Wither Skeletons and Blazes Do Not Spawn Again in Nether Fortresses

I can confirm this as well in 0.15.6
Other than near the blaze spawners, there are no blazes and wither skeletons in nether fortresses.

Same here, I used the PC spawning area of wither skeletons (the crossroads) flattened it, half slabbed the area no wither skeletons spawned in the cross road area ever again

Confirmed in ver. 0.15.7.
I made sure the area was dark, and still no Wither skeletons around nether fortress. Blaze only spawn around spawners. I've currently checked two different fortresses.

here as well, been working in a nether fortress for a week - never seen a wither skeleton and blazes only spawn around spawners.

This bug has been reported to our internal bug tracker for further testing and a fix. It is scheduled to be fixed in one of the future updates (no specific date can be provided).

Does this affect 0.15.90.2 as well?

It does indeed affect 0.15.90.2

According to the changelog this issue should be fixed in 0.15.90.7 beta.

if this is a fix to allow wither skeleton to spawn in fortress crossroads, can we look at witch spawn in witch huts too?

Reopening based upon MCPE-17896

Thank you for reopening this issue. It was happening to me in 0.15.9 and now in 0.16.0 as well.

This still applies is 0.16.2. I went and found a new fortress spawning wither skeletons the first time, got my wither skulls. I died on the way back to the portal and lost everything. I went back to the fortress and now no wither skeletons spawn. Please fix this ASAP mojang.

MCPE-16292 is fixed as of 1.0.0.0 (beta build 3)

Testing Conditions:

I found a nether fortress generated in 1.0.0.0 and gave myself weapons + armor via creative, then switched to survival.

Then ran around the fortress along the same path. Wither Skeletons and blazes respawned as normal

I ran this test for an hour

I am actually having this issue right now, using the latest version and realms. My fortress is basically dead, except for blaze spawners and pig men. Regular nether stuff spawns, like cubes and ghasts as well, but nothing fortress specific. No skeletons or blaze outside of spawner.

@unknown Which version of MCPE was that world built in?

This is such a bad bug i've been looking for wither skeletons for 2 hours now. Playing on v1.0.4 on windows 10

@unknown: Do you mean that your Nether Fortress which was previously spawning wither skellies prior to 1.0.4 stopped doing so when you updated the game? If so we'll have to reopen the ticket.

Just for reference:

Good news: guardians, wither skeletons & blazes respawn naturally again when switching from peaceful game mode to easy/normal/hard. Bad news: they will only do this in newly generated structures, not ones that have already been discovered.

http://pocketbeta.minecraft.net/2016/11/10-beta-changelog-build-1-aka-01701.html

Both Blazes and Wither Skeletons are definitely spawning in 1.0.6 (beta), so this ticket will not be reopened.

Setup

1. Operating System: Windows 10

2. Minecraft Version: 1.0.6

Steps

1. Launch Minecraft (1.0.4)

2. Port to the Nether

3. Enter a Nether Fortress

4. Blazes and Wither Skeletons spawn randomly in the hallways

5. Leave the Nether

6. Save and Close the game

7. Update Minecraft to 1.0.6

8. Launch Minecraft

9. Port to the Nether

10. Enter a Nether Fortress

Expect

1. Blazes spawn randomly in the hallways

2. Wither Skeletons spawn randomly in the hallways

Actual

1. Blazes do not spawn randomly in the hallways

2. Blazes only spawn from their spawner

3. Wither Skeletons no longer spawn at all

Note
Please provide instructions and/or work-arounds to get the Wither Skeletons spawning again. Thanks.

I've just had my NEW issue closed, as a duplicate of this one. Well Blazes DO spawn OK, wither skeletons don't. Details below. Please re open and resolve/change the functionality, if it is 'expected' functionality.

1.0.9 Windows 10 edition on a Realm:

No longer getting wither skeletons on fortresses I've previously found them at (have 3 skulls from them). Not sure when this stopped happening (more worried about my white sheep at 1.0.8 heh), but spent hours half slabbing in and around a fortress and didn't see one wither skeleton, lot's of blazes, but no withers
I did notice this line on the offical release log of 1.0.0 "(Guardians, wither skeletons & blazes respawn naturally again when switching from peaceful game mode to easy/normal/hard; however, they will only do this in newly generated structures, not ones that have already been discovered.)"
I know this has been reported and duplicated many times. (See MCPE-16292 for a list of others), but the Blazes spawn fine (not just at spawners). I have NEVER switched to peaceful mode on my realm (might have switched between easy, normal and hard), but if the blazes are spawning, why aren't wither skeletons. Even IF it's the case that switching from peaceful stops them forever... What? Why? That's a bug/issue! As I said never switched to peaceful (it's cheating IMO!)
If this is a feature, and I have to find a 3rd fortress, and it happens again... grrr..

