The bug
Wither skeletons and zombie pigmen won't pass through a single block of source/flowing lava to get to players even though they can't burn. They get as close to the player as possible, but the lava seems to register as dangerous to them.
Linked issues
is duplicated by 1
relates to 4
MC-177779
Zoglins following an enemy do not go through lava
Resolved
MC-101136
Wither skeleton afraid to leave the shadows
Open
MC-123699
Mobs without natural fire resistance cannot pathfind through lava
Open
MC-120010
Zombified piglin and wither skeleton avoid walking through fire or over magma blocks
Reopened
Attachments
Comments 15
That is correct IIRC. The only way this could be altered is by splitting the entities (making them seperate)
On another note, this might be WAI. Do WSes take damage from the lava itself? Recall that burning is only a side effect, and the lava itself also can cause damage.
This is what I'm talking about! Wither skeletons should be unique mobs and not mob subtypes. Wither skeletons need spawn eggs and their own unique behaviors.
Zombie pigmen also do this in the latest snapshots, now that they pathfind and see you 40 blocks away. It's not that they share the same AI as skeletons and zombies, it's that they were updated to the ganeral "smart" mob AI. As it is, every mob with it doesn't pass through lava, and these two mobs in particular have been left unchanged, which makes no sense obviously. Skeletons and wither skeletons are understandable, but for the zombie pigmen, being a unique mob (except the parts shared by zombies), they have potential to have a unique AI. I hope this kind of AI gets implemented into them. On second thought, maybe they can only do it when there is no way to go around the lava, since lava is pretty slow anyway.
migrated
This is most likely because Wither Skeletons share the same type of AI as a regular Skeleton as far as I know, and the regular Skeleton can burn when touching lava... so apply that to the Wither Skeleton, even if immune, and they won't dare to touch the lava. This is my guess anyway!