Skeleton Horse

Skeleton Horseman
Health points	Skeleton: 20HP × 10; Skeleton Horse: 15HP × 7.5
Behavior	Hostile
Spawn	When a skeleton trap is triggered
Natural; equipment	Skeleton: Bow (enchanted); ; Iron Helmet (enchanted, can sometimes be replaced by another tier of helmet); ; Armor (occasionally, may be enchanted);

Skeleton Horse
Health points	15HP × 7.5
Behavior	Passive on its own
Mob type	Undead; Monster; Animal
Hitbox size	In Java Edition:; Adult:; Height: 1.6 blocks; Width: 1.3965 blocks; Baby:; Height: 0.8 blocks; Width: 0.6982 Blocks; In Bedrock Edition:; Adult:; Height: 1.6 blocks; Width: 1.4 blocks; Baby:; Height: 0.8 blocks; Width: 0.7 blocks
Speed	0.2
Spawn	Rarely during thunderstorms as skeleton trap horses
Usable items	Saddle ‌[Java Edition only]; Lead; Shears;

This article would benefit from the addition of isometric renders.

Please remove this notice once you have added suitable isometric renders to the article.
The specific instructions are: Update the render of saddled skeleton horses, as its saddle texture was changed in Java Edition 1.19.4 and Bedrock Edition 1.19.60 to align with the horse texture.

A skeleton horse is an undead skeletal horse that sometimes spawns when lightning strikes as a hostile mob. Despite being undead, it does not burn in sunlight.

A skeleton horseman is an iron helmet-wearing skeleton that rides and controls a skeleton horse, which becomes passive once separated from its rider.

Spawning

A "skeleton trap" horse is a skeleton horse spawned from a fraction of lightning generated naturally by a thunderstorm (0.75–1.5% chance on Easy, 1.5–4% on Normal, and 2.25–6.75% on Hard difficulty, depending on regional difficulty). In Java Edition, the lightning that spawns a trap horse doesn't strike nearby entities or spawn fires. Lightning strikes created from a Channeling-enchanted trident and lightning strikes directed to a lightning rod never spawn a skeleton trap horse. The trap horse despawns after 15 minutes if not triggered (even if it is named). Trap horses will spawn in any biome where it can rain, even in mushroom fields and deep dark.^[1]^{[verify for Bedrock Edition]}

In Java Edition, skeleton horses do not spawn in Peaceful difficulty, like hostile mobs.^{[verify for Bedrock Edition]} Note that skeleton traps do not follow other mob spawning rules and can spawn on basically any block. They can even spawn when the game rule spawn_monsters‌^{[Java Edition only]} is false.^[2]

Baby skeleton horses cannot spawn naturally.

Skeleton Horseman

The skeleton trap horse is triggered when a player approaches within 10 blocks of it, resulting in a lightning strike that does not start fires or damage nearby entities. When struck, the skeleton trap horse transforms into a skeleton horseman: a skeleton riding a skeleton horse. It also spawns three additional skeleton horsemen in the vicinity.

The skeleton rider is equipped with an enchanted iron helmet along with an enchanted bow. Like regular skeletons, they also have a chance to spawn with various pieces of armor or with the ability to pick up equipment on the ground. The skeleton riders are always regular skeletons, and never spawn as strays, bogged, parched, or wither skeletons. Like the horses themselves, the skeleton riders are persistent, meaning they do not despawn unless the difficulty is set to "Peaceful".

In Java Edition, both the horse and rider have damage immunity for 3 seconds after spawning. In Bedrock Edition, both the horse and rider are always immune to lightning. Once its skeleton rider is killed, the skeleton horse becomes completely passive, allowing for it to be ridden.

A skeleton trap horse, and therefore skeleton horsemen, can also be manually spawned using commands:

Java Edition
/summon skeleton_horse ~ ~ ~ {SkeletonTrap:1}

Bedrock Edition
/summon skeleton_horse ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ minecraft:set_trap.

Drops

On death

Java Edition:

Item		Quantity / Chance / Average
Item		Default			Looting I			Looting II			Looting III
	Bone	0–2	66.67%	1.00	0–3	83.33%	1.50	0–4	91.67%	2.00	0–5	94.44%	2.50

Item		Quantity / Chance / Average
Item		Default			Looting I			Looting II			Looting III
	Bone	0–2	²⁄₃	1	0–3	⁵⁄₆	³⁄₂	0–4	¹¹⁄₁₂	2	0–5	¹⁷⁄₁₈	⁵⁄₂

Item		Amount	Probability
Item		Amount	Default	Looting I	Looting II	Looting III
	Bone	0	¹⁄₃ (33.33%)	¹⁄₆ (16.67%)	¹⁄₁₂ (8.33%)	¹⁄₁₈ (5.56%)
		1	¹⁄₃ (33.33%)	¹⁄₃ (33.33%)	¹⁄₄ (25.00%)	¹⁄₆ (16.67%)
		2	¹⁄₃ (33.33%)	¹⁄₃ (33.33%)	¹⁄₃ (33.33%)	⁵⁄₁₈ (27.78%)
		3	0	¹⁄₆ (16.67%)	¹⁄₄ (25.00%)	⁵⁄₁₈ (27.78%)
		4	0	0	¹⁄₁₂ (8.33%)	¹⁄₆ (16.67%)
		5	0	0	0	¹⁄₁₈ (5.56%)
		Average	1 (1.00)	³⁄₂ (1.50)	2 (2.00)	⁵⁄₂ (2.50)

