A skeleton skull is a decorative block item in Minecraft that you can place on walls, posts, and other surfaces. You can’t craft it, so you need to get it from the world or find it in Creative mode.
How to Get Skeleton Skull in Survival Mode
The only way to get a skeleton skull in Survival is to kill a skeleton with a charged creeper explosion. Charged creepers only spawn during thunderstorms, so you’ll need to either wait for a storm or use commands to spawn one.
Step 1: Find a Skeleton and Charged Creeper
Locate both a skeleton and a charged creeper, then fence them in so they don’t wander away. Charged creepers are tough to find naturally since they only appear during lightning storms.
Tip: Do this during rain or nighttime. Skeletons burn in daylight, so low light levels keep your skeleton alive long enough for the creeper to explode.
Step 2: Ignite the Charged Creeper
Hold flint and steel in your hand and right-click the charged creeper to light its fuse. The creeper will count down and explode in a few seconds.
Controls depend on your platform:
- Java Edition (PC/Mac): Right-click
- Pocket Edition: Tap the creeper
- Xbox 360/One: Press LT
- PlayStation 3/4: Press L2
- Wii U: Press ZL
- Nintendo Switch: Press ZL
- Windows 10 Edition: Right-click
Step 3: Pick Up the Skull
Once the explosion happens, both mobs will be dead. Look at the ground where they were and grab the skeleton skull. It’s a rare drop, so make sure you pick it up before it despawns.
Finding Skeleton Skull in Creative Mode
You can find the skeleton skull in the Creative Inventory. Where it’s located depends on your Minecraft version.
Java Edition
| Version | Creative Menu Location |
|---|---|
| 1.8 to 1.19 | Decoration Blocks |
| 1.19.3 to 1.20 | Functional Blocks |
Item ID and Give Commands
Use these commands to give yourself a skeleton skull in Creative mode or with cheats enabled.
Java Edition
| Versions | Item ID | Give Command |
|---|---|---|
| 1.8 to 1.12 | skull | /give @p skull 1 0 |
| 1.13 to 1.20 | skeleton_skull | /give @p skeleton_skull 1 |
The @p selector targets the nearest player. Make sure cheats are enabled if you’re in Survival mode.