How rare is a creeper head?

A head is a decorative block. There are six types of heads: player (only Steve's head), zombie, skeleton, wither skeleton, creeper, and dragon.

Obtaining[]

Breaking[]

A mob head can be broken using anything and drops itself when broken.

If a head is pushed by a piston or comes in contact with water or lava, it breaks off as an item.

When destroyed by an explosion, the block always drops as an item.

Natural generation[]

Dragon heads generate on end ships found in end cities.

Skeleton skulls can generate in ancient cities, which sometimes generate in the deep dark.

Mob loot[]

A wither skeleton has a 2.5% chance of dropping a wither skeleton skull when killed by a player or tamed wolf. The chance is increased by 1% per level of Looting, for a maximum of 5.5% with Looting III.

In Bedrock Edition, the chance is increased by 2% per level of Looting, for a maximum of 8.5% with Looting III.

Skeleton, wither skeleton, zombie, and creeper heads are also always dropped by the respective mob if it dies due to a charged creeper's explosion. However, if multiple valid mobs are killed in one explosion, only one head drops. The one that drops a head is chosen at random. In Bedrock Edition, the number of head drops from a charged creeper explosion is not limited. If an ender dragon or the player is killed by a charged creeper, it does not drop its head.

Usage[]

Decoration[]

Mob heads can be oriented in 16 different directions on top of a block, and 4 directions on the sides of blocks, similar to signs. They can be placed on top of, or beside each other by shift clicking.

The dragon head opens and closes its mouth repeatedly like the ender dragon when placed and powered by redstone. The same animation occurs when worn by a (horizontally) moving player, zombie, skeleton, or armor stand (note: the animation does not play if the NoGravity tag is set to 1)

Wearing[]

The player can wear heads, similarly to pumpkins or helmets. This overlays the second layer of the player's skin.

Disguise[]

Wearing the corresponding mob head reduces the detection range for skeletons (but not wither skeletons), creepers, and zombies to 50% of the normal range. This is similar to (and stacks with) the reductions in detection range from sneaking and from the Invisibility status effect.

In Bedrock Edition, wearing any mob head or carved pumpkin makes the player invisible to other players on a locator map.

Withers[]

Wither build configuration

Withers can be spawned by placing soul sand or soul soil in a T shape, and putting 3 wither skeleton skulls on top of the T. The T can be horizontal or vertical. The last block placed must be one of the three wither skeleton skulls. A dispenser can also create a wither, by placing the final skull onto soul sand directly in front of and below it.

Dispensers[]

A dispenser can equip a mob head on a player, mob, or armor stand with an empty helmet slot, within the block the dispenser is facing.

Dispensers can also complete the construction of a wither.

Crafting ingredient[]

Enchantments[]

Mob heads can receive the following enchantments, but only through an anvil.

Player skins[]

Human heads have an extra usage for map makers, they can be given NBT data so that they appear with the skin of any Minecraft account. This means if a player knows that a specific account has a head that is desired to display, the NBT data can be edited to make it appear.

The command to give the player a head with the skin of another player is /give @s minecraft:player_head{SkullOwner:"<PlayerName>"}. Commonly, this kind of head is called a custom head.

Another command to give the player a head with another player's skin is /give @s minecraft:player_head{SkullOwner:{Id:"<PlayerUUID>",Properties:{textures:[{Value:"<SkinURL>"}]} } }. SkinURL is a string encoded in Base64 containing the URL of the player's skin.[1] A player head saves the skin of the player from the time it was created, meaning if the player changes their skin, the head still displays the original texture.[2] This kind of head is generally called a custom head.

Marc's Head Format[]

Most of the MHF mob heads provided.

Marc Watson created a number of accounts with specific skins so map makers could use common heads without the risk of someone changing their skins.[3] Nowadays, since heads do not update the skin if a player changes their skin, this is not something map-makers need to worry about, though these skins are still useful. These accounts have names in the format MHF_<Name>, for example MHF_PigZombie is the name of a Minecraft user with a zombified piglin head. MHF stands for "Marc's Head Format".[4] There are also a few blocks and "bonus" heads, for more variety. These player heads have not been updated in compliance with the Texture Update, and are outdated.

