Wither Skeleton

Wither skeletons are tall black variants of skeletons equipped with stone swords that inflict the poison-like Wither effect. They are found exclusively in nether fortresses and are the only source of wither skeleton skulls, as well as the only renewable source of coal.

Spawning[]

Wither skeletons spawn in nether fortresses at a light level between 0 and 7, in groups of up to 4. They are the only mobs that can spawn inside wither roses due to their immunity to the damaging effect.

Halloween[]

On Halloween, wither skeletons have a 22.5% chance of spawning wearing a carved pumpkin and a 2.5% chance of spawning wearing a jack o'lantern. This is not dropped, except when killed with Looting, which have a chance of 1-3% to drop depending on the Looting level.

Withers[]

The wither spawns 3-4 wither skeletons when below half health on normal and hard difficulties.

Jockeys[]

Spiders and cave spiders spawned in the Nether have a 0.8% chance of spawning a wither skeleton on their back and form a spider jockey. Spiders do not naturally spawn in this dimension.

Drops[]

• 0 to 2 bones. The maximum drop is increased by 1 per level of Looting, for a maximum of 0 to 5 bones with Looting III.
• There is a ¹⁄₃ chance to drop a single coal. Each level of Looting increases the maximum drop by 1, so that Looting I drops 0-2 coal with an average of 0.75 coal per kill, Looting II drops 0-3 coal with an average of 1.2 coal per kill and Looting III drops 0-4 coal with an average of 1.67 coal per kill.
• 2.5% chance to drop a wither skeleton skull when killed by a player or tamed wolf. Looting increases the chance by 1% per level‌^{[Java Edition only]} or 2% per level‌^{[Bedrock Edition only]}, for a maximum of 5.5%‌^{[Java Edition only]} or 8.5%‌^{[Bedrock Edition only]} chance with Looting III. Their skull is always dropped if killed by a charged creeper, though only one head‌^{[Java Edition only]} or all heads‌^{[Bedrock Edition only]} drop if many are killed by the same charged creeper explosion.
• 8.5% chance of dropping their unenchanted stone sword which has a random durability. This chance increases by 1% per level of Looting, for a maximum of 11.5% chance with Looting III.
• 5 experience orbs when killed by a player or tamed wolf, and an additional 1–3 is dropped per piece of naturally-spawned equipment that does not drop upon death.
  • Because all wither skeletons spawn with a stone sword, each of them effectively drop 6–8 if the sword is not dropped.
  • If the wither skeleton does drop its stone sword, it drops the default 5 instead.
• If a wither skeleton wearing a carved pumpkin or jack o'lantern is killed using a tool enchanted with Looting, there is a chance equivalent to the level of Looting used to drop the carved pumpkin or jack o'lantern, a maximum of a 3% chance of a drop.

Behavior[]

Wither skeletons wander aimlessly when idle, but sprint to attack players, snow golems, iron golems, baby turtles, piglins, and piglin brutes. They flee from wolves but retaliate if attacked.

When an entity is attacked by a wither skeleton in any difficulty, it is inflicted with the Wither effect for ten seconds, which turns the health bar black ( × 10) and decreases it by 1 every two seconds, similarly to Poison, except that it can cause death.

Some wither skeletons may have the capacity to pick up dropped gear in Normal and Hard difficulties. The chance depends on regional difficulty, with up to 55% of them capable of picking up swords higher than stone tier plus any armor. Wither skeletons never take bows; in Java Edition, if they hold a bow (which can be done with /summon wither_skeleton ~ ~ ~ {HandItems:[{id:bow,Count:1b}]}) they shoot flaming arrows even if their bows are not enchanted. They cannot use crossbows.

Wither skeletons are immune to fire and the Wither effect. They still seek shade or water during daylight if they are in the Overworld although they do not burn in sunlight. Like most undead mobs, they sink in water but do not drown, are healed by Instant Damage and harmed by Instant Health effects, are immune to Regeneration and Poison effects and are not attacked by the wither.

In Bedrock Edition, the player can burn them by throwing a trident enchanted with Channeling during a thunderstorm.

