Mob Menagerie: Sniffer

Unfortunately, sniffers don’t spawn naturally in the world. That’s because they’re extinct! But hold on a moment, isn’t the new archaeology feature all about delving into the past and bringing its best bits into the present? That’s right! And sniffers are no exception.

To bring these docile beasts back to life you’ll need to go searching in warm ocean ruins, equipped with a brush and some patience. Track down some suspicious sand and brush it with your brush, and with any luck you might uncover a sniffer egg. If not, keep searching.

When you do find one, pop it down on the ground and wait. Then wait some more. Then wait quite a bit more – it takes time for these huge creatures to develop. You can cut the waiting time a bit by putting the egg on a soft, moist surface, like a moss block, but even then it’ll take a while. Eventually, the creature will hatch, and you’ll get to say hello to your new friend.

Once your young snifflet makes itself at home and grows up into a full-sized sniffer, it’ll spend most of its time wandering around aimlessly. Occasionally, though, it’ll catch a scent, and here’s where you need to keep an eye on it. It’ll push its nose into the ground until it sniffs out an ancient seed – which can be used to grow torchflowers or pitcher plants.

Torchflowers can be used to breed two sniffers with each other – making the process of getting more eggs a little easier. They can also be used to heal an injured sniffer, so keep that in mind if one of your creatures ends up straying too close to a creeper explosion.

With some luck and a bit of effort, you’ll be able to spread sniffers all across the Overworld once more – just like they lived in days gone by!