Skeleton

A skeleton is an undead hostile mob that performs ranged attacks with a bow.

Spawning[]

Under the darkness[]

A skeleton may spawn above a solid block at a light level of 0 from all Overworld except in mushroom fields and deep dark biomes, usually in small groups of up to four skeletons in Java Edition or two skeletons in Bedrock Edition. 80% of skeletons spawned directly under the sky in snowy plains, ice spikes, frozen oceans, deep frozen oceans and legacy frozen oceans biomes spawn as stray mobs.

From spider jockeys[]

Spiders have a very low chance to spawn with a skeleton riding them, creating a spider jockey.

From skeletal traps during tempests[]

Four skeleton horsemen spawn when a skeleton horse trap is triggered, typically during a thunderstorm. The skeletons ride on skeleton horses and are equipped with enchanted bows and iron helmets and, in Java Edition, have damage immunity for 3 seconds after spawning.

From monster spawners in monster rooms[]

Skeletons spawn from 25% of the monster spawners found in monster rooms.

In the Nether[]

Skeletons spawn commonly in soul sand valleys biomes. However, existing skeletons lower the spawning chances of other hostile mobs nearby, meaning there are much less skeletons in a given area compared to zombified piglins in nether wastes. In nether fortresses structures, there is a 20% chance that a skeleton spawns in place of a wither skeleton.

Drops[]

A skeleton drops upon death:

• From 0 to 2 bones. The maximum drop is increased by 1 per level of Looting, for a maximum of 0-5 bones with Looting III.
• From 0 to 2 arrows. The maximum drop is increased by 1 per level of Looting, for a maximum of 0-5 arrows with Looting III.
• Any naturally spawned equipment, naturally its damaged and sometimes enchanted bow, has an 8.5% chance of dropping if killed by the player or a tamed wolf (9.5% with Looting I, 10.5% with Looting II, and 11.5% with Looting III).
• Picked-up items always drop and drop with the same damage level it had when picked up.
• A skeleton skull if killed by a charged creeper's explosion.
• 5 experience orbs when killed by a player or a tamed wolf, and an extra 1–3 orbs for each piece of natural equipment that does not drop upon death.
  • Because all skeletons spawn with at least a bow, this leaves an unarmored skeleton dropping 6–8 if it doesn't drop its bow upon death.
  • If the skeleton does drop its bow, it drops the default 5 instead.

Behavior[]

Skeletons chase players, baby turtles and iron golems they see within 16 blocks, climbing stairs or ladders, navigating mazes and traversing other complex obstacles to get within shooting range.

When within 15 blocks of a target, with a clear line of sight, a skeleton starts shooting with arrows, once every 2 seconds on Easy and Normal difficulties or once every second on Hard difficulty. If the player leaves the 15-block radius, skeletons wait for some seconds with the bow charged, shooting the moment the player comes within range again. Their detection range is reduced by 50% if a skeleton skull is worn by the player. This stacks with sneaking and the Invisibility effect.

The skeleton's accuracy is based on the world 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 horizontal block of range to the target.

Skeletons have infinite durability on their bows, and can shoot an infinite amount of arrows. Arrows shot by skeletons cannot be picked up from the ground.

Skeleton behavior varies between the game editions:

Java Edition

• Strafe in circular patterns to dodge attacks and retreat to a safe range if the player comes within 4 blocks.
  • They sometimes walk off cliffs while strafing.^[1]
• Sprint toward the player if they are 14 blocks away or farther.
• Use bows even underwater. The water slows down the arrows.
• Animates its bow while attacking.

Bedrock Edition

• Skeletons typically stop moving to shoot, making no attempt to avoid being hit.
• An underwater skeleton uses a melee attack because it is unable to use a bow underwater.
• A skeleton on land shoots quickly at a player in water. The rate of fire increases as the player approaches, making combat difficult due to the knockback.

In most cases, if a skeleton's arrow hits a neutral or hostile mob that has not yet been attacked by the player, the mob attacks the skeleton. When a skeleton is attacked by another mob (including another skeleton), it attacks that mob, reorienting on the player once the mob is dead. 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 sink in water and cannot swim, but do not drown. If a skeleton is inside of powder snow for 7 seconds, it converts into a stray. A newly-converted stray always has full health even if converted from a damaged skeleton. The converted stray keeps any items worn or held when it was a skeleton. Only skeletons can become strays; wither skeletons cannot be converted.

If spawned with a weapon other than a bow, or no weapon at all (which can be spawned with commands such as /summon skeleton ~ ~ ~ {HandItems:[{Count:1,id:"iron_sword"}]}, or /summon skeleton ~ ~ ~ {}), a skeleton charges at a player with arms outstretched and deals damage by touch, similar to a wither skeleton.

