Bogged vs Stray vs Skeleton: What is the difference between the three Minecraft mobs?

The addition of Minecraft's new bogged mob has many players wondering what the difference is between it, skeletons, and the stray skeleton variant. The bogged and the stray are variants of the traditional skeleton mob, and all three mobs are quite similar, but certain differences set them apart. Among them are things like health totals, behavior, item drops, and weaponry.

For the most part, Minecraft players can treat these three mobs about the same when encountering them, but they should be aware of what sets them apart. The dangers posed by skeletons, strays, and bogged are all pretty straightforward, though in slightly different ways. Since this is the case, it's best to examine the contrasts between these three mobs so players can be ready for them.

---

Examining the differences between Minecraft's skeletons, strays, and bogged

Skeletons

A standard skeleton in Minecraft (Image via Mojang)

Just about every Minecraft player knows about skeleton mobs, as they're one of the common varieties of hostile mobs that appear in the Overworld alongside the likes of zombies and creepers. Skeletons can also spawn in soul sand valley biomes in the Nether, from Minecraft trial spawners in trial chambers, and sometimes appear equipped with armor, riding spiders, or riding skeletal horses after lightning strikes.

Skeletons in Minecraft spawn equipped with bows, and sometimes their weapons and armor can be enchanted. They attack players they encounter by firing arrows, will burn when exposed to the sun, and drop bones, arrows, and also skeleton skulls when killed by a charged creeper explosion. When approached, skeletons will strafe away from enemies and attempt to continue attacking at range.

Like other skeleton variants, standard skeletons cannot swim in Minecraft, but they're also incapable of drowning. As undead, skeletons take damage from healing potions/arrows and the Smite enchantment but are immune to poison and can heal when hit by potions/arrows of harming. Moreover, skeletons submerged in powder snow for 440 game ticks (roughly 22 seconds) will become strays.

---

Strays

A stray in a Superflat world (Image via Mojang)

Either converted from skeletons in powder snow or spawning directly in cold-temperature/snowy biomes, strays are frigid skeleton variants that are very similar to their original counterparts. Like skeletons, they can rarely spawn riding spiders, use bows as their primary weapon, and are considered undead. However, strays stand out in one particular regard, and that lies in the ammunition they use.

Instead of using standard arrows, strays will fire Arrows of Slowness, which will reduce a target's walking speed by 15% and contract their field of view for 30 seconds. When killed, strays will occasionally drop these arrows in addition to bones and ordinary arrows. Moreover, strays make a noise that sets them apart from skeletons due to it having an echo effect.

Other than these facts, strays are almost identical to skeletons, particularly in their behavior. However, in Java Edition, strays' bows do deal slightly more maximum damage than standard skeletons, as the former deals three to five points of damage and the latter deals three to four. Additionally, strays cannot be spawned by trial spawners within trial chamber structures.

---

Bogged

A bogged in a mangrove swamp (Image via Mojang)

A new addition for the 1.21 update (but which can be accessed by activating Minecraft Experimental Features on Java snapshots and Bedrock previews), bogged in Minecraft are new skeleton variants that spawn in swamps and mangrove swamps. They can also be spawned by trial spawners within trial chambers, like the stray, bogged use special ammunition in their bows.

Bogged fire Arrows of Poison from their bows, dealing a total of three points of damage to targets over four seconds. Much like strays and skeletons, bogged will drop bones and standard arrows when killed but will also drop poisoned arrows. Interestingly enough, bogged fire their bows slower than skeletons and strays, having a 3.5-second cooldown on Easy/Normal difficulty and 2.5 seconds on hard.

Other than this, bogged are essentially identical to skeletons and strays. They are considered undead, taking damage from healing arrows/potions and the Smite enchantment and healing from harming potions/arrows, and can't swim. However, when submerged in powder snow, they will take freezing damage instead of turning into strays like skeletons.