How to Cure a Zombie Villager in Minecraft

Have you ever stumbled upon a village run by zombies or seen a baby zombie villager ride around on a chicken? Sounds like great fun.

But, when your own workers turn into zombie villagers, it can be incredibly annoying. This can happen when regular zombies attack your villagers, and your difficulty settings influence how often the zombification will occur.

Those playing on Hard may see every villager killed by a zombie turn into one of the undead, while on Easy, this never happens. However, even if you’re playing on Easy, zombie villagers still roam the wild, waiting for you to encounter them.

If you want to bring your villagers back to their regular state and return to business-as-usual, there’s a simple solution that works on all platforms.

How to Cure a Zombie Villager in Minecraft

Curing a zombie villager in Minecraft requires two vital steps:

First, you’ll need to make sure the villagers are under the Weakness effect. You can do this in a variety of ways:

• The easiest way to transform a zombie villager is to use a splash potion of Weakness. You can throw the potion on the villager yourself or make a Witch do it for you. It’s harder to make Witches interact with villagers because of their limited spawning, but you may stumble upon one in the Overworld.
  
• Keep in mind, though, that Witches are the rarest type of monster to spawn in all the biomes in the game. A convenient way to get a Witch near your zombie villagers is to wait for lightning to strike near a regular villager. This will immediately transform them into a Witch. Or, you can find a witch’s hut.
  
• You can make a lingering potion of Weakness by brewing a splash potion of Weakness with Dragon’s Breath. Throw it, and it will affect every villager that passes through the area effect cloud.
  
• Creepers can also be of use, as a creeper explosion will create an area of effect like a lingering potion. Beware, though, because dealing with creepers can be extremely risky, especially inside your settlement.
  
• Finally, you could make a tipped arrow by combining an arrow with a lingering potion of Weakness. If you choose this method, don’t forget that a tipped arrow still does damage, so you should make sure your zombie villager isn’t low on health before shooting them.
  
• Also, the effect on tipped arrows lasts only one-eight of the time compared to the potion, which means you’ll have to act fast.

The second step in curing a zombie villager is to use a golden apple on them while they’re under the Weakness effect. Remember to use the apple on the villager, not throw it at them.

Once they’re under the influence, they’ll shake and emit red particles. Wait for two to five minutes until the transformation is complete. After the requisite time, you should have a standard, living villager again.

How to Cure a Zombie Villager in Minecraft on PS4

Here’s how you can cure a zombie villager in the PS4 version of Minecraft using a splash potion:

1. Equip the splash potion.
2. Throw it by pressing the L2 button
3. Equip the golden apple.
4. Press the L2 button to apply the apple on the villager.

How to Cure a Zombie Villager in Minecraft on Xbox

If you’re playing on Xbox, follow these steps to cure a zombie villager:

1. Open your inventory and equip the splash potion.
2. Use the LT button and throw the potion.
3. Equip the golden apple from your inventory.
4. Use it on the villager by pressing the LT button.

How to Cure a Zombie Villager in Minecraft on Switch

When it comes to Switch, follow this method to cure a zombie villager:

1. Equip the splash potion of Weakness.
2. Press the ZL button and throw the potion at the zombified villager.
3. Equip the golden apple.
4. Hit the ZL button to apply the apple on the villager.

How to Cure a Zombie Villager in Minecraft on iPhone, iPad, and Android

On all mobile devices with a touchscreen, performing the necessary actions to cure a zombie villager will be relatively straightforward. All you need to do is equip the lingering potion of Weakness and tap on the villager. Once they’re under the effect, prepare the golden apple and tap on the affected villager again.

How to Cure a Zombie Villager in Minecraft on PC

Even if you’re running different versions of Minecraft on PC, curing a zombie villager happens the same way, regardless of whether you’re on Java, Education, or Windows 10. You’ll need to apply the potion of Weakness by right-clicking on the villager and then offer the golden apple the same way.

How to Cure a Zombie Villager in Minecraft on 1.14

Minecraft Java Edition 1.14 was a significant update to the game, but the basic mechanics of curing zombie villagers remain the same:

• Equip and throw a splash potion
• Equip the golden apple and use it on the villager

Regarding zombie villagers, there were some changes introduced with the update.