A skeleton holding a tipped arrow in its off-hand always shoots that type of arrow, and the arrow held is not consumed.

If a creeper dies from a skeleton's arrow, it drops one of any music discs except for Pigstep, Otherside, 5, and Relic.

Sunlight[]

Skeletons burn at dawn when the sun is 15 degrees or greater above the ground and 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 a helmet, which absorbs the damage, wearing out completely after a long time, usually several day cycles.
• Standing in cobwebs.^[2]

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.

Mob type[]

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[]

Some spawned skeletons have the ability to pick up dropped items from the ground. Unlike zombies, however, they pick up only weapons or armor. If a picked up item is armor, a carved pumpkin or a mob head, a skeleton equips itself with the item. If the picked up item is a weapon, the skeleton uses the item as a melee weapon. In Bedrock Edition, skeletons can also pick up and equip illager banners worn in their chest slot.

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) except if it is spawned as part of a skeleton trap, in which case only the iron helmet may not match the rest of the armor.

	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	1.2%
Diamond	0.04%

The 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.^[3]

On Halloween, skeletons may spawn wearing a carved pumpkin or jack o'lantern. They do not drop this, even when killed with Looting.

Sounds[]

Java Edition:
Skeletons use the Hostile Creatures sound category for entity-dependent sound events.

Sound	Subtitles	Source	Description	Resource location	Translation key	Volume	Pitch	Attenuation distance
	Skeleton rattles	Hostile Creatures	Randomly	entity.skeleton.ambient	subtitles.entity.skeleton.ambient	1.0	0.8-1.2	16
	Skeleton converts to Stray	Hostile Creatures	When a skeleton converts to a stray	entity.skeleton.converted_to_stray	subtitles.entity.skeleton.converted_to_stray	2.0	0.8-1.2	16
	Skeleton dies	Hostile Creatures	When a skeleton dies	entity.skeleton.death	subtitles.entity.skeleton.death	1.0	0.8-1.2	16
	Skeleton hurts	Hostile Creatures	When a skeleton is damaged	entity.skeleton.hurt	subtitles.entity.skeleton.hurt	1.0	0.8-1.2	16
	Skeleton shoots	Hostile Creatures	When a skeleton shoots an arrow	entity.skeleton.shoot	subtitles.entity.skeleton.shoot	1.0	5⁄6-1.25	16
	Footsteps	Hostile Creatures	While a skeleton is walking	entity.skeleton.step	subtitles.block.generic.footsteps	0.15	1.0	16

Bedrock Edition:

Sound	Source	Description	Resource location	Volume	Pitch
	Hostile Creatures	Randomly	mob.skeleton.say	1.0	0.8-1.2
	Friendly Creatures	When a skeleton converts to a stray	mob.skeleton.convert_to_stray	1.0	1.0
	Hostile Creatures	When a skeleton dies	mob.skeleton.death	1.0	0.8-1.2
	Hostile Creatures	When a skeleton is damaged	mob.skeleton.hurt	0.7	0.8-1.2
	Players	When a skeleton shoots an arrow[sound 1]‌[upcoming: BE 1.20.30]	random.bow	1.0	0.83-1.25
	Hostile Creatures	While a skeleton is walking	mob.skeleton.step	1.0	1.0

Data values[]

ID[]

Java Edition:

Name	Identifier	Entity tags (JE)	Translation key
Skeleton	skeleton	skeletons	entity.minecraft.skeleton

Bedrock Edition:

Name	Identifier	Numeric ID	Translation key
Skeleton	skeleton	34	entity.skeleton.name

Entity data[]

Skeletons have entity data associated with them that contains various properties.

Java Edition:

Bedrock Edition:

See Bedrock Edition level format/Entity format.

Achievements[]

Icon		Achievement	In-game description	Actual requirements (if different)	Gamerscore earned	Trophy type (PS4)
PS4	Other
		Monster Hunter	Attack and destroy a monster.	Kill a hostile mob or one of the following neutral mobs: an enderman, a piglin, a zombified piglin, a spider, or a cave spider.	15G	Bronze
		Sniper Duel	Kill a Skeleton with an arrow from more than 50 meters.	Use a launched arrow to kill a skeleton, spider jockey, wither skeleton, or a stray from 50 or more blocks away, horizontally.	30G	Bronze

Advancements[]

