View source for Minecraft:Zombie siege

{{distinguish|Raid}}
{{For||Siege (disambiguation)}}
{{exclusive|java}}
{{outdated|edition=bedrock|This feature used to be in the game but has since been removed because of a bug.}}
[[File:Zombie Siege.png|thumb|350px|A zombie siege in progress.]]

'''Zombie sieges''' are in-game events in which many [[Minecraft:zombie]]s spawn and attack a [[Minecraft:village]].

== Mechanics ==
At midnight each night (tick 18000 in ''Minecraft'' time), a zombie siege is determined to occur somewhere in the [[Minecraft:Overworld]] that night with a 10% probability. If a siege has been determined to occur, attempts are made each [[Minecraft:tick]] to start the siege until either an attempt is successful or the [[Minecraft:Light|sky light level]] reaches 12 due to sunrise, although the reduction in sky light level from a [[Minecraft:thunderstorm]] allows siege start attempts to continue well past dawn. 

=== Siege start checks ===
The decisions whether to start a siege, spawn a siege zombie, or to abort any siege start attempt are made while the [[Minecraft:game rule]] <code>doMobSpawning</code> is enabled. If the rule is disabled after the decision to attempt a siege was made, and then enabled again during another night (even before midnight), the decision still stands until a new decision is made at midnight, a siege starts, or the start attempt is aborted due to sunrise or Peaceful difficulty. Disabling the game rule also halts the spawning phase of an active siege, continuing with the remaining spawns when mob spawning is enabled again, unless conditions for aborting the siege are met. There is no way to force the game to start making siege attempts.

Players who are not in [[Minecraft:spectator mode]] can trigger the night's siege if they are in an area that is considered [[Minecraft:Village mechanics|part of a logical village]]{{note|name=within-village|Being "in a village" is defined as being in a 3×3×3 cube of [[Minecraft:chunk]] sections centered on a section containing a claimed [[Minecraft:bed]], [[Minecraft:bell]], or [[Minecraft:job site]], which is not necessarily related to any generated [[Minecraft:village]] structures.}} and are not in a biome with the <code>without_zombie_sieges</code> [[Minecraft:Tag#Biomes|tag]].{{note|name=without_zombie_sieges|By default this tag only includes [[Minecraft:mushroom fields]].}} The start check iterates over all players in the dimension every tick, until either a player satisfies the starting conditions or the siege attempt is aborted as described above. The game does not attempt to start sieges in [[Minecraft:peaceful]] difficulty, and any active decision to make such attempts is canceled when the difficulty is set to Peaceful, and not resumed if difficulty is set higher again.

Ten attempts are made per player to choose a random siege starting point. First, a random location on a horizontal circle with 32 blocks radius around the player is chosen as the starting point, then that location is used to find a potential spawn location for a siege zombie as per the zombie spawning logic described below. If this successfully finds a valid zombie spawning point, the siege is started at the chosen starting point. If all ten starting points fail to find valid spawning locations, the checks pass to the next player.

=== Zombie spawning ===
During a siege, the game tries to spawn a zombie every 3 ticks for 20 times, lasting 60 ticks in total. For each zombie, 10 attempts are made to randomly choose a valid spawning point on the surface (i.e. highest non-air block at given horizontal coordinates) within a 16×16 horizontal distance around the chosen point. If a valid spawn point is found, the zombie is spawned. Failed spawns are not repeated, leading to fewer total zombies spawning for the siege.

Zombies spawned within a siege ignore player proximity, the presence of other mobs, and whether an area would usually spawn zombies. Only the minimal spawning conditions are checked:
* Light level must be appropriate for zombie spawning.
* The surface block must allow zombie spawning on top.
* The block must be within a logical village.{{note|name=within-village}}

[[Minecraft:Zombie villagers]], [[Minecraft:husk]]s, [[Minecraft:drowned]], [[Minecraft:zombie horse]]s and [[Minecraft:camel husk]]s are never spawned as part of a siege, but all other variations (e.g. baby, jockey, and with equipment) are determined as for normal random spawns.

The zombies that spawn as part of a siege behave in the same manner as normally-spawned zombies; they attack all villagers within sight, and villagers and [[Minecraft:iron golems]] react accordingly. The zombies despawn as usual if the player is far enough away. Siege zombies can spawn more zombies as [[Minecraft:reinforcement]]s, increasing the total number of zombies that can be present during a siege.

== Defense tactics ==

{{main|Tutorial:Zombie siege defense|title1=Zombie siege defense}}

== Recovery ==

If at least two villagers survive the siege, the villagers can [[Minecraft:Villager#Breeding and population|breed]] and repopulate the village. Without player intervention, however, it is likely for villages to be wiped out by sieges and randomly-spawned zombies, and all the villagers would be either dead or zombified. 