The 1.14 update had a strong focus on villages. Since its introduction, you could encounter a single zombie villager instead of finding them in larger numbers in zombie villages or mobs. Update 1.14 also expanded the biomes where zombie villages may spawn, adding the snowy tundra variant and updating plains, desert, savanna, and taiga villages.

Since the update, cured villagers retain their trade when returned to their standard form. As an unpleasant surprise, villagers hurt by zombies can now turn into Iron golems even if they survive the attack.

How to Cure a Zombie Villager in Minecraft on 1.15

Java Edition 1.15 kept most of the same features from the previous edition. The solution to curing zombie villagers is the same as it was before in 1.14. It involves equipping and throwing the splash potion and equipping and using the golden apple on the villager.

The update improved many issues and fixed plenty of bugs that troubled players.

When it comes to zombie villagers, they now drop any items they’ve previously picked up. The feature was always intended to work this way, but for some reason, the picked-up items didn’t drop once the villager was cured.

Additionally, the 1.15 update resolved some purely visual issues like seeing a hand animation while treating villagers.

How to Cure a Zombie Villager in Minecraft on Bedrock

The Bedrock Edition is a family of editions covering all major gaming platforms.

Despite the new name, curing zombie villagers involve the same steps as previous versions. You’ll need to throw a splash potion and then use the golden apple on the zombie villager.

Several changes to their behavior and inventory were included in Bedrock.

Since Update 0.16, zombie villagers can drop their weapons, but only if they’re holding them. Update 1.0 introduced a convenient mechanic, adding a Cure button. The button appears when you hit a zombie villager with a potion of Weakness and approach them holding a golden apple. This doesn’t fundamentally change how you cure villagers, but it makes the process somewhat more straightforward.

After Update 1.2, you can also multiply zombie villagers through their own spawn eggs if that’s something you want to do.

Finally, the Bedrock Edition included a feature that started as a Bedrock exclusive. It replaced zombie villager Steve’s clothes with Villager’s clothes. But this feature is no longer exclusive to Bedrock as of the 1.9 update.

Additional FAQs

1. What Is the Fastest Way to Cure a Zombie Villager?

To cure zombie villagers in the least amount of time, follow these steps:

• Secure the villager so no hostile mobs can reach it and build a roof over their dwelling to ensure they don’t burn in the sun.

• Craft a splash potion of Weakness. This is the method of afflicting Weakness on the villager and requires the least crafting. Throw the potion on the villager.

• Use the golden apple on the villager immediately after they start emitting gray swirls, i.e., when they’re affected by Weakness.

• Surround the villager with iron bars and beds. This will speed up the process.

2. How Do You Give a Zombie Villager a Golden Apple?

On most Minecraft versions, you can give a golden apple to a zombie villager by facing them and pressing the Use button. Alternatively, in the Bedrock Edition, you’ll see a prompt to cure them if they’re already under the influence of Weakness. The Cure function gives the zombie villager the apple automatically.

3. How Do You Heal a Zombie Villager in Minecraft?

Healing zombie villagers in Minecraft can be done by hitting them with a damage potion. It might sound counterintuitive, but the method works perfectly.

4. How Do You Heal a Zombie in Minecraft?

If you want to heal a regular zombie, you can do that the same way as you would heal a zombie villager – using a damage potion.

5. How Do You Make a Zombie in Minecraft?

There are several ways to create zombies in Minecraft. The easiest method is to use zombie spawn eggs. Alternatively, you can enable cheats and using console commands.

6. Can Villagers Be Turned into Zombies in Minecraft?

When regular zombies attack and kill villagers, they will turn into zombie villagers. Zombie villagers are one type of zombie in Minecraft, but there are many types in the game. Villagers can’t turn into the standard variant.

Returning Your Villagers to Normal

Now that you’ve learned how to revert your zombified villagers into their regular form, you’ll have no problems keeping your settlement alive and well. Just beware of roaming zombie mobs and put some protections in place. Otherwise you may run out of golden apples and potions before curing everybody.

Did you manage to cure a zombie villager? How did you affect them with Weakness? Tell us about your zombie-curing experience in the comment section below.