Item		Expected Drops
Killed		1
Item		Default	Looting I	Looting II	Looting III
	Bone	1.00	1.50	2.00	2.50

Bedrock Edition:

Item		Quantity / Chance / Average
Item		Default			Looting I			Looting II			Looting III
	Bone	0–2	66.67%	1.00	0–3	66.67%	1.33	0–4	66.67%	1.67	0–5	66.67%	2.00

Item		Quantity / Chance / Average
Item		Default			Looting I			Looting II			Looting III
	Bone	0–2	²⁄₃	1	0–3	²⁄₃	⁴⁄₃	0–4	²⁄₃	⁵⁄₃	0–5	²⁄₃	2

Item		Amount	Probability
Item		Amount	Default	Looting I	Looting II	Looting III
	Bone	0	¹⁄₃ (33.33%)	¹⁄₃ (33.33%)	¹⁄₃ (33.33%)	¹⁄₃ (33.33%)
		1	¹⁄₃ (33.33%)	¹⁄₆ (16.67%)	¹⁄₁₂ (8.33%)	¹⁄₁₈ (5.56%)
		2	¹⁄₃ (33.33%)	¹⁄₃ (33.33%)	¹⁄₄ (25.00%)	¹⁄₆ (16.67%)
		3	0	¹⁄₆ (16.67%)	¹⁄₄ (25.00%)	²⁄₉ (22.22%)
		4	0	0	¹⁄₁₂ (8.33%)	¹⁄₆ (16.67%)
		5	0	0	0	¹⁄₁₈ (5.56%)
		Average	1 (1.00)	⁴⁄₃ (1.33)	⁵⁄₃ (1.67)	2 (2.00)

Item		Expected Drops
Killed		1
Item		Default	Looting I	Looting II	Looting III
	Bone	1.00	1.33	1.67	2.00

1–3XP when killed by a player or tamed wolf.

If saddled, it drops a saddle.‌^{[Java Edition only]}

Killing a baby skeleton horse yields no items or experience. In Bedrock Edition, killing a trap skeleton horse also yields no items or experience.

Behavior

The skeleton horse is an undead mob that spawns and triggers a "skeleton trap" if the player gets too close. Once the skeleton rider is defeated, the skeleton horse becomes completely passive. Skeleton horses behave like normal horses, roaming idly and occasionally stopping to rear, swish their tails, or lower their heads as though eating the grass. Unlike sheep, the eating animation does not actually cause any grass to be consumed. Skeleton horses can breathe in water.

In Bedrock Edition, skeleton horses prevent players from sleeping,^[3] and are targeted by the conduit like any regular hostile mob, even while tamed.^[4]‌^{[until BE 26.0]}

Skeleton horses can safely fall 6 blocks before they begin to accumulate fall damage, unlike most mobs, which can only safely fall 3 blocks. Skeleton horses also take half of the normal fall damage (rounded up) that most other mobs take (0.5HP × 0.25 damage per block over the safe distance instead of 1HP). If an entity is riding a skeleton horse, they receive the same fall damage as the skeleton horse.

Skeleton horses have a ¹⁄₉₀₀ chance to regenerate 1HP health point each game tick.^{[verify for Bedrock Edition]}

Unlike most passive mobs, skeleton horses don't panic when damaged.^{[upcoming JE 26.1 & BE 26.0]}

Skeleton horses cannot be bred.

Other notes:

The skeleton wears an iron helmet, unless it randomly spawned with some other headgear.
The skeleton's bow and helmet are enchanted as if on an enchanting table at level 5–22. The exact level depends on regional difficulty; on Easy it is always a level-5 enchantment.
The skeleton trap horse and the skeleton horse in a jockey are always adults.
The skeleton in a naturally spawned skeleton horseman jockey does not despawn.
A trap horse may spawn in areas that a regular horse may not, such as the middle of an ocean.
A trap horse can trigger normally in clear weather (and often a player encounters a trap horse after the thunderstorm has cleared).
The skeleton drops more experience orbs.
The skeleton does not attack any mob that attacks the skeleton horse.

Differences/inconsistencies of skeleton horses with other undead mounts, such as zombie horses, camel husks, and zombie nautiluses:

It counts for the passive mob cap instead of the hostile mob cap.^[5]
It is not valid for advancements.^[6]
It can still be leashed and fed with horse food items when ridden by hostile mobs.^[7]
It cannot be tamed normally, as its tamed by default when the trap triggers.
A skeleton horse spawned via a spawn egg can not be tamed or ridden.^[8]
Its health and stats are not variable.^[9]
It cannot wear horse armor.^[10]
Parrots can't imitate them.^[11]
It does not burn in sunlight, unlike zombie horses and zombie nautiluses.

