How to Safely Kill Creepers in Minecraft

The creeper is one of the most iconic mobs in Minecraft, as well as one of the most infamous. Get too close and—kaboom!—you’re toast. But with a little practice and know-how, handling creepers becomes as easy as punching trees. We’ll show you plenty of ways to do just that, including in combat, with cats, by using tricks and traps, or brewing splash potions.

Things You Should Know

Sprint and use melee attacks to kill creepers without getting too close for too long—they explode if they're within 3 blocks of you.
Use bows and arrows to snipe creepers from a distance, before they get too close.
Tame ocelots into cats by feeding them raw fish. Creepers are afraid of cats, so a kitty companion keeps you safe in the dark.

Section 1 of 6:

Fighting at Close Range

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1
Sprint forward before melee attacking a creeper to knock it back. Sprint by double tapping the forward key, to rush toward the creeper.^{[1]
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Research source} While sprinting, your attacks knock back enemies, keeping the creeper far away from you. Retreat after the first hit, then double back and hit it again until it does.
- Sprinting is not possible at low health or high hunger.
- Never come close while the creeper is blinking and hissing. This signals that it is almost ready to explode.
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Use a sword and shield to fight a creeper more effectively. Craft a sword for extra damage.^{[2]
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Research source} An iron or diamond sword usually kills a creeper in 3 hits, while a wooden, gold, or stone sword takes at least 4 hits to kill a creeper. Use a sword’s block function to reduce damage from creeper attacks.
- Also, craft a shield with any 6 wooden planks and an iron ingot. Using your shield against a creeper blocks its damage.
- Use an enchanting table to enchant your sword, potentially adding more damage, knockback, or the ability to set enemies on fire.
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Make a barrier to block the creeper before it gets close. Setting up a fence or other barrier that blocks movement but not sight makes retreating during combat much easier. If you're quick and notice the creeper from a distance, you may be able to set up a short fence before it approaches.
- Some creepers follow you upward if you climb, so make sure you have an escape route before jumping up a tree.
4
Fight underwater to avoid taking damage from the explosion. Water nullifies a creeper’s explosion, so lure the creeper into a body of water and fight it there. Stay under the surface whenever you are next to the creeper, and it will usually be unable to hurt you at all.^{[3]
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- A creeper can drown in deep water, so try swimming far out to lure it to its demise.
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Trigger an explosion to take out crowds of creepers. Creepers hiss and blink before they explode, which gives you a small getaway window. If you time it perfectly, you can trigger an explosion, but run away before it can deal you damage. It’s a risky tactic, but if you encounter a group of creepers, a single explosion usually kills them all.
- The creeper will first hiss and expand when you get close, but won't commit to the explosion until it starts flashing white.
- Consider using this strategy if you meet several creepers at once and don't have a bow.
- If the creepers are spread out, first move in a large circle around them to herd them into one small group.

Section 2 of 6:

Using a Bow

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Find a bow or or craft one out of sticks and string. Bows are handy weapons that can take down enemies from afar, keeping you at a safe distance. If you don't have one already, there are several ways to get one:^{[4]
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- Craft a bow from 3 sticks and 3 pieces of string. (String can be obtained from spiders.) Craft arrows with 1 flint, 1 stick, and 1 feather.
- Skeletons have a small chance to drop a bow when killed.
- Fishing has a small chance to snag a bow.
- Fletcher villagers will give you a bow in exchange for emeralds.
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Shoot a creeper from a distance at least 3 times to kill it. Three hits is all you need to kill a creeper in Normal mode, assuming you draw the bow and hold it until the bow shakes for a high-damage shot.^{[5]
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Research source} If a nearby creeper surprises you, turn and run to put some distance between you, then turn and shoot it when you’re out of its blast radius
- Enchant your bow using an enchantment table to make it more effective. Depending on the enchantment, this could increase your bow's damage, knock your targets further back, set your targets on fire, or give you unlimited arrows.
- Build a dirt tower by jumping and placing dirt blocks under you for an easy escape, and a prime vantage point for sniping creepers below.
- Protect your shelter by making a hole beneath your windows so you can crouch and shoot arrows. Or, make a tower or turret where you can shoot anything that comes near,

Section 3 of 6:

