Analysis of Heuristic Pathfinding Efficiency in Voxel-Based Environments: A Case Study of Minecraft’s Zombie AI

This paper analyzes the efficiency of the A* (A-Star) pathfinding algorithm within the voxel-based engine of Minecraft: Bedrock Edition. We investigate the navigation capabilities of the standard ”Zombie” entity (minecraft:zombie) when presented with linear paths versus non-convex geometric obstacles (local minima). Experimental data was collected by measuring Time to Target (TTT) across two distinct scenarios: a baseline linear track and a U-shaped barrier trap. Our results indicate that while the agent performs consistently in open terrain (Mean TTT: 7.22s), complex geometry introduces a significant navigational penalty (Mean TTT: 9.46s). The data suggests that while the AI successfully resolves the path, the heuristic calculation for ”backtracking” to escape local minima introduces a measurable latency of approximately 31%.