Overview
Standing still in the open is how you lose a fight to a Skeleton. It keeps its distance, strafes sideways, and leads its shots, so the mob that seems easiest on paper — 20 health, bones and arrows, dies at dawn — is the one that whittles a new player down from across a clearing. Arrow damage varies with draw strength and difficulty, roughly 2 to 5 per hit, and several skeletons shooting from different angles stack up faster than a zombie ever will. A shield removes the entire threat: arrows are fully blocked, and a player walking behind a raised shield can close to melee range at leisure. In melee it has no answer at all. Skeletons burn at dawn unless they are standing in water, in shade, or wearing a helmet picked up somewhere, and they flee from wolves, which makes a tamed pack an effective escort. They spawn in Overworld darkness at any height, from dungeon spawners, and in soul sand valleys in the Nether. Bones are the reason to farm them — bone meal for crops and for taming a wolf — along with a 8.5% chance of the bow they carry. The Stray and Bogged are the snowy and swampy variants.
Bones and arrows. One bone crafts into 3 bone meal, which fertilises crops and tames nothing else as reliably, and arrows are the ammunition for every bow and crossbow you will ever use.
Skeletons keep their distance, strafe sideways, and lead their shots, so standing still in the open is how you lose a fight to one. Arrow damage varies with draw and difficulty, roughly 2 to 5 per hit. Raise a shield and the arrows are fully blocked, which turns them from lethal to trivial. They burn at dawn unless standing in water, shade or wearing a helmet, and they flee from wolves.
Skeleton is a hostile mob in Minecraft Java Edition 1.21.4. You will need to deal 20 damage — 10 hearts — to kill one. Its attacks do 4 damage on Normal.
Killing one drops 5 experience.
Properties
Skeleton has 20 health, which is 10 hearts. It drops up to 5 experience when a player kills it. Its hitbox is 0.6 blocks wide and 1.99 tall, which is what decides whether it fits through a gap or a one-block-high opening.
- Dimension
- Overworld, The Nether
- Added in
- 1.0.0
- Burns in daylight
- Yes
Damage by difficulty
Skeleton hits for 4 on every difficulty; its damage does not scale the way most hostile mobs' does.
A full set of diamond armour cuts that by up to 80% against a small hit and less against a large one, and Protection IV on all four pieces — 16 EPF — takes a further 64% off what is left.
| Difficulty | Attack damage | Hearts |
|---|---|---|
| Easy | 4 | 2 |
| Normal | 4 | 2 |
| Hard | 4 | 2 |
Spawns in
Spawns in Overworld darkness at any height, from dungeon spawners, and in soul sand valleys in the Nether.
It has no biome restriction, so anywhere in the Overworld / The Nether that meets the light and space conditions is a valid spawn.
- Dimension
- Overworld, The Nether
- Light level
- 0
- Biomes
- Soul Sand Valley
- Added in
- 1.0.0
Dimension: Overworld, The Nether · Added in 1.0.0
Drops
Killing Skeleton drops Bone, Arrow, and Bow, plus up to 5 experience. Looting raises the maximum on most of these by one per level.
How it behaves
The Skeleton attacks on sight within its detection range, so light, walls and distance are all valid answers. Most hostile mobs notice you inside about sixteen blocks, though a few — ghasts especially — see very much further.
Killed by a player it drops up to 5 experience; killed any other way it drops none.
Command
In a world with cheats on, this spawns one Skeleton where you are standing.
Summon
/summon minecraft:skeleton ~ ~ ~Guides and tools that cover this
Frequently asked questions
How much damage does a skeleton arrow do?
Roughly 2 to 5 depending on draw strength and difficulty. A shield blocks all of it.
Do skeletons burn in daylight?
Yes, unless they are standing in water, in shade, or wearing a helmet they picked up.
What do skeletons drop?
0 to 2 bones, 0 to 2 arrows, 5 experience, and their bow at roughly 8.5%.
Where do skeletons spawn?
Anywhere dark in the Overworld, from dungeon spawners, and in soul sand valleys in the Nether.
How much health does the Skeleton have in Minecraft?
The Skeleton has 20 health points, which is 10 hearts.
What does the Skeleton drop?
It drops Bone, Arrow, and Bow, plus 5 experience when killed by a player.
Where does the Skeleton spawn?
Spawns in Overworld darkness at any height, from dungeon spawners, and in soul sand valleys in the Nether.
How much damage does Skeleton do?
4 on Normal difficulty — 2 hearts — with 4 on Easy and 4 on Hard.
Related pages
How to get it
Skeletons spawn at light level 0 anywhere in the Overworld, from dungeon spawners, and in soul sand valleys in the Nether. Each drops 0 to 2 bones, 0 to 2 arrows, 5 experience and its bow about 8.5% of the time.
Tips
- Raise a shield and walk straight in — blocked arrows deal nothing and a Skeleton has no melee attack worth the name.
- Fight in a corridor rather than a clearing, because their strafing is only effective with room to move.
- Bring a tamed wolf pack: skeletons flee from wolves and will not stand and shoot.
- Box in a dungeon spawner for a bone farm, since bone meal is the fastest way to grow a crop field.