search
Minecraft Wiki

Minecraft Wiki

896 pages 4235 edits Updated: Feb 03
Wiki BG

Stray

Strays are a variant of skeletons that only appear in frozen or snowy biomes. They have the same behavior and drops as regular skeletons, with the exception of their slowness arrows. Regular skeletons can be transformed into strays by placing them in powdered snow for seven seconds.



Where do Strays Spawn?


Strays spawn in frozen, ice, and snowy biomes. Within these biomes, skeletons have an 80% chance of spawning as strays.


How do Strays Behave?


Strays behave mostly the same as normal skeletons. Strays will chase both players and iron golems that they see within 16 blocks and they will climb stairs, navigate mazes, and traverse other complex obstacles to get within shooting range. Once the stray is within 15 blocks of a target and they have a clear line of sight, the stray will start shooting arrows, once every second. If the player leaves the 15-block radius, the stray will wait for a few seconds with the bow charged, shooting as soon as the player comes within range again. However, in contrast to the skeleton, when strays are underwater, they do not shoot arrows. Instead, they use melee attacks that inflict Slowness. They also do not take damage from freezing in powdered snow. Like skeletons, the accuracy of a stray’s shot is based on game difficulty.



Encountering a Stray


Strays can be found in frozen, ice, and snowy biomes and can be dealt with in a similar way to regular skeletons. However, special attention needs to be paid to avoiding damage due to the stray’s slowness arrows.


What do Strays Drop?


Strays have similar, but slightly varied drops compared to regular skeletons. Strays can drop:


  1. 0–2 bones (there’s a chance to drop a maximum of 0-5 bones with Looting III).
  2. 0–2 arrows. The maximum drop is increased by 1 per level of Looting, for a maximum of 0-5 arrows with Looting III.
  3. 0–1 arrow of Slowness (if the stray was killed by either the Player or a tamed wolf). Each level of Looting will increase the chance of this specific drop by 50% of the previous chance, resulting in a maximum of a 93.75% chance of this drop with Looting III.
  4. Any naturally spawned equipment (including the bow) has an 8.5% chance of dropping if killed by the player with a chance of enchantments, though it will be damaged. The odds of an equipment drop increase by 1% with each level of Looting with a maximum of 11.5% with Looting III.
  5. Any picked-up equipment will have a 100% chance of dropping once the mob is killed and will drop with the same damage level it had when picked up.
  6. Strays drop 5 experience orbs when killed by either the player or a tamed wolf, with an extra 1–3 experience orbs if the stray has equipment.


FAQs


Q.What does a stray do in Minecraft?


A. Strays behave mostly the same as normal skeletons. Strays will chase both players and iron golems that they see within 16 blocks and they will climb stairs, navigate mazes, and traverse other complex obstacles to get within shooting range. Once the stray is within 15 blocks of a target and they have a clear line of sight, the stray will start shooting arrows, once every second.


Q.How much XP does a stray give?


A. Strays drop 5 experience when killed by either a player or a tamed wolf, with an extra 1–3 experience if the stray has equipment.


Conclusion


While similar to skeletons in most ways, strays help give regional variety to Minecraft’s hostile mobs. They also serve as a convenient way of attaining slowness arrows, which can be useful for combat. These same slowness arrows also make the stray a more difficult version of the skeleton in combat.


This functionality is open only to Wiki Admins

Popular In Minecraft Wiki

Comments

Latest Wiki Pages

Block Recipes in Minecraft

Block Recipes in Minecraft

Minecraft Wiki 2 mn 21 d
Transportation Recipes in Minecraft

Transportation Recipes in Minecraft

Minecraft Wiki 2 mn
Tool Recipes in Minecraft

Tool Recipes in Minecraft

Minecraft Wiki 2 mn
Brewing Recipes in Minecraft

Brewing Recipes in Minecraft

Minecraft Wiki 2 mn 3 d
How to Breed Horses in Minecraft?

How to Breed Horses in Minecraft?

Minecraft Wiki 2 mn 7 d
Food Recipes In Minecraft

Food Recipes In Minecraft

Minecraft Wiki 2 mn 8 d
Firework Recipes in Minecraft

Firework Recipes in Minecraft

Minecraft Wiki 2 mn 9 d
Dye Recipes in Minecraft

Dye Recipes in Minecraft

Minecraft Wiki 2 mn 12 d
Basic Recipes in Minecraft

Basic Recipes in Minecraft

Minecraft Wiki 2 mn 13 d
End Biomes in Minecraft

End Biomes in Minecraft

Minecraft Wiki 2 mn 14 d
How to find the End portal in Minecraft?

How to find the End portal in Minecraft?

Minecraft Wiki 3 mn 22 d
Armor Recipies in Minecraft

Armor Recipies in Minecraft

Minecraft Wiki 3 mn 23 d
How to TP in Minecraft?

How to TP in Minecraft?

Minecraft Wiki 3 mn 24 d
How to craft in Minecraft?

How to craft in Minecraft?

Minecraft Wiki 3 mn 4 d
Bedrock in Minecraft

Bedrock in Minecraft

Minecraft Wiki 3 mn 4 d
Water in Minecraft

Water in Minecraft

Minecraft Wiki 3 mn 4 d
Brain Coral Fan in Minecraft

Brain Coral Fan in Minecraft

Minecraft Wiki 3 mn 6 d
End crystals in Minecraft

End crystals in Minecraft

Minecraft Wiki 3 mn 7 d
Primed TNT in Minecraft

Primed TNT in Minecraft

Minecraft Wiki 3 mn 11 d
Repeating Command Block in Minecraft

Repeating Command Block in Minecraft

Minecraft Wiki 3 mn 13 d