombies, some spawned skeletons can pick up dropped items from the ground, and if those items happen to be armor, pumpkins, jack o'lanterns or mob heads they will equip them, and if weapons or tools, the skeleton will use them as a melee weapon.

Skeletons spawn already-armed with bows, which may also be enchanted. The chances of that event are listed below and are taken from the game's code. If a skeleton spawns wearing multiple pieces of armor, the armor will never be mismatched (i.e. all pieces will be 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]}

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ Value is based on the regional difficulty.
↑ 100% chance of a bow
↑ ^a ^b Enchantment is the same as on an enchantment table at level 5–22.^{[note 1]}

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

Armor	Easy & Normal	Hard
Boots	100%	100%
Boots & Leggings	75%	90%
Boots & Chestplate & Leggings	56.25%	81%
Full set	42.19%	72.9%

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, which means it cannot "wear out" the way player armor does. Helmets (not blocks like pumpkins) on skeletons can wear away and break if the skeleton is exposed to daylight or has an anvil or other falling block dropped on its head.

If a skeleton has a bow and a sword is given, it will drop the bow (with the same chance as if killed with Looting I) and start using the sword. If a skeleton has a sword or bow in their hand, and one of a better type or with better enchantments is given, they will drop the existing weapon (with the same chance as if killed with Looting I) and start using the better one. Any skeleton that spawns with equipment (picked-up items don't count) will give 1–3 extra experience points per item.

Data values[edit]

Achievements[edit]

Main article: Achievements

Icon	Achievement	In-game description	Actual requirements (if different)	Availability				Xbox points earned	Trophy type (PS)
Icon	Achievement	In-game description	Actual requirements (if different)	Xbox	PS	Bedrock	Nintendo	Xbox points 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.	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	30G	Silver

Advancements[edit]

Main article: Advancements

Advancement	In-game description	Parent	Actual requirements (if different)	Internal ID
Not Today, Thank You	Deflect an arrow with a shield	Suit Up	Deflect a projectile with a shield.	`minecraft:story/deflect_arrow`
Adventure	Adventure, exploration, and combat	—	Kill any entity, or be killed by any entity.	`minecraft:adventure/root`
Monster Hunter	Kill any hostile monster	Adventure	Kill one of these 24 mobs. In 1.14,‌^[upcoming] you can also earn this by killing one of these 2 mobs. Other mobs are ignored for this advancement.	`minecraft: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	—	`minecraft:adventure/throw_trident`
Take Aim	Shoot something with a bow and arrow	Monster Hunter	—	`minecraft:adventure/shoot_arrow`
Monsters Hunted	Kill one of every hostile monster	Monster Hunter	Kill each of these 24 mobs. In 1.14,‌^[upcoming] also kill each of these 2 mobs. Other mobs may be killed, but are ignored for the advancement.	`minecraft:adventure/kill_all_mobs`
Sniper duel	Kill a skeleton from more than 50 meters away	Take Aim	Use a projectile to kill a skeleton from 50 or more blocks away, horizontally.	`minecraft:adventure/sniper_duel`

Video[edit]

Note: This video is outdated, as skeletons have received many changes since 1.9.

History[edit]

