Winter Burrow Spiders - The Off Switch, and Getting Silk Without Fighting
Winter Burrow spiders can be switched off in Settings. Silk Thread also comes from harvesting webs in the environment, not only from killing spiders - and Silk Yarn gates the Flint Pickaxe.
Winter Burrow spiders can be switched off - the game ships with a setting that removes them. Multiple reviewers used it and said so plainly - one wrote that as someone with intense arachnophobia, they were thankful it existed. It is reversible, so you can flip it back if you change your mind.
The reported path is Settings, then scroll to the **Spiders** option and set it to No. You can reach Settings mid-game from the tab at the top of the inventory menu, so you do not have to restart to change it.
One caveat we want to put right at the top rather than bury: we could not confirm what turning spiders off does to your **Silk Thread** supply. That matters more than it sounds, and the next two sections explain why.
The Winter Burrow spiders setting exists and is reversible.
Reported path: Settings, scroll to Spiders, set to No.
Reachable mid-game from the Settings tab in the inventory menu.
Read the Silk Thread section below before you switch it off.
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Guide Step
You do not have to fight spiders for Silk Thread
This is the single most useful thing on this page, and players keep discovering it by accident after hours of unnecessary combat. One put it exactly that way: they had only been fighting spiders for ages before realising. Another found it by mistake - they hit a web in the environment and it turned out to be a farmable resource.
So: **Silk Thread comes from two places.** You can get it by defeating spiders, or by collecting it from spider webs strung on the trees. The webs are the better option almost every time. They do not fight back, they do not cost you health, and you can clear them at your own pace.
If you have been avoiding the whole area because of the spiders, this is your route in. Go for the webs, ignore the spiders where you can, and leave.
Silk Thread has two sources: killing spiders, or harvesting webs on trees.
Webs are the safer and usually faster route.
Players routinely discover this only after long stretches of pointless fighting.
A stronger tool such as the Flint Axe reportedly makes gathering easier.
The birch grove east of Willow, with strands running between the trunks. Image credit: NoobFeed/Pine Creek Games.
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Guide Step
Why Silk matters: the Flint Pickaxe gate
Silk is not an optional decorative material. Silk Thread spins into Silk Yarn, and Silk Yarn is a required component of the **Flint Pickaxe** - the recipe wants 1 Flint, 1 Silk Yarn, 2 Birch Wood and 1 Pine Plank.
That makes the spider area a genuine progression gate rather than a side trip. If you are stuck unable to craft the Flint Pickaxe and cannot work out what you are missing, silk is a very common answer. Silk Yarn also feeds furniture: the Oak Bed wants 6 and the Oak Armchair 1, and it is listed among the materials for repairing Aunty's burrow.
Once you have the silk, /articles/winter-burrow-flint-guide covers what the Flint Pickaxe then unlocks.
Silk Thread spins into Silk Yarn - the thread is not the finished material.
Oak Bed needs 6 Silk Yarn; Oak Armchair needs 1.
Silk Yarn is also listed among the materials for repairing Aunty's burrow.
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Guide Step
Where the spiders are
Two sources put the Winter Burrow spiders in the same place: head **east from Willow**, continue past the Rowanberry Tree, and enter the next zone. From there you can move north, east or south, and spiders turn up frequently.
One honest complication. The community connection chart we use on /articles/winter-burrow-map-guide shows **three separate screens all labelled "Spiders"**. They are different screens that happen to share a name, not one room you keep re-entering. So "where are the Winter Burrow spiders" does not have a single pin answer - treat it as a region east of Willow rather than a coordinate, and do not assume you have looped back just because the label repeats.
Direction: east from Willow, past the Rowanberry Tree, into the next zone.
From there the area branches north, east and south.
The community map shows three distinct screens named "Spiders" - repeated labels are not a loop.
Treat this as a region, not a pin. No source gives exact coordinates.
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Guide Step
If you do end up fighting one
The tactic reported for fighting Winter Burrow spiders is simple: strike a few times, then step away and circle so the spider cannot charge straight at you. Repeat. Once your stamina has improved the fight gets noticeably easier, which is one argument for coming back later rather than forcing it early.
If you would rather not deal with any of this, the Story Mode option is a broader difficulty lever than the spider toggle - /articles/winter-burrow-story-mode-vs-challenge-mode explains what it changes.
Hit a few times, disengage, circle, repeat. Do not stand and trade.
Higher stamina makes the fight much more manageable - consider returning later.
For a broader difficulty change rather than a spider-specific one, see the Story Mode guide.
A spider encounter at close range. Image credit: NoobFeed/Pine Creek Games.
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What we could not confirm - read this before switching them off
This is the honest gap, and it is the one that could actually cost you progress.
**We do not know whether turning Winter Burrow spiders off still lets you obtain Silk Thread.** One guide claims the spiders are replaced by black ants that still drop Spider Meat and Silk Thread. That claim is genuinely on the page, but it is single-sourced with no corroboration from any other player report, review, or developer note. If it is wrong, switching spiders off could leave you unable to craft the Flint Pickaxe.
The safe play, if spiders bother you: go and harvest webs first, bank a comfortable amount of Silk Thread, and only then decide about the toggle. That costs you one trip and removes the risk entirely.
Also unconfirmed: the exact menu wording and the leaf-icon interface around the option, both single-sourced. The developer has never documented the toggle - the Steam store page has no accessibility section and no official announcement mentions spiders - so our reading that it shipped at launch is an inference from reviews dated 12-13 November 2025, not a stated fact.
UNCONFIRMED and important: whether Silk Thread is still obtainable with spiders off.
Safe play: harvest webs and bank silk BEFORE switching them off.
Unconfirmed: exact menu wording and the option's interface.
Unconfirmed: that the toggle shipped at launch. Reviews from 12-13 Nov 2025 describe it; the developer has not documented it.
Unconfirmed: the combat drop table and the circling tactic - single source each.
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Frequently asked questions
The Winter Burrow spiders questions that come up most.
Can you turn Winter Burrow spiders off? Yes. Settings, scroll to Spiders, set to No. It is reversible.
Do I have to kill spiders for Silk Thread? No. Webs on the trees give Silk Thread too.
Where are the spiders? East of Willow, past the Rowanberry Tree. It is a region, not one screen.
Why do I need silk at all? Silk Yarn is a Flint Pickaxe component, and feeds furniture and burrow repairs.
Will turning spiders off block the Flint Pickaxe? We genuinely do not know. Bank your silk first.
Is there an easier general difficulty? Story Mode is the broader lever - see the Story vs Challenge guide.
Supply Tip 1
Harvest webs instead of fighting - Silk Thread comes from both.
Supply Tip 2
Bank silk before switching spiders off; the interaction is unverified.
Supply Tip 3
Come back with better stamina if a fight feels unwinnable.
