Putting aside personal feelings toward either of the two, I think it is much better under Jeb's direction than Notch's. Notch got the game started, but Jeb and Dinnerbone have made it what it is now, which is a much better game than how Notch left it. Not to mention a ton of the work they have been putting into the game fixing all the weird ways Notch programmed that were inefficient and sloppy (there is a reason that the term "notchcode" on Urban Dictionary means badly written code). They've basically had to rewrite most of the engine to get around all the limitations from what Notch created.
To sum it up: Jeb is a professional developer. Notch is an amateur who got lucky and struck gold.
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yes but they will take damage.
Also, cocoa beans on jungle logs will also stop spiders
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No but you might be able to splash a few at once with the weakness position and then feed them individual golden apples