The first Minecraft beta came out in 2009, but the full game wouldn’t be released until 2011. By then, Markus Persson (the game’s developer) had been working on Minecraft for more than three years.
After its full release, the game saw several updates (one early update activated 51 new language options, including three fictional languages). More updates dropped over the years, introducing more mobs, materials, updated environments, and more.
Interestingly, the game’s additional mobs haven’t always been easy to find. Some have spawn rates so low that most players won’t ever come across them.
These are the top 10 rarest mobs in Minecraft.
- Killer Rabbit
- Red Mushroom
- Brown Panda
- Zombified Piglin Jockey
- Charged Creepers
- Zombie Jockey
- Spider Jockey
- Pink Sheep
- Blue Axolotl
- Diamond Armor Zombie
Behavior: Aggressive
Unique Feature: Willing to jump off cliffs for carrots
Color: White
photo source: minecraft.fandom.com
Unlike their common, peaceful counterparts, the rare Killer Rabbit is an aggressive animal that can only be spawned by command. Interestingly, these rabbits still breed with the neutral rabbits common throughout Minecraft.
Rabbits were added to Minecraft on June 5, 2014 — but rumors of the new addition circulated earlier that year after a game developer named Ryan Holtz released screenshots of the little animals. Later, in July 2014, the hostile Killer Rabbit made its debut.
Did you know?
Beyond their aggression, the most striking feature of the Killer Rabbit is its bloody mouth — a warning to stay far away no matter how small the creature is.
Behavior: N/A
Unique Feature: Only grows in level 12 light or less
Color: Red, tan, gray
photo source: minecraft-earth.fandom.com
Mushrooms landed on Minecraft early in the game’s history. The mob joined the game back in 2009, appearing alongside iconic Minecraft features like gold and the game’s inventory system. Today, red mushrooms are among the rarest variants with a spawn rate of just 12.5%.
Like other mushrooms in Minecraft, red mushrooms tend to grow on fallen trees and in poorly lit areas. Interestingly, despite being so rare, red mushrooms can be used as decoration in flower pots just like more common variants.
Did you know?
Brown mushrooms are also a rarity in Minecraft — but they are more common than red mushrooms. In the right conditions, brown mushrooms have a 25% spawn rate.
Behavior: Attacks when injured
Unique Feature: Follows any character holding bamboo
Color: Brown, white
photo source: minecraft.fandom.com
Pandas in general are a rare mob in Minecraft, but Brown Pandas are even rarer. The neutral mob has a spawn rate of just over 12%. That’s compared to the normal panda’s rate of about 30% — so brown pandas are definitely hard to find.
The general panda mob joined Minecraft in September 2018. The announcement came during MINECON 2018 — the same event that brought new villagers like the librarian and the shepherd.
Did you know?
The updates announced at MINECON 2018 included a change to player interaction with ocelots. While players could originally tame the wild cats, update 1.8 removed this option. Similarly, pandas in Minecraft can’t be tamed like other mobs.
Behavior: Wanders, attacks player
Unique Feature: Does not always pursue the player
Color: Multicolor
photo source: minecraft-archive.fandom.com
You might expect the Zombified Piglin Jockey to be an aggressive mob — but these strange creatures are actually neutral… most of the time. If a player attacks one of these rare creatures, the Zombified Piglin Jockey won’t fight back unless the player gets too close. That means the mob can easily be killed if you keep your distance.
The Zombified Piglin Jockey has a spawn rate of just 5%. While it’s hard to find reliable info on the exact date this mob joined Minecraft, reports say the general jockey mob was a part of update 0.11.0, which came out in 2015.
Did you know?
The term “jockey” refers to a hostile mob riding a different mob. In this case, the Zombified Piglin is riding a chicken.
Behavior: Explodes to attack player
Unique Feature: Can spot players from 16 blocks away
Color: Green, blue
photo source: mcmobs.fandom.com
Charged Creepers are created when lightning strikes within just four blocks of a normal, non-charged creeper. This makes the Charged Creeper a “very rare” mob — although the exact spawn rate is unknown.
