Wither Skeleton in Minecraft

This Minecraft tutorial explains all about wither skeletons with screenshots and step-by-step instructions. Let's learn about wither skeletons in Minecraft.

Supported Platforms

Wither skeletons are available in the following versions of Minecraft:

Platform	Supported (Version*)
Java Edition (PC/Mac)	Yes
Pocket Edition (PE)	Yes (0.12.1)
Xbox 360	Yes (TU19)
Xbox One	Yes (CU7)
PS3	Yes (1.12)
PS4	Yes (1.12)
Wii U	Yes
Nintendo Switch	Yes
Windows 10 Edition	Yes
Education Edition	Yes

* The version that it was added or removed, if applicable.
NOTE: Pocket Edition (PE), Xbox One, PS4, Nintendo Switch, and Windows 10 Edition are now called Bedrock Edition. We will continue to show them individually for version history.

Background

A wither skeleton is a variant of a skeleton. The following is a picture of what a wither skeleton looks like in the game:

Hostility Level (Hostile)

A wither skeleton is a hostile mob. The term mob is short for mobile and is used to refer to all living, moving creatures in the game such as chickens, creepers, and wither skeletons. Because a wither skeleton is a hostile mob, it will attack you in Survival mode but not Creative mode.

Health Points

In Minecraft, a wither skeleton has 10 hearts for health. This gives a wither skeleton 20 health points (because 1 heart = 2 health points). To kill a wither skeleton, you need to inflict 20 points of damage to the wither skeleton.

Hostile Mob

A wither skeleton is a hostile mob. The term mob is short for mobile and is used to refer to all living, moving creatures in the game such as chickens, endermen, and wither skeletons. Because a wither skeleton is a hostile mob, it will attack you in Survival mode but not Creative mode.

Where to Find Wither Skeletons

In Minecraft, you can find wither skeletons in the Nether. Wither skeletons are the Nether's version of a skeleton. While an Overworld skeleton carries a bow and arrow, a wither skeleton from the Nether carries a stone sword.

If you haven't been to the Nether, you need to build a nether portal to take you to the Nether. When you walk through a nether portal, it will transport you between the Overworld and the Nether. This is what a nether portal looks like:

If you are having trouble finding a wither skeleton, you can summon a wither skeleton using a cheat or you can use a spawn egg.

Weapon

The wither skeleton is armed with a stone sword as a weapon.

Attack Method

In Minecraft, a wither skeleton will move towards you and try to strike you with its stone sword when it attacks. If it hits you with its sword, you will get the Wither effect for 10 seconds. You can drink milk to remove this effect immediately or wait 10 seconds for the Wither effect to wear off.

Drops

When you kill a wither skeleton in Minecraft, it may drop one or more of the following items: bones, coal or a stone sword. And in rare circumstances, a wither skeleton may drop a wither skeleton skull.

Make sure you pick up any dropped items before they disappear. They are useful and should be kept in your inventory to be used later.

Experience Points

As you play the game, you will gain experience. The most common way to gain experience is by killing mobs. When a mob is killed you will see tiny green and yellow balls appear and move towards you.

These orbs represent experience points. When you kill a wither skeleton, you will gain 5 experience points.

Spawn Egg for Wither Skeleton

You can spawn a wither skeleton using the following spawn egg:

Command Examples

Here are some game command examples for a wither skeleton in Minecraft:

NBT Tags for Wither Skeleton (Java Edition)

Here are the NBT tags that you can use in game commands for a wither skeleton in Java Edition:

Spawn Events for Wither Skeleton (Bedrock/Education)

Here are the spawn events that you can use in game commands for a wither skeleton in Bedrock Edition and Education Edition: