Stray
hostileOurs, not the jar's: 1 drop that its loot table does not roll, how a stray behaves. Bedrock v1.26.30.5 differs: spawn weight 80 on Java against 120 on Bedrock; groups of 4 on Java against 1 to 2 on Bedrock. Checked 2026-08-08, and how
Health
Damage
XP Drop
Added InOverview
In Minecraft, the Stray is classified as a hostile mob: it will attack players on sight whenever it is able to reach them.
Strays make their home in the Overworld, turning up in Snowy Plains, Ice Spikes, Frozen Ocean, Frozen River, and 1 other biome type.
What sets it apart is its behaviour: skeleton variant that shoots Arrows of Slowness.
Stat-wise it sits at 20 health (10 hearts), dropping 5 experience on death.
The Stray has been part of the game since version 1.10.
One thing worth knowing: Strays are immune to freezing damage from powder snow.
Knowing how the Stray behaves is mostly about survival: recognising it early and reacting correctly is what keeps a night-time excursion from ending in a respawn.
Damage by Difficulty
Spawning
In the wild, the Stray is generated in Snowy Plains, Ice Spikes, Frozen Ocean, Frozen River, and Snowy Taiga.
The spawn table has no favourite: the Stray takes up the same 15.5% of the list in Ice Spikes and Snowy Plains, so head for whichever you can reach first.
Spawns at light level 0 in snowy/frozen biomes. Replaces 80% of skeleton spawns in frozen biomes.
Pay attention to lighting: a light level of 0 is required, which is exactly what makes torch placement such an effective way to suppress or encourage these spawns.
Naturally spawned strays will despawn over time when no player is nearby; naming one with a name tag or leading it away on a lead keeps it permanent.
For a reliable Stray farm, set your spawning floor within the biomes above and light everything else nearby so spawns funnel to one spot.
Where the Stray spawns
Ice Spikes and Snowy Plains are where it stands strongest: weight 80 on the monster list and 15.5% of it, arriving 4 at a time. There it shares the list with Creeper at 100, Slime at 100, Spider at 100, Zombie at 95 and Skeleton at 20 and 3 more, 515 weight together, of which 80 is stray. That is the whole list.
| Biome | Weight | Share | Group |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ice Spikes | 80 | 15.5% | 4 |
| Snowy Plains | 80 | 15.5% | 4 |
Drops
Here is what you can expect to collect from a Stray:
Nothing here is guaranteed: a kill can give you 0 to 2 Arrows, 0 to 2 Bones, 1 Tipped Arrow, and 1 Arrow of Slowness (usually, 50% chance).
You also collect 5 experience for every Stray you defeat.
These are well worth keeping. Arrows of Slowness inflict Slowness I for 30 seconds.
The Looting enchantment on your sword raises the quantity and, for many of these items, the drop chance of the rarer rolls, so it is well worth using when you grind this mob.
With nothing guaranteed, output is swingy: over many kills the averages hold, but any single Stray may give you little, so farm in volume rather than expecting a jackpot each time.
| Item | Count | Chance | Conditions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arrow | 0 to 2 | not every kill | Looting |
| Bone | 0 to 2 | not every kill | Looting |
| Tipped Arrow | 0 to 1 | not every kill | player kill, Looting |
| Arrow of Slowness | 0 to 1 | 50% | equipment |
Arrow
BoneIt is not the only source of Tipped Arrow: the bogged drops 0 to 1.
Stray attributes
| Attribute | Value |
|---|---|
| Experience | 5 |
| Follow range | 16 blocks |
| Health | 20 points |
| Movement speed | 0.25 |
Where the Stray lands, it has company: the wither skeleton, level with it on health, speed and follow range alike.
Stray: 0.47% of its category, rank 40 of 47
On 2 of the 66 biome lists (2 spawn entries in total), and 0.47% of every spawn the jar puts in its monster group is a stray.
The roll ranges in a stray's Java 26.2 loot table give 1 Arrow per kill, so 64 Arrow costs 64 kills before Looting. Bone runs at 1 a kill, 64 stray kills for a stack of its own. 1 further row sit under those, down to 0.5 Tipped Arrow per stray and 128 kills a stack. 1 of those 3 rows (Tipped Arrow) only roll when a player lands the killing blow, so a stray killed by a fall or another mob averages 2 items instead of 2.5.
1 situational row left out. How this average is worked out
| Weapon | Attack damage | Full swings | Swings per 64 Arrow |
|---|---|---|---|
| golden sword, wooden sword | 4 | 5 | 320 |
| stone sword | 5 | 4 | 256 |
| iron sword | 6 | 4 | 256 |
| diamond sword, golden axe, wooden axe | 7 | 3 | 192 |
| netherite sword | 8 | 3 | 192 |
| diamond axe, iron axe, stone axe | 9 | 3 | 192 |
| netherite axe | 10 | 2 | 128 |
Coming the other way, a stray hit is 15% of a player's 20 health, 7 of them a full bar, all out of the stray's 3 damage on Normal. On Easy the same stray hit is 10%, on Hard 20%, so 10 hits against 5.
Behavior & Combat
Behaviourally, skeleton variant that shoots Arrows of Slowness. Does not burn in sunlight (unlike regular skeletons).
On the offensive it deals 2 on Easy, 3 on Normal and 4 on Hard, and you will need to chew through 20 health (10 hearts) to bring one down.
The fastest way to win is to lean on what it fears: Smite enchantment and Shields.
A sword enchanted with Smite shortens the fight considerably against this mob.
Since it can attack from range, closing the distance quickly or breaking line of sight with cover is often safer than trading hits at a distance.
It ignores daylight, but not the fact that it is undead: a splash of Healing wounds it, Harming heals it, and against 20 health with no armour to speak of a Smite V sword adds 12.5 damage a hit.
The practical takeaway is to respect its strengths, exploit the weaknesses listed above, and you will rarely lose a fight you choose to take.
Stray: common questions
How much health does a Stray have?
A Stray has 20 health points, which is 10 hearts on its health bar.
What does a Stray drop?
When killed, a Stray drops 0 to 2 Arrows, 0 to 2 Bones, 0 to 1 Tipped Arrow, and 0 to 1 Arrow of Slowness (50% chance), along with 5 experience.
Where do Strays spawn in Minecraft?
Strays spawn in Snowy Plains, Ice Spikes, Frozen Ocean, Frozen River, and Snowy Taiga. Spawns at light level 0 in snowy/frozen biomes. Replaces 80% of skeleton spawns in frozen biomes.
How do you defeat a Stray?
To defeat a Stray, target its weaknesses, it is vulnerable to Smite enchantment and Shields, while dealing with its 20 health (10 hearts).
How much damage does a Stray deal?
A Stray deals 2 damage on Easy, 3 on Normal and 4 on Hard difficulty.
How much XP does a Stray drop?
A Stray drops 5 experience points when killed.