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PASSIVE HOSTILE Present since 1.14 or earlier

Zombie Horse mob in Minecraft

The Zombie Horse is an undead horse that appears at night in plains, savannas and snowy plains, sometimes carrying a zombie. Get rid of the rider and you can make it your mount: it takes a saddle and horse armor, but burns in sunlight.

Health: 2512.5 hearts
Behavior: Passive
Food: Red Mushroom
Found in: 6 biomes

Zombie Horse stats

Health: 25 12.5 hearts
Behavior: Passive
Main drop: Rotten Flesh
Spawns in: 6 biomes
Size: 1.396 × 1.6 blocks
XP when killed: 1 to 3none as a baby
Speed: 0.225
Detection range: 16 blocks
Tempt range: 10 blocks

// Experience drops only when a player kills it. Speeds are the game’s internal values, not blocks per second.

Where to find Zombie Horse

Biomes where it spawns naturally, with its share of the spawns in each group.

Spawning

Group size: 1
Light level: Block light 0and light 7 or less overall

Zombie Horse drops

Zombie Horse dropsFrom the loot table · chance per kill

Rotten Flesh+1 per Looting level2–3

Carried items and gearDropped on death, outside the loot table (game code)

Anything a player put on itAlways dropped: Copper Horse Armor, Diamond Horse Armor, Golden Horse Armor, Iron Horse Armor, Leather Horse Armor, Netherite Horse Armor and Saddle100%

Health compared

Health vs other passive mobshealth points

Horse15–30

Mule15–30

Turtle30

Zombie Horse25

Allay20

Happy Ghast20

Strider20

Zombie Horse and its family

Mobs built on the same base in the game code, compared on their game values.

Mob	Health	XP	Speed	Horse armor	Breathes underwater	Ignores Poison and Regeneration	Inverted healing	Weak to Smite	Undead
Donkey	15–30	1–3	0.175	·	·	·	·	·	·
Horse	15–30	1–3	0.225	✓	·	·	·	·	·
Mule	15–30	1–3	0.175	·	·	·	·	·	·
Skeleton Horse	15	1–3	0.2	·	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
Zombie Horse	25	1–3	0.225	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓

Traits

Properties set in the game files.

Burns in daylightCatches fire in sunlight unless it wears a helmet or stands in shade or water.

Breathes underwaterDoes not drown.

SaddleCan be saddled and ridden.

Horse armorCan wear horse armor.

Dismounts underwaterRiders are thrown off underwater.

Ignores Poison and RegenerationThese two effects have no effect on it.

Inverted healingInstant Health hurts it and Instant Damage heals it.

Weak to SmiteSmite deals extra damage to it.

UndeadThe game counts it among the undead, which affects how several effects and enchantments treat it.

Ignored by the WitherThe Wither does not target it.

ZombiePart of the zombie family.

Food and breeding

Items it eats, follows or breeds with.

Red Mushroom

Feeding and taming

Each food adds taming points: the chance to tame it on the next ride. Bars show that added chance.

Red Mushroomheals 3 health+3%

// Each failed ride also adds 5 points.

Baby Zombie Horse

Spawn egg on an adult All baby mobs →

Gear and tools

Items it can wear, and items you use on it.

WearsCopper Horse Armor

WearsDiamond Horse Armor

WearsGolden Horse Armor

WearsIron Horse Armor

WearsLeather Horse Armor

WearsNetherite Horse Armor

WearsSaddle

Advancements with Zombie Horse

Advancements whose criteria involve this mob, from the game files.

Monster HunterKill any hostile monster Monsters HuntedKill one of every hostile monster

Command

Summon a Zombie Horse/summon →

/summon minecraft:zombie_horse ~ ~ ~

Where zombie horses come from

Zombie horses spawn as monsters, in the dark, in plains, sunflower plains, the savanna biomes and snowy plains. Some arrive with a zombie on their back. Kill the rider first: a zombie riding a zombie horse can drop a red mushroom, which happens to be exactly what the horse eats.

Making it your mount

Once the horse is on its own, treat it like a wild horse: climb on with an empty hand until it accepts you. Then give it a saddle to steer it. A zombie horse is one of only two mobs that wear horse armor, the other being the regular horse, so an iron or diamond horse armor makes it a sturdy mount.

Its only food is the red mushroom. Wheat, apples and golden carrots, which work on horses, do nothing here.

Keep it out of the sun

Like a zombie, a zombie horse catches fire in direct sunlight. Ride it at night or under tree cover, and park it in a roofed stable before morning. Water and shade also stop the burning.

Undead rules

Potions work backward. Instant Health hurts it and a splash Potion of Harming heals it. Regeneration and Poison have no effect.
Water: it does not drown, but unlike the skeleton horse it still throws you off when it goes underwater.
Combat: Smite deals extra damage to it, and the Wither leaves it alone.

When it dies, it drops rotten flesh.

Zombie horse or skeleton horse?

Both undead horses ignore drowning, Poison and Regeneration, and both are healed by Harming. Pick the zombie horse when you want an armored mount for fights on land. Pick the skeleton horse for crossing lakes and seas: it keeps you on its back underwater and never catches fire in the sun.

✓ Checked in Java Edition 26.3 · updated 1 November 2026