Armadillo in Minecraft 1.21: Everything You Need to Know

There are lots of different mobs in Minecraft, with some looking cute while others being terrifying. But let us be real, you always want more adorable mobs to join the game, so you can pet them and add them to your village builds. In this guide, we’ll be covering one of those cuties – the armadillo – that is being added in Minecraft 1.21. We’ll share everything you need to know about the armadillo, from its spawning location to its basic properties. So with that said, let’s begin!

Who is the Armadillo in Minecraft

Armadillo is an adorable neutral mob. It has the ability to curl in a ball if it feels threatened. These threats to Armadillo include:

• Sprinting players
• Players on mounts or in vehicles
• Undead mobs like zombie, Wither skeleton, and more

Armadillo will usually get scared from these threats even if they are around 5-7 blocks away. When armadillo is rolled up, it will not walk nor eat. Also, it won’t curl in a ball if it’s in water, air, fleeing, or being led.

Armadillo will unroll (or uncurl) if it doesn’t detect threats for three seconds. This sweet mob, for those unaware, was the winner of the Minecraft Mob Vote 2023. It won the battle against the crab and the penguin. Keep reading to find out why the community chose the armadillo over these two mobs.

Where Does the Armadillo Spawn in Minecraft

Armadillos love warm climate and naturally spawn in the savanna biome. Moreover, they seem to be admittedly quite rare, so you’ll have to explore one of these areas thoroughly to locate a couple of armadillos.

Minecraft 1.21 Armadillo: Basic Properties

Now that we know who the armadillo is and where you can find it, let’s take a look at its properties, starting with its health, followed by its breeding mechanics and drops.

Health

Small mobs usually have low HP, and the armadillo is no different. This little animal has 12 health points total or only six hearts. This means that the armadillo is quite fragile and can easily die if attacked.

Moreover, while the armadillo is curled in a ball, you would think that it has a protective shield that absorbs incoming damage. However, that’s not the case. They do not gain any armor points when rolled up.

Armadillos are not immune to fall damage and will die if they fall from a height equal to or greater than 15 blocks. They also take damage from fire or lava, as well as can drown in water.

If an armadillo takes damage, it will start fleeing similarly to other animals like cows and sheep. When it’s in this state, the armadillo will not roll up even if there are threats nearby.

Breeding

Armadillos spawn pretty rarely throughout savanna biomes, but fortunately for us, we can breed them. This will not only allow you to have an adorable army of cute baby armadillos, but it’ll also offer infinite armadillo drops (more on this below). In order to breed them, you’ll need two adult armadillos and two pieces of their favorite food, i.e. spider eyes.

Yes, armadillos eat spider eyes. Anyway, in case you didn’t know, spider eyes can only be obtained by killing the spider mob. This means you won’t get them if the spiders die due to fall damage or fire damage. They only drop eyes if the player or a tamed wolf defeats them.

Furthermore, looting Minecraft enchantment does help to increase the chance and the quantity of spider eyes dropping. You may also obtain spider eyes by killing witches and looting desert pyramid chests.

Once you get the spider eyes, right-click the adult armadillos with them, and they will enter the love mode. After that, the two animals will get close to each other and a baby armadillo will soon spawn.

The baby can then take a few minutes to grow up, but this process can be accelerated by feeding it more spider eyes. If the armadillos are curled up, they won’t accept food, so they cannot breed. To breed them again, you need to wait for the cooldown to wear off.

Drops

Now, let’s focus on the most important property of armadillos. Don’t worry, no armadillo killing is not part of the process. If you go ahead and make a brush tool in Minecraft, you can use it on an adult armadillo and it’ll drop one armadillo scute.

You will be able to obtain it no matter whether the armadillo is curled up or not. In addition, there is no cooldown between the brush uses on an armadillo, as you can use it over and over again without stopping. However, there is a catch.

Using a brush in this way will deplete its durability rapidly. So, you will be able to get only 5 scutes from an armadillo with one unenchanted brush. This translates to 12.8 durability used per scute.

So, you will need at least two unenchanted brushes to get a sufficient number of scutes to make one wolf armor, which is the only use of armadillo scutes. If you put the unbreaking enchantment on the brush, it will last significantly longer. Moreover, a dispenser filled with brushes can also harvest the armadillo scutes, which allows us to automate this process.

The armadillo can drop the scutes by itself occasionally, though it does seem to be quite infrequent. Apart from the scutes, you will get some XP for breeding two armadillos. And in case you’re curious, you only get XP from killing the adult armadillo and absolutely nothing after slaying a baby armadillo.

So that’s all we can say about the armadillo mob in Minecraft 1.21. It’s a wonderful addition to the game and makes the long-asked-for feature finally a reality. So, in our opinion, the armadillo won the competition fair and square. With that said, what are your thoughts on this adorable animal? Tell us in the comments below!