To scale against a player. A hoglin is under two blocks tall but far wider than you, which is why two of them can pin you against a wall.
The warped fungus trick
A hoglin is one of the few hostile mobs in the game with a hard counter you can carry in your hand. Warped fungus repels it, and so do nether portals and respawn anchors. Drop one on the ground and any hoglin within about seven blocks turns and walks away instead of charging.
That is not a small trick in a biome where they spawn in groups of three or four. One fungus in the right spot splits a group into a line, and a line is something you can fight one at a time. It is also the safest way to disengage: hoglins are not fast, but with 0.6 knockback resistance you cannot shove one off you once it commits.
What its hit actually does
Six damage on Normal, four on Easy, nine on Hard. On Bedrock the same attack is written as a range instead: 3 to 9 on every difficulty, rolled fresh for each hit. In practice that makes the Bedrock fight less predictable rather than harder, and it is worth knowing which one you are playing before you decide how much health to leave yourself.
JavaThe number that hurts more than the damage is the attack knockback of 1.5. A hoglin does not just hit you, it throws you, and in a crimson forest the thing you land in is often lava.
The fight, step by step
Plant warped fungus to scare them
Hoglins flee from warped fungus and nether portals. Drop a warped fungus on the ground and they back away once you are within about 7 blocks of it, giving you a safe lane to pick them off or escape.
Take high ground
A hoglin's charge attack flings you a few blocks and deals 2.5 hearts on Easy. Fight from a 2-block ledge or pillar so the knockback throws you onto your platform, not into a lava lake.
Block the charge with a shield
A raised shield negates the charge damage and most of the fling. Sidestep right after the block while it recovers from the wind-up.
Trade with a netherite sword
A sharpness netherite sword does 8+ damage. Hoglins have 40 HP, so 5 clean hits drop one. Crit by hitting on the way down off your ledge for ~12 per swing.
Heal and reset, never get cornered
Keep golden apples on slot 3 for the 2 absorption hearts and quick regen. If two hoglins box you in, throw down fungus, let the repel split them, and pick the lead one off first.
Where they come from
Only the crimson forest, and there they are the overwhelming majority: sixty percent of that biome's monster list, arriving in groups of three to four. Warped forest, basalt deltas, soul sand valley and the nether wastes spawn none at all. If you are hunting for food, the red nylium is the whole map.
Gear, timing, and common mistakes
- Carry the fungus before the sword. One item turns a group of four into a queue, and no weapon does that.
- Fear the fling, not the number. Six damage is survivable. Being thrown 1.5 units of knockback into a lava lake is not.
- Don't expect knockback to save you. At 0.6 resistance a hoglin absorbs most of your push, so plan an escape route instead of a shove.
- Don't drag one home. Fifteen seconds in the Overworld turns it into a zoglin, which loses the fungus fear and attacks everything.
- The XP is poor, the food is not. Five XP for forty health is a bad trade; two to four porkchop for the same fight is the best in the dimension.
Frequently asked questions
How much HP does a hoglin have?
A hoglin has 40 HP (20 hearts). With a sharpness netherite sword (8+ per hit) it takes about 5 hits, or 4 if you land crits off a ledge.
How do hoglins attack?
They charge and gore you, dealing 2.5 hearts on Easy up to 4.5 hearts on Hard, plus a strong knockback that can fling you several blocks into lava or off cliffs.
Is the damage different on Bedrock?
Yes, and this is one of the clearer splits between the editions. Java uses a single figure of 6 and scales it with difficulty to 4 and 9. Bedrock instead rolls a range of 3 to 9 for every hit, so the same fight there is swingier: you can take a soft hit or a very hard one on any difficulty.
Why do hoglins run away from me?
Hoglins are scared of warped fungus (including in a flower pot), nether portals, and respawn anchors. They keep their distance, running away when you are within about 7 blocks of one.
What is the best weapon against a hoglin?
A netherite sword with Sharpness and Knockback. Knockback keeps the hoglin out of charge range, and a shield blocks the gore. A bow works for safe kiting from a ledge.
Do hoglins drop anything good?
Hoglins drop 2-4 raw porkchop and 0-2 leather. Cooked porkchop restores 8 hunger and 12.8 saturation, one of the best food sources you can farm in the Nether.
Will hoglins turn into zoglins?
Yes. A hoglin left in the Overworld or the End for 15 seconds (300 ticks) converts into a zoglin, which is hostile to everything and immune to the warped fungus fear.
What biome do hoglins spawn in?
Only the crimson forest, on crimson nylium, in groups of 3-4. They do not spawn in warped forest, basalt deltas, soul sand valley, or nether wastes. If you cannot find any, look for the red nylium and crimson fungus.
How hard is a hoglin to knock back?
Harder than most. It carries 0.6 knockback resistance, so more than half of the push from your hit is absorbed. Knockback on your sword still helps, but do not expect to kite one the way you would a zombie.
For the porkchop, the leather and what they cook into, look them up in the item database. The other mob you will meet on the same nylium is the piglin, which trades with you instead of charging.
Sources
Checked against Java 26.2 and Bedrock 1.26.30.5, August 2026.
Cooked Porkchop
Golden Apple
Soul Sand
Leather