Because these are names of player accounts, these heads are obtained or placed using the SkullOwner tag, for instance: /give @s minecraft:player_head{SkullOwner:"MHF_<Name>"}.

The following names/heads have been made available:[5]

• MHF_Alex
• MHF_Blaze
• MHF_CaveSpider
• MHF_Chicken
• MHF_Cow
• MHF_Creeper
• MHF_Enderman
• MHF_Ghast
• MHF_Golem
• MHF_Herobrine
• MHF_LavaSlime
• MHF_MushroomCow
• MHF_Ocelot
• MHF_Pig
• MHF_PigZombie
• MHF_Sheep
• MHF_Skeleton
• MHF_Slime
• MHF_Spider
• MHF_Squid
• MHF_Steve
• MHF_Villager
• MHF_WSkeleton
• MHF_Zombie

• MHF_Cactus
• MHF_Cake
• MHF_Chest
• MHF_CoconutB
• MHF_CoconutG
• MHF_Melon
• MHF_OakLog
• MHF_Present1
• MHF_Present2
• MHF_Pumpkin
• MHF_TNT
• MHF_TNT2

• MHF_ArrowUp
• MHF_ArrowDown
• MHF_ArrowLeft
• MHF_ArrowRight
• MHF_Exclamation
• MHF_Question

Sounds[]

Java Edition:

1. ↑ a b MC-177082

Bedrock Edition:

Data values[]

ID[]

Java Edition:

Bedrock Edition:

1. ↑ ID of block's direct item form, which is used in savegame files and addons.
2. ↑ Unavailable with /give command

Metadata[]

In Bedrock Edition, mob heads use the following data values: For the item and for the tile entity, data values determine the skull type:

Item data[]

Java Edition:

Player heads use item NBT to save the owner.

•  tag: The item's tag tag.

• •  SkullOwner: The username of the player this is a skull of. This gets converted to the compound version on almost any action.
  •  SkullOwner: Different definition for the skull's owner.
    •  Id: UUID of owner, stored as four ints. Optional. Used to update the other tags when the chunk loads or the holder logs in, in case the owner's name has changed.
    •  Name: Username of owner. If missing or empty, the head appears as a Steve head. Otherwise, used to store or retrieve the downloaded skin in the cache. Need not be a valid player name, but must not be all spaces.
    •  Properties
      •  textures
        • : An individual texture.
          •  Value: A Base64-encoded JSON object.
            •  isPublic: Optional.
            •  signatureRequired
            •  profileId: Optional: The hexadecimal text form of the player's UUID, without hyphens.
            •  profileName: Optional: Player name.
            •  textures
              •  CAPE: Optional.
                •  url: URL of a player cape (64x32 PNG).
              •  SKIN
                •  url: URL of a player skin on textures.minecraft.net.
                •  metadata
                  •  model: The model of the player skin. Can be "classic" or "slim".
            •  timestamp: Optional: Unix time in milliseconds.
          •  Signature: Optional.

Bedrock Edition:

Block states[]

Java Edition:
Floor

Wall

Bedrock Edition:

Block data[]

A mob head has a block entity associated with it that holds additional data about the block.

Java Edition:

• Block entity data
  •  ExtraType: Name of the player this is a skull of. This tag is converted to SkullOwner below upon loading the NBT. When loaded sets the name to the value and the UUID to null.
  •  SkullOwner: The definition of the skull's owner. When this is a player_head or player_wall_head, shows this player's skin; if missing, shows the head of the default Steve skin.
    •  Id: UUID of owner, stored as four ints. Optional. Used to update the other tags when the chunk loads or the holder logs in, in case the owner's name has changed.
    •  Name: Username of owner. If missing or empty, the head appears as a Steve head. Otherwise, used to store or retrieve the downloaded skin in the cache. Need not be a valid player name, but must not be all spaces.
    •  Properties
      •  textures
        • : An individual texture.
          •  Value: A Base64-encoded JSON object.
            •  isPublic: Optional.
            •  signatureRequired
            •  profileId: Optional: The hexadecimal text form of the player's UUID, without hyphens.
            •  profileName: Optional: Player name.
            •  textures
              •  CAPE: Optional.
                •  url: URL of a player cape (64x32 PNG).
              •  SKIN
                •  url: URL of a player skin on textures.minecraft.net.
                •  metadata
                  •  model: The model of the player skin. Can be "classic" or "slim".
            •  timestamp: Optional: Unix time in milliseconds.
          •  Signature: Optional.