Mob type

Being an undead mob, they are:

damaged by the status effect Instant Health and healed by the status effect Instant Damage.
unaffected by the status effects Regeneration and Poison.
ignored by the wither.
affected by the Smite enchantment.
a threat to armadillos, causing them to hide in their shell.

As they are monsters, golden dandelions do not work on baby skeleton horses.^{[upcoming First Drop 2026]}

As they are under the skeletons entity type tag, creepers drop a music disc when killed by a skeleton horse.^{[note 2]}

Taming

In Bedrock Edition, the skeleton horse is always tamed. In Java Edition, a skeleton trap horse becomes tamed when struck by lightning. The other three skeleton horses are tamed when they are spawned.

In Java Edition, with the use of commands, a skeleton horse can be tamed in the same way as a regular horse, granting the Best Friends Forever advancement.

Jockey

This feature is exclusive to Bedrock Edition.

15% of nearby baby zombies, husks, or ‌in Bedrock Edition 26.0^[upcoming] zombie villagers, drowned, or zombified piglins may ride an adult skeleton horse to form a jockey, if the skeleton horse has no riders.

Statistics

All horses have three "equine stats" that vary from horse to horse: health, maximum movement speed, and jump strength. These stats are created once the horse is born or spawned, and are not affected by food.

Spawned values

When spawned in any way except breeding – for instance, using commands, spawning naturally, spawning as part of a skeleton trap, or using spawn eggs – horses are assigned their stats within certain ranges, specific according to their horse type.

Health

A skeleton horse's health is always 15. Displayed hearts are health, divided by two, rounded down. A horse with an odd number of health points (15, 17, 19, etc.) does not show the last half-heart. If the horse has lost one health point lower than the inflicted damage and did not regenerate, it has an odd number of health points, otherwise, it has an even number of health points.

Movement speed

A skeleton horse's speed is always 0.2; the player's normal walking speed is 0.1. The speed listed does not include any status effect that affects the speed of a horse or a player.

See Transportation § Methods to compare the speeds of various transportation methods.

Jump strength

Jump strength ranges from 0.4–1.0, averaging 0.7.

A jump strength of 0.5 is enough to clear 1 ¹⁹⁄₃₂ blocks, while 1.0 is enough to clear 5 ⁹⁄₃₂ blocks.

The jump strengths required to clear several block heights are:

Jump Strength	Blocks
0.967	5.00
0.848	4.00
0.716	3.00
0.565	2.00
0.431	1.25 (player's jump height)

Usage

As with normal horses, skeleton horses can be ridden by a player. When ridden, they can be used to climb hills and jump fences because the skeleton horses can jump up to five block heights, versus the player's maximum of one (without jump boost).

Skeleton horses can be ridden in water at any depth without forcing the player to dismount. They sink to the bottom and can be ridden along the ocean or river floor.

Skeleton horses can be pulled or tethered with a lead.

Equipment

Java Edition

Skeleton horses have the following slot available:

Saddle Slot: For equipping a saddle.

Saddles can be placed on a tamed skeleton horse by holding it and then using on the skeleton horse, or by accessing its inventory. A skeleton horse’s inventory can be accessed by mounting the skeleton horse and using inventory control, or by sneaking and then using on the skeleton horse.

The saddle can be removed by two methods:

Removing the saddle from its slot in the skeleton horse's inventory.
Using shears on the skeleton horse.

Baby skeleton horses cannot be equipped, as they cannot be ridden.

Bedrock Edition

A skeleton horse does not have an inventory and cannot be equipped with a saddle or horse armor. Despite this, the default texture file, like those of normal horses, donkeys and mules, includes a chest.

Riding

In Bedrock Edition, skeleton horses can be controlled by the player without a saddle. In Java Edition, skeleton horses must be equipped with a saddle to be controlled. Like riding other entities, a player can travel into a nether portal or end portal while on a skeleton horse.

The player can control a tamed (and saddled Java Edition) skeleton horse with standard directional controls, jump, and the mouse. The player dismounts using the dismount control.

A player controlled skeleton horse automatically runs up any one block high slope. The skeleton horse and rider can safely fit through a space as low as 2.75 blocks high. Lower clearance risks suffocating the rider if the rider's head enters a non-transparent block. The horse itself can enter gaps as low as 1.625 blocks high, but may itself take suffocation damage when clearance is less than 1.75 blocks. Skeleton horses cannot fit through a 1-block-wide gap.

Player controlled skeleton horses have the ability of "jumping charging". When the player rides them, the experience bar on HUD is replaced by jumping charging bar. A controlled skeleton horse can be made to jump and holding the control charges for a higher leap. Skeleton horses are not affected by jump boost beacons or potions.

Unlike normal horses, a skeleton horse does not force the player to dismount when it is under water; rather, it can be ridden underwater without drowning. The player can still drown underwater without the proper potions or enchantments, even when mounted on the skeleton horse. When underwater, its running speed and jump remain the same although it has a slower rate of descent.