While Charged Creepers are rare, the normal Creeper is very common. However, both versions are hostile. Charged Creepers’ explosion will cause more damage than a normal variant, but both can be deadly.
The Creeper mob was added to Minecraft early on, which is probably why the mob has become such an iconic part of the game. Creepers came out in 2009 as part of the survival test.
Did you know?
Reportedly, the original Creeper was meant to be a pig, but the character design didn’t really work out.
Behavior: Attacks player
Unique Feature: Unlike the zombie, the baby won’t burn in sunlight
Color: Green
photo source: mcmobs.fandom.com
Things start to get very rare with the Zombie Jockey. This mob has a spawn rate of just 1% and features the classic green character design. Interestingly, the baby zombie in this Jockey pair won’t burn in the sunlight as the adult zombie does.
While both of these zombies can be deadly, the baby zombie won’t attack the player unless the adult zombie dies.
Zombies joined Minecraft with the 0.2.0 update of 2012. This update brought a few other important features, but the most ionic were probably survival mode and the ability to fly in creative mode.
Did you know?
You might take the death screen for granted, but Minecraft only got that feature with the 0.2.0 update — about four years after the first beta came out.
Behavior: Wanders during the day, hunts player at night
Unique Feature: Can kill itself
Color: Brown, white
photo source: minecraft.fandom.com
Up next is another jockey. The rare Spider Jockey has a low spawn rate of just 1%. This mob hunts players at night and wanders throughout the day — but don’t let your guard down: if the Spider Jockey finds you in a dimly lit area during the day, the creature will start an attack.
While the general spider mob is neutral, the Spider Jockey will attack by using traditional skeleton attack strategies.
Interestingly, the Spider Jockey can actually kill itself.
Did you know?
Having a mob kill itself isn’t usually common — and there’s been some debate about which animals will actually do so. According to one player, pigs might kill themselves in some circumstances.
Behavior: Wandering
Unique Feature: N/A
Color: Pink
photo source: sportskeeda.com
Pink Sheep have an extremely low spawn rate of just 0.164%. These very rare creatures display the same behavior as standard sheep, including wandering in small flocks. Typically, these flocks include two to four sheep.
Interestingly, sheep tend to be very vulnerable mobs. This is mostly due to the threat of wolves, which sheep usually don’t notice until it’s too late.
Although naturally Pink Sheep are rare, players can actually dye the wool of their standard sheep a variety of colors — including pink.
Did you know?
Pink Sheep are rare, but they’re more likely to spawn as adults. However, Pink Sheep can spawn as babies less than 0.009% of the time.
Behavior: Passive
Unique Feature: Attacks most aquatic mobs
Color: Blue
photo source: minecraft.fandom.com
These aquatic creatures are known to attack almost any other aquatic mob. However, Blue Axolotls won’t kill turtles, dolphins, and other axolotls.
Although the general axolotl mob can spawn in multiple colors, the blue variant is one of the rarest with a spawn rate of just 0.08%.
Interestingly, the Blue Axolotl is passive toward players despite being aggressive toward its fellow sea creatures. This makes the animal easy to breed, resulting in a baby axolotl and 1-7 experience points.
Did you know?
The axolotl mob came out with the Caves and Cliffs update of June 8, 2021. This update also introduced goats to the world of Minecraft.
Behavior: Attacking
Unique Feature: Diamond armor
Color: Multi-color, diamonds
photo source: minecraft.novaskin.me
The Diamond Armor Zombie is the rarest mob in Minecraft.
With a spawn rate of just 0.04%, the Diamond Armor Zombie is an extremely rare mob in Minecraft. These rare creatures feature the standard zombie setup, but they wear diamond-encrusted armor.
Just like other zombies, these creatures will attack the player and cause a lot of damage.
Interestingly, zombies in iron armor are also very rare. These zombies have a low spawn rate of about 1.2% — which is somehow more common than the diamond version.
Did you know?
There’s a small chance you could get your hands on a zombie’s diamond armor. According to one report, this mob has an 8.5% chance of randomly dropping their armor.
