Animals give Minecraft‘s vast, block-shaped world some much-needed life. Whether you’re trying to set up a new farm, travel on a mount, or keep a pet for company, these mobs have you covered. However, it’s hard to tell which items animals need to be tamed, or if they can be tamed at all. Some even have unique behaviors that pose a challenge to players looking to capture them. Here is our comprehensive guide on all Minecraft animals and how you can tame or breed them. If you’re interested in other mob guides, check out our breakdown of the creeper in Minecraft.
Before you get started with animals, make sure you’ve stocked up on the right supplies. You’ll need a variety of crops to attract most farm animals and encourage them to breed. It’s also a good idea to have at least one lead, which you can use to move animals around or keep them from wandering off. Finally, if you want to keep your animals safe and contained, make sure you have a pen of some kind set up for them.
Minecraft cows inside a desert village.
All Minecraft Animals – Farm Animals
There are lots of animals in Minecraft that can be farmed for food. Some of these mobs will also drop valuable materials which can be used for crafting or building. Though there’s no way to truly “tame” these mobs—they will not fight enemies or interact with you—all of them are passive mobs. This means they will not attack you if you deal damage to them. As long as you keep them on leads or inside an enclosure, they won’t wander off.
These passive mobs will follow the player if the player is close by and holding a specific “food item” in their hand. The item itself depends on the animal, and some can be lured with multiple items. This is also the item you’ll use to breed these animals. To breed Minecraft animals, simply right-click on two of them with their preferred item. They will release heart particles and, after a few seconds, a baby version of the animal will spawn.
| Mob | Food Item | Drops | Produces |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cow | Wheat | Raw Beef, Leather | Milk (when milked) |
| Sheep | Wheat | Raw Mutton, Wool | Wool (when sheared) |
| Chicken | Seeds (Wheat, Melon, Pumpkin, Beetroot) | Raw Chicken, Feather | Egg |
| Pig | Carrot, Potato, Beetroot | Raw Porkchop | |
| Mooshroom | Wheat | Raw Beef, Leather | Mushroom Stew (when milked), Suspicious Stew (right-clicked with a flower) |
| Rabbit | Carrot, Golden Carrot, Dandelion | Raw Rabbit, Rabbit Hide, Rabbit’s Foot |
How to Farm Wool in Minecraft
Though sheep will drop 1-2 pieces of wool upon death, the player can use shears to harvest wool from their sheep without needing to kill them. The color of the wool can be changed by right-clicking the sheep with dye. Sheep can regrow their wool over time, but require specific conditions to be met first.
For sheep to regrow their wool, they must have access to grass. Every few minutes, a sheep will graze, removing the grass and turning the block into regular dirt. If you plan on having lots of sheep, place them on well-lit grass blocks surrounded by fences. Fences will not remove the grass, and sheep cannot graze on grass blocks that have fences. This way, the grass will constantly be spreading, allowing your sheep to consistently regrow their wool.
Sheared sheep need to graze on grass to regrow their wool.
How to Get Eggs in Minecraft
Chickens are unique in that they can reproduce without needing to breed. This is because adult chickens will occasionally lay eggs, which can be used as a crafting ingredient or as a way of gaining more chickens. Chicken eggs can be thrown by right-clicking them in your hand; the egg will break upon colliding with a block or mob. All eggs have a small chance to spawn a baby chicken when thrown. If you have eggs to spare, this is an easy way to quickly get more chickens.
How to Find Mooshrooms
Mooshrooms are a variant of the standard cow mob that can only be found in the Mushroom Fields biome. Due to the rarity of Mushroom Fields, finding a mooshroom can be difficult. Mushroom Fields typically spawn as small islands, so the best way to find them is to take a boat and sail through the ocean.
Mooshrooms come in two colors: red and brown, corresponding to Minecraft‘s red and brown mushrooms. However, brown mooshrooms don’t spawn naturally; a red mooshroom turns into a brown one when struck by lightning. This is an incredibly rare occurrence, so you’ll probably need a trident with the Channeling enchantment to get a brown mooshroom.
How to Breed Hoglins
Hoglins are an exception among farm mobs for two reasons: they are hostile toward the player and they only spawn in the Nether. Because food is scarce in the Nether, hoglins are a valuable—but dangerous—way of sustaining yourself while traversing through the Nether. Adult hoglins drop raw porkchop and leather upon death.
To breed hoglins, right-click them with crimson fungi. Like other mobs, they will release heart particles and produce a baby hoglin. Baby hoglins may flee when near the player, so it’s best to breed them when you have some kind of enclosure set up.
A hoglin in the Nether.
All Minecraft Animals – Ridable Mounts
Getting around can be a challenge in Minecraft. While sprinting is an option, it costs hunger and isn’t suitable for long distances. Minecarts, on the other hand, require rails to move and cost iron to craft. This is where ridable mounts come in; they offer players a means of traversing the world of Minecraft without spending hunger or valuable resources. Unlike the food mobs, these animals can be tamed, allowing for further interaction with the player.
Like other animals, these mobs can be bred by right-clicking them with their preferred food item. They can also be given items, such as saddles or chests, allowing players to control their movements or give them inventory space. It’s important to know which mobs can equip what items, so you know which ones you’ll want to use.
| Mob | Food Item | Equippable |
|---|---|---|
| Horse | Golden Carrot, Golden Apple | Saddle, Horse Armor |
| Donkey | Golden Carrot, Golden Apple | Saddle, Chest |
| Mule | Saddle, Chest | |
| Llama | Hay Bale | Chest, Carpet |
How to Tame Mounts
All these mobs can be tamed in the same way: by repeatedly right-clicking them with an empty hand. This causes the player to mount the animal, which may buck them (or kick them off) multiple times. Persistent players will be rewarded with heart particles and a tamed mob, which can now be equipped with items.