Sounds

Skeleton horse sounds are the sounds of the regular horse but lower pitched and slowed with reverb. Despite being monsters, skeleton horses use the "Friendly Mobs" sound category.^[12]

Java Edition:

Sounds
Sound	Closed captions	Source	Description	Identifier	Translation key	Volume	Pitch	Attenuation distance
	Skeleton Horse cries	Friendly Mobs	Randomly while in air	`entity.skeleton_horse.ambient`	`subtitles.entity.skeleton_horse.ambient`	0.8	0.8-1.2 (Baby: 1.3-1.7)	16
	Skeleton Horse cries	Friendly Mobs	Randomly while in water	`entity.skeleton_horse.ambient_water`	`subtitles.entity.skeleton_horse.ambient`	0.8	0.8-1.2 (Baby: 1.3-1.7)	16
	Skeleton Horse dies	Friendly Mobs	When a skeleton horse dies	`entity.skeleton_horse.death`	`subtitles.entity.skeleton_horse.death`	0.8	0.8-1.2 (Baby: 1.3-1.7)	16
	Horse gallops	Friendly Mobs	While a skeleton horse is galloping	`entity.horse.gallop`	`subtitles.entity.horse.gallop`	Block-Dependent^{[sound 1]}	Block-Dependent^{[sound 1]}	16
	Horse gallops	Friendly Mobs	While a skeleton horse is galloping on blocks in water	`entity.skeleton_horse.gallop_water`	`subtitles.entity.horse.gallop`	0.15	0.6-1.4	16
	Skeleton Horse hurts	Friendly Mobs	When a skeleton horse is damaged	`entity.skeleton_horse.hurt`	`subtitles.entity.skeleton_horse.hurt`	0.8	0.8-1.2 (Baby: 1.3-1.7)	16
	Horse jumps	Friendly Mobs	When a skeleton horse begins a leap	`entity.horse.jump`	`subtitles.entity.horse.jump`	0.4	1.0	16
	Skeleton Horse jumps	Friendly Mobs	When a skeleton horse attempts to begin a leap in water	`entity.skeleton_horse.jump_water`	`subtitles.entity.skeleton_horse.jump_water`	0.32	1.0	16
	Something fell	Friendly Mobs	When a skeleton horse falls from more than 1 block	`entity.horse.land`	`subtitles.entity.generic.big_fall`	0.4	1.0	16
	Skeleton Horse swims	Friendly Mobs	Randomly while a skeleton horse is moving through water	`entity.skeleton_horse.swim`	`subtitles.entity.skeleton_horse.swim`	^{[sound 2]}	0.6-1.4	16
	Footsteps	Friendly Mobs	While a skeleton horse is walking	`entity.horse.step`	`subtitles.generic.block.footsteps`	Block-Dependent^{[sound 1]}	Block-Dependent^{[sound 1]}	16
	None^{[sound 3]}	Friendly Mobs	While a skeleton horse is walking in water	`entity.skeleton_horse.step_water`	None^{[sound 3]}	0.18	0.6-1.4	16
	Saddle equips	Friendly Mobs	When a saddle is equipped to a skeleton horse	`entity.horse.saddle`	`subtitles.entity.horse.saddle`	0.5	1.0	16
	Saddle snips away	Friendly Mobs	When a saddle is removed from a skeleton horse using shears	`item.saddle.unequip`	`subtitles.item.saddle.unequip`	1.0	1.0	16

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d See block sound type
↑ The precise equation is as follows:
$velocity = \sqrt{{speed.x}^{2} \times 0.2 + {speed.y}^{2} + {speed.z}^{2} \times 0.2}$
$volume =$ (whichever is smaller) 0.1 or ( $velocity \times 10$ if being ridden and $velocity \times 8.75$ if not)
↑ ^a ^b MC-177090

Bedrock Edition:

Sounds
Sound	Closed captions ^{[upcoming: BE 26.0]}	Source	Description	Identifier	Translation key ^{[upcoming: BE 26.0]}	Volume	Pitch
	?	Friendly Mobs	Randomly	`mob.horse.skeleton.idle`	?	0.8	0.8-1.2 (Baby: 1.3-1.7)
	?	Friendly Mobs	Unused sound event^{[sound 1]}	`mob.horse.armor`	?	0.6	1.0 (Baby: 1.5)
	?	Friendly Mobs	Unused sound event^{[sound 2]}	`mob.horse.armor`	?	1.0	0.8-1.2 (Baby: 1.3-1.7)
	?	Friendly Mobs	Unused sound event	`mob.horse.breath`	?	0.7	1.0 (Baby: 1.5)
	?	Friendly Mobs	When a skeleton horse dies	`mob.horse.skeleton.death`	?	0.8	0.8-1.2 (Baby: 1.3-1.7)
	?	Friendly Mobs	While a skeleton horse is galloping while in air	`mob.horse.gallop`	?	0.45	0.9-1.1
	?	Friendly Mobs	When a skeleton horse is damaged	`mob.horse.skeleton.hit`	?	0.8	0.8-1.2 (Baby: 1.3-1.7)
	?	Friendly Mobs	When a skeleton horse begins a leap	`mob.horse.jump`	?	0.4	1.0
	?	Friendly Mobs	When a skeleton horse falls from more than 1 block	`mob.horse.land`	?	0.4	1.0 (Baby: 1.5)
	?	Friendly Mobs	While a skeleton horse is walking	`mob.horse.soft`	?	0.45	0.9-1.1
	?	Friendly Mobs	While a skeleton horse is walking on wood^{[sound 3]} or is being ridden	`mob.horse.wood`	?	0.45	0.9-1.1
	?	Friendly Mobs	Unused sound event	`mob.horse.leather`	?	0.6	1.0

