Minecraft sniffer guide – how to find and use sniffers in 1.20

Want the lowdown on the new Minecraft sniffer? A lot of new features are coming in 1.20, one among them literally larger than most. That’s why we’ve put together a Minecraft sniffer guide on how to find and use sniffers in 1.20 and its snapshot beta for players curious to learn more about this new mob.

Well, we say new, but the sniffer is labelled as an ancient mob. It was previously extinct before its resurrection after winning against the Rascal and Tuff Golem in the Minecraft Mob Vote for Minecraft Live 2022.In line with this idea, the sniffer doesn’t spawn naturally. Its in-game use can be difficult for players to wrap their heads around, much like the new Minecraft armor trimming system. In this guide, we’ll outline how to find the sniffer, what they do, and how you can use them in 1.20 to better your Minecraft experience.

How to find sniffers in Minecraft

As mentioned, the sniffer is supposedly an ancient primaeval mob in Minecraft’s lore. To reflect this, the sniffer does not spawn naturally, but is instead spawned from an egg. This part of the mechanic is fairly straightforward. Using the new Minecraft archeology system, players will be able to find sniffer eggs hidden inside a new block called suspicious sand. This variation of sand will spawn in Warm Ocean Biomes, specifically inside Warm Ocean Ruins that generate in these waters.

By using the new brush tool on suspicious sand, players will have a chance to obtain a Minecraft sniffer egg. If you’re not sure about how to use the brush tool, we’ve got you covered. You’ll be able to break this egg with any tool or even your bare hands to pick it up.

Hatching Sniffers is pretty straightforward. Once in-hand, all you need to do is place the egg on a block and wait for it to hatch. sniffer eggs will hatch faster if placed on moss blocks, though. When it hatches, a baby sniffer called a snifflet will spawn. This will then grow up into an adult sniffer over time.

Once you have two of these creatures, you’ll be able to breed them, much like 1.20’s other new mob, the camel. This will remove the need to go out and hunt for more suspicious sand and eggs if you don’t want to.

How to use sniffers in Minecraft

Sniffers are not a tameable mob like wolves, cats or horses are. Instead they are a passive mob, but this doesn’t mean you can’t make good use of them. The sniffer will be able to dig up rare ancient seeds from certain blocks.

These are all the blocks that the sniffer will be able to dig up seeds from:

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

When in proximity to these blocks, the sniffer will occasionally sniff them, tracking ancient seeds by pressing its nose into the ground. When it finds an ancient seed, it’ll use its large nose to dig them up from the ground. Keep in mind that a sniffer needs at least a 6×6 clear space in which to sniff for ancient seeds. It also has an eight minute cool down after successfully digging seeds up.

What are ancient seeds?

At the moment, we only know of two ancient seeds that’ll be arriving in 1.20, though this could be subject to change in the future. Alongside the sniffer, the two ancient seeds that’ll be arriving are torchflower seeds and a pitcher pod.

The torchflower and pitcher pod seeds can be placed on farmland and left to grow. When fully grown, players will be able to obtain the matured versions of these plants. Both plants are primarily decorative in nature. However, torchflower seeds can be used to breed sniffers and chickens as well as accelerate the growth of snifflets, and tame parrots in Bedrock Edition. In that same game edition, pitcher plants can also be used to speed up the growth of snifflets and baby chickens, as well as taming parrots.

That’s everything you should need to know about Minecraft’s newest yet oldest mob, the sniffer. With plenty of new features and changes to current ones coming, everything from understanding the addition of Minecraft pottery to knowing how to build a bamboo farm in Minecraft is going to be worthwhile information if you’re seeking to get the most out of your Minecraft experience. Be sure to check back in with us, and we’ll be sure to keep you up to date as the 1.20 official release approaches.

How do I find sniffers in Minecraft?

The sniffer does not spawn naturally, but instead spawns from an egg. Use the brush tool on suspicious sand for a chance to pick up a sniffer egg, then place it on a block and wait for it to hatch.

What does the sniffer do in Minecraft?

The sniffer uses its large nose to investigate natural blocks and dig up rare ancient seeds that players can decorate with.