Bedrock Edition:

Achievements[]

Advancements[]

Icon	Advancement	In-game description	Parent	Actual requirements (if different)	Resource location
	Spooky Scary Skeleton	Obtain a Wither Skeleton's skull	A Terrible Fortress	Have a wither skeleton skull in your inventory.	nether/get_wither_skull
	Withering Heights	Summon the Wither	Spooky Scary Skeleton	—	nether/summon_wither

History[]

For a more in-depth breakdown of changes to textures and models, including a set of renders for each state combination, see /Asset history

Java Edition
August 28, 2012	Jeb released images of the skeleton head, hinting of more types to come.
PAX 2012	At PAX, Dinnerbone revealed that there would be rare drops of these mobs.[6]
1.4.2	12w36a	Added skeleton, wither skeleton, zombie, player, and creeper heads.
Wither skeleton skulls are rarely dropped by the wither skeleton upon death (2.5% chance), while the other four are obtainable only from the creative inventory.
12w37a	Changed item textures.
Added as a hidden and disabled feature, player heads can now have the skin of a specific player. A line in the language file implies that there either used to be, or in a future update, the possibility of obtaining a specific player's head.[7]
Player heads do not drop in vanilla, but mapmakers/modders/etc. can make them by adding an NBT string tag {"SkullOwner":"player_name"} on the skull items.[8]
November 7, 2012	Jeb states that the official opinion is that "[dropping] player heads [on player kills] are a bit too gory for Minecraft, so it's better suited for a plugin or mod."
1.4.6	12w49a	Any kind of mob head can now be used to craft a firework star with creeper-face effect.
1.7.2	13w36a	Custom heads can now be obtained without third party programs via /give.
1.8	14w03a	Player heads now show the skin's hat layer (this also works when a mob/player wears the head).
14w29a	Heads now display a cracking animation.
14w30a	Player and mob heads in inventories and held by mobs/players now display as blocks.
Skulls worn by mobs and players are now displayed on the armor layer. Previously, the skull replaced the mob/player's head texture; the hat layer appeared over the skull.
Skeleton, zombie, and creeper heads are now available in survival. The player can obtain them by killing the appropriate mob with a charged creeper.
Creeper heads and wither skeleton skulls are now used in crafting specific banner patterns.
14w30b	A single charged creeper explosion no longer yields more than one mob head. The mob head that drops is chosen randomly.
1.8.4	release	For security reasons, custom heads can now have textures only from mojang.com and minecraft.net.
1.9	15w31a	Added dragon heads.
Dragon heads are currently available only in creative mode.
Mob heads now appear larger in the inventory.
15w32a	Creeper, zombie, and skeleton heads can now be worn to reduce detection by the corresponding mobs by 50%.
15w32c	Dragon heads now generate on end ships, meaning they are now obtainable in survival.
15w33c	The disguise that is given by mob heads now reduces detection range to 37.5% of normal.
15w36a	The disguise that is given by mob heads now reduces detection range to 50% of normal again.
15w39a	Dispensers can now equip mob heads onto players, mobs and armor stands.
1.13	17w47a	The ID of heads have been split into 12; one of each available standard head, as well as a wall counterpart of each.
skeleton_skull, wither_skeleton_skull, player_head, zombie_head, creeper_head and dragon_head are now available as items and placed blocks with a rotation block state of 0-15.
skeleton_wall_skull, wither_skeleton_wall_skull, player_wall_head, zombie_wall_head, creeper_wall_head and dragon_wall_head are available only as placed blocks with a facing block state of north, south, east or west.
Prior to The Flattening, this block's numeral ID was 144, and the item's 397.
1.19	Deep Dark Experimental Snapshot 1	Skeleton skull now generate as part of ancient city.
Pocket Edition Alpha
v0.12.1	build 1	Added skeleton, wither skeleton, zombie, player, and creeper heads.
The skeleton, wither skeleton, zombie, player and creeper heads use the Java textures prior to 14w30a.
v0.14.0	build 1	Mob heads can now be worn as armor.
v0.16.0	build 4	Wither skeleton skulls can now be used to spawn the wither.
Pocket Edition
1.0.0	alpha 0.17.0.1	Added dragon heads.
Dragon heads use a two-dimensional sprite, unlike Java does.
Bedrock Edition
1.2.0	beta 1.2.0.2	Mob heads can now be used to craft firework stars.
Creeper heads and wither skeleton skulls are now used to craft specific patterns on banners.
beta 1.2.0.11	Player and mob heads in inventories and when held by mobs/players now display as blocks.
1.10.0	beta 1.10.0.3	Wither skeleton skulls and creeper heads can now be used to craft banner patterns.
Legacy Console Edition
TU12	CU1	1.0	Patch 1	1.0.1	Added skeleton, wither skeleton, zombie, player, and creeper heads to the creative inventory.
Wither skeleton skulls currently do not have a use.
TU19	CU7	1.12	Wither skeleton skulls can now be obtained by killing wither skeletons.
Wither skeleton skulls can now be used to build the wither.
TU31	CU19	1.22	Patch 3	Skeleton, zombie, and creeper heads are now available in survival. The player can obtain them by killing the appropriate mob with a charged creeper.
TU46	CU36	1.38	Patch 15	Added dragon heads.
New Nintendo 3DS Edition
0.1.0	Added skeleton, wither skeleton, zombie, player, and creeper heads.
1.7.10	Added dragon heads.