↑ This sound event would occur if skeleton horses could have armor equipped.
↑ This sound event would occur if skeleton horses could have a chest equipped.
↑ Except for stems, Nether wood, cherry wood, and bamboo wood due to MCPE-165012

Data values

ID

Java Edition:

Name	Identifier	Entity tags	Translation key
Skeleton Horse	`skeleton_horse`	`can_breathe_under_water` `can_equip_saddle` `cannot_be_age_locked` `followable_friendly_mobs` `ignores_poison_and_regen` `inverted_healing_and_harm` `skeletons` `undead` `wither_friends` `sensitive_to_smite`	`entity.minecraft.skeleton_horse`

Bedrock Edition:

Name	Identifier	Numeric ID	Family	Translation key
Skeleton Horse	`skeleton_horse`	`26`	`mob` `skeletonhorse` `undead`	`entity.skeleton_horse.name`

Entity data

Skeleton horses have entity data associated with them that contain various properties.

Java Edition:

[NBT Compound / JSON Object] Entity data
- Additional fields for mobs that can breed see Template:Nbt inherit/breedable/template
- Tags common to all entities see Template:Nbt inherit/entity/template
- Tags common to all mobs see Template:Nbt inherit/mob/template
- [Byte] Bred: 1 or 0 (true/false) – Unknown. Remains 0 after breeding. If true, causes it to stay near other horses with this flag set.
- [Byte] EatingHaystack: 1 or 0 (true/false) – true if the mob is eating grass.
- [Int Array] Owner: The UUID of the entity that tamed the mob, stored as four ints. Has no effect on behavior. Does not exist if there is no owner.
- [Byte] Tame: 1 or 0 (true/false) – true if the mob is tamed.
- [Int] Temper: Ranges from 0 to 100; increases with feeding. Higher values make a mob easier to tame.
- [Byte] SkeletonTrap: 1 or 0 (true/false) - true if the horse is a trapped skeleton horse. Does not affect horse type.
- [Int] SkeletonTrapTime: Incremented each tick when SkeletonTrap is set to 1. The horse automatically despawns when it reaches 18000 (15 minutes).

Bedrock Edition:

See Bedrock Edition level format/Entity format.

Achievements


Icon		Achievement	In-game description	Actual requirements (if different)	Gamerscore earned	Trophy type (PS)
PS4	Other	Achievement	In-game description	Actual requirements (if different)	Gamerscore earned	Trophy type (PS)
		It Spreads	Kill a mob next to a catalyst	Kill any mob that drops experience near a sculk catalyst, with the sole exception of the ender dragon. Mobs that drop no experience are ignored for this achievement.	10	Bronze

Achievements that apply to all mobs:


Icon		Achievement	In-game description	Actual requirements (if different)	Gamerscore earned	Trophy type (PS)
PS4	Other	Achievement	In-game description	Actual requirements (if different)	Gamerscore earned	Trophy type (PS)
		Overkill	Deal nine hearts of damage in a single hit.	Damage can be dealt to any mob, even those that do not have nine hearts of health overall.	30	Bronze
		Over-Overkill	Deal 50 hearts of damage in a single hit using the Mace	Damage can be dealt to any mob, even those that do not have 50 hearts of health overall.	20	Silver
		Mob Kabob	Hit five mobs in the same Charge attack using the Spear.	Armor stands and players also count for this achievement as they are technically mobs.	10	Bronze

Advancements

Unlike all other undead mounts, killing a skeleton horse does not grant the Monster Hunter advancement and is not required in order to complete the Monsters Hunted advancement.^[6]

Icon	Advancement	In-game description	Actual requirements (if different)
	It Spreads	Kill a mob near a Sculk Catalyst	Kill any mob that drops experience near a sculk catalyst, with the sole exception of the ender dragon. Mobs that drop no experience are ignored for this advancement.
	Best Friends Forever	Tame an animal	Tame one of these 11 tameable animals: Cat Donkey Horse Llama Mule Nautilus Parrot Trader Llama Wolf Zombie Horse Zombie Nautilus Skeleton Horse can be tamed in the same way as a regular horse to gain this advancement with the ride command.

Advancements that apply to all mobs:

Advancement	In-game description	Actual requirements (if different)
Adventure	Adventure, exploration and combat	Kill any mob, or be killed by any living entity.
A Throwaway Joke	Throw a Trident at something. Note: Throwing away your only weapon is not a good idea.	Hit a mob with a thrown trident.
Take Aim	Shoot something with an Arrow	Using a bow or a crossbow, shoot a mob with an arrow, tipped arrow, or spectral arrow.
Mob Kabob	Hit five mobs in the same Charge attack using the Spear.	Armor Stand and Mannequin also count for this advancement.
Arbalistic	Kill five unique mobs with one crossbow shot	Armor Stand and Mannequin also count for this advancement. This is a hidden advancement, meaning that it can be viewed by the player only after completing it, regardless of if its child advancement(s), if any, have been completed.
Over-Overkill	Deal 50 hearts of damage in a single hit using the Mace	Damage can be dealt to any mob, even those that do not have 50 hearts of health overall.

