How to Cure a Villager Zombie in Minecraft

As you’re exploring a Village, you may witness Zombies assaulting it at night. This, inevitably, results in a few Villagers succumbing to the undead curse. Thankfully, you can undo the damage and cure a Villager Zombie of their affliction in Minecraft. The grateful Villager gives you discounts on trades!

Apply the Weakness Effect to a Villager Zombie

Weakness is an effect that decreases how much melee damage the afflicted entity does when attacking. Usually, this effect is most useful for debuffing large groups of hostile mobs during combat. However, you need to apply the Weakness effect to a Villager Zombie in Minecraft to begin the cure.

There are two options for applying the Weakness effect to an entity. The first is to throw a Splash Potion of Weakness at or near your target. Alternatively, you can shoot the Villager Zombie with an Arrow of Weakness. However, making an Arrow of Weakness is more tedious, so, for simplicity, we recommend using a Splash Potion of Weakness to cure a Villager Zombie in Minecraft.

Tip

Before beginning the curing process, it’s recommended to trap the Villager Zombie so that it doesn’t wander away. When you do, make sure to protect them from sunlight, otherwise, they’ll burn up and die.

How to Make a Splash Potion of Weakness

Before we get into the steps of making a Splash Potion of Weakness, here’s what you’ll need:

• 1 Brewing Stand (made from 1 Blaze Rod and 3 Cobblestone)
• 1 or more Blaze Powder for Brewing Stand fuel
• 1 Glass Bottle (turn it into a Water Bottle)
• A source of water (to fill the Glass Bottle with water)
• 1 Spider Eye
• 1 Brown Mushroom
• 1 piece of Sugar
• 1 piece of Gunpowder

Step #1: Setting Up Your Brewing Stand

The simplest way to make a Brewing Stand is to place one Blaze Rod in the top-middle slot of a Crafting Table. Then fill the row beneath it with Cobblestone. Technically, almost any type of stone block works, but Cobblestone is the easiest to get. This recipe gets you one Brewing Stand. Place it anywhere you wish.

Next, put some Blaze Powder—two of which are made from placing a Blaze Rod on a Crafting Table—into the fuel slot of the Brewing Stand. The fuel slot is in the top-left corner of the Brewing Stand’s interface. You can brew the required potions for curing a Villager Zombie with only one Blaze Powder if you’re quick, but it never hurts to give yourself some room for error.

Note

Blaze Rods are dropped from defeated Blazes, which is a type of fiery mob only found in Nether Fortresses. As such, if you want to cure a Villager Zombie, you’ll need to make at least one trip into the Nether.

Step #2: Making a Potion of Weakness

Following this, craft a Glass Bottle by making a “V” shape out of three Glass blocks on a Crafting Table. This gives you three Glass Bottles. Afterward, hold a Glass Bottle and use it on any block of water. You now have a Water Bottle. Place the Water Bottle in any of the bottom slots of your Brewing Stand.

Now we need to make a Fermented Spider Eye—gross! To do so, combine one Spider Eye, one Brown Mushroom, and one piece of Sugar on a Crafting Table. The shape of the recipe doesn’t matter. In the end, you’ll get one Fermented Spider Eye.

Note

Keep in mind that Red Mushrooms will not work in place of Brown Mushrooms here.

While your Water Bottle is in one of the bottom slots of your Brewing Stand, place the Fermented Spider Eye in the top slot. When the white arrow on the right fills up, the Fermented Spider Eye gets consumed and turns your Water Bottle into a Potion of Weakness.

Step #3: Turing a Potion of Weakness Into a Splash Potion of Weakness

Following this, place one piece of Gunpowder in the top slot of the Brewing Stand. Once the white arrow fills up again the Gunpowder gets consumed and turns your Potion of Weakness into a Splash Potion of Weakness.

Tip

Gunpowder can be dropped by Creepers that you kill before they explode.

The reason you need a Splash Potion of Weakness instead of a regular ol’ Potion of Weakness is that you can throw the former. You can’t throw a non-Splash Potion; only drink it.

When you’re ready, throw the Splash Potion of Weakness at the trapped Villager Zombie. You can tell they’re affected by it when you see black swirl particles come out of them.

Give the Weakened Villager Zombie a Golden Apple

As your Villager Zombie is still under the Weakness effect, use a Golden Apple on them to fully implement the cure for the Minecraft Zombie curse. After using the Golden Apple on the Villager Zombie, it’ll take 1 minute and 40 seconds for them to turn back into a regular Villager in the Bedrock Edition. In the Java Edition, this transformation takes 3 to 5 minutes.

While the cure is racing through the Villager Zombie’s blocky veins, they’ll emit yellow swirl particles and their body will shake constantly.

How to Get a Golden Apple

You need eight Gold Ingots and one Apple to make a Golden Apple. On a Crafting Table, place the Apple in the center slot before surrounding it with Gold Ingots. This easy—yet expensive—recipe gives you one Golden Apple. Be careful not to eat it by mistake!

What’s the Point of Curing a Villager Zombie in Minecraft?

After a Villager Zombie is cured, if they have a profession, they’ll give you discounts on all trades! This effect can stack as well. If the same Villager gets turned into a Villager Zombie again, the next time you cure them, their trade prices will improve. You can keep doing this until the trade price for their items is one Emerald; their trade prices won’t ever get lower than this.

On top of that, there’s an Advancement for curing a Villager Zombie called “Zombie Doctor.” If you’re a completionist, you’ll need to grab this Advancement to achieve Minecraft perfection.

Speaking of Advancements in Minecraft, the most hardcore players often seek to complete “How Did We Get Here.” Despite the comical name, this is one of the toughest Advancements to get in the game! Do you have what it takes to check this one off your list?