Sounds[]

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

Sound	Subtitles	Source	Description	Resource location	Translation key	Volume	Pitch	Attenuation distance
	Wither Skeleton rattles	Hostile Creatures	Randomly	entity.wither_skeleton.ambient	subtitles.entity.wither_skeleton.ambient	1.0	0.8-1.2	16
	Wither Skeleton dies	Hostile Creatures	When a wither skeleton dies	entity.wither_skeleton.death	subtitles.entity.wither_skeleton.death	1.0	0.8-1.2	16
	Wither Skeleton hurts	Hostile Creatures	When a wither skeleton is damaged	entity.wither_skeleton.hurt	subtitles.entity.wither_skeleton.hurt	1.0	0.8-1.2	16
	Footsteps	Hostile Creatures	While a wither skeleton is walking	entity.wither_skeleton.step	subtitles.block.generic.footsteps	0.15	1.0	16

Bedrock Edition:‌^{[until BE 1.20.40]}

Sound	Source	Description	Resource location	Volume	Pitch
	Hostile Creatures	Randomly	mob.skeleton.say	1.0	0.8-1.2
	Hostile Creatures	When a wither skeleton dies	mob.skeleton.death	1.0	0.8-1.2
	Hostile Creatures	When a wither skeleton is damaged	mob.skeleton.hurt	0.7	0.8-1.2
	Hostile Creatures	While a wither skeleton is walking	mob.skeleton.step	1.0	0.8-1.2

Bedrock Edition:‌^{[upcoming: BE 1.20.40]}

Sound	Source	Description	Resource location	Volume	Pitch
	Hostile Creatures	Randomly	entity.wither_skeleton.ambient	1.0	0.8-1.2
	Hostile Creatures	When a wither skeleton dies	entity.wither_skeleton.death	1.0	0.8-1.2
	Hostile Creatures	When a wither skeleton is damaged	entity.wither_skeleton.hurt	1.0	0.8-1.2
	Hostile Creatures	Unused sound event[sound 1]	entity.wither_skeleton.step	0.15	1.0

Data values[]

ID[]

Java Edition:

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

Bedrock Edition:

Name	Identifier	Numeric ID	Translation key
Wither Skeleton	wither_skeleton	48	entity.wither_skeleton.name

Entity data[]

Wither skeleton have entity data associated with them that contains various properties. The wither skeleton is taller than the skeleton.

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
		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
	Spooky Scary Skeleton	Obtain a Wither Skeleton's skull	A Terrible Fortress	Have a wither skeleton skull in your inventory.	nether/get_wither_skull
	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
	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
	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[]

