Undead Variants

Where environments leave undead echoes.

Minecraft’s world leaves behind more than just ruins.
Flooded villages, broken portals, spreading drought, creatures that crossed dimensions — some changes do not fade with time.

Undead Variants is a Vanilla+ content mod that fills in undead variants that feel like natural consequences of the world itself.

This mod does not rewrite core gameplay mechanics. All variants build directly on vanilla AI, conversion logic, and spawning rules to maintain consistency and predictability.

Dependency

• Requires MobCivics

Current Features

Drowned Villager

Rumors speak of villages once lost beneath the water.
Those who failed to escape became something else.

• Villagers killed by Drowned convert into Drowned Villagers
• Follows vanilla drowning conversion rules (continuous submersion → conversion begins → irreversible completion)
• Capable of using tridents, matching Drowned combat behavior
• May replace a portion of naturally spawned Drowned under certain conditions

Drowned Piglin

When water swallows a ruined portal, the change may not stop at stone.

• Piglins convert after prolonged submersion, following vanilla conversion rules
• Retains its Piglin identity while adopting Drowned movement and combat behavior
• Fully capable of trident-based ranged attacks

Zombified Piglin Brute

Some figures near Bastion remnants move differently.
What leaves the Nether does not always return diminished.

• Piglin Brutes convert into this variant when leaving the Nether
• Near Bastion Remnants, may replace a portion of naturally spawned Zombified Piglins
• Designed with a more aggressive melee profile:
  
  • Increased health
  • Increased attack damage
  • Higher movement speed
• Equipped with a golden axe by default
• Retains zombie-style reinforcement mechanics

Husk Villager

Drought and famine do not always leave empty streets.
Under long seasons of sand and scarcity, some villagers take on another form.

• Villagers killed by Husks convert into Husk Villagers
• Immune to sunlight burning
• Applies the Hunger effect on successful attacks

Zombie Wandering Trader

The wandering trader survives by instinct.
Even death does not entirely erase that behavior.

• Wandering Traders killed by Zombies may convert on Normal and Hard difficulty
• During daytime, drinks milk to remove negative effects
• At night, drinks an invisibility potion
• Day/night behavior follows standard Overworld time

Shared Implementation Details

All variants:

• Extend vanilla AI, navigation, and equipment handling
• Correctly trigger vanilla combat advancements
• Respect Forge living conversion events and compatibility hooks
• Include proper attributes, synchronization, and spawn egg support
• Can be safely added to existing worlds

Design Philosophy

• Vanilla-first — Built directly on vanilla code paths and conventions
• Content-focused — Expands existing entities instead of introducing parallel systems
• Compatibility-aware — Designed to minimize mod conflicts

Compatibility

• Minecraft 1.20.1
• Forge / NeoForge

Support

If you'd like to support my modding work, including maintenance, updates, and compatibility work, Patreon is available here: https://patreon.com/vomiter_scp

Undead Variants

Undead Variants is a small, content-focused mod that fills in missing undead variants found in vanilla Minecraft.

Rather than introducing new systems or mechanics, this mod focuses on extending existing vanilla logic in ways that feel consistent and lore-friendly.
All behaviors are built on top of vanilla rules, code paths, and conventions.

The goal is to expand the world in a natural way, without altering how Minecraft fundamentally works.

Dependency

• Requires MobCivics

Current Features

Drowned Villager

• Adds a Drowned Villager entity that integrates with vanilla undead behavior
• Villagers killed by a Drowned will convert directly into a Drowned Villager
• Supports vanilla-style drowning conversion:
  • Conversion only begins after the entity has been fully submerged for a continuous period of time
  • Once conversion starts, the process is irreversible and will complete even if the entity leaves the water
  • Drowned Villagers are capable of using tridents, matching vanilla Drowned combat behavior
  • Correctly participates in vanilla monster hunter advancement
  • Conversion respects Forge living conversion events
  • Properly triggers vanilla combat advancements
  • Includes proper attributes, rendering, synchronization, localization, and spawn egg support
  • Under certain conditions, Drowned Villagers can replace vanilla Drowned during natural spawning

Drowned Piglin

• Adds a Drowned Piglin variant extending Piglins into a drowned undead form
• Piglins can convert into Drowned Piglins through prolonged submersion, following vanilla-style drowning rules
• Drowned Piglins retain Piglin identity while adopting Drowned-like movement and combat behavior
• Fully capable of using tridents, including ranged attacks consistent with vanilla Drowned AI
• Properly triggers vanilla combat advancements
• Uses vanilla navigation, targeting logic, and equipment handling where applicable

Husk Villager

• Adds a Husk Villager variant extending desert-based undead logic to villagers
• Villagers killed by a Husk will convert directly into a Husk Villager
• Inherits vanilla Husk traits, including:
  • Immunity to burning in sunlight
  • Application of the Hunger effect on successful attacks
  • Uses vanilla Zombie-based AI and attribute scaling
  • Affected by undead-targeting enchantments such as Smite
  • Fully integrated with vanilla combat logic and advancements
  • Includes proper rendering, attributes, localization, and spawn egg support

Development Status

Status: Release

All currently implemented undead variants are stable and suitable for regular gameplay and modpack use.

Design Philosophy

• Vanilla-first
  Behaviors are derived directly from vanilla code paths and conventions.

• Content-focused
  Adds new variants by extending existing entities instead of introducing parallel systems.

For Modpack Authors

• Safe to add to existing saves
• Designed to integrate cleanly with vanilla-aligned modpacks
• No gameplay-affecting configuration required

Planned Features

• Additional undead variants inspired by vanilla behavior
• Optional data-driven configuration for spawn and conversion rules

Compatibility

• Minecraft 1.20.1
• Forge or NeoForge (depending on release)