Spider Jockey
| Health points |
Any Skeleton: 20 |
|---|---|
| Behavior |
Hostile, Neutral (spider light 12>) |
| Attack strength |
Skeleton with bow: |
| Spawn |
See Spawning |
Spider jockeys are the rare appearance of a spider or cave spider[BE only] being ridden by a skeleton, stray,[BE only] or wither skeleton.[BE only]
Contents
Spawning[edit]
Spiders and skeletons[edit]
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 spawners, since these do not naturally spawn there) has a 0.8% chance 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.
On hard difficulty, spiders have a chance (depending on regional difficulty) of spawning with a single beneficial status effect. This effect can be speed (40%), strength (20%), regeneration (20%) or invisibility (20%), and has an essentially infinite duration.[JE only]
Spider jockeys spawned in narrow enclosures can cause the skeleton rider to die of suffocation, due to the spider scaling the walls. They can also spawn in a 1 high space with a transparent block above, so the skeleton is stuck in the transparent block.
Using the summon command: /summon spider ~ ~ ~ {Passengers:[{id:skeleton,HandItems:[{id:bow,Count:1b}]}]} yields a spider jockey.[Java Edition only]
Bedrock Edition[edit]
A cave spider can spawn as a jockey, just as a spider can. If either type of spider is spawned in the Nether and occurs as a jockey, it has an 80% chance for its skeleton rider to be a wither skeleton. If cave spider is spawned in a snowy biome with a view of the sky, and occurs as a jockey, it has an 80% chance for its skeleton rider to be a stray.
Baby zombie variants can mount spiders and cave spiders. Specifically, baby zombie variants have a 15% chance to want to be a jockey, and if they do, then upon nearing the player and before attacking, they check for one of the following and mount it: adult zombies, chickens, sheep, cows, pigs, llamas, ocelots, foxes, pandas, mooshrooms, untamed cats, untamed wolves, horses and variants, spiders and cave spiders
Drops[edit]
The skeleton and the spider each have separate drops when that part of the spider jockey is killed.
Their drops are no different than if the skeleton or spider were standing alone.
Behavior[edit]
The spider controls the movement, so a spider jockey wanders aimlessly in the day and pursues the player at night or in dimly lit areas when the spider is hunting. The two creatures attack and take damage individually (i.e. if the spider is killed, the skeleton continues to attack and move, and vice-versa). The skeleton dismounts if the spider pounces into water.
The skeleton turns and fires at any player in its line of sight, no matter the time of day (although the skeleton burns in sunlight, leaving the spider unharmed). A spider jockey can attack two different players in multiplayer - this is caused by one player damaging one half of the spider jockey and not the other. If the skeleton shoots another hostile mob, the mob attacks the skeleton but not the spider being ridden, even after the skeleton is killed. If the skeleton on the spider jockey is shot by another skeleton, it dismounts and leaves the spider to engage the skeleton that shot it.[verify]
A spider jockey can kill itself - sometimes the skeleton arrows injure the spider and other times the spider's pouncing can run the skeleton into its own arrow.
When a spider jockey rides a minecart, the minecart automatically accelerates, along with the spider's legs moving as if it was walking.
Data values[edit]
The spider and skeleton's IDs nor the entity data are any different than if the skeleton or spider were standing alone.
History[edit]
| Java Edition Alpha | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 16, 2010 | Notch mentions the concept of spider jockeys in a TIGSource forum post. | ||||
| v1.0.17 |  Added spider jockeys. | ||||
| v1.2.0 |  Skeletons that ride spider jockeys now hold a bow. | ||||
| Java Edition Beta | |||||
| 1.2 | As with spiders, spider jockeys can now climb vertically up walls. | ||||
| 1.5 | Spider jockeys can now be "neutral-hostile" with the addition of rain. The light level is low enough in a rainstorm for the skeleton to not combust, but high enough for the spider to not be actively hunting. In this state, the skeleton shoots the player with arrows, but the spider does not give chase (unless the spider jockey wanders into a shady area) because movement is controlled by the spider. The player can safely observe this kind of spider jockey from a distance of 16 or more blocks away. | ||||
| 1.8 |  Skeletons that ride spider jockeys' bows are now larger and held more realistically (full-sized bows, two-handed, and pulling the arrow back) than in previous versions (in one hand).
| ||||
| Skeletons that ride spider jockeys now fire arrows slightly slower. Their arrows, however, are shot with more force. | |||||
| Java Edition | |||||
| 1.0.0 |  Skeletons that ride spider jockeys now hold their bow with one hand again, but they still have the larger and held realistically bow. | ||||
| 1.4.2 | 12w34a | Spider spawn eggs now have a chance to spawn a spider jockey. | |||
| 12w36a |  Spider spawn eggs used in nether fortresses now have a chance to spawn a spider jockey with a wither skeleton. | ||||
| 1.5 | 13w09a | Skeletons no longer dismount the spiders when the world is reloaded. | |||
| 1.9 | 15w31a |   Skeletons that ride spider jockeys now lower their arms when idle and sitting position has bit lower. | |||
| 1.10 | 16w20a |  Spiders spawned in cold biomes can now have a stray skeleton rider. | |||
| 1.11 | 16w32a | Spider jockeys no longer spawn with a stray rider and wither skeleton rider.[1] | |||
| 1.13 | pre5 | Spider jockeys now spawn. They did not since 1.9.4 due to a bug.[2] | |||
| 1.14 | 18w43a | The texture of spider jockeys has now been changed. | |||
| Pocket Edition Alpha | |||||
| 0.11.0 | build 1 |  Added spider jockeys. Cave spiders also have a chance to spawn with a skeleton rider. | |||
| 0.12.1 | build 1 |  Added wither skeleton jockeys with a cave spider variant. | |||
| 0.14.0 | build 1 | Spiders and cave spiders can now be mounted by baby zombies and baby zombie villagers. | |||
| 0.15.0 | build 1 |  Spider jockeys now have a 80% chance to spawn with a stray rider in snowy biomes.
| |||
| Spiders and cave spiders can now be mounted by baby husks. | |||||
  Skeletons that ride spider jockeys now lower their arms when idle. | |||||
| Bedrock Edition | |||||
| 1.10.0 | beta 1.10.0.3 |       The textures of spider jockeys have now been changed. | |||
| Legacy Console Edition | |||||
| TU1 | CU1 | 1.0 | Patch 1 | 1.0.1 | Added spider jockeys. |
| 1.90 | The texture of spider jockeys has now been changed. | ||||
| New Nintendo 3DS Edition | |||||
| 0.1.0 | Added spider jockeys. | ||||
Issues[edit]
Issues relating to "Spider Jockey" are maintained on the bug tracker. Report issues there.
Gallery[edit]
A dueling skeleton and spider jockey.
During Halloween, it is possible for skeletons on spider jockeys to spawn wearing a carved pumpkin or a jack o'lantern.
A spider jockey in a desert biome in early morning.
A burning spider jockey.
A wither skeleton cave spider jockey.
References[edit]