Java Edition
1.4.2		12w36a			Added wither skeletons.
		12w38b			Wither skeletons now spawn more frequently.
1.4.4		1.4.3			Wither skeletons can now sprint toward the player.
1.8		14w11a			Wither skeletons now run away from creepers that are about to explode.
		14w30a			Wither skeletons now drop their skull when killed by a charged creeper.
					The weapon holding position of wither skeletons has been changed.
1.8.1		pre1			Wither skeletons no longer run away from creepers that are about to explode.
1.9		15w31a			Wither skeletons now lower their arms when idle and swing their arms when damaging something.
					Wither skeletons now sometimes (11% of times) spawn with their left hand as their main hand.
					Wither skeletons now have the ability to hold items in both of their hands.
		15w39a			Wither skeletons are now slightly shorter (2.4 blocks tall rather than 2.535) and narrower (0.7 blocks instead of 0.72).
1.10		16w20a			Added separate spawn eggs for wither skeletons.
		pre2			The wither skeleton spawn egg has been removed.
1.11		16w32a			The wither skeleton spawn egg has been re-added.
					The entity ID has been changed changed from Skeleton to wither_skeleton, SkeletonType tag is removed.
					The wither skeleton's in-game name is now "Wither Skeleton" instead of "Skeleton".
		16w39a			Wither skeletons now have their own unique sounds.
1.13		18w19a			Wither skeletons now sink underwater.
					Wither skeletons no longer drown underwater.
1.14		18w43a			The texture of wither skeletons has been changed.
					Wither skeletons are now immune to the Wither effect.
September 28, 2019					Announced piglins, which attack wither skeletons.
1.15		19w37a			Mobs that spawn wearing carved pumpkins or jack o'lanterns on Halloween no longer drop them.
1.16		20w07a			Added piglins, which attack wither skeletons.
		20w10a			Wither skeletons now attack piglins on sight.[1]
		20w21a			Wither skeletons are now the only mobs that can spawn on wither roses.
1.19		Pre-release 1			Wither skeletons now spawn from light level 0 to 11.
1.19.3		22w46a			Wither skeletons now spawn from light level 0 to 7 in the Nether.
Pocket Edition Alpha
v0.12.1		build 1			Added wither skeletons.
		build 9			Wither skeletons are now larger than regular skeletons.
		build 12			Added new sounds for dying wither skeletons.
v0.15.0		build 1			Wither skeletons now lower their arms when idle and swing their arms when damaging something.
					Added separate spawn eggs for wither skeletons.
v0.16.0		build 4			Wither skeletons now spawn when a wither's health reaches 50%.
Pocket Edition
1.1.0		alpha 1.1.0.0			The entity ID has been changed from skeleton.wither to wither_skeleton.
Bedrock Edition
?					Wither skeletons no longer spawn with gear (or enchanted gear).
1.5.0		beta 1.5.0.0			Wither skeletons now sink in water.
					Wither skeletons no longer drown underwater.
		beta 1.5.0.4			Wither skeletons now seek and attack baby turtles.
1.10.0		beta 1.10.0.3			The texture of wither skeletons has been changed.
1.16.0		beta 1.16.0.51			Wither skeletons now have ability to pick up items.
					Added piglins, which attack wither skeletons.
1.19.60		beta 1.19.60.22			Wither skeletons now spawn from light level 0 to 7 in the Nether.
1.20.40		beta 1.20.40.20			Wither skeletons now have the same sounds as in Java Edition.
Legacy Console Edition
TU19	CU7	1.12	Patch 1	1.0.1	Added wither skeletons.
TU31	CU19	1.22	Patch 3		Wither skeletons now drop their skull when killed by a charged creeper.
TU46	CU36	1.38	Patch 15		Wither skeletons now lower their arms when idle and swing their arms when damaging something.
TU54	CU44	1.52	Patch 24	1.0.4	Added separate spawn eggs for wither skeletons.
TU57	CU49	1.56	Patch 27	1.0.7	Wither skeletons no longer fear daylight and attack anything that lives.
TU60	CU51	1.64	Patch 30	1.0.11	Wither skeletons now spawn when a wither's health reaches 50%.
TU69		1.76	Patch 38		Wither skeletons now sink in water.
					Wither skeletons no longer drown underwater.
					Wither skeletons now have the same sounds as in Java Edition.
New Nintendo 3DS Edition
0.1.0					Added wither skeletons.

Issues[]

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

Trivia[]

• Wither skeletons can't fit through the gap under the staircase of the nether wart room in fortresses.

Gallery[]

Renders[]

• 

  A wither skeleton

• 

  A wither skeleton with a carved pumpkin on its head.

• 

  A wither skeleton wearing iron armor and wielding an iron sword.

• 

  A wither skeleton targeting without a weapon.

Screenshots[]

• 

  A wither skeleton in the Overworld.

• 

  A wither jockey.

• 

  A wither skeleton next to the wall of a nether fortress.

• 

  A preview of two wither skeletons in the soul sand valley.

• 

  A wither skeleton and a blaze idling in a nether fortress.

• 

  A wither skeleton and two blazes near a blaze monster spawner.

• 

  Wither skeleton wearing a pumpkin on Halloween.

• 

  A wither skeleton in a nether fortress.

• 

  A wither skeleton compared to a tall player.‌^{[Bedrock Edition only]}

In other media[]

• 

  Wither Skeleton in promotional artwork for the Pretty Scary Update.

• 

  Wither Skeletons in promotional artwork for the Nether Update.

• 

  A Wither Skeleton, as it appears in Minecraft Dungeons.

• 

  LEGO Minecraft Wither Skeleton.

• 

  "Acid Wither Skeleton," an officially licensed T-Shirt design.

• 

  An officially licensed cup featuring a wither skeleton.

References[]