Sniffer

For other uses, see Sniffer (disambiguation).

Sniffer

Adult

Snifflet

Health points	14HP × 7
Behavior	Passive
Mob type	Animal
Hitbox size	In Java Edition: Adult: Height: 1.75 blocks Width: 1.9 blocks Snifflet: Height: 0.875 blocks Width: 0.95 blocks In Bedrock Edition: Adult: Height: 1.75 blocks Width: 1.9 blocks Snifflet: Height: 0.7875 blocks Width: 0.855 blocks
Speed	0.1
Spawn	When a sniffer egg hatches.
Usable items	Lead Name Tag Torchflower Seeds Golden Dandelion (baby only)

A sniffer is an ancient^[1] passive mob that spawns only by hatching from sniffer eggs. It looks for and digs up torchflower and pitcher plant seeds in dirt, grass, and moss blocks.

Spawning

Sniffers spawn by hatching from sniffer eggs, which can be found in suspicious sand from warm ocean ruins. Sniffers cannot spawn naturally. Breeding sniffers with torchflower seeds can also result in a sniffer egg being laid as an item.

Drops

On death

When killed, adult sniffers drop 1–3XP experience points if it was killed by a player or a tamed wolf. Snifflets, just like other baby animals, do not drop any experience points.

Breeding

Upon successful breeding, 1–7XP is dropped.

Behavior

Sniffers wander aimlessly, avoiding hazards and obstacles. They occasionally smell their surroundings and track ancient seeds by pressing their snout to the ground. When they find a seed, they sploot^[2] and use their snouts to dig into the ground until they get torchflower seeds or a pitcher pod, with an equal chance of digging up either one.

A sniffer can only dig if it is on the ground. A sniffer cannot dig when it is leashed, in water, tempted with a torchflower seed, panicking, or in a boat or minecart. The block underneath its head must be diggable and reachable by the sniffer. The head location is defined as 2.25 blocks in front of the center of the body. The sniffer also stores its prior 20 digging locations to prevent subsequent digging at those locations. After sniffing out seeds, an eight-minute cooldown is activated before it can search again.

The following blocks are diggable by the sniffer:

• Coarse Dirt
• Dirt
• Grass Block
• Moss Block
• Mud
• Muddy Mangrove Roots
• Pale Moss Block
• Rooted Dirt
• Podzol

In Java Edition, data packs can change this list by modifying the minecraft:sniffer_diggable_block block tag.

Sniffers cannot dig on mycelium.^[3]

Breeding

A player can breed sniffers by using torchflower seeds on two sniffers. In Bedrock Edition, only sniffers at full health can breed. When two adult sniffers breed, they drop a sniffer egg as an item on the ground, and then enter a 5-minute cooldown before they can breed again. Once placed by a player, a sniffer egg hatches after 10 minutes if placed on a moss block or 20 minutes otherwise.

Healing

This feature is exclusive to Bedrock Edition.

In Bedrock Edition, sniffers are healed by 2HP health points each time they are fed a torchflower seed.

Snifflets

A baby sniffer is called a snifflet.^[4] Snifflets require 48000 game ticks to grow up into adult sniffers, which is equal to 40 minutes or two in-game days, twice as long as most other baby mobs in the game. The remaining growth time is reduced by 10% each time a snifflet is fed torchflower seeds.

Snifflets cannot dig.

Unlike most baby mobs, snifflets do not follow the adults.^[5]

There is an initial lag period between snifflets growing into adults and splooting for seeds.

Sounds

Java Edition:

Bedrock Edition:

Data values

ID

Java Edition

Name	Identifier	Entity tags	Translation key
Sniffer	sniffer	followable_friendly_mobs	entity.minecraft.sniffer

Bedrock Edition

Name	Identifier	Numeric ID	Family	Translation key
Sniffer	sniffer	139	mob sniffer	entity.sniffer.name

Entity data

Sniffers have entity data associated with them that contain various properties.

Java Edition

Bedrock Edition

See Bedrock Edition level format/Entity format.