History

This section is missing information about:

Render after the fix of MC-222518 in 23w03a with saddle texture fixed
Did saddles always show up on invisible skeleton horses? If not, when did this change? Remember to include any relevant bug reports.

Please expand the section to include this information. Further details may exist on the talk page.

Development

4 April 2013							Jeb hinted at adding horses when Minecraft hit 10,000,000 sales.

Java Edition

Java Edition
1.6.1	13w16a	Added skeleton horses.
		The addition of skeleton horses, along with other horses, has been assisted by DrZhark (John Olarte), creator of the Mo' Creatures mod, whose horses are a baseline for Minecraft's horse models.^[13]
		Skeleton horses are not available yet without the use of third party commands.
	13w21a	Added new GUI for horses, including skeleton horses; to control saddles, armor and inventories.
	13w22a	Added new sound effects for skeleton horses.
1.7.2	13w36a	Skeleton horses are now available without third-party tools, with the introduction of the `/summon` command.
1.9	15w38a	Added "skeleton trap" horses and skeleton horsemen.
		There is a chance (depending on regional difficulty) that a lightning strike spawns a "skeleton trap" skeleton horse.
		When the skeleton trap is approached, 4 skeleton horsemen appear.
	15w38b	Skeleton horses are now undead mobs.
	15w43a	Skeleton horses no longer drop anything other than their equipment.
	15w43c	Skeleton horses now drop 1 bone, not affected by Looting.
	15w44a	Skeleton horses now drop 1 end crystal, not affected by Looting.
	15w44b	The above change has been reverted.
1.10	16w20a	Added spawn eggs for skeleton horses.
1.10	pre2	The spawn eggs for skeleton horses have been removed.
1.11	16w32a	The spawn egg for skeleton horses has been re-added.
		Skeleton trap horses' chance to spawn during lightning strikes has been reduced to ¹⁄₅ of what it was.
		Skeleton horses are now unable to spawn if game rules `doMobSpawning` is set to false.
	16w38a	Skeleton horses now drop 0–2 of bones or rotten flesh, affected by Looting.
1.13	17w45a	The models of skeleton horses have been changed.
	17w46a	The new models for skeleton horses have been slightly tweaked.
	18w03a	The models of skeleton horses have been updated again and the textures have been slightly altered.
	18w19a	Skeleton horses now sink in water, due to being an undead mob. Zombie horses, curiously, do not.^[14]
	18w19a	The player can now ride skeleton horses when underwater.
	pre2	The model of skeleton horses has been updated to fix serious Z-fighting, which has changed the model from to .^[15]
1.14	19w08a	The textures of skeleton horses have been changed.
1.14	19w08a	The textures of skeleton horsemen have been changed.
1.16	20w09a	Skeleton horses can now be leashed.^[16]
1.19.4	23w03a	The saddle texture of the skeleton horse has been changed to use the horse saddle from the texture update.
1.21.5	25w03a	The skeleton horse's saddle is now an overlay texture, split from the skeleton horse main texture.
		Saddles now show up on invisible skeleton horses.^[17]
		Saddles now show the enchantment glint on the skeleton horse when enchanted.
		The unused saddlebag of the skeleton horse's texture has been removed.
1.21.6	25w20a	Saddles can now be removed from skeleton horses using shears.
1.21.11	25w41a	Skeleton horses now burn in sunlight.
1.21.11	25w42a	Skeleton horses no longer burn in sunlight.
Upcoming Java Edition
26.1	snap2	Skeleton horses no longer panic when hit.
	snap4	The model of the baby skeleton horses has been changed.
		Increased the bounding box of baby skeleton horses to better fit the new model.
		Saddles on baby skeleton horses no longer render.
	snap6	Golden dandelions can no longer work on tamed baby skeleton horses.

Bedrock Edition

Pocket Edition Alpha
v0.15.0	build 1	Added "skeleton trap" horses and skeleton horsemen.
Pocket Edition
1.0.6	alpha 1.0.6.0	Skeleton horses spawned from traps can now be tamed and ridden.
?		Skeleton horses no longer need to be tamed and do not require saddles to be controlled.
Bedrock Edition
1.2.6	beta 1.2.6.2	The models of skeleton horses have been changed to Java Edition 17w45a's skeleton horse models.
1.5.0	beta 1.5.0.0	Skeleton horses can now be ridden underwater.
1.8.0	beta 1.8.0.8	Baby skeleton horses now have a chance of being spawned using a spawn egg.
1.10.0	beta 1.10.0.3	The textures of skeleton horses have been changed.
1.10.0	beta 1.10.0.3	The textures of skeleton horsemen have been changed.
1.19.60	Preview 1.19.60.25	The saddle texture of the skeleton horse has been changed to use the horse saddle from the texture update.
1.21.120	Preview 1.21.120.24	The skeleton horse's saddle is now an overlay texture, split from the skeleton horse main texture.^{[is this the correct version?]}
1.21.120	Preview 1.21.120.24	The unused saddlebag of the skeleton horse's texture has been removed.
Upcoming Bedrock Edition
26.0	Preview 26.0.25	Skeleton horses no longer panic when hit.
	Preview 26.0.27	Skeleton horses are no longer damaged by the conduit.
	Preview 26.0.27	Skeleton horses no longer prevent the player from sleeping when nearby.
26.10	Preview 26.10.20	The model and texture of baby skeleton horses have been changed.
	Preview 26.10.20	Increased the bounding box of baby skeleton horses to better fit the new model.
	Preview 26.10.21	Baby skeleton horses no longer grow up.^[18]
	Preview 26.10.21	Skeleton horses now try to avoid water, dangerous blocks, and do not try to avoid rails.

