The strider is the Nether’s most useful mount: a lava-walking mob that turns deadly orange lava oceans into highways. Saddle one, steer it with a warped fungus on a stick, and you can cross the Basalt Deltas or a sprawling lava lake without ever touching fire damage. This guide covers exactly where striders spawn, how to saddle and control them, how breeding works, and why they’re the safest way to traverse lava in the Nether.
Where striders spawn
Striders spawn in every Nether biome — Nether Wastes, Soul Sand Valley, Crimson Forest, Warped Forest, and Basalt Deltas — but only on lava. Specifically, they spawn on spaces of lava that have an air block above, in groups of 2 to 4. Because they need open lava, the biggest spawning grounds are the Basalt Deltas and the wide lava oceans you find at low Nether elevations.
For each strider that spawns, there’s a 1-in-10 chance an additional baby strider spawns riding on top of it. In Java Edition, an adult also has a 1-in-30 chance of spawning ridden by a zombified piglin — the “strider jockey.” In that case the strider spawns already wearing a saddle and the piglin wields its own warped fungus on a stick. Bedrock Edition does not currently spawn the jockey due to a known bug, so if you want a free saddle, play on Java.
Saddling and steering a strider
Saddling works just like a pig. Use a saddle on an adult strider to equip it, then mount up. You cannot craft saddles, so bring one from a chest, fishing, or trading. Saddles can be removed again with shears, and a saddled strider always drops its saddle when it dies.
Once mounted, the strider moves forward on its own and you steer it with a warped fungus on a stick — the Nether’s answer to the carrot on a stick. Hold the item to point the strider where you’re looking. Pressing the use control triggers a temporary speed boost and consumes 1 point of durability per use.
The warped fungus on a stick
You craft a warped fungus on a stick by combining a fishing rod with a warped fungus diagonally in the crafting grid. A damaged fishing rod works too. Warped fungus comes from the warped (and crimson) forest biomes; you can also grow it renewably by applying bone meal to warped nylium, which makes warped fungi sprout nearby.
The tool has 100 uses in Java Edition (101 in Bedrock). When you boost, it spends 1 durability. When durability hits 0, the item doesn’t break — it turns back into a fishing rod, so you don’t lose anything entirely. You can repair it by combining two damaged copies in a crafting grid, grindstone, or anvil, which adds their durability together plus a bonus.
The boost itself is generous on Java: each use lasts somewhere between 7 and 49 seconds (140 to 980 game ticks). On Bedrock the boost duration is fixed at about 16 seconds. Either way, on flat lava you’ll comfortably outpace anything walking the Nether floor.
Strider speed: lava vs. land
Striders are built for lava and miserable everywhere else. On lava they glide; on solid ground they trudge. The boost only matters in lava, where it roughly doubles their cruising speed. Here are the wiki-listed values.
| Situation | Java Edition | Bedrock Edition |
|---|---|---|
| Walking on flat lava | 4.24 m/s | 3.71 m/s |
| Walking on land | 1.78 m/s | 1.64 m/s |
| Boosted (peak, on lava) | 9.12 m/s | 7.98 m/s |
| Health | 20 HP (10 hearts) | 20 HP (10 hearts) |
Why striders are the safe way to cross lava
A strider takes no damage from lava at all — it’s completely immune, so riding one across a lava ocean keeps both the mount and you out of harm’s way (you’re sitting on top, not in the lava). That makes a saddled strider far safer than bridging across by hand, where one mistimed jump means a fire death and lost gear. For wide lava lakes that would otherwise need a long, tedious cobblestone bridge, a strider is the fastest and least risky option.
The catch is water. Striders take 1 HP of damage roughly every half-second in water or rain, and they take extra damage from freezing in powder snow. The moment a strider leaves lava it turns a dull purple, frowns, shivers, its legs shorten, and it slows dramatically — a clear visual warning that it’s unhappy on solid ground. Keep your strider on lava, and keep it away from any water source.
Breeding striders
Feed two striders warped fungus (the fungus itself, not the stick) to breed them. Breeding grants 1–7 experience orbs, and parents then need about 5 minutes before they can breed again. Babies take 20 minutes to grow into adults, and you can speed that up by feeding warped fungus — each feeding takes 10% off the remaining grow time.
Babies can’t be saddled until they grow up, and a baby strider drops no items or experience if it dies. Adults drop 2–5 string (up to 2–8 with Looting III on Java; Bedrock has no Looting) and 1–3 XP when killed by a player or a tamed wolf.
Frequently asked questions
Can you take a strider to the Overworld?
Yes — you can lead a strider through a portal or leash it. But it’ll turn purple, shiver, and crawl along on land, and it takes damage in rain and water. It survives in the Overworld only if you keep it dry, so it’s mostly a novelty there rather than a practical mount.
What happens when the warped fungus on a stick runs out?
It doesn’t vanish. At 0 durability it converts back into a fishing rod, so you keep the rod and just need a fresh warped fungus to re-craft the tool. You can also pre-emptively repair it by combining two used copies.
Do I need to boost the whole time I’m riding?
No. The strider walks forward automatically and you steer by looking around. Boosting is optional and only useful on lava; save it for long open stretches so you don’t burn through durability on short hops.
Keep exploring the Nether
Once you can cross lava freely, the rest of the Nether opens up. Track down loot in our Minecraft Nether Fortress guide, then bring those skills back to the Overworld with the Warden & Deep Dark guide and the Trial Chambers guide.
Riding striders is even more fun with a crew — racing across a lava ocean or building a shared strider farm is the kind of thing that’s great on a Minecraft server you run with friends. If you’re setting one up, our Minecraft server documentation walks you through it step by step.
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