Zombie Horse

Overview

The Zombie Horse is a finished mob with no way into the world. It has no natural spawn condition in any version of Java Edition — no biome, no structure, no storm event, nothing — so the only ways to see one are a spawn egg or the /summon command, which puts it in the same category as the illusioner: complete, playable, and unreleased. What you get if you do summon one is a docile green horse with 15 health that never attacks anything. It can be tamed and saddled through commands, but it cannot wear horse armour, cannot be bred, and has no special movement of its own. Being undead does give it three real properties: Smite adds damage against it, splash Potions of Healing hurt it while Instant Damage heals it, and it neither burns in daylight nor drowns underwater — which, oddly, makes it behave much like the Skeleton Horse you can actually obtain in survival. For map makers it is a usable mount with a distinctive look. For a survival world it is a curiosity you will never encounter unless you put it there yourself.

Map-making and command builds. The Zombie Horse is a rideable undead mount that never drowns and never burns, but it has no role at all in ordinary survival play.

An unused variant that behaves like a docile horse with a zombie skin. It can be tamed and saddled with commands but cannot wear horse armour, cannot be bred, and does not attack anything. It is undead, so it takes damage from healing potions and extra damage from Smite, and it neither burns in daylight nor drowns.

In Minecraft, Zombie Horse is classified as a passive mob. It has 15 health points, or 7.5 hearts. Expect 3 experience per kill.

Properties

Zombie Horse has 15 health, which is 7.5 hearts. It drops up to 3 experience when a player kills it. Its hitbox is 1.4 blocks wide and 1.6 tall, which is what decides whether it fits through a gap or a one-block-high opening.

Added in: 1.6.1
Tameable: Yes

Spawns in

Has no natural spawn condition in any version. Obtainable only with a spawn egg or the /summon command.

It has no biome restriction, so anywhere in the Overworld that meets the light and space conditions is a valid spawn.

Dimension: Overworld
Added in: 1.6.1

Dimension: Overworld · Added in 1.6.1

Drops

Killing Zombie Horse drops Rotten Flesh, plus up to 3 experience. Looting raises the maximum on most of these by one per level.

Rotten Flesh: 0–2

How it behaves

The Zombie Horse never attacks. The only reason to be careful around one is that killing it is often not what you want: breeding it is worth more than the drop.

Killed by a player it drops up to 3 experience; killed any other way it drops none.

Command

In a world with cheats on, this spawns one Zombie Horse where you are standing.

Summon

/summon minecraft:zombie_horse ~ ~ ~

Guides and tools that cover this

Frequently asked questions

Where does a Zombie Horse spawn?

Nowhere. It has no natural spawn condition and must be placed with a spawn egg or the /summon command.

Can you tame a Zombie Horse?

It can be saddled and ridden when summoned with the right data, but it cannot be tamed the ordinary way.

Does a Zombie Horse burn in sunlight?

No. Despite being undead it does not burn, and it does not drown either.

Can Zombie Horses be bred?

No. They cannot be bred and cannot wear horse armour.

How much health does the Zombie Horse have in Minecraft?

The Zombie Horse has 15 health points, which is 7.5 hearts.

What does the Zombie Horse drop?

It drops Rotten Flesh, plus 3 experience when killed by a player.

Where does the Zombie Horse spawn?