Spider Jockey

The spider is in control of the spider jockey’s movements but the spider only considers itself when moving. Both the spider and the skeleton take damage separately and can die individually, notably, the skeleton burns in sunlight, leaving the spider unharmed. The skeleton turns and fires at any player that is its line of sight, regardless of the time of day. A spider jockey can attack two separate players in multiplayer game modes.

This is caused by one player damaging one half of the spider jockey and not the other. If the skeleton shoots a separate hostile mob, the mob will attack the skeleton but not the spider being ridden, even after the skeleton has been killed. If the skeleton on the spider jockey is shot by another skeleton, it will dismount and leave the spider to engage the skeleton that shot it. The skeleton will also dismount if the spider enters water.

A spider jockey will also sometimes kill itself, since sometimes the skeleton's arrow injures the spider and the spider will retaliate against the skeleton and sometimes the spider's pouncing will run the skeleton into its own arrow. If a spider jockey rides in a minecart, the minecart will automatically accelerate, with the spider's legs moving as if it was walking alongside the minecart.

Spider jockeys make up both the best and worst parts of their respective counterparts. There is a 1% chance for a spider jockey to form in most biomes, while in snowy biomes, a spider has a 0.8% chance to spawn a stray on its back in order to form a stray spider jockey.

In the Nether, a spider has a 0.8% chance to spawn a wither skeleton on its back and form a spider jockey, though in this case the spider must be spawned with a spawn egg, commands, or spawners, since spiders do not naturally spawn there.

The best way to deal with a spider jockey is to take the separateness of the two parts into consideration, since the spider is in complete control of its movements but will only considers itself when walking around, making it easy to fight the spider jockey on a close range basis, since the skeleton will have a harder time at close range.

Spider jockeys have separate drops for the skeleton and spider portions, with both halves having the same drops as their non jockey counterparts. The regular skeleton half can drop:

1. 0–2 bones (there’s a chance to drop a maximum of 0-5 bones with Looting III).
2. 0–2 arrows. The maximum drop is increased by 1 per level of Looting, for a maximum of 0-5 arrows with Looting III.
3. Any naturally spawned equipment (including the bow) has an 8.5% chance of dropping if killed by the player with a chance of enchantments, though it will be damaged. The odds of equipment dropping increase by 1% with each level of Looting with a maximum of 11.5% with Looting III.
4. A skeleton will drop its skull if killed by the explosion of a charged creeper
5. Any picked-up equipment will have a 100% chance of dropping once the mob is killed and wil drop with the same damage level it had when picked up.
6. Skeletons drop 5 experience when killed by either a player or tamed wolf, with an extra 1–3 experience, if the stray has equipment.

The stray skeleton half can drop:

1. 0–2 bones (there’s a chance to drop a maximum of 0-5 bones with Looting III).
2. 0–2 arrows. The maximum drop is increased by 1 per level of Looting, for a maximum of 0-5 arrows with Looting III.
3. 0–1 arrow of Slowness (if stray was killed by either the Player or tamed wolf). Each level of Looting will increase the chance of this specific drop by 50% of the previous chance, resulting in a maximum of a 93.75% chance of this drop with Looting III.
4. Any naturally spawned equipment (including the bow) has an 8.5% chance of dropping if killed by the player with a chance of enchantments, though it will be damaged. The odds of equipment dropping increase by 1% with each level of Looting with a maximum of 11.5% with Looting III.
5. Any picked-up equipment will have a 100% chance of dropping once the mob is killed and wil drop with the same damage level it had when picked up.
6. Strays drop 5 experience when killed by either a player or tamed wolf, with an extra 1–3 experience, if the stray has equipment.

The wither skeleton half can drop:

1. 0–2 bones (there’s a chance to drop a maximum of 0-5 bones with Looting III).
2. There is a 1⁄3 chance to drop a single piece of coal. Each level of Looting will increase the maximum drop by 1
3. 2.5% chance to drop a wither skeleton skull when killed by a player or tamed wolf, with a maximum 8.5% chance if killed with Looting III and a 100% chance if killed by a charged creeper.
4. Any naturally spawned equipment (including the sword) has an 8.5% chance of dropping if killed by the player with a chance of enchantments, though it will be damaged. The odds of equipment dropping increase by 1% with each level of Looting with a maximum of 11.5% with Looting III.
5. Wither skeletons drop 5 experience when killed by either a player or tamed wolf, with an extra 1–3 experience, if the stray has equipment.
6. If a wither skeleton is wearing either a carved pumpkin or jack o'lantern and is killed using a tool enchanted with Looting, there is a chance equivalent to the level of Looting for the carved pumpkin or jack o’lantern to drop.

The regular spider/ cave spider half can drop:

1. 0–2 strings (there’s a chance to drop a maximum of 0-5 strings with Looting III).
2. Spiders drop 5 experience when killed by either a player or tamed wolf
3. There is a 1⁄3 chance to drop a spider eye when a spider is killed by either a player or tamed wolf. Each level of Looting will increase the maximum drop by 1

Q. What does a spider jockey drop?

A. Spider jockeys have separate drops for the skeleton and spider portions, with both halves having the same drops as their non jockey counterparts.

Q. How rare is it to see a spider jockey?

A. There is a 1% chance for a spider jockey to form in most biomes, while in snowy biomes, a spider has a 0.8% chance to spawn a stray on its back in order to form a stray spider jockey.

Spider jockeys are a rare mob with multiple variations that players can search for or stumble upon by chance. There rarity has made them an iconic Minecraft mob, despite their clear weaknesses due to their makeup of two mobs which don’t work together