Even if no villagers survive, a village may be repopulated by curing zombie villagers, or by luring in villagers from another village.

== Videos ==
{{Video note|This video is from [[Minecraft:Java Edition 1.5]], so the changes were not introduced.}}
{{yt|1xk3YUmFsCY}}

== History ==
=== Development ===
{{HistoryTable
|{{HistoryLine||June 10, 2009|link=wordofnotch:121044061|[[Minecraft:Notch]] promised to have an expansion pack adding zombie sieges, but never made it.}}
}}

=== ''Java Edition'' ===
{{HistoryTable
|{{HistoryLine|java}}
|{{HistoryLine||1.2.1|dev=12w07a|Added zombie sieges.
|[[Minecraft:Villager]]s repopulate [[Minecraft:village]]s based on how many houses are available.}}
|{{HistoryLine|||dev=12w08a|Added [[Minecraft:iron golem]]s, which protect villagers against attacks such as zombie sieges.}}
|{{HistoryLine||1.4.7|Zombie sieges no longer occur due to a bug.<ref>{{bug|MC-7432}}</ref>}}
|{{HistoryLine||1.8|dev=14w25a|Zombie sieges may again occur.
|The start positioning of zombie sieges has been fixed: sieges now start near the [[Minecraft:village]] perimeter rather than anywhere within the village.}}
|{{HistoryLine||1.14|dev=unknown|Siege mechanics significantly changed due to changes in [[Minecraft:village]] determination: sieges can now start anywhere in a village, the starting point is always 32 blocks from the triggering player, minimum village population limit removed, zombies now always spawn on the surface, and spawns consider light levels.{{verify|Some or all of these changes may have happened as late as 1.14.4}}}}
|{{HistoryLine||1.14.3|dev=pre3|The bug that caused zombie sieges to never occur has been fixed.<ref>{{bug|MC-154328}}</ref>}}
|{{HistoryLine||1.19|dev=22w11a|{{cd|#without_zombie_sieges}} tag created to replace the hard-coded check for [[Minecraft:mushroom fields]] biome.}}
}}

=== ''Bedrock Edition'' ===
{{HistoryTable
|{{HistoryLine|pocket alpha}}
|{{HistoryLine||v0.9.0|Added zombie sieges.}}
|{{HistoryLine|bedrock}}
|{{HistoryLine||1.11.0|Zombie sieges have been removed, due to a bug.<ref>{{bug|MCPE-167245|resolution=Invalid}}</ref>}}
}}

=== Legacy Console Edition ===
{{HistoryTable
|{{HistoryLine|console}}
|{{HistoryLine||xbox=TU12|xbone=CU1|ps3=1.00|psvita=1.00|ps4=1.00|wiiu=Patch 1|switch=1.0.1|Added zombie sieges.}}
}}

== Issues ==
{{issue list|Siege}}

== Trivia ==

* Sieges can occur on [[Minecraft:mushroom fields]] if the triggering player is in an adjacent biome.<ref>{{bug|MC-158473|resolution=WAI}}</ref>

== Gallery ==
=== Screenshots ===
<gallery>
File:Zombies breaking down.png|A group of zombies, two of which are villagers, breaking down a wooden door.
File:Iron Golem backing off a village during a siege.png|An iron golem killing a zombie during a siege, preventing the zombie from breaking down the door.
File:Zombie siege over when it's morning.png|A siege ending because of the zombies burning in the daylight.
File:Zombies burning in a desert..png|A siege in a desert (where it never rains) during rain in another biome. One zombie burns in sunlight while two others are protected by their helmets.
File:Zombie hurting a villager.png|A zombie attacking a villager while the other one is trying to run.
File:Villagers taking cover.png|3 villagers taking cover in a [[Minecraft:Village/Structure|large house]] during a zombie siege.
</gallery>

== See also ==
* [[Minecraft:Raid]]
* {{EntityLink|Zombie}}

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Navigation ==
{{Navbox villagers}}{{Navbox gameplay}}{{featured}}
[[Minecraft:de:Zombiebelagerung]]
[[Minecraft:es:Horda de zombis]]
[[Minecraft:fr:Siège de zombies]]
[[Minecraft:ja:ゾンビ襲撃]]
[[Minecraft:ko:좀비 전투]]
[[Minecraft:nl:Zombiebelegering]]
[[Minecraft:pl:Oblężenie zombie]]
[[Minecraft:pt:Invasão zumbi]]
[[Minecraft:ru:Осада]]
[[Minecraft:uk:Облога]]
[[Minecraft:zh:僵尸围城]]