Strider

Overview

Lava is the Nether's real obstacle, and a Strider is the only mob that solves it. Saddle one, hold a warped fungus on a stick, and you can walk across a lava sea at a decent pace with no bridge, no boat and no Fire Resistance potion — the mob is immune to lava and moves fastest on it. Off the lava it is close to useless, plodding along at a painful crawl on solid ground, so the practical technique is to ride the lava and dismount only at the far shore. Two things kill a Strider. Water damages it outright, and being out of lava makes it shiver and turn purple, gradually taking damage in the rain or in the Overworld. It has 20 health, is entirely passive, and often spawns carrying a baby Strider on its back. Leads work, and two leashed striders follow each other, which is how players ferry a breeding pair home rather than taming a new one every trip. Breeding uses warped fungus, the same plant that scares a Hoglin away, so one crop covers both jobs. Killing one drops 2 to 5 string.

Crossing lava. A saddled Strider carries you over the Nether's lava seas at speed with no bridge and no Fire Resistance, which turns the dimension's biggest obstacle into a road.

Striders are lava taxis. Saddle one, hold a warped fungus on a stick, and you can cross the enormous lava seas of the Nether at walking pace without a boat, bridge or fire resistance. They move fast on lava and painfully slowly on land, and they shiver and turn purple when out of lava or in the rain, taking damage in water. Two on leads follow each other, which is how players ferry them home.

Strider is a passive mob in Minecraft Java Edition 1.21.4. You will need to deal 20 damage — 10 hearts — to kill one. It is worth 3 XP.

Properties

Strider has 20 health, which is 10 hearts. It drops up to 3 experience when a player kills it. Its hitbox is 0.9 blocks wide and 1.7 tall, which is what decides whether it fits through a gap or a one-block-high opening.

Added in: 1.16
Breedable: Yes

Spawns in

Spawns on lava lakes anywhere in the Nether, often carrying a baby strider on its back.

It is restricted to Nether Wastes, Basalt Deltas, Crimson Forest, Warped Forest, and Soul Sand Valley, so it will never turn up outside those biomes however dark it gets.

Dimension: The Nether
Light level: Any
Biomes: Nether Wastes, Basalt Deltas, Crimson Forest, Warped Forest, Soul Sand Valley
Added in: 1.16

Dimension: The Nether · Added in 1.16

Drops

Killing Strider drops String, plus up to 3 experience. Looting raises the maximum on most of these by one per level.

String: 2–5

How it behaves

The Strider never attacks. The only reason to be careful around one is that killing it is often not what you want: breeding it is worth more than the drop.

Killed by a player it drops up to 3 experience; killed any other way it drops none.

Command

In a world with cheats on, this spawns one Strider where you are standing.

Summon

/summon minecraft:strider ~ ~ ~

Guides and tools that cover this

Frequently asked questions

How do you ride a Strider?

Put a saddle on it and hold a warped fungus on a stick. It follows the fungus exactly as a pig follows a carrot.

What do striders eat?

Warped fungus. It breeds them, heals them and is the item on the stick used to steer.

Why is my Strider shivering?

It is out of lava. A shivering Strider turns purple, moves slowly and takes damage in rain or water.

What do striders drop?

2 to 5 string and 1 to 3 experience.

How much health does the Strider have in Minecraft?

The Strider has 20 health points, which is 10 hearts.

What does the Strider drop?

It drops String, plus 3 experience when killed by a player.

Where does the Strider spawn?