Spider Jockey

Health points	Skeleton: 20 ( × 10) Spider: 16 ( × 8) Cave Spider: 12 ( × 6)
Attack strength	Skeleton with bow: Easy: 1 () - 4 () Normal: 1 () - 4 () Hard: 1 () - 5 () Skeleton melee: Easy: 2 () Normal: 2 () Hard: 3 () Wither Skeleton: Easy: 5 () Normal: 8 () Hard: 12 ( × 6) Spider: Easy: 2 () Normal: 2 () Hard: 3 () Cave Spider: Easy: 2 () Normal: 2 () Hard: 3 ()
Spawn	See Spawning
First appearances	See History
Drops	See Drops
Experience	5 upon Skeleton's death 5 upon Spider's death
Internal ID	JE: Skeleton: (Skeleton: 51, Wither Skeleton: 5, Stray: 6) Spider: 52 BE: Skeleton: (Skeleton: 34, Wither Skeleton: 48, Stray: 46) Spider: 35
Entity ID	Skeleton: skeleton, wither_skeleton, stray Spider: spider

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Please remove this notice once you've added suitable images to the article. The specific instructions are: Add renders of stray spider jockey and stray cave spider jockey.

A spider jockey^[1] is the rare appearance of a spider being ridden by a skeleton.

Spawning[edit]

Spiders and skeletons[edit]

A spider jockey.

There is a 1% chance that a spider will spawn with a skeleton riding them, 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% 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 up to a 10% 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.

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 skeletons head is stuck in the transparent block.

Spider jockey spawned with skeletons head inside glass.

Using the summon command: /summon spider ~ ~ ~ {Passengers:[{id:skeleton,HandItems:[{id:bow,Count:1b}]}]} will yield a spider jockey.

Bedrock Edition[edit]

A cave spider jockey in Bedrock Edition.

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 that its skeleton rider will 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 that its skeleton rider will 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 chickens,
Adult ocelots
Adult wild wolves
Adult zombies and variants
Cows
Pigs
Sheep
Horses and variants
Mooshrooms
Spiders
Cave spiders
Polar bears
Llamas
Adult pandas
Adult Stray cats

Drops[edit]

Main articles: Spider § Drops, Cave Spider § Drops, Skeleton § Drops, Wither Skeleton § Drops and Stray § Drops

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 will wander aimlessly in the day and only pursue 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 will continue to attack and move, and vice-versa). If a spider jockey jumps into water, the skeleton will jump off the spider.

The skeleton will turn and fire at the player as soon as it sees them no matter the time of day (although the skeleton will quickly burn 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 will focus its attack on 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 will jump off and leave the spider to engage the skeleton that shot it.

A spider jockey can kill itself - sometimes the skeleton arrows will injure the spider and other times the spider's pouncing will run the skeleton into its own arrow.

When a spider jockey rides a minecart, the minecart will automatically accelerate, along with the spider's legs moving as if it was walking.

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.
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 will shoot the player with arrows but the spider will 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.
Java Edition
1.4.2			12w34a		Spider spawn eggs now have a chance to spawn a spider jockey.
1.4.2			12w36a		Spider spawn eggs used in nether fortresses 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.
1.10			16w20a		Spiders spawned in cold biomes can have a stray skeleton rider.
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 jockeys with a cave spider variant.
0.14.0			build 1		Spiders and cave spiders can 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.
0.15.0			build 1		Spiders and cave spiders can be mounted by baby husks.
Legacy Console Edition
TU1	CU1	1.0	Patch 1	Patch s1	Added spider jockeys.
New Nintendo 3DS Edition
0.1.0					Added Spider Jockeys.