Strider
passiveBreedableOurs, not the game's own: how a strider behaves. Bedrock v1.26.40.05 differs: spawn weight 60 on Java against 20 on Bedrock; groups of 1 to 2 on Java against 2 to 4 on Bedrock. Checked 2026-08-22, and here is how we check.
Added InOverview
The Strider is a passive mob in Minecraft, which means it will never attack a player and simply goes about its own behaviour.
Its defining trait is simple: walks on lava.
With 20 HP (10 hearts) on its bar, killing one rewards 1 to 3 experience.
It was first added in 1.16 and has been a fixture of Minecraft ever since.
A useful detail many players miss: Baby striders sometimes spawn riding an adult.
Because it breeds and drops useful materials, the Strider is a staple of self-sufficient survival bases, supplying string on demand.
Spawning
Natural spawns for the Strider occur in Nether (lava oceans).
Because it appears across 5 different biomes, it is one of the easier mobs to track down, and heading to any of them should turn one up before long.
Spawns on lava surfaces in the Nether in groups of 2-4.
Being a Nether mob, it ignores the Overworld's darkness rules and can spawn regardless of light level within its home biomes, which makes the Nether dangerous even in well-lit areas.
They tend to arrive in clusters of 2-4 rather than alone, so expect to meet more than one at a time.
It spawns on the open lava of the Nether and nowhere else, so this is not a hunt you can start in the Overworld: you need a portal and a lava sea first.
With no attack to worry about, the Strider is something you gather or farm rather than fight.
Where the Strider spawns
Basalt Deltas, Crimson Forest, Nether Wastes and Soul Sand Valley are where it stands strongest: weight 60 on the creature list and 100% of it, arriving 1 to 2 at a time. That is the whole list.
| Biome | Weight | Share | Group |
|---|---|---|---|
 Basalt Deltas | 60 | 100% | 1 to 2 |
 Crimson Forest | 60 | 100% | 1 to 2 |
 Nether Wastes | 60 | 100% | 1 to 2 |
 Soul Sand Valley | 60 | 100% | 1 to 2 |
 Warped Forest | 60 | 100% | 1 to 2 |
Drops
Killing a Strider produces the following loot:
Every kill yields 2 to 5 String.
You also collect 1 to 3 experience for every Strider you defeat.
String from striders is renewable, so a small breeding setup keeps you supplied indefinitely.
Since every item here is guaranteed, the only variable is quantity, which makes this mob a dependable, low-variance source of what it carries.
Because the Strider is harmless and breeds, the efficient long-term approach is a small enclosed pen where a breeding pair keeps replacing what you harvest, rather than hunting wild ones down one by one.
| Item | Count | Chance | Conditions |
|---|---|---|---|
| String | 2 to 5 | always | Looting III up to 8 |
It is not the only source of String: the spider drops 0 to 2, the cave spider the same and the cat the same.
Strider attributes
| Attribute | Value |
|---|---|
 Size | 0.9 x 1.7 blocks |
 Tracking range | 10 chunks |
 Movement speed | 0.175 |
| Follow range | 16 blocks |
 Health | 20 points |
 Experience | 1 to 3 |
The Strider does not stand alone on these numbers: the mule on the same 0.175 movement speed.
Strider: 7.58% of its category, rank 13 of 52
On 5 of the 66 biome lists (5 spawn entries in total), and 7.58% of every spawn the game puts in its creature group is a strider.
The ranges Minecraft Java 26.2 rolls for a strider give 3.5 String per kill, so 64 String costs 19 kills before Looting.
| Item | Average per kill |
|---|---|
 String | 3.5 |
How this average is worked out
| Weapon | Attack damage | Full swings | Swings per 64 String |
|---|---|---|---|
 golden sword, wooden sword | 4 | 5 | 95 |
 stone sword | 5 | 4 | 76 |
 iron sword | 6 | 4 | 76 |
 diamond sword, golden axe, wooden axe | 7 | 3 | 57 |
 netherite sword | 8 | 3 | 57 |
 diamond axe, iron axe, stone axe | 9 | 3 | 57 |
 netherite axe | 10 | 2 | 38 |
Behavior & Combat
Behaviourally, walks on lava. Can be saddled and ridden, steered with a Warped Fungus on a Stick. Shivers and turns purple when outside of lava.
At 0.175 it is 61st of 72 for speed, just above the panda at 0.15.
Dealing zero damage, the Strider is one of the safest creatures to be around.
To breed them, hand Warped Fungus to a pair of adults; they enter love mode and a baby Strider appears, maturing in roughly twenty minutes.
Once prepared it can be ridden, which makes it as much a means of transport as a creature to study.
All told, the Strider is a low-risk part of the world that rewards patience more than aggression.
Strider commands
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
| /summon minecraft:strider | Puts a strider on the block you are standing on. |
| /give @p minecraft:strider_spawn_egg | Hands you the strider spawn egg, so you can place striders where you want them. |
| /kill @e[type=minecraft:strider] | Removes every strider that is loaded around you. |
Entity id minecraft:strider, spawn egg minecraft:strider_spawn_egg.
Strider farm
Build a strider farm around the one rule the game applies to every strider. Spawns on lava surfaces in the Nether in groups of 2-4.
Basalt Deltas is where the strider has the biggest slice of the roll, 100% across the 5 lists the strider appears on, and that is the biome to build a strider farm in.
1 to 2 striders arrive per roll, so give the strider platform width instead of stacking it.
Breeding beats waiting on spawns here: warped fungus given to two adults produces a baby, and the pen keeps working in a lit, walled space where nothing new would ever spawn.
Each kill is worth 1 to 3 experience and up to 5 string, or 8 with Looting III, so the size of the strider farm follows the number you need of that one item.
Strider version history
23 June 2020 is the day the strider arrived, in Minecraft 1.16, and the strider has been part of the game for 6 years since.
3 other mobs here came with it: the piglin, the hoglin and the zoglin. Of the 88 mobs we list, 63 were in the game before the strider and 21 arrived after it.
All of the strider data above is taken from Java 26.2, so it describes the strider as it is today.
What Strider sounds like
Turn subtitles on and every strider sound names itself in the corner of the screen. These are the 6 lines a strider can put there, and you can play any of them yourself with /playsound minecraft:entity.strider.idle master @p.
| Sound | What you hear |
|---|---|
| entity.strider.idle |  Strider chirps |
| entity.strider.hurt | Strider hurts |
| entity.strider.death | Strider dies |
| entity.strider.eat | Strider eats |
| entity.strider.happy | Strider warbles |
| entity.strider.retreat | Strider retreats |
Advancements that need Strider
3 advancements ask for strider by name, 2 of them about the strider alone.
Feels Like HomeTake a Strider for a loooong ride on a lava lake in the Overworld- This Boat Has LegsRide a Strider with a Warped Fungus on a Stick
Two by TwoBreed all the animals!