Icon	Advancement	In-game description	Parent	Actual requirements (if different)	Resource location
	Not Today, Thank You	Deflect a projectile with a Shield	Suit Up	Block 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 34 mobs: Blaze Cave Spider Creeper Drowned Elder Guardian Ender Dragon Enderman Endermite Evoker Ghast Guardian Hoglin Husk Magma Cube Phantom Piglin Piglin Brute Pillager Ravager Shulker Silverfish Skeleton Slime Spider Stray Vex Vindicator Witch Wither Wither Skeleton Zoglin Zombie Zombie Villager Zombified Piglin Only the riders of the chicken jockeys and skeleton horsemen are counted in this advancement. Other mobs 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 a mob with a thrown trident.	adventure/throw_trident
	It Spreads	Kill a mob near a Sculk Catalyst	Monster Hunter	Kill one of these 70 mobs near a sculk catalyst: Axolotl Bee Blaze Camel Cat Cave Spider Chicken Chicken Jockey Cod Cow Creeper Donkey Dolphin Drowned Elder Guardian Enderman Endermite Evoker Fox Frog Ghast Goat Glow Squid Guardian Hoglin Horse Husk Llama Magma Cube Mooshroom Ocelot Panda Parrot Phantom Pig Piglin Piglin Brute Pillager Polar Bear Pufferfish Rabbit Ravager Salmon Sheep Shulker Silverfish Skeleton Skeleton Horse Skeleton Horseman Slime Sniffer Stray Spider Spider Jockey Squid Strider Trader Llama Tropical Fish Turtle Vex Vindicator Warden Witch Wither Wither Skeleton Wolf Zoglin Zombie Zombie Villager Zombified Piglin Mobs that drop no experience are ignored for this advancement.	adventure/kill_mob_near_sculk_catalyst
	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 34 mobs: Blaze Cave Spider Creeper Drowned Elder Guardian Ender Dragon Enderman Endermite Evoker Ghast Guardian Hoglin Husk Magma Cube Phantom Piglin Piglin Brute Pillager Ravager Shulker Silverfish Skeleton Slime Spider Stray Vex Vindicator Witch Wither Wither Skeleton Zoglin Zombie Zombie Villager Zombified Piglin Other mobs may be killed, but are ignored for this advancement. Only the riders of the chicken jockeys and skeleton horsemen are counted in this advancement.	adventure/kill_all_mobs
	Sniper Duel	Kill a Skeleton from at least 50 meters away	Take Aim	Be at least 50 blocks away horizontally when a skeleton is killed by an arrow after the player has attacked it once.	adventure/sniper_duel

History[]

August 14, 2009					Notch teased skeletons.
Java Edition Classic
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		20091223-1			Skeletons and other mobs no longer spawn naturally.
		20100202			Skeletons and other mobs now spawn naturally again. However, they are currently passive.
					Skeletons no longer wear armor.
					The skeleton's attacking animation has been removed.
		20100204-2			Skeletons are now hostile again.
					The purple arrows that skeletons throw have been removed and have been replaced by regular (brown) arrows.
20100213					Skeletons now catch on fire when exposed to sunlight.
20100218					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?]
20100219					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.
					Skeletons no longer spin in circles on non-full-height blocks.
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.
		12w37a			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			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.
					Accuracy of skeleton can now be changed by changing difficulty.
		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 issues.
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 an 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).
					Skeletons shoot an arrow every 2 seconds on Easy and Normal instead of 1.
		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.
1.11		16w32a			Skeletons no longer shoot flaming arrows when they are on fire.[4]
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.
1.15		19w37a			Mobs that spawn wearing carved pumpkins or jack o'lanterns on Halloween no longer drop them.
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.
1.17		21w05a			Skeletons now turn into strays when they are in powder snow.
		21w13a			Decreased stray conversion time in powder snow from 30 to 7 seconds.
1.18		Experimental Snapshot 1			Skeletons now spawn only at light level 0.
1.19		Pre-release 1			Skeletons can now spawn from light level 0 to 11 in the Nether.
1.19.3		22w46a			Skeletons now spawn from light level 0 to 7 in the Nether.
Pocket Edition Alpha
v0.3.3					Added skeletons.
					Skeletons use outdated sounds, move slowly, and shoot an arrow every 3 seconds with poor aim.
v0.5.0					Skeletons now have new animations.
v0.7.3					Skeletons are now set on fire when exposed to sunlight. Previously, they emit smoke particles and take damage, but are not visually on fire.
v0.9.0		build 8			Skeletons now have new AI.
		build 9			Skeletons now use the old AI again because they weren't firing arrows correctly.
v0.11.0		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.
v0.12.1		build 1			Skeletons now use the new AI again, thus improving accuracy, walking and shooting speed and intelligence. When skeletons catches fire in the daylight, they hides to the nearest shadow or body of water. Skeletons also avoid falls, fire, lava and cactus.
					Skeletons may now spawn wearing armor or enchanted armor.
					Skeletons may now spawn with enchanted bows.
		build 12			New sounds have been added for skeletons.
?					A developer asks for The community about flaming arrows being shot by burning skeletons:"What do you think about Skeletons on fire shooting fire arrows (that set you on fire?)." – @shoghicp on X, May 31, 2016
					Burning skeletons now shoot flaming arrows.
v0.13.0		build 1			Skeletons now run away from wolves.
					Skeletons now fire faster when players get closer to knock them back, especially to players in water.
v0.14.0		build 1			Skeletons are now slightly taller (1.99 blocks tall rather than 1.95).
v0.15.0		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 normally.
1.17.0		beta 1.17.0.54			Skeletons now turn into strays when they are in powder snow.
1.17.10		beta 1.17.10.20			Decreased stray conversion time in powder snow from 30 to 7 seconds.
1.17.30		beta 1.17.30.20			Skeletons now hold their bow with two hands again when aiming.
1.19.60		beta 1.19.60.22			Skeletons now spawn from light level 0 to 7 in the Nether.
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.
New Nintendo 3DS Edition
0.1.0					Added skeletons.
Minecraft Earth
0.2.0					Added skeletons.