Llamas are a unique case because they can be mounted, but not saddled. Saddles are the only way to control ridable mobs; in other words, players cannot control the movements of llamas, even while riding them. Instead, players will have to attach a lead to the llama and direct it themselves.
A tamed horse equipped with a saddle and gold horse armor.
How to Get Mules in Minecraft
To get a mule, players must breed a horse with a donkey. The resulting mule inherits stats from its parent horse, such as movement speed and jump height, but can also hold a chest. Mules cannot be bred, either with horses, donkeys, or even other mules. As such, the only way to obtain more mules it to keep breeding horses and donkeys with each other.
How to Ride Pigs in Minecraft
That’s right—pigs fall under this category too. Though pigs can’t be tamed, you can still equip them with a saddle and even control them using a special item. This item is the carrot on a stick, and can be crafted by placing a fishing rod and carrot together in your crafting table. Once you have a carrot on a stick, equip your pig with a saddle, then right-click to ride it. Hold the carrot on a stick in your hand, and the pig will walk in whatever direction you face.
How to Ride Striders
Striders, like hoglins, are a Nether-exclusive mob that cannot be tamed. However, they are passive and can be ridden by players in a manner very similar to pigs. Instead of a carrot on a stick, you’ll need a warped fungus on a stick. This can be crafted by placing a warped fungus next to a fishing rod in your crafting table. Once you’ve equipped the strider with a saddle, hop on and hold the warped fungus on a stick in your hand. The strider will move any way you’re facing.
Striders are useful in the Nether because they can walk on top of lava without taking damage. Players searching for Nether Fortresses or other areas can use striders to traverse the vast pools of lava that cover the Nether safely. You’ll still need to be wary of other hostile mobs, such as Ghasts, which may kill your strider while attacking you.
A strider walking across lava in the Nether.
All Minecraft Animals – Pets
Some animals in Minecraft serve as pets, offering companionship to the player. They might also defend the player against hostile mobs or bring gifts. With the exception of parrots, all pet mobs in Minecraft can be bred; the baby animal that spawns will automatically be tame. Though some animals require specific methods to be tamed, the item used to breed them is typically used to tame them as well. Each animal has different interactions with the player and other mobs, so it’s a good idea to have at least one of each.
| Mob | Food Item | Interactions |
|---|---|---|
| Wolf | Bone (taming), Any meat (breeding) | Follow player, sit/stand, attack hostile mobs |
| Cat | Raw Cod, Raw Salmon | Follow player, sit/stand, bring gifts, repel creepers/phantoms |
| Parrot | Seeds (Wheat, Melon, Pumpkin, Beetroot) | Mount player’s shoulder, mimic nearby mobs |
| Axolotl | Bucket of Tropical Fish | Attack aquatic mobs, buff player |
| Fox | Sweet Berries, Glow Berries | Attack hostile mobs, pick up items |
| Ocelot | Raw Cod, Raw Salmon | Repel creepers/phantoms |
How to Tame Cats in Minecraft
Cats come in multiple colors and can be found in villages. Untamed cats will sprint away unless you hold raw cod or raw salmon in your hand. To tame one of these cats, hold the item and face the cat without moving. The cat will crouch down and approach slowly; once the cat stands back up, right-click it with the fish until it releases heart particles. If the player moves too quickly, the cat will sprint away again.
Three Minecraft cats on a village road.
How to Tame Foxes in Minecraft
Foxes cannot be tamed by the player through regular means. Instead, you’ll have to breed two wild adult foxes with sweet berries or glow berries. The baby fox that spawns will be tame and trust you. However, it will follow one of its parents until it grows up, making it difficult to contain. The best way to counter this is to attach a lead to the baby fox and move it somewhere else, such as inside your base.
All Minecraft Animals – Miscellaneous Animals
Other breedable animals exist in Minecraft, although they cannot be tamed and don’t interact with the player. They can still produce resources for the player and, in some cases, are the only ways of obtaining specific crafting items and blocks. Most of all, these animals are simply enjoyable to look at and have nearby in your Minecraft world.
| Mob | Food Item | Produces |
|---|---|---|
| Frog | Slimeball | Froglight |
| Goat | Wheat | Goat horn |
| Turtle | Seagrass | Scute |
| Panda | Bamboo | Slimeball (rarely) |
| Bee | Any flower | Honeycomb |
How to Get Honeycomb in Minecraft
Bees live inside bee nests and beehives, where they produce honey. Bee nests and hives that are full will appear to drip with honey, indicating to the player that they can now be harvested. In order to get honeycombs, you’ll have to use shears on a full nest or hive, which will cause the bees inside to turn hostile. Once this happens, they will attack you instead of producing more honey. You can avoid this by placing a campfire below the nest or hive before you use your shears, preventing the bees from turning hostile.
Bees need flowers near their nest or hive to generate honey.
How to Breed Pandas in Minecraft
Pandas are unique among all Minecraft animals for the extra conditions they require to breed. If the player attempts to feed pandas bamboo, they will sit upright and consume it without breeding. For pandas to breed, there must be bamboo growing near them. Additionally, the minimum height for this bamboo appears to be eight blocks. Once you’ve grown some taller bamboo, you are free to breed your pandas.
That’s all for our comprehensive rundown of all Minecraft animals you can tame and breed in the game! Players focusing on farming and breeding should reference this list when building homes for their animals. Good luck in your next survival world!