Java Edition Classic
August 14, 2009				Teased skeletons.
0.24_SURVIVAL_TEST				Skeletons are added. They spawned randomly in new Survival maps and followed players when approached, much like zombies.
0.25 SURVIVAL TEST				Skeletons will 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 will now drop 0–2 arrows upon death.
				Skeletons will 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 will now no longer wear armor.
				The skeleton's attacking animation has now been removed.
				The Purple arrows that skeletons throw have now been removed and have been replaced by brown arrows.
February 14, 2010, 1				Skeletons will now catch on fire when exposed to sunlight.
February 18, 2010				The chances of catching on fire in sunlight have now been tweaked for skeletons.
February 18, 2010				Skeletons will now only burn when the sunlight level is greater than 7, and not due to torches at night^[verify].
February 19, 2010				Skeletons now drop arrows.
Java Edition Alpha
v1.2.0			?	Skeletons will 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			?	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).
1.8			?	Skeletons will now fire arrows slightly slower (probably because bows now needs charging). Their arrows however, are shot with more force.
Java Edition
1.0.0			?	Skeletons will 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 now been updated, so they are "smarter", i.e. if a skeleton catches fire in daylight, it will rush to the nearest shadow or body of water for safety.
1.2.1			12w06a	There is now a small chance that skeletons will drop a bow when killed. There is also a small chance that the bow will be 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 will wear it. If they pick up a weapon, they wield it. However, there is a bug that skeletons will fire arrows, even if they are wielding a sword.
			12w32a	Skeletons, zombies, and zombie pigmen can now spawn wearing any type of armor (including chain); both armor and weapons may be enchanted.
			12w36a	Skeletons can now be found in nether fortresses along with wither skeletons, their Nether equivalent.
			?	On Halloween, skeletons, wither skeletons, zombies and zombie pigmen will now have a chance of spawning with a pumpkin or jack o'lantern.
			12w38a	Skeletons will now have been given new sounds.
1.4.4			1.4.3-pre	Skeletons will now rush to the player, instead of shooting arrows, if they don't have a bow.
1.5			13w02a	Skeletons will now shoot from a range of 15 blocks instead of 10.
1.5			13w03a	Skeletons will now begin to fire rapidly at players, who come within close range, in an attempt to knock them back. This makes melee combat in water hard, if not impossible.
1.8			14w10a	Skeletons will now run away from wolves, instead of fighting back.
			14w11a	Skeletons will now run away from creepers that are about to explode.
			14w30a	Skeletons will now drop their skulls when killed by a charged creeper.
1.8.1			pre1	Skeletons will now no longer run away from creepers that are about to explode.
1.9			15w31a	Skeletons will now animate their bow; they will now pull it out when becoming hostile and draw it back to shoot arrows.
				Skeletons will now have a small chance of spawning with their bow in their left hand.
				Skeletons will now have the ability to dual wield.
				Skeletons will now hold their bow with two hands again.
			15w32a	The detection range of skeletons is now halved when the player is wearing a skeleton mob head.
			15w33c	The detection range for players wearing the skeleton mob head has now been adjusted, it is now 37.5% of the normal range.
			15w36a	The detection range for players wearing the skeleton mob head is now again 50% of the normal range.
			15w38a	Skeletons have a new AI which allows them to strafe while shooting the target.
			15w38a	Skeletons may now spawn from skeleton trap horses.
			15w39a	Skeletons are now slightly taller (1.99 blocks tall rather than 1.95).
			pre1	Skeletons can now shoot flaming arrows when burning and regional difficulty is 3 or greater.
				Skeletons holding tipped arrows in their off hand will now shoot that type of arrow.
				Entity ID `Skeleton` is now `skeleton`, `wither_skeleton` and `stray` for those respective mobs.
1.13			18w07a	Skeletons will now seek and attack baby turtles.
			18w19a	Skeletons will now sink underwater.
			18w19a	Skeletons will now no longer drown underwater.
Pocket Edition Alpha
0.3.3				Added skeletons.
0.5.0				Skeletons will now have new animations.
0.9.0			build 8	Skeletons will now have new AI.
0.9.0			build 9	Skeletons will now use the old AI again because they weren't firing arrows correctly.
0.11.0			build 1	Skeletons will now no longer hold their bow with 2 arms.
			build 1	Skeletons can now spawn as rider from spider jockey or cave spider jockey.
			build 14	Skeletons will now have improved accuracy.
0.12.1			build 1	Skeletons will now use the new AI again, thus improving accuracy and intelligence, so when the skeleton starts burning in the daylight, it will hide to the nearest tree or a big shallow lake.
				Skeletons can now spawn wearing armor.
				Skeletons can now spawn with enchanted bows.
				Skeletons will now have the ability to pick up items.
			build 12	New sounds have now been added for dying skeletons.
0.13.0			build 1	Skeletons will now run away from wolves.
0.13.0			build 1	Skeletons will now shoot faster when players get closer, but their arrows will deal less damage.
0.14.0			build 1	Skeletons are now slightly taller (1.99 blocks tall rather than 1.95).
0.15.0			build 1	Skeletons will now animate their bow, they pull it out when becoming hostile and draw it back to shoot arrows.
0.15.0			build 1	Skeletons may now spawn from skeleton trap horses.
?				Burning skeletons can now only shoot flaming arrows 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				Skeletons will now have a 8.5% chance of dropping their equipment. Prior to this, skeletons would never drop their bow and would always drop their armor.
1.5.0			beta 1.5.0.0	Skeletons will now sink while underwater.
				Skeletons will now breath underwater. Prior to this, skeletons would die from drowning.
				Skeletons will now use melee attacks and stop using ranged attacks when underwater.
			beta 1.5.0.4	Skeletons will now seek and attack baby turtles.
Legacy Console Edition
TU1	CU1	1.0	Patch 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).
TU5				Skeletons will now fire their arrows slightly slower (probably because bows had now needed "charging"). Their arrows, however, are shot with more force.
TU12				The skeleton's AI has now been updated, so they are "smarter", i.e. if a skeleton catches fire in daylight, it will rush to the nearest shadow or body of water for safety.
TU12				There is now a small chance that skeletons will drop a bow when killed. There is now also a small chance that the bow will be enchanted (Power I).
TU19	CU7	1.12		Skeletons can now spawn wearing armor and weapons.
TU19	CU7	1.12		Once the player gets closer to a skeleton, the skeleton will now fire arrows more frequently.
TU31	CU19	1.22	Patch 3	Skeletons will now run away from wolves, instead of fighting back.
TU31	CU19	1.22	Patch 3	Skeletons will 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 will now have a new AI, which allows them to strafe while attacking.
				Skeletons will now animate their bow.

Issues[edit]

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

Trivia[edit]

If alerted to a player's presence, skeletons can fire arrows backwards, occasionally hitting themselves.
Skeletons cannot see the player through glass, fences, or other transparent blocks.
If a skeleton kills a creeper, the creeper will drop a music disc.

Gallery[edit]

A skeleton in Beta 1.8. You 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 12w34b with leather armor.
A skeleton in the Nether used as the 12w36a snapshot image.
A skeleton naturally spawned with iron armor is able to survive in daylight.
A skeleton from Bedrock 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.