Achievements

Icon		Achievement	In-game description	Actual requirements (if different)	Gamerscore earned	Trophy type (PS)
PS4	Other
		Planting the past	Plant any Sniffer seed	Plant torchflower seeds or a pitcher pod.	10	Bronze
		It Spreads	Kill a mob next to a catalyst	Kill any mob that drops experience near a sculk catalyst, with the sole exception of the ender dragon. Mobs that drop no experience are ignored for this achievement.	10	Bronze

Achievements that apply to all mobs:

Icon		Achievement	In-game description	Actual requirements (if different)	Gamerscore earned	Trophy type (PS)
PS4	Other
		Overkill	Deal nine hearts of damage in a single hit.	Damage can be dealt to any mob, even those that do not have nine hearts of health overall.	30	Bronze
		Over-Overkill	Deal 50 hearts of damage in a single hit using the Mace	Damage can be dealt to any mob, even those that do not have 50 hearts of health overall.	20	Silver
		Mob Kabob	Hit five mobs in the same Charge attack using the Spear	Armor stands and players also count for this achievement as they are technically mobs.	10	Bronze

Advancements

Icon	Advancement	In-game description	Actual requirements (if different)
	It Spreads	Kill a mob near a Sculk Catalyst	Kill any mob that drops experience near a sculk catalyst, with the sole exception of the ender dragon. Mobs that drop no experience are ignored for this advancement.
	The Parrots and the Bats	Breed two animals together	Breed a pair of any of these 27 animals: Armadillo Axolotl Bee Camel Cat Chicken Cow Donkey Fox Frog Goat Hoglin Horse Llama Mooshroom Mule Nautilus Ocelot Panda Pig Rabbit Sheep Sniffer Strider Trader Llama Turtle Wolf A mule must be the result of breeding a horse and a donkey for this advancement as they are not breedable together. Other breedable mobs are ignored for this advancement.
	Smells Interesting	Obtain a Sniffer Egg	Have a sniffer egg in the inventory. This is a hidden advancement, meaning that it can be viewed by the player only after completing it, regardless of if its child advancement(s), if any, have been completed.
	Two by Two	Breed all the animals!	Breed a pair of each of these 26 animals: Armadillo Axolotl Bee Camel Cat Chicken Cow Donkey Fox Frog Goat Hoglin Horse Llama Mooshroom Mule Nautilus Ocelot Panda Pig Rabbit Sheep Sniffer Strider Turtle Wolf A trader llama does not count as a llama, and a mule must be the result of breeding a horse and a donkey for this advancement as they are not breedable together. Other breedable mobs can be bred, but are ignored for this advancement.
	Little Sniffs	Feed a Snifflet	Feed torchflower seeds to a snifflet. This is a hidden advancement, meaning that it can be viewed by the player only after completing it, regardless of if its child advancement(s), if any, have been completed.
	Planting the Past	Plant any Sniffer seed	Plant either Torchflower Seeds or a Pitcher Pod. This is a hidden advancement, meaning that it can be viewed by the player only after completing it, regardless of if its child advancement(s), if any, have been completed.

Advancements that apply to all mobs:

Icon	Advancement	In-game description	Actual requirements (if different)
	Adventure	Adventure, exploration and combat	Kill any mob, or be killed by any living entity.
	A Throwaway Joke	Throw a Trident at something. Note: Throwing away your only weapon is not a good idea.	Hit a mob with a thrown trident.
	Take Aim	Shoot something with an Arrow	Using a bow or a crossbow, shoot a mob with an arrow, tipped arrow, or spectral arrow.
	Mob Kabob	Hit five mobs in the same Charge attack using the Spear	Armor Stand and Mannequin also count for this advancement.
	Arbalistic	Kill five unique mobs with one crossbow shot	Armor Stand and Mannequin also count for this advancement. This is a hidden advancement, meaning that it can be viewed by the player only after completing it, regardless of if its child advancement(s), if any, have been completed.
	Over-Overkill	Deal 50 hearts of damage in a single hit using the Mace	Damage can be dealt to any mob, even those that do not have 50 hearts of health overall.

Videos

History

Announcement

October 4, 2022							Sniffers are announced as part of the mob vote for Minecraft Live 2022.
October 16, 2022							The sniffer wins the mob vote at Minecraft Live 2022.
January 20, 2023							A sniffer is first shown in-game by Chiwi on Twitter.

