How to Zombify a Villager without Killing It – A Minecraft Expert‘s Guide
As an avid Minecraft gamer and content creator, I am often asked "how do you zombify a villager without killing it?" Many players want to know how to infect villagers with zombie viruses to later cure them for lucrative discount trades. While the process involves risk, with the right techniques you can successfully zombify villagers while keeping them alive.
Step-by-Step Guide to Zombification
Here is a step-by-step walkthrough on how to zombify a villager in Minecraft without killing them:
1. Trap a Villager and Zombie Together
The most direct route for zombification is through direct zombie infection. To do this:
- Locate a zombie and lead it to a village using leads or minecarts at night
- Once near a villager, build a small enclosed space around the pair using fences, walls, buttons, etc.
- Make sure the zombie can approach and hit the villager, but not directly kill it. The zombie needs to infect, not kill.
I recommend trapping them in a 2 block wide space so the zombie is forced into close contact with the villager. Keep them trapped together for at least 1-2 minutes of interaction. The zombie will then infect the villager with the zombie virus, causing it to shake and turn into a zombie villager.
2. Play on Hard Difficulty for 100% Zombification Rates
A common mistake is attempting zombification on Easy or Normal mode. Zombies have a 0% chance to zombify on Easy, 50% on Normal, and 100% on Hard difficulty after killing a villager.
I always play on Hard when going for zombification to guarantee a 100% transformation rate. This ensures the zombie will definitely infect the villager when making contact.
3. Use Splash Potions of Weakness for Added Control
Splash weakness potions are another useful tool for zombifying villagers more precisely. Hit a villager with a weakness potion to make them more vulnerable to zombification from a zombie attack.
This lets you infect villagers safely outside of enclosed spaces. Simply splash the weakness potion on a villager, lead in a zombie, then let the zombie attack the weakened villager to transmit the infection.
Weakness potions are not mandatory, but give you more control over exactly when and where zombification occurs. I use them frequently when zombifying villagers in exposed areas.
4. Cure Zombie Villagers with Golden Apples
Once your villager transforms into a zombie villager, you can cure them back to a regular villager using golden apples.
While the zombie villager shakes from the infection:
- Approach within a block of the zombie villager
- Press the use button to feed them a golden apple
- Wait 1-5 minutes for the curing process to complete
The zombie villager will revert to a normal, now discounted villager. Repeat this zombification and curing process to get your ideal trade prices!
Zombification Odds and Statistics
To zombify villagers reliably, it helps to know your chances of success in different scenarios:
| Difficulty | Zombification Chance |
| Easy | 0% |
| Normal | 50% |
| Hard | 100% |
- On Easy difficulty, you will never zombify villagers from zombie attacks.
- Normal mode gives you a 50/50 shot at zombification after a zombie kills a villager.
- Hard mode guarantees zombification when a zombie kills a villager.
Other key stats:
5% chance for zombie villagers to spawn naturally in eligible biomes.
Desert temples have a 2.6% chance of containing golden apples for curing.
After curing, zombie villagers keep their discounted trade prices permanently.
Why Zombify Villagers for Trading Halls?
Why go through the trouble of zombifying villagers? Here are some key benefits:
Permanent trade discounts – Cured zombie villagers lock in heavily discounted trade prices, great for trading halls.
Customize trades – Zombify villagers with unwanted trades to randomize their offerings after curing.
Renew trades – Zombified villagers reset any sold out trades that reached their maximum usage.
Easy mass curing – Cure groups of zombie villagers simultaneously by funneling them into a chamber with golden apples.
Valuable rarity – Zombie villagers offer rare trading opportunities not available from regular villagers.
By zombifying and mass curing villagers, you can create entire trading halls with villagers offering rock-bottom prices. It does take time and effort, but the economic benefits are well worth it!
Tips for Successful Zombification
Through extensive experimentation across many Minecraft worlds, I‘ve picked up some useful tips for safely and efficiently zombifying villagers:
Baby villagers zombify faster than adults, making them ideal candidates.
Nitwits and unemployed villagers still retain their discounts after curing.
Name tag villagers first so they don‘t de-spawn accidentally.
Carry weakness potions and golden apples to control zombification on the fly.
Set up iron golems to kill zombies after zombification to safely contain the zombie villagers.
Transport zombie villagers with minecarts or boats to a central curing chamber.
If playing solo, zombify 2-3 villagers at a time for manageable curing.
Build zombification and curing chambers near zombie spawners for convenience.
With the right techniques, you can reliably zombify and cure villagers for amazing discounts without losing them in the process! Let me know if this guide provided the depth of information you were looking for on successfully utilizing zombie villagers in your Minecraft trading halls.
