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HOSTILE Present since 1.14 or earlier

Zombie Villager mob in Minecraft

The Zombie Villager is a zombie that used to be, or looks like, a villager. It fights like an ordinary zombie, but you can cure it with a Splash Potion of Weakness and a Golden Apple, and the villager you get back sells to you at a lasting discount.

Health: 2010 hearts
Behavior: Hostile
Main drop: Rotten Flesh
Found in: 54 biomes

Zombie Villager stats

Health: 20 10 hearts
Behavior: Hostile
Main drop: Rotten Flesh
Spawns in: 54 biomes
Size: 0.6 × 1.95 blocks
XP when killed: 5+1 to 3 per item it wears · baby: 12
Speed: 0.23
Detection range: 35 blocks
Armor: 2

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

How much damage Zombie Villager deals

Damage to a player without armor, by world difficulty. 1 ♥ = 2 damage points.

Melee attack

Peaceful00 ♥

Easy2.51.25 ♥

Normal31.5 ♥

Hard4.52.25 ♥

What else changes with difficulty

Turns villagers into zombie villagers: Easy 0 %, Normal 50 %, Hard 100 %
Can call other zombies for help when hit: Hard only
Breaks wooden doors: Hard only

// Armor, Protection and Resistance reduce these values. Base values read from the game code (26.3).

Where to find Zombie Villager

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

Old Growth Pine Taiga

All 54 biomes

Spawning

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

Structures

With the structureVillage

With the structureIgloo

Zombie Villager drops

Zombie Villager dropsFrom the loot table · chance per kill

Rotten Flesh+1 per Looting level0–2

Iron Ingot2.5% chance · 5.5% with Looting III · One of 3 rare items · Only when killed by a player×1

Carrot2.5% chance · 5.5% with Looting III · One of 3 rare items · Only when killed by a player×1

Potato2.5% chance · 5.5% with Looting III · One of 3 rare items · Only when killed by a player · Cooked if it dies on fire×1

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

The weapon or armor it spawned withEach piece: 8.5% chance, +1% per Looting level. The item comes back damaged.8.5%

Items it picked up off the groundAlways dropped. Only some of them can pick items up.100%

Health compared

Health vs other hostile mobshealth points

Stray20

Wither Skeleton20

Zombie20

Zombie Villager20

Bogged16

Magma Cube16

Parched16

Variants

7 variants. The game picks one when the mob spawns, based on where it appears.

Plains

Desert

Jungle

Savanna

Snowy Plains

Swamp

Taiga

Zombie Villager and its family

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

Mob	Health	Armor	Attack	XP	Speed	Burns in daylight
Drowned	20	2	3	5	0.23	✓
Husk	20	2	3	5	0.23	·
Zombie	20	2	3	5	0.23	✓
Zombie Villager	20	2	3	5	0.23	✓
Zombified Piglin	20	2	5	5	0.23	·

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.

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.

What you can do with Zombie Villager

Items to use on it and what happens.

CureSplash Potion · Golden AppleGive it Weakness (Splash Potion of Weakness), then use a Golden Apple on it. It turns back into a villager.

Baby Zombie Villager

Spawns as a baby 5% of spawns All baby mobs →

Advancements with Zombie Villager

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

Zombie DoctorWeaken and then cure a Zombie Villager Monster HunterKill any hostile monster Monsters HuntedKill one of every hostile monster

Guides with Zombie Villager (1)

BeginnerVillagers

How to cure a zombie villager in Minecraft for cheap trades

Splash it with Weakness, feed it a Golden Apple, wait 3 to 5 minutes: a cured villager gives you a permanent discount, often 1-emerald books.

Tested on 26.3

Command

Summon a Zombie Villager/summon →

/summon minecraft:zombie_villager ~ ~ ~

Where Zombie Villagers come from

Natural spawns. A small share of the zombies that spawn at night are Zombie Villagers.
Zombie villages. A small share of villages generate abandoned, with Zombie Villagers instead of residents.
Igloo basements. Some igloos hide a basement with a villager and a Zombie Villager locked in cells, along with the Weakness potion and the brewing stand you need for a first cure.
Infected villagers. When a zombie kills a villager, it may come back as a Zombie Villager: never on Easy, half the time on Normal and every time on Hard.

A Zombie Villager keeps the clothes of its biome and, if it had one, of its job. An infected villager also keeps its trades.

How to cure a Zombie Villager

Keep it safe from the sun. It burns in daylight like any zombie. Trap it under a roof, in a boat or in a minecart. If it spawned naturally, a name tag stops it from despawning.
Throw a Splash Potion of Weakness at it. A lingering potion works too.
Use a Golden Apple on it while it has the Weakness effect. It starts to shake and gives off red particles.
Wait a few minutes. Beds and iron bars around it speed up the cure. Keep other zombies away and keep it in the shade until it turns back into a villager.

Why curing is worth it

A cured villager remembers who saved it. It gives that player a large, lasting discount on all its trades, which is the cheapest way to get enchanted books, diamond gear and other expensive offers for a handful of emeralds. Many players infect and cure their best librarians on purpose, on Hard, to lock in those prices.

Fighting one

Until you cure it, a Zombie Villager is a regular zombie. It attacks players, villagers and iron golems, burns at sunrise and takes extra damage from Smite. It drops rotten flesh and, rarely, an iron ingot, a carrot or a potato.

✓ Checked in Java Edition 26.3 · updated 1 November 2026

Zombie Villager — FAQ

How long does it take to cure a Zombie Villager?

A few minutes. Beds and iron bars near the Zombie Villager speed it up.

Does a cured villager keep its job?

Yes. A villager that had a job before being infected keeps it, with its trades, once cured.

Why does my Zombie Villager keep disappearing?

Naturally spawned Zombie Villagers can despawn when you walk away. Name it with a name tag before you start the cure.

Where does the Zombie Villager spawn?

In every Overworld biome except Deep Dark and Mushroom Fields.

What does a Zombie Villager drop?

Rotten Flesh, Iron Ingot, Carrot and Potato. Only when killed by a player: Iron Ingot, Carrot and Potato. It also drops the weapon or armor it spawned with (8.5% chance per piece) and any items it picked up off the ground.

Other hostile mobs

Bogged