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Sniffer – The Ancient Minecraft Mob

The ever-evolving world of Minecraft is known for its continual introduction of new elements and creatures, and the latest addition is no exception. Meet the Sniffer, a sizable, ancient mob that has been brought back to life to add a unique touch to your Minecraft adventures.

Minecraft sniffer

Appearance of the Sniffer

The Sniffer is a passive mob, making it a friendly companion in your Minecraft world. In terms of size, an adult Sniffer stands at a height of 1.75 blocks and has a width of 1.9 blocks, making it one of the largest mobs in the Overworld, considerably larger than your player character. Baby sniffers, known as Snifflets, are smaller with a height of 0.7875 blocks and a width of 0.855 blocks. Interestingly, Snifflets are characterized by a larger head compared to the adults, adding a cute factor to these mobs.

Abilities and Behaviour of the Sniffer

Sniffers are unique in their ability to detect and dig out seeds for various unique decorative plants from dirt and moss blocks. These creatures wander aimlessly, avoiding hazards and obstacles. They occasionally smell their surroundings and track ancient seeds by pressing their nose to the ground. When they find a seed, they sploot, a term used to describe the action of lying flat on their belly, and use their noses to dig into the ground until they uncover torchflower seeds or a pitcher pod. A Sniffer requires at least a 6×6 space to sniff out these ancient seeds and has an eight-minute cooldown before it can dig again.

Sniffers can dig the following blocks: Dirt, Grass Block, Podzol, Coarse Dirt, Rooted Dirt, Moss Block, Mud, and Muddy Mangrove Roots.

Breeding and Healing

Sniffers can be bred using torchflower seeds. When two adult sniffers breed, they drop a Sniffer egg, after which the parents have a 5-minute cooldown before they can breed again. Sniffers are healed by 2 health points each time they are fed a torchflower seed. When killed, adult Sniffers drop 1–3 experience points if killed by a player or a tamed wolf; Snifflets, however, drop no experience, just like other baby animals.

The Journey to Minecraft

The Sniffer was introduced to Minecraft as the winner of the Minecraft Live 2022 Mob Community Vote, accumulating over 55% of the overall vote, beating out the Rascal and the Tuff Golem. The developers at Mojang described it as an “ancient mob”, long considered extinct, that players would need to revive by finding Sniffer eggs underwater, specifically in suspicious sand found in warm ocean ruins.

Before the full release in Minecraft 1.20, the Sniffer was made available in a Bedrock Beta and preview and Java Snapshot, where players could find it in Creative Mode without all its functions, including finding and hatching the egg. However, once 1.20 went live, the Sniffer became fully feature complete and wholly implemented into the game.

As of Snapshot 23w12a, the Sniffer Egg can be found in the Suspicious Sand block within the Warm Ocean Ruins location. When two Sniffers breed, they do not immediately spawn a Snifflet (like other breeding animals) but instead drop a Sniffer Egg. The Sniffer egg takes around 20 minutes to hatch.

Tame your own Sniffer

The Sniffer’s addition to Minecraft adds a new layer of exploration and discovery, as well as an opportunity to interact with a unique, friendly mob. Whether you’re a veteran player or a newbie to the Minecraft world, the Sniffer offers a fun and exciting way to unearth ancient seeds and breed new mobs. Happy Sniffer hunting!

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