Few/No Mobs?

[StTheo]

Anyone experiencing an odd lack of mobs? I've heard of a few mob grinders being empty, and only mob spawners seem to produce them. I've personally seen a couple creepers, but that's in an empty field that would normally be filled with mobs.

 

[CaptainGinyu]

I usually only see aggressive mobs whenever I'm playing on Team9000. I can never find any neutral mobs for food so surviving off of melons is pretty tough.

 

[Melexiious]

The great depression is apon us, soon we shall not have nay resources to continue life, everything is up for grabs now.

 

[Joshuame13]

I always have a $h!+ load of melons.

 

[Ustulo]

Just farm bread, it's almost as good. Or mushrooms. They make your life so much easier. And if you get a passive mob, make a wall around it and breed it.

 

[Doneyhew]

This makes the survival aspect so much more realistic

 

[Joshuame13]

Verry true.

 

[lacar1601]

With regards to experiencing an absence of hostile mobs (as this post is originally about), I have a few things to say about the potential cause.
Some time ago, it was sung around the block that the code for mobs in SMP had a hard limit on the total number of naturally spawning mobs counted within anyone's render distance. The code distributes this number between the players in the game, but it may not do so evenly. As a result, some players may be surrounded by mobs looking for hugs, while other players may only see 1 or 2 forever alone mobs. Our town (and likely other active towns) in test survival is always surrounded by hostile mobs, and we have a sh*tload of pasteurized neutral mobs. If what I stated was true, then much of the hard limit is distributed between our towns, leaving only a small number for St Theo to deal with. The theory I presented, however, was introduced before Notch stated he had redone the mob coding to increase the spawning rate, so it could be obsolete.

I pose a question in reference to another theory. Were you continually moving in mostly straight path in the wilderness, St Theo? In my experience, I found that mobs don't usually spawn ahead of you when exploring uncharted land. If you were to retrace your steps back, however, you'd find yourself surrounded in no time.

 

[SvenBoogie]

Happening again. Last night, 3 of us were in completely different areas in the world, and no mobs in any of them. I ran across 3 different biomes and back again, saw zero hostile mobs.

A moment ago, someone was commenting that a certain city's giant mob grinder had zero mobs in it. Headed over to my own giant grinder, same thing, zero mobs.

Something is up.

 

[Laharal]

All mobs are.. RIGHT BEHIND YOU!!!! Or Sonic sent them into the suns... ;0)

 

[Donvittorio]

I always have a Shit load of melons.

Fixed

 

[Shark_Skull8]

I usually only see aggressive mobs whenever I'm playing on Team9000. I can never find any neutral mobs for food so surviving off of melons is pretty tough.

I'm having the same problem, except also lacking the melon seeds... though few aggressive mobs and more or less no passive mobs

 

[Joshuame13]

I'm having the same problem, except also lacking the melon seeds... though few aggressive mobs and more or less no passive mobs

Animals don't spawn more than once, if you kill them you can't find anymore. You need to breed the animals.

 

[Ustulo]

Animals don't spawn more than once, if you kill them you can't find anymore. You need to breed the animals.

Incorrect, they always will respawn given the proper light and grass requirements.

If this was the case, how would we have gotten animal items before breeding?

 

[Joshuame13]

Oh my mistake. I was under the impression that they did not respawn.

 

[CaptainGinyu]

Oh my mistake. I was under the impression that they did not respawn.

Ustulos right, but I think the spawn rates for neutral mobs spawning have been cut down. Or it might be because:
More people playing -> more chunks loaded at a time -> more spots for the mobs to spawn in -> a lower chance of them spawning near you.

 

[Shark_Skull8]

I got melons so all is good