Introduction: Minecraft Animals

About: Community Manager for Instructables and Tinkercad.

The animals in Minecraft are referred to as Passive Mobs. All living creatures in Minecraft are called Mobs and they are either passive, neutral or hostile. In this Instructable, I'm going to talk about the passive and the neutral mobs that don't usually cause you harm.

*6/21/16 - Updated for Rabbits and Polar Bears

Step 1: Leading Animals

You can use leads with passive mobs Just use it like you would anything else while pointing at the animal. You can tow them around behind you or you can attach the lead to a fence post to make the animal stay in place.

Crafting:

  • 4 Strings + 1 Slimball = 2 Leads

Step 2: Sheep

Facts about Sheep

  • Sheep provide you with Wool which can be obtained from killing the sheep or shearing it with Shears (if you kill a Sheep you will always get only 1 block of wool, whereas if you shear it you have the opportunity to get up to 3)
  • Killing a Baby Sheep gets you nothing
  • A Sheep can be dyed itself, or you can dye the wool you get from the sheep; once a sheep is dyed it will always be that color no matter how many times it has been shorn, but it can be redyed
  • Breed a Sheep with Wheat
  • When breeding sheep of different colors together you will either get one color of the other, or you will get a whole new color if the colors are compatible to making a new one
  • Wool is needed to make Beds

Crafting

  • 3 Wood Planks + 3 Wool Blocks = 1 Bed

Crafting Dye

  • Poppy / Rose Bush / Red Tulip = Rose Red
  • Orange Tulip = Orange
  • Dandelion / Sunflower = Dandelion Yellow
  • Blue Orchid = Light Blue
  • Lilac / Allium = Magenta
  • Peony / Pink Tulips = Pink
  • Azure Bluet / Oxeye Daisy / White Tulip = Light Gray

Dye Combinations

  • Lapis Lazuli + Cactus Green = Cyan
  • Lapis Lazuli + Bone Meal = Light Blue
  • Lapis Lazuli + Bone Meal + 2 Rose Red = Magenta
  • Lapis Lazuli + Pink + Rose Red = Magenta
  • Rose Red + Lapis Lazuli = Purple
  • Rose Red + Bone Meal = Light Pink
  • Orange + Dandelion Yellow = Orange
  • Inc Sac + Bone Meal = Gray
  • Cactus Green + Bone Meal = Lime Green
  • Gray + Bone Meal = Light Gray
  • Purple + Pink = Magenta

Others Dyes

  • Cook Cactus in Furnace = Cactus Green
  • Ink Sac from Squid = Black
  • Bone Meal crafted from Bone = White
  • Cocoa Beans = Brown
  • Lapis Lazuli = Blue

Step 3: Pigs

Facts about Pigs

  • Pigs drop Raw Porkchop when killed (if killed by fire or lava you can get a Cooked Porkchop if the Porkchop isn't destroyed by the fire first)
  • Pigs can be Saddled, but a Saddle cannot be taken back off of it
  • Breed Pigs with Carrots
  • If a Pig is struck by lightning, it will turn into a Zombie Pigman

Riding Pigs

  • A Pig can be ridden when you put a saddle on it
  • In order to ride it, get on the saddled pig and lead it around with a Carrot on a Stick
  • The carrot will eventually be eaten by the Pig

Step 4: Cows and Mooshrooms

Facts about Cows

  • Cows drop Raw Beef and Leather when killed
  • Can be milked over and over again with an Iron Bucket to get Milk - Milk can be consumed as an antidote for poison or used be an ingredient in cooking
  • Breed with Wheat
  • Baby Cows will not drop anything when killed, but can provide Milk

Facts about Mooshrooms

  • Only found in the Mooshroom Biome
  • Look like a cow except for Color and the mushrooms growing on its back
  • Mooshrooms drop Raw Beef and Leather when killed
  • Can be milked over and over again with an Iron Bucket to get Milk
  • Can be milked over and over again with a Wooden Bowl to get Mushroom Soup
  • Breed with Wheat
  • Shear a Mooshroom with Shears to get Red Mushrooms (once sheared it will turn into a normal cow and cannot change back)
  • Baby Mooshrooms will not drop anything when killed, but can provide Milk and be Sheared for Mushrooms

