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Use a name tag: rename it on an anvil, then use it on the zombie. This prevents natural despawning in ordinary play, but it will not protect a hostile zombie if you switch the world to Peaceful difficulty.
How to keep a zombie from despawning
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Place a name tag and anvil, then use the anvil to rename the tag. The anvil workflow is documented by the Minecraft Wiki.
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Use the renamed name tag on the zombie. Mojang’s Bedrock 1.16.0 release notes state that mobs set to persist, including name-tagged mobs, do not naturally despawn.
What a name tag does—and does not—protect against
A name tag prevents natural despawning; it is not a guarantee that the zombie can never be removed. In particular, do not change the difficulty to Peaceful if you need to keep a hostile zombie. A historical Mojang bug-tracker issue marked “Works As Intended” says hostile mobs are removed when switching to Peaceful, even if named or carrying a picked-up item: MC-12829.
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Do zombies despawn at a set distance?
Distance behavior depends on edition, version, and settings. Mojang’s Bedrock 1.16.0 notes say that at simulation distance 4, almost all naturally spawning mobs despawn at 44 blocks or farther from the nearest player. The same notes describe different conditions at higher simulation distances, including despawning near the simulation-distance edge or beyond 128 blocks. At 32–44 blocks, they say mobs must avoid damage for 30 seconds before passing a 1-in-800 chance. These are Bedrock 1.16.0 release-note details, not universal thresholds for every edition or version.
Is there a way without a name tag?
For ordinary survival play, the name tag is the straightforward method established here. Bedrock creators can configure custom spawn rules with the minecraft:is_persistent component, which Microsoft Learn describes as preventing natural despawning: Microsoft Learn: minecraft:is_persistent. This is for authored Bedrock content, not a normal survival-player setting.
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