All mob classes in Minecraft explained

2024/04/01

Minecraft’s collection of in-game mobs is constantly expanding, and each entity, past or present, has been categorized based on their behavior towards the player and other mobs. However, some mobs, including those that are not currently in use or were removed, have been classified differently based on their development status.

Despite players’ assumptions, the distinctions between a passive, neutral, hostile, or joke mob in Minecraft may not be as significant. Nonetheless, it is beneficial to examine the various classes/categories that mobs are categorized under in order to gain a better understanding of their behavior and overall relationship.

Understanding the different types of Minecraft mobs

1) Peaceful animals

Most animals in Minecraft are considered passive mobs (Image via Mojang)

Passive Minecraft mobs typically have little interest in engaging in conflict. They generally prefer to avoid interacting with other players and will often attempt to escape if provoked, although there are a few exceptions where they may attack based on their programmed behavior. In most cases, they will simply go about their usual routines until influenced by players or when in the company of other mobs.

Below is the complete list of passive mobs:

Allays
Armadillos
Axolotls
Bats
Camels
Cats
Chickens
Cod
Cows
Donkeys
Frogs
Glow Squids
Horses
Mooshrooms
Mules
Ocelots
Parrots
Pigs
Pufferfish (protect themselves when threatened)
Rabbits
Salmon
Sheep
Skeleton Horses
Sniffers
Snow Golems
Squids
Striders
Tadpoles
Tropical Fish
Turtles
Turtles
Villagers
The Wandering Trader

2) Dangerous creatures

Creepers are likely the most recognizable hostile mob in Minecraft (Image via Mojang)

In Minecraft, hostile mobs are considered as such because they actively seek out players to attack and will often target other mobs as well. These mobs have a wide range of spawning conditions and behaviors, but their common trait is their aggressive nature. Additionally, some hostile mobs, such as baby zombies, have been known to ride on other mobs like chickens, pigs, and spiders, although this occurrence is not very common.

Despite this, the comprehensive list of hostile mobs in the game can still be found below:

Blazes
Bogged
Breezes
Creepers
Elder Guardians
Endermites
Evokers
Gasts
Guardians
Hoglins
Husks
Magma Cubes
Phantoms
Piglin Brutes
Pillagers
Ravagers
Shulkers
Silverfish
Skeletons
Slimes
Strays
Vexes
Vindicators
The Warden
Witches
Wither Skeletons
Zoglins
Zombies
Zombie Villagers

3) Passive mobs

Wolves are neutral Minecraft mobs and can shift their behavior based on context (Image via Mojang)

Neutral mobs in Minecraft have the ability to transition between being passive and hostile depending on the interactions they have with players. Generally, they remain passive until provoked, at which point they may become hostile and engage in attacks. Conversely, certain neutral mobs are naturally aggressive, but players have the option to calm them and turn them into passive creatures.

Fans can refer to the list below to find all the mobs that are classified as neutral in the game.

Bees
Cave Spiders
Dolphins
Drowned
Endermen
Foxes
Goats
Iron Golems
Llamas
Pandas
Piglins
Polar Bears
Spiders
Flame Trader
Wolves
Zombified Piglins

4) Powerful Enemies

There are currently only two mobs classified as bosses in Minecraft (Image via Mojang)

In Minecraft, the game design of Mojang intentionally includes boss mobs, which are known to be tougher than other entities and do not spawn randomly like most mobs. These boss mobs are distinguished by a health bar that appears in the player’s UI, a feature that would typically have to be applied manually to other creatures using commands.

Currently, there are only two boss mobs in the game: the Ender Dragon and the Wither. Defeating the Ender Dragon is necessary to finish the Survival Mode storyline and view the end credits, while defeating the Wither is an optional fight that rewards players with valuable nether stars.

5) Abandoned Creatures

Illusioners are considered unused despite remaining in the game (Image via Mojang)

Some mobs in Minecraft were once available for natural spawning but have now been removed. These mobs still exist in the game’s code and can be summoned using the /summon command. However, some of them may not have a complete AI or are used for different purposes, such as in the Education Edition.

Ultimately, these Minecraft mobs remain unfinished or limited in their usability due to various reasons. The comprehensive list of unused mobs in Minecraft can be found below:

Giants
Zombie Horses
The Killer Bunny
The Agent (requires an Education Edition or Bedrock Edition world connected to a WebSocket server for full use)
NPC (Exclusive to Education Edition and Bedrock worlds with Education Edition features enabled)
Illusioners
Elder Guardian Ghosts
Old Villagers (villagers used before the Village & Pillage update)
Old Zombie Villagers (also used before the Village & Pillage update)

6) Eliminated Enemies

Rana, a mob that was added and removed during the Indev period (Image via Mojang)

These mobs, as their name suggests, used to be present in Minecraft (typically in earlier versions of Java Edition) but have since been removed and do not exist in the current version. Despite attempts to summon them through commands, they can no longer be accessed. However, certain modders and data pack creators have discovered methods to reintroduce them.

Regardless of the situation, the complete list of eliminated mobs can be found below:

Mobs
Beast Boy
Black Steve
Day
Steve
Monsters

7) Comedic Gangs

The Pink Wither is one of a few different joke mobs (Image via Mojang)

The Java Edition has a rich tradition of releasing April Fool’s Day snapshots that introduce exclusive features and mobs. As a result, the joke mobs created by Mojang are primarily meant to be humorous additions for fans to enjoy. However, these mobs are only available within their respective April Fool’s Day snapshots and cannot be accessed or found elsewhere.

In this section, players can discover a compilation of comedic creatures that have appeared throughout the history of the game.

Diamond Chickens
Pig/Cow “Horses”
Pig/Cow “Ponies”
Love Golems
Mars
Moon Cows
Nerd Creepers
Pink Withers
Ray Tracing
Redstone Bugs
Smiling Creepers

8) Planned mobs

Wildfires were once considered for Minecraft but eventually arrived in the Dungeons spin-off (Image via Mojang)

Mobs that are labeled as “unimplemented”were originally intended to be included in Minecraft, but for various reasons, they were not. While a few of these creatures did end up appearing in other games, such as the Dungeons spin-off, they never made an appearance in Mojang’s main sandbox game. Additionally, some of these unimplemented mobs were also contenders in the annual Mob Vote event but did not win.

The following is the complete list of mobs that Mojang had previously considered but eventually decided not to implement:

Pigment Bodyguard
Red Dragon
Alpaca
Barnacle
The Great Hunger
Wildfires
Meerkats
Ostriches
Termites
Vultures
Mooblooms
Iceologer
Glare
Copper Golem
Firefly
Rascal
Tuff Golem
Crab
Penguin

Generally speaking, the majority of unimplemented mobs have a low likelihood of appearing in vanilla Minecraft. While they may make appearances in current or future spin-offs, Mojang has primarily decided to set them aside and prioritize the development of existing and upcoming creatures.