Historical sounds:

Sound	From	to	Pitch
Hurt/Die	Alpha v1.0.3	1.4.2[is this the correct version?]	1.0

Issues[]

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

Trivia[]

• 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.
• 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.
• In Java Edition, 89% of skeletons hold their bow in their right hand and 11% with the left. This reflects estimated handedness percentages in the real world.
• If a skeleton has a sword or any other melee item, generally with commands, its AI resembles the wither skeleton's AI.
• In Bedrock Edition, skeletons do not animate their bow.
• C418 used bamboo wind chime sounds as a base for the skeleton sounds.^[5]

Gallery[]

Renders[]

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  A spider jockey with a skeleton.

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  A cave spider jockey with a skeleton.

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  A skeleton without a bow spawned by /summon commands.

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  A skeleton wearing two spyglasses in Java Edition 22w13oneBlockAtATime.

Screenshots[]

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  A skeleton in Java Edition Beta 1.8. The player can see it wielding its bow with both hands.

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  Dying skeleton mob in Bedrock Edition.

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  Dying skeleton mob in Java Edition.

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  Two skeletons shooting each other. The skeleton on the right is a spider jockey.

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  A skeleton in the Nether used as the 12w36a snapshot image.

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  A skeleton from then-Pocket Edition (before 0.11.0). Like in Beta 1.8, it holds its bow with both hands.

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  A skeleton riding a minecart.

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  A skeleton kills an attacking wolf.

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  A stray standing next to a normal skeleton.

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  A skeleton wearing an iron helmet.

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  A skeleton wearing a leather cap.

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  A player trying to give armor to a skeleton.

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  Skeletons spawned from skeleton trap horses.

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  A glitch where skeletons have no bow.

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  Naturally armored skeletons.

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  Skeleton with a pumpkin on Halloween.

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  A skeleton with a white-dyed leather full set.

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  A preview featuring skeletons in the soul sand valley.

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  2 skeletons fighting each other.

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  A skeleton with full chainmail armor looking at the player.

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  A skeleton jockey.

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  Skeleton wearing a pumpkin on Halloween.

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  To the left is (or was) a skeleton holding the bow the wrong way.

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  First image of skeletons wearing armor.

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  First image of a skeleton duel wielding.

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  An armored skeleton in pocket edition.

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  A left handed skeleton in a superflat world with a zombie and a spider in the background.

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  A skeleton and zombie in a cave.

Cosmetics[]

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  City texture pack

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  Plastic texture pack

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  Party Skeleton, a skin featured in the 1st Birthday skin pack.

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  Halloween mash-up pack

In other media[]

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  A Skeleton in promotional artwork for the first Caves & Cliffs update.

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  Skeletons in promotional artwork for the second Caves & Cliffs update.

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  Skeleton Spirit from Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

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  Pixel art of a skeleton used on a banner for the Minecraft Marketplace

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  Lego Minecraft Skeleton.

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  Official skeleton plush made by JINX.

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  Official T-shirt artwork "Skelly Dreams" made by JINX.

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  Official Artwork for the Tricky Trials update, featuring the Skeleton.

Textures[]

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  Programmer Art

References[]

turn strays into snoblockeded