Tested this again today. Blazes, Skeletons and Wither Skeletons are spawning in fortresses, new and old.

Tested realms and single player worlds. The 1.0.9.1 Realm I tested has been running since December, and has had the difficulty changed several times. The fortress is the original fortress discovered (not a newly generated one), and mobs are spawning there correctly, as expected.

Again, fortresses that were generated before 0.17.0.1 are unlikely to generate these mobs correctly, as explained previously. You might be able to help more mobs to spawn by clearing out other mobs in the area. Other than that, it might be a case of waiting for more to spawn.

this issue needs to be reopened as it is happening again

The withers don't respawn in the fortress or fortress areas for us either. I have found about 3 fortresses and once cleared of them that is it.

Needs to be reopened, this is a problem. World is only a few weeks old, got to a Nether fortress, and now that fortress is like a peaceful safe-haven, nothing spawns. Even killed all the pigmen, it's just a ghost-fortress now.

Reopened and added 1.2.6.

It started since the all together update. Not only fortress but witchhut and monuments having same issue. I think generated structures are having same problem but only the ocean monuments are fixed since then.

Not working here either and I'm on 1.2.7 on Xbox One. Searched for a whole hour in my nether fortress and found no wither skeletons. Super frustrating the game is having so many problems! Another hour wasted becasue you guys are breaking the game. From a long time minecraft fan.

I believe this bug is realms only. from 1.2.6.

The issue exists in local play as well with 1.2.7

I have the same issue, wither skeletons spawn rate is too low. I always check 3 nether fortresses in my world and only find 2-4 skeletons per hour! The light level is low enough everywhere.

Same here. 4 forts, 3 wither skeletons.

@Jesse Merriam The current issue seems to be that after the initial generation of mobs (spawned in by generating the terrain) there are to much spawn-able spaces for mobs in the nether. The spawning algorithm incorporates spawns over the full Y plane. Caused by the current spawning rules / algorithm. Due to the other Y levels that are incorporated in spawning, the area near the player (the nether fortress) appears empty.

I am having same issue of wther skeletons not respawning. I will find and kill 3 or 4 after entering a new nether fortess and not get any skulls, then run around for an hour and more killing blazes, ghasts and cubes, and not finding any more wither skeletons. In my desparation to obtain a skull I am attempting to attract a charged creeper through a portal and blowing up a trapped wither skeleton. This is very time consuming and requires great luck. There should be an acheivement for this!

Am on windows 10 1.2.7 version playing on realms with my Nephews.... Built a Wither skeleton farm in a fortress, and I half slabbed everything not in the farm on all levels above and below the area of the fortress, it took two weeks to accomplish.. and other than the single blaze spawner left (turned it into a farm), no mobs are respawning at all, in hard mode.

I believe this is a result of the bedrock spawn mechanics and the fact that hostile mobs do not despawn in bedrock because the chunk they are in is unloaded beforehand. Since you aren't killing pigmen, eventually they are the only mob left and no new mobs will spawn in. You will have to set up a safe way to kill the pigmen. Try to do it in an open area where you can see the whole ticking distance. If they try to path to you in a round about way that takes them out of the ticking area then they can be unloaded while still agro, which will likely make for a nasty surprise later on.
See also MCPE-29877
@Benito If you are able to blow up a wither skelly with a charged creeper, then I think you should get 3 skulls! Bravo! I guess that you should set up a portal in your nether fortress and try to get wither skellys in boats near the portal?

I have run around killing all the pigmen everywhere i can find them i have spent several hours doing this you are wrong to presume i am not killing the pigmen this is not anything to do with bedrock i have always played on windows 10 which essentially is what the game has become this is possibly to do with when the game reset world seeds to 0 the game now believes the fortress is somewhere else but it has nothing to do with not killing the pigmen

It just seem that the whole spawning mechanics are broken in this game. It's totally unplayable right now. Not just wither skeletons but Slime and even sheep seem to be extinct.

It also seems like Mojang who knows about the issue isn't trying to fix these mechanics of the game. I think the simple solution is to stop saving mobs when chunks are unloaded.

I messed around on a flat world and it's not just passive mobs that have their spawn rates messed up (almost zero), but hostile mobs are spawning far too few.
see: https://bugs.mojang.com/browse/MCPE-29526

Probably related: MCPE-16292, and, as mentioned above, MCPE-21856.

Similar issue here. Can't seem to get any sort of nether spawning to happen in chunks that have been unloaded then reloaded. Newly discovered chunks don't seem to have this problem. All nether spawns cease after the chunks have been reloaded, save for 1 or 2 pigman occasionally, which I kill on sight. Slimes seem to be non- existent as well in chunks where they were previously found. Very frustrating to have features of the game inaccessible due to this. Playing on realms server with 4 people regularly on xbox one and win10.

