Minecraft Husk guide: Location, loot, and more
In Minecraft, husks are hostile mobs that are considered a desert biome variant of zombie mobs. As a sand-blasted variation of zombies, husks don't burn in the sun like their counterparts and will inflict the Hunger status effect with their unarmed attacks in addition to their conventional damage. All in all, these mobs are a foe worth watching when venturing through a desert or trial chamber.
In case players aren't familiar with this zombie mob variant in Minecraft, it doesn't hurt to examine where they can be found, the loot they drop, as well as the nuances of their behavior, and other tidbits of information. There might be much more to these Minecraft mobs than some players expect.
Where to find husks in Minecraft
Like other hostile mobs, husks will spawn when the light level of an area is at zero, though husks will only spawn naturally within desert biomes. Otherwise, the only place these mobs can appear without the use of commands, Creative Mode, datapacks, or other manipulation is when they're occasionally created as the melee mob by trial spawner blocks found within trial chambers.
In Java Edition, husks will spawn in groups of four individuals, replacing 80% of all zombies that spawn in deserts. Meanwhile, in Bedrock Edition, groups of 2-4 husks will spawn in deserts and replace 70% of all the zombies spawned. Additionally, in Java Edition, there is a 5% chance for a husk to spawn as a "leader" which allows it to spawn other husks, but this only occurs on Hard mode.
There's also a 5% chance in Minecraft Java that a husk will spawn as a baby, and baby husks have the chance to spawn as chicken jockeys. In Bedrock, 15% of baby husks that spawn are capable of becoming jockeys when attacking players, villagers, or iron golems. These Bedrock Edition husk jockeys can ride the following mobs:
- Adult Chickens
- Untamed Ocelotes
- Untamed Cats
- Untamed Wolves
- Adult Zombies
- Adult Husks
- Adult Zombified Villagers
- Adult Zombified Piglins
- Cows
- Sheep
- Adult Unsaddled Pigs
- Adult Untamed Horses
- Adult Untamed Donkeys
- Adult Untamed Mules
- Adult Skeleton Horses
- Adult Zombie Horses
- Mooshrooms
- Spiders that aren't already spawned as jockey mounts
- Cave Spiders that aren't already spawned as jockey mounts
- Pandas
In addition to this information, Husks in Minecraft also spawn with a randomized Knockback Resistance set between 0-5%.
All loot dropped by Husks in Minecraft
Whenever a husk is killed by a player or a tamed wolf, it will drop 0-2 pieces of rotten flesh, and this quantity increases when the Looting enchantment is used up to a maximum of 0-5 rotten flesh when killed with a weapon enchanted with Looting III. Additionally, a husk has a 0.83% to 1.82% chance (depending on Looting level) of dropping one of the following items:
- Iron Ingot
- Carrot
- Potato
- Baked Potato (if the husk is on fire when killed
Additionally, adult husks are guaranteed to drop five experience points when killed, while baby husks drop 12. An extra 1-3 experience points can also be dropped depending on how much gear (if any) the husk spawned with.
What to know about Husk behavior in Minecraft
Husks in Minecraft by and large act much like zombies do, attacking players, wandering traders, villagers, iron golems, and baby turtles. However, husks can sight targets from up to 40 blocks instead of the 16 that most hostile mobs can. If a husk is attacked, it will rally any other zombie mobs (except zombified piglins) to assist it in battle. Like other zombies, husks will attempt to find the shortest route to targets.
Unless the husk is holding an item in its main hand slot or players block it with a shield, these Minecraft mobs will inflict the Hunger status effect on players, causing their hunger bar to deplete more rapidly. The base duration of this effect lasts for seven seconds but increases or decreases depending on the difficulty setting.
As a zombie variant, and as an undead mob in Minecraft, husks are also capable of the following behaviors:
- They can break down doors on Hard difficulty.
- They will seek out and trample turtle eggs.
- They can pick up items if the game rule mobGriefing is set to true, which also prevents them from despawning if they do so.
- A husk submerged in water for 30 seconds will start to convert into a standard zombie and will succeed in doing so 15 seconds later. This will set the new zombie's health to maximum if the husk has been harmed.
- Instant Health effects will hurt husks.
- Instant Damage effects will heal husks.
- The Wither boss will ignore husks.
- The Smite enchantment will deal extra damage on husks since they're undead.
- Husks cannot swim but are incapable of drowning.
- Approaching husks will cause armadillos to hide in their shells.
All in all, with a few exceptions, husks are much like standard zombies and shouldn't present immense challenges when faced alone. Like their counterparts though, a group of husks can present a danger, so Minecraft players are advised to stay on their toes when facing them in case they call for backup.