Spider Jockey

Spider Jockey

Spawn	See Spawning

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Spider jockeys are the rare appearance of a spider being ridden by a skeleton.

Spawning

There is a 1% chance for a spider to spawn with a skeleton riding it. If the difficulty is set to “Hard”, Spider Jockeys have a higher chance of spawning.

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-block tall space with a transparent block above, so the skeleton is stuck in the transparent block.

Like the regular mobs, the skeleton can spawn with armor and/or an enchanted bow, and, in Java Edition, the spider has a chance to spawn with a status effect. See Skeleton#Geared skeletons and Spider#Status effects for details.

Spider jockey spawned with the skeleton's head inside glass.

In Bedrock Edition, baby zombie variants can mount spiders and cave spiders. See Zombie for details.

Behavior

The skeleton is still able to shoot arrows, but can't walk on its own because it is riding the spider. Also, the spider and the skeleton cannot attack each other, but they can attack players and other mobs. The spider can still climb and walk at its normal speed and is not weighed down by the skeleton.

In Java Edition, the spider does not attack any entity, and the movement of the spider jockey is controlled by the skeleton.

In Bedrock Edition, the movement of the spider jockey is controlled by the spider, which behaves like usual.

History

[hide]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.
[hide]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.
[hide]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 their sitting position has been shifted a bit lower.
1.10			16w20a				Spiders spawned in cold biomes can now have a stray skeleton rider.
1.11			16w32a				Spider jockeys no longer naturally spawn with a stray rider or wither skeleton rider.
1.13			pre5				Spider jockeys now spawn. They did not since 1.9.4 due to a bug.
1.14			18w43a				The textures of spider jockeys have been changed.
							The movement of a spider jockey is now controlled by the skeleton. The spider in a spider jockey no longer performs melee spider attacks on the player.
[hide]Pocket Edition Alpha
v0.11.0			build 1				Added spider jockeys. Cave spiders also have a chance to spawn with a skeleton rider.
v0.12.1			build 1				Added wither skeleton jockeys with a cave spider variant.
							Spider jockeys have an 80% chance to spawn with a wither skeleton rider when spawned in the Nether (via spawn eggs, monster spawners, etc).
v0.15.0			build 1				Spider jockeys now have a 80% chance to spawn with a stray rider in snowy biomes.
							Skeletons that ride spider jockeys now lower their arms when idle.
[hide]Bedrock Edition
1.10.0			beta 1.10.0.3				The textures of spiders have now been changed.
?							Cave spiders no longer spawn jockeys.
							Wither skeletons and strays no longer spawn as riders.
[hide]Legacy Console Edition
Xbox 360	Xbox One	PS3	PS4	PS Vita	Wii U	Switch
TU1	CU1	1.00	1.00	1.00	Patch 1	1.0.1	Added spider jockeys.
			1.90				The texture of spider jockeys has now been changed.
[hide]New Nintendo 3DS Edition
0.1.0							Added spider jockeys.

Issues

Issues relating to "Spider Jockey" are maintained on the bug tracker. Issues should be reported and viewed there.

Gallery

Screenshots

• 

  A spider jockey with an enchanted bow and armor.

• 

  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 morning.

• 

  A burning spider jockey.

• 

  A wither skeleton riding cave spider.

• 

  A Jockey while it's raining.

• 

  Spider jockey chasing a player.

• 

  Spider Jockey in cave.

• 

  A skeleton riding a pig riding a spider.

• 

  A spider jockey.

• 

  A spider jockey with an enchanted bow shooting an arrow at the player.

In other media

• 

  Lego Minecraft Spider Jockey.