Minecraft's new armadillo mob will protect you from one of the most annoying mobs

The most recent of Minecraft's many updates is the aptly named Armored Paws update. While this patch may be considered minor, its changes are actually quite significant. It brings wolf armor, cute new Minecraft wolf types spread across hot and cold climates alike, and adorable armadillos to keep the game's warmer biomes feeling a bit more lived-in.

One of the lesser-known aspects of armadillos in Minecraft is that they can scare off spiders and cave spiders. But there's a lot more to know about these interesting mobs besides just scaring spiders, all of which are detailed below.

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Minecraft's new armadillos will protect players from spiders

A spider running away from an armadillo (Image via Mojang Studios)

As mentioned, armadillos will scare off both spiders and cave spiders. This makes them particularly useful within Minecraft's gorgeous badlands biomes, where they spawn since mineshafts are often exposed to the surface there. This is similar to how Minecraft's cats can scare off both phantoms and creepers, and it will make these mobs useful for guarding a survival base's perimeter.

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What else can armadillos do?

Armadillo scutes are useful for making wolf armor (Image via Mojang Studios)

Armadillos aren't only useful for scaring off potential arachnid threats, though. They also drop armadillo scutes roughly every five to 10 minutes. These scutes are used to craft and maintain wolf armor. Wolf armor can be put on tamed wolves and acts similarly to a shield, absorbing HP damage as durability damage instead.

Combined with the fact that wolves have also had their health increased from 10 hearts to 20 hearts and that healing has been made twice as efficient for wolves, these animal companions are much better at holding their own.

This means armadillos are incredibly useful for explorers who want to use tamed wolves to take on adventuring threats, like the illagers within elusive Minecraft woodland mansions or skeletons and zombies deep underground.

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Everything else about armadillos

An armadillo curled up into a ball (Image via Mojang Studios)

There's a bit more to know about these mobs other than their gameplay uses. The first thing is they have six hearts and spawn in groups of two to three in savannas and groups of one or two in badlands. It makes sense that spiders avoid armadillos, as they eat spider eyes. They can also be led with them, similar to how many of Minecraft's passive mobs can be led around with food.

Additionally, armadillos have a fun signature behavior. They can curl up into an armored ball whenever they sense a potential threat. If an armadillo takes damage, sees an undead mob, or sprinting or mounted player, they will make a surprised noise and curl up. While in ball form, they take much less damage but cannot move, eat, or be tempted by food.

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