Java Edition

Java Edition
1.19.4 Experiment Update 1.20			23w07a				Added sniffers behind the "Update 1.20" experimental data pack.
							Breeding two sniffers spawns a snifflet immediately.
1.20			23w12a				Sniffers are now available without using the "Update 1.20" experimental data pack.
							Breeding two sniffers now causes a sniffer egg to drop as an item.
							Snifflets are now spawned when a sniffer egg hatches.
							Sniffers can now dig up pitcher pods.
			23w13a				Changed the size of the heads of snifflets to match Bedrock Edition.
							Sniffers no longer drop moss blocks.
			23w14a				Sniffers can now dig in mud.
							Sniffers can now be tempted with torchflower seeds.
							Sniffers can emit a sound when laying a sniffer egg.
			23w16a				Sniffers can now enter minecarts.
			23w17a				The player now gets the advancement "Little sniffs" when they feed a snifflet using torchflower seeds.
26.1			snap5				Added golden dandelions, which can be used to prevent snifflets from growing up.
			snap8				The model and texture of snifflets have been changed.
			snap10				The texture of snifflets has been changed to fix a missing pixel on their backside.
			snap11				The texture of snifflets has been changed to have the undersides of their body and head be more defined.

Bedrock Edition

Bedrock Edition
1.19.70 Experiment Sniffer			Preview 1.19.70.23				Added sniffers behind their own experimental toggle.
							Breeding two sniffers spawns a snifflet immediately.
1.20.0			Preview 1.20.0.20				Sniffers are now available without using the "Sniffer" experimental toggle.
							Breeding two sniffers now causes a sniffer egg to drop as an item.
							Snifflets are now spawned when a sniffer egg hatches.
							Sniffers can now dig up pitcher pods.
			Preview 1.20.0.22				Sniffers can now be tempted using torchflower seeds.
							Sniffers now create particles when digging.
26.10			Preview 26.10.21				Added golden dandelions, which can be used to prevent snifflets from growing up.
			Preview 26.10.24				The model and texture of snifflets have been changed.

Issues

Issues relating to "Sniffer" or "Snifflet" are maintained on the bug tracker. Issues should be reported and viewed there.

Trivia

• According to Minecraft: Mobspotter's Encyclopedia, Sniffers have feathers and fur.^[6]
• The sniffer was originally a doodle Nekofresa made in their kitchen.^[7] The sniffer was also Nekofresa's first mob ever designed for Minecraft.^[8]
• The sniffer's walking animation was inspired by the leg movements of centipedes.^[9]
• During the prototype phase for the sniffer's digging up of items, the developers used beds as a placeholder.^[10]
• Due to the size of the sniffer, developers found it challenging to perfect its pathfinding, especially on 1 block edges.
• A new team made up of new developers were tasked with developing the sniffer, and most of them had never made a mob before.^[11]
• The sniffer's digging animation was inspired by the way corgis spread their legs while lying down. The action is called a "sploot".^[12]
• To this day, the developers still don't know what the sniffer's front yellow part is. Whether it's a beak, a nose, or eyes, or whether it's used for breathing or finding seeds is unknown.^[13]
• Original ideas for what a baby sniffer would be called were Sniffling, Snort, and Snifflet.^[14]
• Mojang developer Cory Scheviak personally calls sniffers "snuffleupaguses".^[15]

Gallery

Renders

• 
  A sniffer walking
• 
  A sniffer sniffing
• 
  A sniffer sniffing for a long time
• 
  A sniffer searching
• 
  A sniffer splooting and digging
• 
  A sniffer standing up from a sploot
• 
  A sniffer feeling happy
• 
  A sniffer with its outermost layer missing (this state cannot be seen in game)

• 
  A snifflet walking
• 
  A snifflet sniffing
• 
  A snifflet sniffing for a long time
• 
  A snifflet searching (this state cannot be seen in game)
• 
  A snifflet splooting and digging (this state cannot be seen in game)
• 
  A snifflet standing up from a sploot (this state cannot be seen in game)
• 
  A snifflet feeling happy

Development images

• 
  The earlier texture file and model of sniffers
• 
  An early sniffer splooting
• 
  An early sniffer in sunset
• 
  The final texture file and model of a sniffer inside of a horizontally flipped image
• 
  A sniffer lays down within a desert inside of a horizontally flipped image
• 
  A sniffer sploots with a baby salt rabbit
• 
  A sniffer within a swamp
• 
  A sniffer within a snow biome
• 
  A sniffer within a village

