Zombie Have Ears
by qellyka
Zombie Have Ears makes zombies react to the actual voice of players talking through a voice chat mod, so a loud conversation near a horde can draw it in.
What it does
Zombies in the world listen for sound made by nearby players over voice chat. The mod reads the real voice packets and measures how loud each one is, so a shout carries across most of the distance while a normal speaking volume reaches only a fraction of it. Mobs do not know where a player is from voice alone: they walk toward the sound's origin, search the area and still need to see the player up close before they start attacking.
Walls muffle sound in the mod. Without a direct line of sight, mobs hear only a fraction of their normal range, so zombies do not aggro through walls from sound alone. Zombies that are already hunting a target ignore the sound and are not distracted by voices elsewhere. The mod is a server-side install that needs Simple Voice Chat, and the server and players both need that dependency. Server owners may also let other monsters respond to the same voice sounds.
Key features
Loudness-based hearing
Voice volume is measured from the chat packets, so quiet talking draws less attention than a scream.
Whisper stealth
The whisper key sharply shrinks the radius in which zombies can hear a player.
Investigation, not teleport aggro
Zombies move toward a sound's source and search, and they begin attacking only after they see the player nearby.
Wall muffling
Sound is weakened by walls, so players behind cover are much harder to detect by voice.
Compatibility
Latest build for each game version and loader.
Only full game releases are shown. This mod publishes no snapshot builds.
Requirements
Dependencies declared by the latest file for each loader.
Required 1
Use cases
Who it’s for: Server owners who already run Simple Voice Chat and want voice to affect zombie behaviour, and players who enjoy stealth in survival worlds.
How it compares
MobAwareness is a Fabric, Forge and NeoForge mod for 1.20.1 – 26.1.2, server-side only and not open source, that adds awareness of player actions to mobs. Zombie Take Over is a Forge and NeoForge mod for 1.20.1 – 1.21.5, also server-side only and not open source. Zombie Have Ears instead keys zombie hearing to real voice loudness and is limited to Forge and NeoForge for 1.20.1 – 1.21.1.
| Mod | Loaders | Game versions | Environment | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zombie Have Ears | Forge and NeoForge | 1.20.1 – 1.21.1 | Server-side only | 2026-07-27 |
| MobAwareness | Fabric, Forge and NeoForge | 1.20.1 – 26.1.2 | Server-side only | 2026-08-27 |
| Zombie Take Over | Forge and NeoForge | 1.20.1 – 1.21.5 | Server-side only | 2025-05-27 |
Questions
Does Zombie Have Ears need Simple Voice Chat?
Does the mod have to be installed on clients?
Which loaders and versions are supported?
In the catalog
Zombie Have Ears is one of 11,058 Mobs mods on ModsFinder, and one of 6,527 Mobs mods for Forge. 32,366 mods support Minecraft 1.21.1.
More from qellyka
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What the author says
Zombies can only hear you if you're actually making noise. This server-side mod hooks into Simple Voice Chat to give zombies (and optionally other monsters) real hearing: whenever a player talks, nearby mobs pick up the sound and walk over to investigate where it came from. Talk quietly, whisper, or stay behind a…
Official listing
- Modrinth page
- modrinth.com/mod/zombie-have-ears
- Owner
- qellyka
- Published
- 2026-07-16
- Updated on Modrinth
- 2026-07-27
- Facts verified
- 2026-10-15