Spider

Health points	16 × 8
Attack strength	Easy: 2 Normal: 2 Hard: 3
Size	Height: 0.9 Blocks Width: 1.4 Blocks
Spawn	Light level of 7 or less, 3×3×2 space on solid blocks (spawns only on top of the central block). Top half of space may be occupied by transparent blocks (glass, etc.).
Common drops	String (0–2)
Uncommon drops	Spider Eye (¹⁄₃ chance) when killed by the player
Experience	5
Sounds	Idle/Hurt Step Death
Internal ID	JE: 52 BE: 35
Namespaced ID	spider

This article is about regular spiders. For venomous dark-blue spiders found in mineshafts, see Cave Spider. For the Spider being ridden by a Skeleton, see Spider Jockey.

Spiders are common neutral mobs that have the unique ability to climb walls.

Spawning[edit]

Spiders spawn in the Overworld in 3×3×2 space on solid block(s) (they only need 1 solid block beneath) at a light level of 7 or less, in groups of 4. The top blocks can be transparent, but not solid.

In Bedrock Edition, leaves may spawn one spider provided that there are 3×3×2 spaces around it; therefore, forested biomes have a greater amount of spiders. Spiders never spawn in groups greater than 1.

Spider spawning on a single block.

Monster spawners[edit]

Spiders have a 25% chance to spawn from monster spawners found in dungeons. They can also spawn from monster spawners found in rare hidden rooms surrounded by cobwebs in woodland mansions.

Status effects[edit]

This feature is exclusive to Java Edition and Legacy Console Edition.

On hard difficulty, spiders occasionally spawn with status effects. For each pack spawn, there is a (10×clamped regional difficulty)% chance of the game applying a status effect. If it decides to do so, then it selects the effect. The spider can spawn with following effects:

Speed (40% chance)
Strength (20% chance)
Regeneration (20% chance)
Invisibility (20% chance)

The effect is then applied to all entities within the pack for the maximum amount of time possible.

This does not apply to cave spiders.

Drops[edit]

When killed, a spider drops:

0–2 String. The maximum is increased by 1 per level of Looting, for a maximum of 0-5 string with Looting III.
5 experience when killed by a player or tamed wolf.

They also have a ¹⁄₃ chance of dropping a spider eye when killed by a player or tamed wolf. The maximum amount of spider eyes is increased by 1 per level of Looting. The chance of a spider not dropping any spider eyes can be found using the formula 2 / (Looting Level + 3). For example, Looting III gives a ¹⁄₃ chance of not dropping any spider eyes. All other amounts have an equal chance of occurring.

Behavior[edit]

Spiders are hostile to the player and to iron golems as long as the light level immediately around them is 11 or less; otherwise they do not attack unless provoked. Hostile spiders continue to chase the player even when exposed to well-lit locations. If a spider sustains damage from a source other than a direct attack from the player, such as falling, its hostility is reset.

Spiders can climb up over walls and other obstacles. If a spider cannot find an ideal path to the player (when a player goes behind or on top of a wall), it approaches as close as it can to the player's position from the outside or below, and proceed to climb the wall vertically until it gets to the top, even if it loses its aggression towards the player. Additionally, when a spider loses its aggression on the player, it continues moving forward blindly for about two seconds. This behavior causes the spider to climb up any walls in its path. If a spider tries to go through the world border, it starts climbing the world border instead.

If shot from distance with an arrow when outside detection range, spiders turn and run in the direction from which the arrow was fired, essentially towards the player. If the player moves away, the spider continues following the same path unless the player enters detection range, in which case the spider changes direction and attacks.

Even though spiders do not inflict the Poison status effect, they are immune to it.

Spiders pounce on their targets at close range. A spider that is swimming in 1-block-deep water pounces on nearby enemies upon touching the submerged floor.

Spiders flip onto their backs when they die, unlike most mobs (which land on their sides).

If Invisibility status effect is applied to a spider, its eyes remain visible.

Spiders, being arthropods, are weak against weapons with the Bane of Arthropods enchantment.

Variants[edit]

Spider jockeys[edit]

Main article: Spider Jockey

There is a 1% chance for a spider to spawn with a skeleton riding it, forming a spider jockey. In the Nether, a spider (spawned with a spawn egg, commands or mob spawners, since these do not naturally spawn there) has a 0.8% to spawn a wither skeleton on its back and form a wither jockey instead. In snowy biomes, a spider has a 0.8% to spawn a stray on its back and form a stray jockey instead. A spider jockey can also be spawned by the command /summon spider ~ ~ ~ {Passengers: [{id:skeleton}]}.

A spider jockey.

Spider jockey spawning with skeletons head in glass.

