Is Silverfish hostile or passive?

Silverfish is classified as a "hostile" mob (Hostile mobs).

Does Silverfish have a spawn egg?

Yes - the Silverfish Spawn Egg can be used in creative mode to spawn it.

How big is Silverfish?

Silverfish has a hitbox roughly 0.4 blocks wide and 0.3 blocks tall.

mob

Silverfish in Minecraft | MinecraftBible

Silverfish is a hostile mob in Minecraft 1.21.4 with 8 HP and a dedicated spawn egg.

What is Silverfish?

Silverfish is a Minecraft hostile mob in the Insect family. Silverfish is a hostile mob. It attacks players on sight within its 16-block aggro range and deals 1 damage per hit on Normal difficulty (Java Edition).

Namespaced ID: minecraft:silverfish. Summon with /summon minecraft:silverfish ~ ~ ~.

Combat & stats

Health: 8 HP (4 hearts)
Attack damage: 1 per hit (Normal difficulty, Java Edition)
XP dropped on kill: 5
Natural armor: 0
Movement speed: 0.25
Knockback resistance: 0%
Aggro range: 16 blocks
Hits with Iron Sword (6 dmg): 2
Hits with Diamond Sword (7 dmg): 2
Hits with Netherite Sword (8 dmg): 1

Physical size

Silverfish's hitbox is 0.4 blocks wide and 0.3 blocks tall.

Where Silverfish spawns

Stronghold. Structure: Stronghold. Group size: 1. Spawn from Infested Stone blocks when broken without Silk Touch
Extreme Hills. Biomes: Windswept Hills. Group size: 1. Rare surface spawn as Infested Stone above Y 63

Silverfish behavior & AI

Calls nearby infested blocks to spawn additional silverfish when hurt — swarm mechanic.
Only 8 HP but the swarm mechanic makes them the highest DPS threat in strongholds if not killed cleanly.
Sword-only kill (no shovel/pickaxe splash) — 1-hit with iron sword to prevent swarm activation.

How to fight Silverfish

Iron sword: 2 hits to kill.
Diamond sword: 2 hits to kill.
Netherite sword: 1 hits to kill.
Break line of sight beyond 16 blocks to reset aggro.

Spawn egg

In creative mode, the Silverfish Spawn Egg spawns Silverfish instantly. Command: /give @p silverfish_spawn_egg 1.

Overview

Silverfish is a hostile mob in Minecraft 1.21.4 — part of the Insect family. This page covers its classification, size, spawn-egg availability, real health.

Difficulty and time commitment

Difficulty: Medium
Estimated time per run: 10-30 min

Frequently Asked Questions

How much health does Silverfish have?

Silverfish has 8 HP (4 hearts), and killing it grants 5 experience.

Does Silverfish drop anything when killed?

Silverfish has no standard item drops recorded in this dataset.

How much damage does Silverfish deal?

Silverfish deals 1 damage per hit on Normal difficulty (Java Edition).

How many hits does it take to kill Silverfish?

With an unenchanted sword, Silverfish takes about 2 hits with an Iron Sword (6 damage), 2 with a Diamond Sword (7 damage), and 1 with a Netherite Sword (8 damage).