Skull "item"[]

Appearances[]

Java Edition
1.4.2	12w36a	The skull item uses this texture in inventories, when held in first or third person view, as a dropped item or when in an item frame.
1.5	13w02a	The skull item is now completely invisible in inventories.
The skull item causes a game crash when held in first or third person view, as a dropped item or when in an item frame.
This is due to major texture storage changes in this version.
13w02b	The skull item now uses this texture in inventories, when held in first or third person view, as a dropped item or when in an item frame.

Names[]

• 12w36a - 13w25b: [Has no defined name, rendering a minimum-length text box if highlighted]
• 13w25c - 14w21b: tile.skull.name

When given using the /give command, it is announced as tile.skull.name.

Issues[]

Issues relating to "Head" are maintained on the bug tracker. Report issues there.

Trivia[]

• Heads do not have their own textures and take their textures from other objects.
• When breaking any head, the particle effect of breaking it is the same as soul sand.
• Despite there being a default Steve head, an Alex head cannot be obtained without using custom names.
• In Bedrock Edition, the skull variant for the item is stored under the damage component, normally used for items with durability.

Gallery[]

Screenshots[]

• 

  All of the heads.

• 

  Heads oriented in different directions.

• 

  A picture of player heads, including some Mojang characters.

• 

  A dragon head found at the bow of an end ship.

• 

  An animation of the dragon head when redstone power is supplied.

Development[]

• 

  First screenshot released of heads.

• 

  Second attempt.

References[]

1. ↑ Example: {"textures":{"SKIN":{"url":"http://textures.minecraft.net/texture/292009a4925b58f02c77dadc3ecef07ea4c7472f64e0fdc32ce5522489362680"}}}
2. ↑ "Skulls are a snapshot of the skin as it was made; just change your skin, make a skull, and change your skin back. That's intended behaviour." – @Dinnerbone (Nathan Adams) on Twitter, May 8, 2014
3. ↑ "I'm here to make it so that people don't have to worry about having a consistent account whose skin might change." – u/Marc_IRL on Reddit, September 9, 2013
4. ↑ "head format. I needed to pick a prefix that was short and not already taken by other usernames." – @Marc_IRL (Marc Watson) on Twitter, September 10, 2013
5. ↑ "For those following the MHF list, I have presents for you. Full list of accounts I've made: http://pastebin.com/5mug6EBu" – @Marc_IRL (Marc Watson) on Twitter, December 9, 2014
6. ↑ http://www.twitch.tv/pax2/b/330745811 (at 3:59:00)
7. ↑ Snapshot 12w37a lang/en_US.lang: item.skull.player.name=%s's Head
8. ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/Minecraft/comments/zxn7u/its_apparently_my_cakeday_so_lets_cash_in_this/

Is creeper head rare?

What is the rarest head in Minecraft?

What are the chances of a creeper dropping its head?