Data values[edit]

Advancements[edit]

Main article: Advancements

Advancement	In-game description	Parent	Actual requirements (if different)	Internal ID
Adventure	Adventure, exploration, and combat	—	Kill any entity, or be killed by any entity.	`minecraft:adventure/root`
Monster Hunter	Kill any hostile monster	Adventure	Kill one of these 25 mobs. Other mobs are ignored for this advancement.	`minecraft:adventure/kill_a_mob`
Monsters Hunted	Kill one of every hostile monster	Monster Hunter	Kill each of these 25 mobs. Other mobs may be killed, but are ignored for the advancement.	`minecraft:adventure/kill_all_mobs`

Video[edit]

History[edit]

The original brown spider.

Java Edition Classic
October 23, 2009				Spiders were proposed in a blog post, where they would produce "web tiles".
0.27 SURVIVAL TEST				Officially added spiders, the second mob added in Survival Test.
0.27 SURVIVAL TEST				Spiders were originally brown in early development (changed to the current texture because of a suggestion from a user on the TIGSource forums^[1]). They do not jump as far (compared to their range in the Beta update) and killing them gives the player 105 points. Their eyes also do not glow^[verify]. It is possible that brown spiders did exist in a released version.
Java Edition Indev
February 19, 2010				Spiders now drop 0–2 string upon death.
Java Edition Alpha
v1.0.17				Added spider jockeys - skeletons spawned riding spiders.
Java Edition Beta
1.2				Spiders have now been given the ability to climb vertical walls made of any block and could "see" the player through solid blocks to track them down (creepers previously had this ability before it was transferred to the spiders).
1.4				Spiders no longer trample crops.^[3]
1.4				Spiders no longer make step sounds (or the step sounds are now much quieter).^[2]
Java Edition
1.3.1		?		Spiders have now become aggressive towards the last mob or player that hit them.
1.4.2		12w39a		Spiders have now been given a new walking sound.
1.6.1		13w24a		Spiders now have a chance of spawning with the Speed, Strength, Regeneration, or Invisibility status effects on Hard difficulty.
1.7.2		1.7-pre		Spiders are now no longer provoked when attacked by the player in creative mode.
1.8		14w06a		Spiders can now no longer see the player through blocks.
		14w06a		Spiders have now been updated to the new AI system, including AI specially made for spiders, allowing them to better take control of their climbing ability.
		14w11a		Spiders now run away from creepers that are about to explode.
1.8.1		pre1		Spiders no longer run away from creepers that are about to explode.
1.9		15w36a		Spiders can now draw lines of sight through blocks again.
1.11		16w32a		Changed entity ID from `Spider` to `spider`.
1.14		18w43a		Changed the texture of spiders.
Pocket Edition Alpha
0.3.3				Added spiders.
0.7.3				The eyes on spiders now glow in the dark.
0.9.0		build 1		Leaves now have a chance of spawning spiders, creating a higher amount of spiders in tree-rich biomes at night. (version exclusive)
		build 1		The spider's AI has now been updated.
		build 4		The animation for spiders is now twice as fast.
0.9.2				Spiders no longer draw a line of sight through solid blocks.
0.11.0		build 1		Added spider jockeys - skeletons spawned riding spiders.
0.12.1		build 1		Spiders now drop spider eyes.
0.12.1		build 1		Spider spawn in nether have 1% chance to spawn as wither jockey.
0.14.0		build 1		Baby zombie jockeys now check for nearby spiders to mount prior to attacking the player, villager, and golem.
0.15.0		build 1		Baby husk can mount spider.
0.15.0		build 1		Spider spawn in snowy biome in view of sky can spawn as Stray Jockey.
Bedrock Edition
1.10.0		beta 1.10.0.3		Changed the texture of spiders.
Legacy Console Edition
TU1	CU1	1.0	Patch 1	Added spiders.
TU14	CU1	1.04	Patch 1	Spiders now become aggressive towards the last mob or player that hit them.
TU31	CU19	1.22	Patch 3	Spiders can now no longer see the player through blocks.
TU31	CU19	1.22	Patch 3	Spiders have now been updated to the new AI system, including AI specially made for spiders, allowing them to better take control of their climbing ability.
PlayStation 4 Edition
1.90				Changed the texture of spiders.

Issues[edit]

Issues relating to "Spider" are maintained on the bug tracker. Report issues there.

Gallery[edit]

A spider.
Spiders are one of the most visible mobs at night due to their glowing red eyes.
Spiders climbing into each other.
A view of a spider from below.
Spider shot by skeleton.
A spider that spawned with the Swiftness potion effect
A spider that naturally spawned with an invisibility potion effect.
A spider in a 1.5×1.5 space.
A spider's vision when spectating it.
Spiders can even climb soul sand.