Legacy Console Edition

Legacy Console Edition
Xbox 360	Xbox One	PS3	PS4	PS Vita	Wii U	Switch
TU19	CU7	1.12	1.12	1.12	Patch 1	1.0.1	Added skeleton horses.
TU46	CU36	1.38	1.38	1.38	Patch 15		Added "skeleton trap" horses and skeleton horsemen.
TU46	CU36	1.38	1.38	1.38	Patch 15		Skeleton horses are now undead mobs.^{[is this the correct version?]}
TU54	CU44	1.52	1.52	1.52	Patch 24	1.0.4	Skeleton horses are now able to be spawned with a spawn egg found in the creative inventory.
TU57	CU49	1.57	1.56	1.56	Patch 27	1.0.7	Skeleton horses can now be tamed and leashed.
TU60	CU51	1.64	1.64	1.64	Patch 30	1.0.11	The models of skeleton horses have been changed to Java Edition 17w45a's skeleton horse models.
TU69		1.76	1.76	1.76	Patch 38		Skeleton horses now sink in water, due to being an undead mob.
							The player can now ride skeleton horses when underwater.
							Skeleton horses no longer need to be tamed and don't need a saddle to be controlled just like on Bedrock Edition.
			1.90				The textures of skeleton horses have been changed.
			1.90				The textures of skeleton horsemen have been changed.

New Nintendo 3DS Edition

New Nintendo 3DS Edition
0.1.0							Added "skeleton trap" horses and skeleton horsemen.

Data history

Java Edition

Java Edition
1.11	16w32a	Horses now have separate IDs. The ID for skeleton horses has been changed from the NBT `Type` equal `4` to the unique ID `skeleton_horse`.
1.13	17w47a	Numeric IDs for entities were presumably deprecated in this version.^{[more information needed]}
1.20.3	23w40a	Skeleton horses are now part of the `#can_breathe_under_water`, `#undead` and `#skeletons` tags.
1.21.5	25w03a	Unified the [NBT Compound / JSON Object] SaddleItem into the new [NBT Compound / JSON Object] equipment.saddle slot.

Bedrock Edition

Pocket Edition
1.1.0			alpha 1.1.0.0				The entity ID for skeleton horse has been changed from `skeletonhorse` to `skeleton_horse`.

Issues

Issues relating to "Skeleton horse" are maintained on the bug tracker. Issues should be reported and viewed there.

Trivia

In the Mobspotter's Encyclopedia, skeleton horses were referred to as neutral mobs, due to their behavior as a hostile mob when ridden by skeletons.

Gallery

Renders

A baby skeleton horse‌^{[until First Drop 2026]}
A baby skeleton horse^{[upcoming First Drop 2026]}
A stray skeleton horseman, possible through the skeleton rider freezing in powder snow.
A wither skeleton horseman (this is not possible in modern versions of the game)

Screenshots

A skeleton horse spawned in.
The four variations of skeleton traps using "Grumm" or "Dinnerbone" name tags in Bedrock Edition.
Skeleton horses spawned from a trapped skeleton horse.
A player riding a skeleton horse, having killed the skeleton rider.
A player riding a skeleton horse underwater. It can run and jump.
Skeleton horse with saddle‌^{[Java Edition only]} in survival after defeating the skeleton horse trap.
A skeleton horse in Minecraft Education.
A group of skeleton horsemen spawned by a "skeleton trap" horse.
A comparison between a horse, a zombie horse, and a skeleton horse.

Textures

Skeleton horse texture file.
Baby skeleton horse texture file.

In other media

Animation of undead mobs walking on snow, including skeleton horsemen.
Lego Minecraft Skeleton Horse.
Lego Minecraft Skeleton Horseman.
A skeleton horse as it appears in Last Block Standing!

