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NEUTRAL Present since 1.14 or earlier

Spider mob in Minecraft

The Spider is a fast mob that climbs walls and hunts you in the dark, but leaves you alone in bright light unless you hit it first. It is not very tough, yet its climbing and its leaps make it a real threat at night. It is also your main early source of string.

Health: 168 hearts
Behavior: Neutral
Main drop: String
Found in: 53 biomes

Spider stats

Health: 16 8 hearts
Behavior: Neutral
Main drop: String
Spawns in: 53 biomes
Size: 1.4 × 0.9 blocks
XP when killed: 5
Speed: 0.3
Detection range: 16 blocks

// Experience drops only when a player kills it. Speeds are the game’s internal values, not blocks per second.

How much damage Spider deals

Damage to a player without armor, by world difficulty. 1 ♥ = 2 damage points.

Melee attack

Peaceful00 ♥

Easy21 ♥

Normal21 ♥

Hard31.5 ♥

What else changes with difficulty

Can spawn with a permanent effect (Speed, Strength, Regeneration or Invisibility): Hard only

// Armor, Protection and Resistance reduce these values. Base values read from the game code (26.3).

Where to find Spider

Biomes where it spawns naturally, with its share of the spawns in each group.

All 53 biomes

Spawning

Group size: 4
Light level: Block light 0and light 7 or less overall

Structures

Monster spawnerWoodland Mansion

Trial spawnerTrial Chambers

Spider drops

Spider dropsFrom the loot table · chance per kill

String+1 per Looting level0–2

Spider Eye+1 per Looting level · Only when killed by a player0–1

Health compared

Health vs other neutral mobshealth points

Panda20

Zombified Piglin20

Piglin16

Spider16

Nautilus15

Zombie Nautilus15

Cave Spider12

Spider and its family

Mobs built on the same base in the game code, compared on their game values.

Mob	Health	Attack	XP	Speed	Dismounts underwater
Cave Spider	12	2	5	0.3	·
Spider	16	2	5	0.3	✓

Traits

Properties set in the game files.

ArthropodBane of Arthropods deals extra damage and slows it down.

Dismounts underwaterRiders are thrown off underwater.

Weak to Bane of ArthropodsBane of Arthropods deals extra damage to it.

Advancements with Spider

Advancements whose criteria involve this mob, from the game files.

Monster HunterKill any hostile monster Monsters HuntedKill one of every hostile monster

Command

Summon a Spider/summon →

/summon minecraft:spider ~ ~ ~

When is a Spider hostile?

A Spider's mood depends on the light around it. In the dark, at night or in a cave, it attacks you on sight. In bright light, for example in the middle of the day, it ignores you and wanders around, unless you attack it. Unlike zombies and skeletons, it does not burn in the sun, so you still meet Spiders during the day.

Walls, gaps and cobwebs

Spiders climb any vertical wall, so a plain wall does not keep them out of your base. Add a one-block overhang along the top: a Spider cannot climb upside down and stays stuck under it. They also leap at you from a few blocks away, and cobwebs do not slow them down.

A Spider is wide but low. It crawls through gaps one block high, but it cannot follow you into a tunnel one block wide. The smaller Cave Spider can.

Spider jockeys and Hard difficulty

Now and then a Spider spawns with a Skeleton riding it. The pair combines speed and arrows. Kill the Spider and the archer is left on foot. Water helps too: a Spider throws off its rider underwater.

On Hard difficulty, some Spiders spawn with an effect such as Speed, Strength, Regeneration or Invisibility. An invisible Spider still shows its red eyes in the dark.

How to fight Spiders

Light up your surroundings. Torches stop Spiders from spawning near your base.
Use Bane of Arthropods. It deals extra damage to Spiders and slows them down.
Forget poison. Spiders are immune to Poison, so arrows and potions of Poison do nothing.

What string and spider eyes are for

String is one of the most useful early drops. Four make a block of wool, and it goes into the bow, the fishing rod and the lead. A Spider spawner in a dungeon makes an easy string farm.

A Spider Eye poisons you if you eat it, but it is the brewing ingredient of the Potion of Poison. Crafted with sugar and a brown mushroom, it becomes a Fermented Spider Eye, which turns potions into their negative versions.

✓ Checked in Java Edition 26.3 · updated 1 November 2026

Spider — FAQ

Are Spiders hostile during the day?

Not in bright light. A Spider in daylight ignores you unless you hit it, but in the dark it attacks on sight. It also does not burn in the sun.

How do you keep Spiders out of your base?

Light the area with torches so they cannot spawn, and add a one-block overhang at the top of your walls. Spiders climb walls but cannot climb upside down.

Can Spiders be poisoned?

No. Spiders and Cave Spiders are immune to Poison, so use a plain or Bane of Arthropods weapon instead.

Where does the Spider spawn?

In every Overworld biome except Deep Dark, Mushroom Fields and Sulfur Caves.

What does a Spider drop?

String and Spider Eye. Only when killed by a player: Spider Eye.