Spider

Spiders are one of the first hostile mobs every Minecraft player meets. These big, eight-legged arthropods climb walls, jump at you and hide on ceilings, and their glowing red eyes are a classic sight in dark caves. Spiders behave differently from other monsters: in bright light they are neutral and leave you alone. This wiki page covers spider stats, spawning, behavior, drops, spider jockeys, cave spiders and how to fight and farm spiders in Java and Bedrock Edition.

Spider stats

Stat	Value
Type	Hostile in darkness, neutral in bright light
Health	16 (8 hearts)
Attack damage	About 2 to 3 depending on difficulty
Size	2 blocks wide, under 1 block tall
Abilities	Climbs walls, jumps at targets, immune to poison, not slowed by cobwebs
Drops	0 to 2 string; spider eye (one third chance when killed by a player)
Experience	5 XP
Weak to	Bane of Arthropods

Where spiders spawn

Spiders spawn in the Overworld in darkness, at block light level 0, so they appear on the surface at night and in caves at any time. They need a space at least two blocks wide to spawn, which means narrow tunnels rarely have them. Spiders are common in forests, plains and jungles at night. They do not burn in sunlight; instead, when the light around them is bright, they become neutral and only attack if you hit them first. Spider spawners appear in some dungeons, and cave spider spawners appear in abandoned mineshafts.

Spider behavior

• Wall climbing: spiders climb any vertical wall, so a simple wall does not stop them. Use an overhang at the top of your wall or fence to keep them out.
• Jumping: they leap at you from a few blocks away, which can knock you off ledges.
• Neutral in light: in bright light, spiders ignore you unless provoked. Once angry, they keep attacking.
• Ceiling hiding: they often cling to cave ceilings and drop on you.
• Cobwebs: spiders move normally through cobwebs, which slow everything else.
• Status effects: on Hard difficulty, spiders sometimes spawn with Speed, Strength, Regeneration or Invisibility. An invisible spider shows only its red eyes.

What spiders drop

• String: 0 to 2, more with Looting. String crafts bows, crossbows, fishing rods, leads, scaffolding, tripwire hooks and wool (4 string to 1 white wool).
• Spider eye: dropped about one third of the time when a player kills the spider. Spider eyes brew Potions of Poison and craft fermented spider eyes, a key brewing ingredient for weakness, invisibility, slowness and harming potions. See the potions guide.

Spider eyes can also be eaten in an emergency, but they poison you, so only eat them as a last resort.

Spider jockeys

About 1 percent of spiders spawn with a skeleton riding on their back, called a spider jockey. The skeleton shoots arrows while the spider climbs walls and chases you, which makes the pair much more dangerous than either alone. Kill the skeleton first if you can, or knock them apart. Spider jockeys are a memorable surprise for new players at night.

Cave spiders

Stat	Spider	Cave spider
Health	16	12
Size	2 by 1 blocks	Fits through 1-block gaps
Poison	No	Yes, on Normal and Hard
Where	Anywhere dark	Only from spawners in abandoned mineshafts
Color	Brown and black	Blue and dark teal

Cave spiders are smaller, blue-tinted spiders that only spawn from spawners in abandoned mineshafts, usually surrounded by cobwebs. Their bite poisons you, and they come in large numbers. Bring milk to cure poison, place torches on top of and around the spawner to disable it, or break the spawner with a pickaxe. Cave spiders fit through one-block gaps, so the tricks that stop normal spiders do not work on them.

How to fight spiders

• Use Bane of Arthropods for extra damage and a slowing effect against spiders, cave spiders, silverfish, endermites and bees.
• Fight on flat ground so jumps do not knock you off edges.
• Stay in light where possible: spiders in bright areas are not hostile until provoked.
• Look up in caves to spot spiders on ceilings.
• Use a shield to block their jumping attacks.
• Keep milk in your inventory near mineshafts to cure cave spider poison.

Spider spawner farms

Spider spawners in dungeons can become string farms. Because spiders are two blocks wide, farm designs use water streams and gaps that are too small for spiders to fit through, then funnel them into a killing area. A spider farm produces lots of string for wool, scaffolding and leads, spider eyes for brewing, and experience. Cave spider spawners are popular for fast XP farms because cave spiders spawn in large numbers in a small area. See how to make a lead for one use of string.

Spider-proofing your base

Since spiders climb walls, build an overhang one block out at the top of your walls, or use fences with something on top. Light the area around your base well, and keep at least one block gap above fences. Glass and stone walls work fine as long as there is an overhang. Do not leave dark one-wide by two-wide spaces under floors, because spiders need a two-wide space to spawn.

Java vs Bedrock differences

Spiders work almost the same in both editions. Bedrock spiders can sometimes be slightly harder to see in darkness, and status effect chances on Hard differ a little. Cave spiders exist in both.

Spider FAQ

What do spiders drop in Minecraft?

String and sometimes a spider eye.

Are spiders hostile during the day?

Not in bright light. They only attack if you hit them first.

How much health does a spider have?

16 health, or 8 hearts.

Where do cave spiders spawn?

Only from spawners in abandoned mineshafts.

What enchantment is best against spiders?

Bane of Arthropods.

Spiders and string uses

String is one of the most flexible materials in the game, which makes spiders worth hunting even after you have a base. Four string craft one block of white wool, so a spider farm can replace sheep for wool if you need large amounts for building or beds. Six bamboo and one string make six scaffolding, the best block for building tall structures safely. Three string and three sticks make a bow, and string with sticks, iron and a tripwire hook makes a crossbow. Two string and three sticks make a fishing rod. Tripwire hooks connected by string create hidden traps and redstone triggers. Even a few spiders a night quickly cover most of these needs.

Spider eyes in brewing

Spider eyes are the base for some of the most useful brews. Brew a spider eye into an awkward potion to get a Potion of Poison, which is great as a splash potion against tough mobs and players. Combine a spider eye with sugar and a brown mushroom to craft a fermented spider eye, which corrupts potions: it turns swiftness into slowness, healing into harming and night vision into invisibility, and a plain water bottle into weakness for curing zombie villagers. Collect spider eyes whenever you kill spiders, because you need several for a full brewing setup.

Spiders in multiplayer and on servers

On servers, spiders are often the first thing new players complain about, because they climb into bases and jump through open windows. Server spawns are usually well lit, so spiders there stay neutral during the day. If you share a base, agree on an overhang design for walls and keep shared farms lit, because one dark corner is enough for spiders to start spawning.