Notes

↑ Passive by itself, but hostile as a jockey, as the rider controls its pathfinding, therefore making it hostile, despite skeleton horses not actually damaging players, like small slimes.
↑ This can be done with the following command: /damage @n[type=creeper] 100 generic by @n[type=skeleton_horse]

References

↑ MC-305630 — Skeleton horse traps can spawn in any biome where it can rain, including deep dark and mushroom fields
↑ MC-305880 — Skeleton trap horses can still spawn if the "spawn_monsters" game rule is set to false
↑ MCPE-172928 — Cannot sleep with Skeleton Horse nearby
↑ MCPE-175996 — Conduits damage skeleton horses — resolved as "Won't Fix".
↑ MC-304371 — Skeleton horses use the incorrect mob cap
↑ ^a ^b MC-303546 — Zombie horses and zombie nautiluses count towards the "Monster Hunter" and "Monsters Hunted" advancements while skeleton horses don't — resolved as "Works As Intended".
↑ MC-304372 — Skeleton horses can be interacted when ridden by hostile mobs
↑ MC-102949 — Can't interact with a skeleton and a zombie horse that have been spawned from a spawn egg
↑ MC-188404 — Naturally spawned skeleton horses do not have randomized stats
↑ MC-304394 — Skeleton Horses can't wear armor — resolved as "Works As Intended".
↑ MC-304373 — Parrots don't imitate skeleton horses, endermen and zombified piglins
↑ MC-304386 — Undead mounts use the friendly mobs sound category, which is inconsistent — resolved as "Working as Intended".
↑ "Also big thanks to @DrZhark, the creator of Mo' Creatures, that have assisted us to make it happen!" – @jeb_ (Jens Bergensten) on X (formerly Twitter), April 4, 2013
↑ MC-129262
↑ MC-121832
↑ MC-166246 — resolved as "Fixed".
↑ MC-13738
↑ MCPE-234733 — Baby skeleton horses grow up, unlike baby zombie horses — resolved as "Fixed".

Navigation

[blockdependent-15] See block sound type

[16] The precise equation is as follows:
$velocity = \sqrt{{speed.x}^{2} \times 0.2 + {speed.y}^{2} + {speed.z}^{2} \times 0.2}$
$volume =$ (whichever is smaller) 0.1 or ( $velocity \times 10$ if being ridden and $velocity \times 8.75$ if not)

[bugMC-177090-17] MC-177090

[18] This sound event would occur if skeleton horses could have armor equipped.

[19] This sound event would occur if skeleton horses could have a chest equipped.

[20] Except for stems, Nether wood, cherry wood, and bamboo wood due to MCPE-165012

[behavior-1] Passive by itself, but hostile as a jockey, as the rider controls its pathfinding, therefore making it hostile, despite skeleton horses not actually damaging players, like small slimes.

[13] This can be done with the following command: /damage @n[type=creeper] 100 generic by @n[type=skeleton_horse]

[2] MC-305630 — Skeleton horse traps can spawn in any biome where it can rain, including deep dark and mushroom fields

[3] MC-305880 — Skeleton trap horses can still spawn if the "spawn_monsters" game rule is set to false

[4] MCPE-172928 — Cannot sleep with Skeleton Horse nearby

[5] MCPE-175996 — Conduits damage skeleton horses — resolved as "Won't Fix".

[6] MC-304371 — Skeleton horses use the incorrect mob cap

[bug-7] MC-303546 — Zombie horses and zombie nautiluses count towards the "Monster Hunter" and "Monsters Hunted" advancements while skeleton horses don't — resolved as "Works As Intended".

[8] MC-304372 — Skeleton horses can be interacted when ridden by hostile mobs

[9] MC-102949 — Can't interact with a skeleton and a zombie horse that have been spawned from a spawn egg

[10] MC-188404 — Naturally spawned skeleton horses do not have randomized stats

[11] MC-304394 — Skeleton Horses can't wear armor — resolved as "Works As Intended".

[12] MC-304373 — Parrots don't imitate skeleton horses, endermen and zombified piglins

[14] MC-304386 — Undead mounts use the friendly mobs sound category, which is inconsistent — resolved as "Working as Intended".

[21] "Also big thanks to @DrZhark, the creator of Mo' Creatures, that have assisted us to make it happen!" – @jeb_ (Jens Bergensten) on X (formerly Twitter), April 4, 2013

[22] MC-129262

[23] MC-121832

[24] MC-166246 — resolved as "Fixed".

[25] MC-13738

[skelly_horse-26] MCPE-234733 — Baby skeleton horses grow up, unlike baby zombie horses — resolved as "Fixed".

[note 1]

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[note 2]

[12]

[sound 1]

[sound 2]

[sound 3]

[sound 1]

[sound 2]

[sound 3]

[13]

[14]

[15]

[16]

[17]

[18]

Health points	Skeleton: 20HP × 10 Skeleton Horse: 15HP × 7.5
Behavior	Hostile
Spawn	When a skeleton trap is triggered
Natural equipment	Skeleton: Bow (enchanted) Iron Helmet (enchanted, can sometimes be replaced by another tier of helmet) Armor (occasionally, may be enchanted)

Skeleton Horse

Spawning

Skeleton Horseman

Drops

On death

Behavior

Mob type

Taming

Jockey

Statistics

Spawned values

Health

Movement speed

Jump strength

Usage

Equipment

Riding

Sounds

Data values

ID

Entity data

Achievements

Advancements

History

Development

Java Edition

Bedrock Edition

Legacy Console Edition

New Nintendo 3DS Edition

Data history

Java Edition

Bedrock Edition

Issues

Trivia

Gallery

Renders

Screenshots

Textures

In other media

See also

Notes

References

Navigation