Java Edition:Weaponless Mob
To do: Via resolution of MC-163960 remove all piglin related mobs and so move the page to proper title.
Certain hostile mobs are always supposed to spawn holding specific weapon(s). (Listed below) There have been many methods that allowed most of these mobs to not have these weapons. The only one of these weapon required mobs that can't be weaponless is the vex. With can pick up loot mobs this allows them to hold any item lower priority than the weapon they spawn with as well. For example, a zombie pigman without a golden sword could be given a trident or wooden sword which isn't weaponless per se but still is discontinued because it is holding a worse item than their default one.
Required Weapon Wielding Mobs
A list of mobs that are supposed to always hold the listed weapon is below. Note that although the adult piglin and pillager always spawn with a weapon/tool, Mojang has confirmed that they intentionally use up durability and break their crossbows.[1] Therefore, these mobs are intentionally obtainable weaponless. Currently, zombified piglins are also intentionally obtainable weaponless by bringing a piglin into the overworld/end, however, they used to gain a golden sword from this conversion before 20w22a (1.16 snapshot).
| Mob | Required Weapon(s) |
|---|---|
| Piglin Brute | Gold Axe |
| Skeleton | Bow |
| Stray | Bow |
| Vex | Iron Sword |
| Vindicator | Iron Axe |
| Wither Skeleton | Stone Sword |
| Zombie Pigman[note 1] | Gold Sword |
| Adult Zombified Piglin[note 2] | |
| Crossbow[note 3] | |
| Gold Axe[note 4] | |
| Gold Sword | |
| Warped Fungus on a Stick[note 5] |
Old Versions
From Alpha v1.2.0 through 1.3.2, skeletons and zombie pigmen would hold bows and golden swords, respectively. However, likely due to the introduction of mob armor, updating past these versions causes these items to disappear from the mobs, leaving them weaponless.[2] One exception is snapshot 12w32a (1.4 snapshot), where updating to it would cause all zombie pigmen to convert to villagers. This could be avoided by storing the pigmen in unloaded chunks. Importantly, you can only update worlds from Beta 1.3 and later directly to 12w32a (1.4 snapshot) the first update where this occurs. Before Alpha v.1.2.0, skeletons did exist but they were weaponless by default. Updating this weaponless skeleton to a version between Alpha v.1.2.0 to 1.3.2 will give it a bow. However, skeletons from Infdev 20100420 to Alpha v.1.1.2_01 will also be made weaponless if updated to 12w32a (after of course a middle version such as Beta 1.4).
Spawn Egg
In 11w49a, the player could obtain spawn eggs although some consider this method cheating. The mobs that normally should have weapons that could be obtained from spawn eggs are skeletons and zombie pigmen (later zombified piglins). The spawn eggs can't be used to create weaponless mobs by default but later due to various bugs they could.
Default Spawn Eggs
Using spawn egg during the period from 18w10a to 18w10d (1.13 snapshots) will create the default mob allowing for weaponless skeletons/zombie pigmen to be spawned.[3] Using the eggs on the spawner will not create a weaponless spawner.
Skeleton Spawn Egg on Another Skeleton
From 20w07a to 20w12a (1.16 snapshots), a glitch allowed the player to get weaponless skeletons.[4] Using a skeleton spawn egg wouldn't create a bowless skeleton but if the player used the skeleton egg on another skeleton then it'd create a weaponless skeleton.
Zombie Pigman Spawn Egg on Another Zombie Pigman
From 1.15 Pre-release 1 to 24w20a (present), using a zombie pigman (or zombified piglin) spawn egg on another zombie pigman would create a swordless baby zombie pigman.[5][6] Also, due to this bug, the spawned baby zombie pigman will always be "default" meaning not a chicken jockey.
Zombie Pigmen with Zombie Equipment
All zombie pigmen spawn with the same items as a zombie during snapshot 12w32a. This is not observable during that snapshot, but updating out will have all zombie pigmen holding either an iron sword, an iron shovel, or nothing. This is also the only way to get a zombie pigman wearing armor without CanPickUpLoot true.
Pig Struck by Lightning
In Beta 1.5 a new feature was added that made pigs struck by lightning convert into zombie pigman. However, up until 1.6.4 ([test] starting version) this zombie pigman did not have a golden sword. It is difficult to get this to occur as there was no Channeling tridents. The best way is to set up a grid that has pigs spaced out 12 blocks in a grid [test] so that if lightning strikes anywhere during a lightning storm around the player a pig will convert. The larger the grid the greater the chance is that the lightning strike will convert a pig. An additional beneficial feature is to create the surface of the grid out of netherrack so that a lightning strike will leave fire and the player can check that pig to see if it was converted to the discontinued zombie pigman without a golden sword. There are two ways to force lightning as well. One is RNG manipulation for lightning. This is very difficult to set up but can be used to force lightning to strike in a general area. The other way to force lightning only works in the April Fools' update 2.0 purple. This works by allowing the super hostile mode to activate which will summon many hostile mobs around the player and strike lightning at their locations. Note this will also work on the "pony" pigs that existed in 2.0.
