You’d usually want to kill zombies in Minecraft for extra experience points and items, but what about zombie villagers? It’s perfectly normal to kill them – you’ll also get XP and Rotten Flesh as well as an Iron Ingot, Carrot, or Potato when you do. However, zombie villagers are also curable, and it’s more beneficial if you could turn them back into normal villagers instead. In this article, you will learn how to heal a zombie villager in Minecraft, so you can trade with the transformed villager or breed them again.
Related: How to breed villagers in Minecraft
What are zombie villagers in Minecraft
Zombie villagers are a type of zombie and a hostile mob in Minecraft. There is a chance they will spawn in a normal spawn cycle, but depending on the difficulty of the game there is a higher chance of a villager turning into one when killed by any type of zombie . In easy mode, an infected villager can turn into a 0% zombie. This chance increases to 50% and 100% when playing on normal and hard difficulty, respectively.
There are several types of zombie villagers you can encounter in Minecraft, but a baby zombie villager and an armed zombie villager are the toughest. Baby Zombie Villagers move 30% faster than regular Baby Villagers and remain babies indefinitely. Armed zombie villagers, meanwhile, can pick up and hold weapons and other items they come across.
Regardless of their type, zombie villagers are dangerous and tend to attack other villagers and players after dark.
Materials required to heal a zombie villager
Curing zombie villagers seems easy. After all, there are only two things you need: a Splash Potion of Weakness and a golden apple. However, getting these items can be a hassle if you don’t already have them.
1. How do I make a Splash Potion of Weakness?
A splash potion of weakness is a main material for converting a zombie villager into a normal villager. Casting this item adds a debuff effect to the hostile creature. You will need Blaze Powder, 3 bottles of water, a fermented spider’s eye, gunpowder, and a brewing stand. to make a Splash Potion of Weakness. Once you have all the materials, follow the steps below:
- Launch the brewing stand and place the blaze powder in the top left box of the station. This will serve as the power source for your brew stand.
- Place the water bottles inside the lower boxes of the brewing stand.
- Put the fermented spider’s eye inside the top box that connects to where you place the water bottle. The progress arrow should begin to fill, indicating that the brewing of Weakness Potions is in progress.
- Finally, place the Gunpowder in the same spot where the Fermented Spider’s Eye was supposed to turn the Potions of Weakness into a Splash Potion of Weakness.
Related: Minecraft Brewing Guide
2. How to make a golden apple?
Golden Apple is a valuable food item in Minecraft that has several beneficial effects when eaten, including healing a zombie villager. You can find it in chests in mine shafts, dungeons, ruins, and the woodland mansion. You can also craft it on a crafting table using an apple and 8x gold bars. Follow the steps below to create a golden apple:
- Open the crafting table and place the apple in the middle of the 3×3 crafting grid.
- Put the gold bars inside the boxes surrounding the apple.
- Store the golden apple in your inventory.
How to cure a zombie villager?
Finally, how do you cure a zombie villager? As soon as you have the Splash Potion of Weakness and a Golden Apple, place them in your Hotbar so you have them handy when a zombie villager spawns.
Immediately after a Zombie Villager spawns, throw a Splash Potion of Weakness at it to weaken it. Green circles should also start to come out.
Then feed the zombie villager the golden apple. At this point it should start shaking and the green circles it releases should turn red. Wait a bit longer until he transforms into a regular villager.
What will happen when you heal zombie villagers
What exactly is the point of curing a zombie villager in Minecraft and what does it mean for the zombie villager? This may vary depending on the version of Minecraft you’re playing, but here’s what will happen to a zombie villager after you heal them.
- If it was a baby before zombification, it will become a baby villager again after healing.
- Villagers who had a profession before the zombification will return to their profession once healed.
- The Nitwit zombie villager transformed into an ordinary villager will either remain a nitwit (Java Edition) or learn a profession (Bedrock Edition).
Benefits of Curing Zombie Villagers
Part of learning how to heal a zombie villager is the benefits that await you when you do it correctly. Besides giving life to the lifeless, there are many benefits to healing a zombie villager.
- When you heal a zombie villager, you will get the zombie doctor achievement and advancement which will net you 40g and a gold trophy.
- You will get permanent trade discounts with the villager you healed.
- Cured zombie villagers drop emeralds at a reduced price.
- In Bedrock Edition, villagers within a 16-block radius of the cured zombie villager also grant small trade discounts.
- Healing a zombie villager is sometimes more practical than transporting a villager nowhere to start a village.
Where to find zombie villagers?
There is a rare chance that a Zombie Villager will spawn, so this is not the best way to find a Zombie Villager.
You can usually find a zombie villager trapped in an igloo, which naturally generates snowy biomes. This structure also contains the items you need – the Potion of Weakness and a Golden Apple – so it’s safe to say it’s the most convenient way to reap the benefits of curing a zombie villager.
What if you can’t find an igloo? It might sound cruel, but you can just let a zombie attack a villager and turn them into a zombie villager. You can do this by trapping a villager in a boat and letting a zombie attack it at night. Also make sure to set the game difficulty to Hard so that there is a 100% chance of the villager turning into a zombie. Then heal the zombie as it should and get the rewards.
Zombie Villagers FAQ
Conclusion
Whether you do it out of your good desire to give zombie villagers a second chance or just want the trade discount that comes with it, healing zombie villagers is a mini-game you need to know how to play. You don’t have to kill them right away, especially those with trading experience. Healing them will help you build a prosperous village!