Zombie Infection
Zombie Infection changes what zombie attacks do to players on Forge 1.20.1: a player hit by a zombie becomes infected instead of dying at once.
What it does
Zombies in this mod infect players rather than killing them outright. An infected player keeps playing, and the infection then works the way a zombie attack normally does, with the final blow that would kill a player converting the player instead. Killing a player who is not infected infects them too.
The mod also reworks several zombie behaviors and food rules. Zombies burn in daylight unless they wear a helmet, Husks are the exception, and an underwater Husk converts into a Drowned. Rotten flesh becomes a usable food with no hunger effect, and cooked and raw food values are reversed. Zombie models render in the first-person view, including the hand. Zombie Infection is open source under the GNU General Public License v3.0 or later, and it runs on client and server, so the server and every player need it.
The mod is for 1.20.1 only, with Forge as the sole loader and version 1.0.3 as the latest file, published on 2025-07-05. Its first release dates from 2024-10-08. Bug reports are tracked on GitHub, and the source code and a wiki are linked from the project page.
Key features
Infection instead of death
A zombie hit leaves the player infected, and the final blow converts the player rather than ending the run.
Zombie types
Normal zombies, villager zombies, Husks and Drowned each keep their own behavior under this mod.
Reworked rotten flesh
Rotten flesh is eaten as food without a hunger effect, and cooked and raw food values are swapped.
Daylight burning
Zombies burn in daylight unless they wear a helmet, with Husks as the exception.
First-person zombie model
The zombie model is rendered in the first-person view, including the player hand.
Compatibility
Latest build for each game version and loader.
Only full game releases are shown. This mod publishes no snapshot builds.
Use cases
Who it’s for: Players and server owners on Forge 1.20.1 who want zombie attacks to infect rather than kill, and who accept a changed food and burning system.
How it compares
FasterZombies is server-side only and built for Forge 1.20.1, so players join without installing anything. Zombie Take Over is also server-side only and covers Forge and NeoForge for 1.20.1 – 1.21.5, under All rights reserved. Zombie Infection needs both sides and is released under the GNU General Public License v3.0 or later.
| Mod | Loaders | Game versions | Environment | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zombie Infection | Forge | 1.20.1 | Client and server | 2025-07-05 |
| FasterZombies | Forge | 1.20.1 | Server-side only | 2025-07-10 |
| Zombie Take Over | Forge and NeoForge | 1.20.1 – 1.21.5 | Server-side only | 2025-05-27 |
Questions
Does Zombie Infection need to be installed on the server?
Which loader does Zombie Infection support?
Can infected players be cured?
In the catalog
Zombie Infection is one of 29,952 Game mechanics mods on ModsFinder, and one of 13,316 Game mechanics mods for Forge. 34,764 mods support Minecraft 1.20.1.
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What the author says
When a final blow that'll kill the player is dealt by a Zombie, it'll prevent the damage and convert the player to a Zombie of that Type (Normal/Villager -> Normal, Husk -> Husk, Drowned -> Drowned) This mod isn't very practal i know that, but it wasn't about the mod being effective or not, it was about a few things.
Official listing
- Modrinth page
- modrinth.com/mod/zombie-infection
- Owner
- spiderman31807
- Published
- 2024-10-08
- Updated on Modrinth
- 2025-07-05
- Facts verified
- 2026-10-15