Concept artwork

• 
  Sniffer concept art with rascal and tuff golem
• 
  Colorized sniffer concept art
• 
  Sniffer's beak sketch
• 
  A sketch of a centipede walking, which inspired the sniffer's walking animation
• 
  Sniffer's walking animation sketch
• 
  Watercolor art for the sniffer
• 
  Ditto
• 
  Ditto
• 
  Ditto

Screenshots

• 
  Dozens of player-spawned sniffers
• 
  A sniffer dies
• 
  A sniffer compared to a warden and a player
• 
  A sniffer and a frog in a swamp
• 
  A sniffer digging
• 
  A sniffer
• 
  A sniffer walking
• 
  A snifflet and its parent

Textures

• 
  Sniffer texture file
• 
  Snifflet texture file

In other media

Official media

• 
  Mob vote image
• 
  Sniffer valentines artwork
• 
  A sniffer and a snifflet near a cherry grove
• 
  Sniffer as a mob vote option
• 
  A sniffer digging up torchflower seeds in a cherry grove.
• 
  A snifflet in Efe's camp
• 
  A snifflet approaching a river.
• 
  A snifflet approaches a pack of monsters
• 
  A snifflet leaves a pack of monsters
• 
  A snifflet wanders into the Nether
• 
  Efe is excited to see their snifflet
• 
  Efe hugs their snifflet
• 
  The "Trails & Tales Cherry Blossom Sniffer" T-shirt design (Berry background)
• 
  The "Trails & Tales Cherry Blossom Sniffer" T-shirt design (Kelly background)
• 
  The "Trails & Tales Cherry Blossom Sniffer" T-shirt design (White background)
• 
  Pixel artwork of a sniffer idle animation
• 
  Pixel artwork of a sniffer walking
• 
  Pixel art of a snifflet idling
• 
  Pixel artwork of a snifflet splooting down on the ground
• 
  Pixel artwork of a snifflet sniffing
• 
  Pixel artwork of a sniffer egg hatching
• 
  A bouncing sniffer GIF from the official Minecraft Giphy account
• 
  Sunny placing the sniffer egg in sand
• 
  Sunny celebrating the snifflet hatching from the sniffer egg
• 
  Ditto
• 
  Giant sniffer
• 
  Ditto
• 
  Sniffer sniffing up a bed
• 
  Ditto
• 
  A toy sniffer in Timeless Trails

Promotional images

• 
  A sniffer in a farm of the plants it gives
• 
  Ari raising a snifflet in a savanna village
• 
  Ari and the snifflet as viewed from a window
• 
  "A room with a potted Torchflower, Chiseled Bookshelves and a Pitcher Plant in an item frame. A Sniffer is lurking outside the open door."

Event servers

• 
  The Lost World cutout, featured in the Trails & Tales Event
• 
  The Sniffer Hat, an item featured in the Trails & Tales Event
• 
  Sniffer Balloon, another item featured in the event
• 
  The Sniffer Snout Popsicle, an item featured in the Trails & Tales Server
• 
  An NPC dressed as a Sniffer
• 
  Ditto
• 
  Ditto
• 
  Sniffer Carousel
• 
  Sniffer Hedge
• 
  Secret Sniffer
• 
  Hologram of a sniffer in the Eerie Mojang Office Party, meant to be partly obscured

Cosmetics

• 
  Sniffer Beak
• 
  Sniffer Ears
• 
  Sniffer Hoodie
• 
  Sniffer Onesie
• 
  Sniffer Sniffin’

Merchandise

• 
  An official sniffer T-shirt for children
• 
  Official sniffer action figure
• 
  Official sniffer action figure unboxed
• 
  Demonstration of the sniffing function on the action figure
• 
  Lego Minecraft sniffer.
• 
  Lego Minecraft snifflet
• 
  Lego sniffer digging mechanism
• 
  Sniffer Xbox giveaway^[16]
• 
  The finalized Sniffer Xbox^[17]

References

External links

• Mob Menagerie: Sniffer – Minecraft.net on July 21, 2023
• "A Tale of Two Friends | Trails & Tales" – Minecraft on YouTube, October 21, 2023