Spiders are one of the most common mobs you’ll encounter in Minecraft. This guide covers everything you need to know about them, from where to find them to what they drop when defeated.
Spider Basics
Spiders are neutral mobs that become aggressive under certain conditions. They’re fast, can climb walls, and deal moderate damage. Here’s the key info at a glance:
| Hostility | Neutral (attacks at night or if provoked during day) |
|---|---|
| Health | 16 health points (8 hearts) |
| Location | Overworld, light levels 7 or below |
| Attack | Jumps and melee damage |
| Drops | String (0-2), Spider Eye (0-1) |
| Experience | 5 XP points |
Hostility and Behavior
Spiders are neutral during the day in Survival mode. They won’t attack you first. If you hit one though, it will retaliate. At night, this changes. Spiders become hostile and will hunt you down. They can see through walls and will chase you aggressively at night. In Creative mode, spiders never attack.
Health and Combat
A spider has 16 health points total. That’s 8 hearts worth of damage. To kill one, you need to deal 16 points of damage. A stone sword will take about 3-4 hits. They’re not the toughest mob, but their speed and jumping ability make them dangerous.
Finding Spiders
Spiders spawn naturally in any Overworld biome when the light level drops to 7 or below. You’ll see them mostly at night. Once a spider spawns in darkness, it can survive in daylight. They’re common on the surface, in caves, and under trees at night.
Pro tip: Rarely, a skeleton can spawn on top of a spider, creating a spider jockey. These are harder to deal with since you get both mobs attacking you.
What Spiders Drop
When you kill a spider, you get either string or a spider eye. String is the common drop, but sometimes you’ll get a spider eye instead. String is useful for making bows and tripwire, while spider eyes can be eaten for nutrition or used in crafting.
Experience Gains
Killing a spider grants 5 experience points. Not a ton, but it adds up if you’re grinding for levels. The green and yellow orbs that appear when you kill a spider represent your XP gains.
Spawn Eggs and Commands
Spider Spawn Egg
You can spawn spiders instantly using a Spider Spawn Egg in Creative or Survival mode (with cheats enabled). Look for the spider spawn egg in the creative inventory.
Summon Commands
You can summon spiders using the /summon command:
/summon spider
To summon a spider jockey, use:
/summon spider ~ ~ ~ {Passengers:[{id:skeleton}]}
NBT Tags (Java Edition)
For advanced control, you can use NBT tags with the /summon command to customize spider behavior and properties.
Spawn Events (Bedrock/Education)
Bedrock Edition uses spawn events instead of NBT tags for customization. Check the Bedrock documentation for available spider spawn events.
Finding Spiders in Seeds
If you want to spawn near spiders or specific spider habitats, you can search for seeds that generate biomes where spiders are common. Dark oak forests and regular forests are good places to find them naturally.
Related Mobs
Want to learn about other mobs? Check out our guides for similar creatures:
- Cave Spider (smaller cousin, spawns in mines)
- Skeleton (often spawns with spiders as a jockey)
- Creeper
- Zombie
- Bee