Minecraft’s 2023 mob vote winner was crowned—but over 500,000 players don’t want it

The winner of Minecraft’s annual mob vote was officially chosen on Oct. 15, 2023, as the armadillo beat out both the crab and the penguin. This means the armadillo is officially set to join the game despite over half a million players not even wanting it.

The #StopTheMobVote petition was first founded on Oct. 6, just one day after all three contenders had first been revealed. Ahead of the official vote, players were signing and sharing this movement everywhere as they rallied with the hope of Mojang responding and ending the annual vote for good before Minecraft Live aired.

Despite the vocal protest, Mojang never responded to the petition, and the Minecraft Live event went ahead as planned with its annual mob vote. The armadillo officially beat both the crab and penguin and was voted in with 42.3 percent of the over five million votes that were submitted.

After the armadillo was chosen, the #StopTheMobVote protest only grew stronger as it surpassed a staggering 500,000 signs. As of Oct. 16, it sits at just over 503,000 and is still growing with over 20,000 signs today even though the 2023 mob vote has already concluded.

Since the petition is dedicated to ending the mob vote for good, the community still seems to be rallying, hoping their protests will be heard ahead of next year’s mob vote. Players are still trying to gain Mojang’s attention across social media platforms as they continue to ask that the armadillo either not be added at all or that all three contenders be introduced each year.

There’s been a lot of division and upset within the community following the 2023 mob vote. As one might expect, many players who voted for either the penguin or crab are bitterly disappointed by the armadillo beating them both out. This is one of the key reasons players have been rallying to end the vote since different types of players prefer different types of mobs.

Each year, players grow to love each of the three mobs only to have two of them then become lost forever. Between this and the division that circulates the community over which one will be the most impactful addition, the mob vote has become quite a frustration for many. That’s exactly why over 500,000 players signed the petition saying they would rather have no mob at all or have all three mobs voted in instead of only having one be added.

Since the mob vote petition was going strong for weeks before the Minecraft Live event actually happened and Mojang never responded, we may never get a response even though many players are adamant the mob vote be terminated for good. And despite over 500,000 players wanting otherwise, armadillos and the wolf armor you can craft with them are still set to join Minecraft as part of the unnamed 1.21 update, which will be released sometime in mid-2024.