Minecraft
Genre: Open-World-Survival
Studio: Mojang
Publisher: Mojang
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Genre: Open-World-Survival
Studio: Mojang
Publisher: Mojang

Minecraft Spider

When you explore the many different worlds of Minecraft, different mobs are popping up everywhere. When exploring a dark cave or a forgotten mineshaft, you come across spiders in nearly every biome, which tend to be al lot bigger than the ones we know. If you want to defend yourself against these 8-legged troublemakers, you’ve come to the right place!

Minecraft Spiders Overview:

  • A low-damage mob
  • They give you string early on
  • Spawn in mineshafts and during the night
  • Have a 1% chance to spawn as a spider jockey

Where to Find Minecraft Spiders

If you ever found a spider in Minecraft, it was most likely in a dark spot, like a cave or at night. Spiders can spawn basically anywhere, as long as the light level is 0 and they have an opaque block to spawn onto. Also, the block above the space they want to spawn at must be a non-full block such as air, slabs and soul sand. If there is a full block there, they cannot spawn, even if it’s transparent. 

In a dungeon, monster spawners have a 25% chance to spawn a spider. Without using commands, a Minecraft spider spawner cannot exist, since any spawner will also produce other monsters. If you find yourself in a Woodland Mansion, spiders can also crawl out of secret rooms that are covered in cobwebs. With all of these factors combined, the variety most players should be familiar with is the cave spider. While they are smaller than their overworld counterparts, they also inflict poison with every attack they do. The larger spiders tend to spawn during the night but can also be found in caves. Minecraft has empty mineshafts and dark caves in every world, so seeing a spider is basically guaranteed.

Minecraft Spiders Pack a Punch

Since spiders are so common in Minecraft, you will have to defend yourself against them at some point. Regular spiders have 16 health and will behave hostile when the light level is 11 lower. If it is 12 or higher, spiders are neutral and will not attack on their own.

Spiders can inflict 2 damage in Easy and Normal mode. In Hard mode, they do 3 damage and can also spawn with 1 of 4 different status effects. They can have increased speed with a 40% chance. They can also have increased strength, regeneration or invisibility, each with a 20% chance. The different effects can be seen as small, swirly clouds around the spider. The higher the difficulty in a world, the higher the chance for a spider spawning with an effect. 

For a cave spider, Minecraft has a few different values in stall. Since they are smaller, they only have 12 health, though their damage is the same as the big spiders. As they can also give you the poison status on Normal and Hard difficulty, you should not underestimate these little crawlers. Depending on the difficulty, their poison does 3 damage (Normal) or 6 damage (Hard) over 7 or 15 seconds, respectively. 

Spider Jockeys

Coming across a spider jockey is extremely, rare, seeing as they spawn with a 1% chance wherever spiders can spawn. Spider jockeys are made up of two mobs: a spider and skeleton, wither skeleton or stray(Bedrock only) that rides the spider. The spider can be a regular overworld spider or a cave spider(Bedrock only). Both the spider and the skeleton are treated as separate mobs for their health, drops and damage output, so the only real difference is their movement. Since the spider decides the movement, the jockey only attacks of the spider is hostile. 

Fun Fact:If the spider jockey is really unlucky, the skeleton’s arrow can harm the spider, causing it to retaliate. A pouncing spider can also move the skeleton into the arrow’s line of fire. 

All Minecraft Spider Values in a Handy Table:

SpiderCave SpiderCave Spider Poison
Health1616
Damage2 (Easy & Normal)
3 (Hard)
2 (Easy & Normal)
3 (Hard)
3 over 7 seconds (Normal)
6 over 15 seconds (Hard)
Drops0-2 string, 5 XP, 1 spider eye (3,33% chance)0-2 string, 5 XP, 1 spider eye (3,33% chance)
SpawnsAny block with light level 0 and no full block above itMineshafts
Spider Jockey Rider
Skeleton (Bow)

Skeleton (Melee)

Wither Skeleton

Stray (Bow)

Stray (Melee)
Health2020202020
Damage1-4 (Easy & Normal)
1-5 (Hard)
2 (Easy & Normal)
3 (Hard)
5 (Easy)
8 (Normal)
12 (Hard)
3-5 (Any Difficulty)2 (Easy & Normal)
3 (Hard)
Drops0-2 bones, 0-2 arrows, any picked-up item, spawned equipment (8,5%), 5 XP0-2 bones, 0-2 arrows, any picked-up item, spawned equipment (8,5%), 5 XP0-2 bones, 1 coal (3,33%), wither skull (2,5%), unenchanted stone sword (8,5%), 5 XP0-2 bones, 0-2 arrows, 0-1 arrow of Slowness, any picked-up item, spawned equipment (8,5%), 5 XP0-2 bones, 0-2 arrows, 0-1 arrow of Slowness, any picked-up item, spawned equipment (8,5%), 5 XP
SpawnsAny block with light level 0 and no full block above itAny block with light level 0 and no full block above itAny block with light level 0 and no full block above itAny block with light level 0 and no full block above itAny block with light level 0 and no full block above it

What a Minecraft Spider Drops

Any Spider, including cave spiders and spider jockeys, can drop string, XP and a spider eye when defeated. While these may seem underwhelming at first, you shouldn’t underestimate how important string can be. Especially when it comes to crafting bows, you absolutely need string. And XP is of course always welcome. There is also a 33,3% chance that you get one spider eye from their death. These can be used to craft fermented spider eggs, a very useful item. 

How Spiders Behave in Minecraft

Unlike skeletons or creepers, spiders are not always hostile. If the light level around them is 12 or higher, they are neutral and won’t attack. However, in an area that has light level 11 or lower, they are just as aggressive as skeletons and zombies. As spiders, they are very adapt at climbing and will scale any wall, boat or shulker in their way. While they cannot climb upside-down, they can detect the player through blocks. 

Fun Fact:Spiders can climb shulkers, even though they can never meet without the player helping them. Shulkers only appear inside The End, where spiders do not spawn naturally. 

If you plan to poison a spider or to use its nets against it: Don’t try it. In Minecraft, cobwebs and spider webs have no effect on their creators. Spiders, even if they aren’t poisonous, are also completely immune to poison. Using a bow and arrows is recommended though, since they will always run into the direction the attack came from. With these weapons, you can have them run away from you and prepare the next attack. This moment of confusion makes using a sword a lot easier. 

Fun Fact: Most mobs will simply fall to their side when they die, but spiders will fall on their back. 

Conclusion Minecraft Spider

In short, Spiders are relatively easy mobs to defeat and serve as a great first encounter with mobs. Especially their string is extremely helpful and gives you a fantastic ranged weapon early on. So, if you’re looking for a spider-slaying adventure, you should definitely check out the Minecraft server from G-Portal. Face the 8-legged beast with friends and with great service, only found at G-Portal!

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