This affects the Bedrock Edition on Xbox One as well. I'm trying to farm Wither Skeletons and Ghasts, and it's impossible due to nothing respawning.

I can also confirm that wither skeletons don't spawn in nether fortress's after they are initially discovered. On version 1.2.8.0 running on Android 8.0. I loaded in two brand new fortress's and only found 1 skeleton. Cleared them out and made HUGE spawnable areas inside the fortress and got nothing.

It seems as though after the most recent update to 1.2.8, I got a round of spawns in each of the nether fortresses I've explored, and slimes in a nearby slime chunk, after unloading the chunks, the chunks continue to have no spawns.

Hi All, I had an exchange with Helen (@HelenAngel) and Jay (@Mega_Spud) last night on this case and got the following response:

Regarding mob spawning - the fixes for this should improve it across the board, so all mob spawns should be more balanced again! (Hoping to see this in 1.2.9)

My quedtion is .. why is taking solong in a game so big I mean is becasue they already have our money or what?

On Bedrock Edition/Xbox One in a Realm. Last night playing I noticed a considerable increase in Nether mobs and Wither skeletons. Something definitely changed for the better. Time to get those skulls.

Just checked the Nether Adam Ferguson. I had 3 wither skeletons and one blaze in my original nether fortress. i haven't seen nothing there for a couple of weeks. i ran between 3 nether forstresses for about an hour (visited a fortress 12 times) and never see a wither skeleton or blaze again. Strange. playing window 10 edition on realm

Wither Skeletons are still not spawning in update 1.2.9. Done my usual running between 3 fortresses for the last hour (visited fortress 12 times). and nothing. not even blazes. To be fair this is an absolute joke. Jesus give the minecraft gaming community strength. Its even on the patch notes this is fixed now. Im on Windows 10, Realms.

I downloaded realm map and played offline. did my fortress runs as before and still no wither skeletons or blazes.

This seems to be a problem with spawning mechanics in general to me. Chunks seem to save mob data that takes up mob cap, or because the realms render distance is so low, there are mobs around that you can't see that are taking up the mob cap, therefore stopping the much less common wither skeleton and blaze spawning inside the nether fortress. This is a fundamental issue with the way spawning is handled in the Bedrock Edition.

I can get wither skeletons and blazes to spawn if I make circles around a nether fortress, killing any mob I see to increase the chances of wither skeleton spawning, and finally after nearly a month of playing and checking fortresses several times a day, I got my 3rd skull.

Well for the last hour since I see Branden's post i went between 2 fortresses as i know you need 128 block gap. i also killed everything in sight (stopped counting at 100 pigmen) and still no wither skeletons or blazes.

I uninstalled my game and reinstalled and there are wither skeletons everywhere now. (If u do this and dont play on realm make sure to export map). Happy Days🙂

This issue is fixed in 1.2.9.1 - Wither skeletons and blaze mobs are spawning in again.

(Please be aware that Wither Skeletons are not as common as other mobs - this is on par with the Java version)

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I play in 1.2.10 on Windows 10 and I have to say in my experience this issue is not fixed. I've spent many hours in the Nether hunting Wither Skeletons and have found no evidence of any spawning after an area has been cleared. Typically a Nether fortress seems to have an initial population of 3-6 Wither Skeletons but the only way I can get more is to cycle the game in to peaceful and then back to hard, thus creating another 3-6. The same applies to roaming Blazes (not those coming from spawners which seem to function fine). Leaving the area and returning does not appear to work nor does leaving the Nether or indeed the game. I have not witnessed a single new wither skeleton spawn in a previously visited area under any conditions. Am I missing something?

I thought I was the only one. It said it was fixed in 1.2.9 but guess not. Leaving the nether and going back spawns 4-6 withers and couple of blazes, but they don't spawn naturally. Once I cleared the area, killed all the pigmen and was afk for 10-15 minutes but none have spawned

I'm still having the same issue on Bedrock Edition on Windows 10. Once I have visited a nether fortress once, and I go back to the overworld, no wither skeletons will spawn when I return. I have tried running far away and coming back, as well as creating more space for them to spawn, but nothing seems to work.

has this bug been fixed yet? I play on the Nintendo Switch and my Minecraft version is 1.12.0 however this is still happening in my world. thanks for any help.

For anyone still experiencing the issue, it is likely that the mob cap is being filled elsewhere, preventing more mobs from spawning. The current workaround for this is to toggle the difficulty to peaceful and back to easy or higher, to enable mobs to spawn in near the player again.

I have done this and mobs still aren’t spawning in the fortress