Battle Sign Zombie Pigman
In the April Fools' update 2.0 zombie pigman spawned holding enchanted battle signs instead of golden swords. This cannot be used to get a zombie pigman holding nothing but can be used to get a zombie pigman holding a battle sign with can pick up loot set to false. The battle sign yielding can pick up loot zombie pigman can also be obtained by using the pig struck by lightning then giving it a battle sign [test]. If the pigman can pick up loot, this method can also be used to get a zombie pigman holding a wooden sword or stone sword which is usually unobtainable.
Dual Wielding Mobs
Mobs updated from 1.8.9 and before directly to 18w19a (1.13 snapshot) and later will switch their armor and hand slots.[7] This bug creates dual wielding mobs, however, if the mob is not wearing boots or leggings, they will hold nothing. This can be used to get zombie pigmen/zombified piglins, baby zombie pigmen/baby zombified piglins, skeletons, and wither skeletons as weaponless mobs.
Skeleton Spawner
In the snapshot 15w33b, skeleton spawners created skeletons without bows. This includes spawners that naturally generated or spawners that were created using a spawn egg. The bowless skeleton spawner can't be upgraded though. When updating the bowless skeleton spawner to later versions it will just become a normal skeleton spawner with a bow.
Axeless Vindicator
There is only one method to get a vindicator without an iron axe. When vindicators were first added in 16w39a, the axe they held was purely visual. This meant that updating them to a later version caused them to not have any axe held. They still spawned without an axe in 16w40a (1.11 snapshot) due to a bug.[8] Every vindicator that spawns in a woodland mansion during these versions will not have an axe. Woodland mansion vindicators must have "PersistenceRequired" true and no raid NBT. The missing axe will only be visible when the vindicator is trying to attack something, otherwise it will just have its hands tucked like a villager.
Overstacked Weapons
Using overstacked weapons, you can cause the mobs to hold nothing. The overstacked weapons can be obtained from Indev 0.31 20100124 to 15w38a (1.9 snapshot) using the TNT + chest method, from 17w17a to 1.12 using the crafting table method, and from 19w13b to 1.14.1 using Pre-1.8 Villagers (visit the overstacked page for more info on how). This method works from 16w44a to 24w20a (present) if the player has the overstacked items. The method works by giving a mob a better weapon so it'll switch their current one but also making sure the count is negative so that it'll disappear upon reloading. Item counts use a java byte to determine the count so a value over 127 overflows to a negative number (NOTE: Greater than 127 won't always cause this to occur if the player overachieves and goes >255 then it'll go back positive, this pattern continues as a cycle every 127 items but eventually ends at the most items the cursor can hold, 2147483647). So the player needs to throw an item with a count of >127 which can be obtained by first picking up one 64 overstack of the weapon then clicking on another and a final one to get 190 then tossing it off the edge of the inventory. Additionally, mobs holding understacked items from 12w34b (CanPickUpLoot added) to 1.10.2 upgraded and then loading in 16w32a or later will disappear. This mob from prior to 16w32a could also be obtained by directly throwing a understacked item to them because they existed. This method can only create weaponless mobs with CanPickUpLoot set to true, meaning if the player wants a weaponless mob with CanPickUpLoot false they must use a different method on this list. Also, because the mob was holding an item it'll have Persistence Required set to true. This method is by far the most versatile, allowing for skeletons, wither skeletons, strays, piglins, and zombie pigmen/zombified piglins to be made weaponless.
Baby Piglin Zombification
From 20w07a to 20w21a giving a piglin an item before it zombified would let the held item override the golden sword. The piglins can hold any item available in the game. Weaponless baby piglins would gain a golden sword upon zombifying during this period though. In 20w22a this was changed so that weaponless piglins that are zombified stay weaponless. This still remains in 24w20a (present) making this a future discontinued feature. This feature MAY be intentional and is currently being [test]ed: [9].
Custome Spawn Rules Spawner
Custome spawn rules spawners[note 6] spawn weaponless mobs. The only mobs able to be obtained from naturally generated spawners are skeletons, but using a spawn egg allows other weaponless mobs to spawn.
Snapshot 24w09a downgrade
Due to the changes to how item stacks were stored in 24w09a, downgrading a world from before this version will delete all items. This includes items held by mobs, as well as equipment they spawned with.
Combos Mobs
To do: It is proposed to split this section into each obtaining section or turned into a table with checks for each method that allows the mob/discontinued mob
- Adult Zombified Piglin Chicken Jockey
- Patrol Captain Holding an Incomplete Ominous Banner
- Skeleton Spider Jockey in The Nether/End
- Stray Skeleton Horseman
- Stray Spider Jockey
- Wither Skeleton Horseman
- Wither Skeleton Spider Jockey
- Long Name Mob
- Piglin Jockey
Notes
- ↑ Alpha v1.2.0 - 20w08a (1.16 snapshot)
- ↑ 20w09a (1.16 snapshot) - 24w20a (present)
- ↑ 20w22a+ (1.16 snapshot) via zombification of crossbow piglin
- ↑ 20w27a+ (1.16.2 snapshot) via zombification of piglin brutes
- ↑ 1.16.2 Pre-release 1+ on a strider
- ↑ This is not a typo, as this is the literal name of the tag used in-game.