Using Traps and Tricky Tactics

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When a creeper gets struck by lighting, it becomes a charged creeper that’s much more powerful than usual. If a charged explosion kills another creeper, it might drop a creeper head.^{[6]
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Research source} Wear a creeper head to enable yourself to get much closer to creepers without them attacking you.
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Make a deep pit trap that kills a creeper with fall damage. Make a staircase with a wide entrance, about 4 x 4 blocks, so it's easier to lure the creeper into it. Have this lead to a pit 23 blocks deep, with ladders on the opposite wall. Lead the creeper here, then climb up to the surface while the creeper falls to its death.
- A diamond shovel might be fast enough to dig a small pit trap even while you are being chased, but this is a risky tactic.
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Suffocate the creeper by covering it with sand or gravel. Get above the creeper and trap it into a small space with dirt, then drop 2 blocks of sand or gravel on the creeper, which has a good chance of killing it before it can escape.
- You might also drop lava on a creeper’s head, but this risks lighting your surroundings on fire.
- Some people make suffocation traps and lead the creepers into them, triggering a sticky piston to push a block onto the creeper's head, suffocating it.
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Blow creepers up with TNT. Once you’ve killed a creeper, gather gunpowder from its body to make TNT and use their own weapon against them. Craft TNT from 5 pieces of gunpowder and 4 blocks of sand or red sand.^{[7]
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Research source} Place it next to a creeper, activate it, and run!
- Or, set it off from a distance with a trail of redstone, or from contact with fire or lava.
- The TNT will destroy the ground where it blew up, so you will either have to fix the whole trap each time or set it up in a new area.
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Burn the terrain in front of a creeper to set it on fire. Craft flint and steel, then when you encounter a creeper, run away from the creeper backwards while using your flint and steel to set the ground on fire. This will slowly burn the creeper to death as it walks over the flaming ground.
- Mine gravel to find flint, then craft it with an iron ingot to make flint and steel.
6
Use a fishing pole to deal damage from afar. Yes, you really can lift enemies up with a fishing pole! Get on a hill above the creeper and cast it toward the creeper, then drop the creeper to deal damage. Repeat until the creeper is dead.
- Craft a fishing rod with 3 sticks and 2 strings.
7
Lead a creeper to a skeleton to make it drop a music disc. Getting between a skeleton and a creeper sounds like a terrible place to be, and it is, but if you can get a skeleton's arrow to hit a creeper, it will drop a music disc, which can be played in jukeboxes.^{[8]
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- Some other enemies will attack creepers as well, but do not cause it to drop a music disc.

Section 4 of 6:

Scaring Off Creepers with Cats

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Fish for raw fish to use as ocelot food. To fish in Minecraft, first make a fishing rod from 3 sticks and 2 pieces of string. Use it next to a body of water and right-click when you notice a trail heading toward your lure. Keep at it until you get raw fish.
- The fish trail will not appear if particles are set to the lowest setting.
- An enchantment table can improve your fishing rod.
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Feed an ocelot raw fish to tame it. Ocelots are commonly found in jungle biomes. Once you find one, crouch to approach it, then tame it by feeding the raw fish until hearts appear in the air and a collar appears around its neck.^{[9]
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Research source} Now, the ocelot will follow you around and deter creepers.
- If you have 1 or more Cats following you around, creepers will run away from you before they can explode.
- Right-click on an ocelot to make it sit. Tame many ocelots and have them sit around your base to protect it from creepers.

Section 5 of 6:

Using Splash Potions

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Craft splash potions with gunpowder on a brewing stand. Tp make potions, first make a brewing stand with 1 blaze rod and 3 cobblestone. Then, brew a damaging potion and combine it with gunpowder on the to make it explosive.^{[10]
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- Blaze rods are found by killing blazes in the nether.
Splash potions spread their effects over an 8.25x8.25-block area.^{[11]
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Research source} Throw a damaging splash potion, like a poison or fire potion, at a creeper to do ranged damage and kill it from a distance.

Section 6 of 6:

About Creepers

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Creepers are an exploding hostile mob in Minecraft. Originally, they were supposed to be pigs, but the developer messed them up and created a terrible abomination, which made it into the final game as the creeper.^{[12]
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Research source} Creepers will chase you as long as you are within 16 blocks of it, and explode within 3 blocks.
- A creeper's explosion damages any character within 6 blocks. The closer you are, the more damage you take.
- You can’t see it, but creepers have 20 hearts. They drop gunpowder when they’re killed.

Community Q&A

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Question

Will creepers think you are a creeper if you dress up like a one?

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No. They will still explode if they come near you. It is best to kill or avoid them.

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Is a creeper friendly or not?

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Creepers are not friendly. They will explode if you are too close, and that explosion can kill you instantly if you're unarmored. Either avoid or defeat creepers when you encounter them.

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If I am able to kill a creeper, what does it give me?

Ellie

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It gives you gunpowder, if it hasn't been exploded, and experience points if you manage to kill it.

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Tips

Enemies like creepers only spawn when it’s dark. Surround your base with torches and make sure everything’s well-lit to prevent creepers from spawning near you.^{[13]
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If you notice a creeper next to your valuable items or beloved structure, try to lure it away before fighting it.

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Dig a moat around your buildings wide and deep enough that a creeper won't explode and hurt you from the other side.

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Glass panes between you and a creeper can reduce up to 95% of the damage taken by a creeper explosion.

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Warnings

Tamed wolves and golems will not attack creepers.

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Unlike many monsters, creepers do not burn in sunlight.

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