What to do when a Minecraft mob steals your equipment

In Minecraft, getting quality equipment is a process that can take plenty of time and effort. Unfortunately, depending on the circumstances, there are situations where certain in-game mobs can pick up your gear and equip it if you accidentally drop it or die, especially on Hard difficulty. But what can you do when a mob steals your equipment? One option comes to mind: Kill the mob and take the gear back.

Depending on the equipment that the Minecraft mob picked up and equipped, this could be a difficult process. However, if the mob carrying the gear is defeated, it will drop them so they can be picked back up. This can occur regardless of whether you dropped the gear yourself or dropped it upon death.

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Which mobs can pick up equipment like weapons and armor in Minecraft?

Many (though not all) undead mobs can pick up equipment in Minecraft (Image via Mojang)

By and large, most undead mobs in Minecraft are capable of picking up equipment, particularly the likes of zombies, drowned, husks, skeletons, wither skeletons, strays, bogged, zombified piglins, zombie villagers, and any baby variants of these mobs. However, not every undead mob will be willing to pick up weapons, armor, and tools, though the chance is more likely on Hard mode.

It doesn't matter if you have died and dropped your equipment or if the equipment was dropped with the drop keybind/button press or was dispensed by a dispenser. If the gear is resting on the ground, there is a chance that an undead mob can pick it up and equip it. Although many mobs can be given equipment in Minecraft via commands or dispensers, undead mobs can physically pick them up.

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How to get your gear back from a Minecraft mob who has taken it

Defeating a mob that has equipped your gear can allow you to collect it again (Image via Mojang)

Once a Minecraft mob has picked up your equipment, its internal data will change and prevent it from despawning. As long as you find the mob again, you can kill it, and it will drop all of the equipment it picked up and equipped in addition to the usual items it would drop according to its loot table. However, it should be remembered that equipped gear could make the opposing mob harder to kill.

If you have cheats enabled on your world or server, you can always utilize the /kill command to get the job done as well. Regardless of how the mob dies (short of falling into the Void), it should be possible to recollect the equipment when it has been defeated. However, once the equipment is dropped, it can despawn, so be sure to collect it quickly.

As an example, you could use the following commands to kill any mobs potentially carrying your gear:

• /kill @e[type=!player] to kill any entities that aren't players.
• /kill @e[type=minecraft:zombie] to kill all zombies, this command can be used for other undead mobs by replacing "zombie" with "skeleton", "husk", "bogged", etc.

Commands can also kill Minecraft mobs and force them to drop gear they've taken (Image via Mojang)

As previously mentioned, if you're able to return to the area where you dropped your equipment in Minecraft, you should be able to find the mob that picked it up rather quickly and defeat it to get your tools, weapons, and armor back. Defeat the mob any way you please, and you'll be able to recollect your gear and continue on your adventures.