Cure a Zombie Villager in Minecraft (2022)

This method works on both Minecraft Java and Bedrock editions. Plus, we have tested it on Minecraft 1.18 update, so you can rest assured about the compatibility. If you are familiar with the basics, use the table below to skip to specific steps and details.

What Is a Zombie Villager in Minecraft

As the name tells, zombie villagers are a variant of zombies. Usually, whenever a zombie kills a villager, there is a good chance of them turning into zombie villagers. The biome-based characteristics and costumes of that villager remain intact. At times, the zombie villagers can also naturally spawn into your world. Though, normal villagers turning into zombie villagers is a more common situation.
The strength, movement, and behavior of a zombie villager are similar to that of a regular zombie. They can also pick up tools like bows and swords to attack the player. So, unless you have a proper setup to cure a zombie villager, you should maintain your fair distance from them. Not to forget, you can also discover the baby variants of zombie villagers, which are much harder to deal with.

Curing the Zombie Villager

Curing a zombie villager or turning it back into a regular villager involves the following three steps. First, you need to trap a zombie villager and weaken it using a potion or some other way. Then, you can feed it a golden apple to start the curing process. But the curing process is a long and tiring one, so you have to wait for the zombie to turn back into its regular form. Even then, you can’t just sit around and wait as the curing zombie gains additional strength, making it more dangerous and hostile. Some players even have to kill the curing zombie to protect themselves.

How to Trap a Zombie Villager

There are practically dozens of ways to trap a zombie or any other mob. But assuming that you encounter a zombie villager in a village with houses, it’s much easier to trap it. Alternatively, you can also create a basic home-like structure to trap it. The setup usually looks similar to igloo basements, which are practically the best place to cure a zombie villager.

Once you find or create a home, you need to leave its door open and lure the zombie villager into it.Then, quickly escape the house and close the door on your exit. You can add two doors to the house to make your escape easier.When the zombie villager is trapped, it can’t open doors or get burnt by the sunlight. So make sure that none of the other villagers open the door and it out.

Give Weakness Effect to Zombie Villager

Make Splash Potion of Weakness

Weakness is an in-game effect that decreases the attack power of any mob. And in our scenario, it also decreases the zombie characteristics of the zombie villager, allowing us to convert it easily. But first, you need to make a potion of weakness. You will also find the steps to turn it into a splash or throwable potion in the linked tutorial. The items you will require are:

Fermented Spider EyeBlaze PowderWater BottleBrewing StandGun Powder

Alternatively, you can also make a lingering potion of weakness or an arrow of weakness. But, we suggest you create the splash potion of weakness as it is comparatively easier.

Use the Potion on Zombie Villager

Once your zombie villager is trapped, attacking it becomes easy. You only need to make a single block opening in the house or a similar structure. Then, throw the splash potion onto the zombie villager to give it a weakness effect. Depending upon your game’s edition, the potion’s effect will have the following durations:

1 Minute 30 Seconds – Potion of Weakness I on Java4 Minutes – Potion of Weakness II (Extended) on Java1 Minute 7 Seconds – Potion of Weakness I on Bedrock3 Minutes – Potion of Weakness II (Extended) on Bedrock

Though, you don’t have to worry about the time because initiating the curing process only takes seconds if you are doing it right. With that said, let’s look at how you can cure a zombie villager.

Steps to Cure a Zombie Villager in Minecraft

  1. Start by crafting a golden apple. You need 1 regular apple and 8 gold ingots for the crafting recipe. Apples are easy to find in village chests, and you can use our Minecraft 1.18 ore distribution guide to reach gold.
  2. Then, you need to feed the golden apple to the zombie villager. You can do it by right-clicking or using the secondary key. Doing so will immediately play a sizzling sound. The zombie villager’s eyes will turn red, and it will release red particles around it.
  3. Now, keep in mind that the zombie villager gains extra strength during the curing process. So, it’s best to leave it trapped and wait for a few minutes. And after some time, you will find a regular villager in the house, having successfully cured the zombie in Minecraft.

How Long Does It Take to Cure a Zombie

Once you have fed the golden apple to a zombie villager, it takes around 1-2 minutes in the Bedrock edition and 3-5 minutes in the Java edition for the cure to take full effect. You can decrease this time by placing beds or iron bars around the zombie villager in Minecraft. The Players usually don’t adopt any such measures to speed things up as it only brings about a 10% change. But there’s no need to worry about the time as the zombie villager can’t despawn once the process starts. You can continue your exploration and come back to find the villager is cured. The curing process isn’t affected by your presence. Additionally, you can save and reload your world to skip the waiting time altogether on the Minecraft Bedrock edition.

What Happens After a Zombie Villager is Cured

The zombie villager turns into a regular villager once the curing process is complete. If it was holding any weapons, armor, or tools, they will disappear. If the villager was a baby before turning into a zombie villager, the curing process will turn it back into a baby villager in Minecraft. An adult villager can get their profession back and even get a new one once you cure their zombied self.

Benefits of Curing a Zombie Villager in Minecraft

Now that you know how to cure a zombie villager in Minecraft, the obvious question arises why you should do it. Now, if you are wondering that, some other benefits other than saving the villager from savageness are as under:

If the villager had a profession before turning into a zombie, it will regain the profession once you cure it. And it will offer huge permanent trading discounts that you can avail.If you cure a villager inside a village, it also leaves an impact on other villagers. So, you can expect some level of trading discounts from the other villagers too.And finally, curing the villager also protects other villagers from turning into a zombie.

Easily Cure a Zombie Villager in Minecraft

Whether it’s for trading discounts or moral reasons, you can now easily cure a zombie villager in Minecraft. And if you don’t find it thrilling enough, try to repeat the experiment without trapping the zombie villager. As for the key locations, this curing experiment is best done in one of our Minecraft village seeds. However, if you don’t want to experience it, you can always use the best Minecraft potions to protect the villagers before anything vulnerable reaches the village. But that’s a whole different story.
As for players that don’t want to go into the whole trapping zombie part, our best 1.18 mountain seeds can help them find an igloo. Many of these igloos spawn with a basement that has a zombie villager already trapped in it. Not to forget, you can always install Forge in Minecraft. It allows you to run some of the best Minecraft modpacks that can help you unlock more interesting quests beyond curing a zombie. In the meantime, don’t forget to drop your ideas around more interesting in-game quests. Our team will test and share them with our readers.