Step 5: Chickens

Facts about Chickens

  • Chickens can drop Raw Chicken and Feathers when killed
  • Chickens lay Eggs which can be used for recipes or you can throw and break them with the chance you will get a baby chick
  • Breed with Wheat, Melon, or Pumpkin Seeds
  • Unlike other animals, when they fall of a cliff, they won't take damage or die because they will flap their wings which slows their dissent

Step 6: Rabbits/Bunnies

Facts about Rabbits

  • Rabbits can drop Raw Rabbit, Cooked Rabbit, and Rabbit Hide. Also rarely drops Rabbit's Foot.
  • Use Cooked Rabbit to make Rabbit Stew.
  • Rabbit's Foot used for brewing Mundane Potion and Potion of Leaping
  • Killer Bunnies exist, but do not spawn naturally; they need to be spawned using commands - Have white fur with red eyes.
  • Breed with Carrots, Golden Carrots, and Dandelions.

Step 7: Horses, Donkeys and Mules

Facts about Horses

  • Horses only spawn in the Plains or Savannah
  • Do not spawn very commonly
  • Drops Leather when killed
  • Once a Horse is Tamed, it you can Breed it, Equip with Saddle and Armor (both a Saddle and Horse Armor cannot be made, they must be found) and Ride it
  • To ride on it and control it, the Horse must be equipped with a Saddle
  • Breed with Golden Carrot or Golden Apple
  • Unlike other tamed animals, a Horse will not follow you once tamed
  • Babies of tamed Horses will still need to be tamed when grown
  • Baby Horses can be fed Golden Apples, Golden Carrots, Apples, Wheat, Hay Bale, Bread and Sugar to speed up growing
  • Jumping while riding a saddled Horse, causes the Horse to jump
  • While riding a Horse you can jump over fences and stone walls

Facts about Donkeys

  • Only spawn in the Plains and Savannah
  • Spawn less often then Horses
  • Drops Leather when killed
  • Breed with Golden Carrot or Golden Apple
  • Needs to be tamed to equip it with anything; you repeatedly try to ride it until you get hearts to tame
  • Cannot be equipped with Armor, but can be equipped with a Saddle and Chest once tamed (provides 15 inventory slots) (chest cannot be removed once equipped unless the animal dies, then it will be dropped)
  • There is no variations in Donkeys, they all look the same

Facts about Mules

  • Created by breeding a Horse with a Donkey, does not appear naturally in the game
  • Cannot breed
  • Drops Leather when killed
  • Cannot be equipped with Armor, but can be equipped with a Saddle and Chest once tamed (provides 15 inventory slots) (chest cannot be removed once equipped unless the animal dies, then it will be dropped)
  • All Mules look the same

Taming Horses/Donkeys/Mules

  • To tame a Horse, Donkey or Mule try to ride the animal
  • The animal will most likely throw you off a few times
  • Once you see hearts, the animal has been trained, you can sit on it, but you can't ride it/control it until it has been saddled

Step 8: Ocelots/Cats

Facts about Ocelots

  • Are found naturally as Ocelots and become one of three breeds of Cats once tamed
  • Does not drop anything when killed
  • Found in Jungle Biomes
  • Will continue to follow a player and meow once tamed
  • Creepers are afraid of cats and will run away if one is nearby - makes them handy to have following you around
  • Are scared easily so are difficult to tame
  • Tame with raw fish
  • Breed with Raw Fish
  • If you can catch an Ocelot on a lead you can stake it to the ground and wait nearby for it to beg for food and you can tame it
  • A cat can be ordered to sit and stay instead of follow you

Taming Ocelots

  • First, find an Ocelot in a jungle
  • Have raw fish in hand
  • Find an Ocelot and try to get close enough without scaring away, then let it approach you
  • Will give off hearts and take on one of the cat skins once tamed

Step 9: Wolves/Dogs

Facts about Wolfs

  • Are considered Neutral mobs as they can be both passive and hostile
  • Does not drop anything when killed
  • Can be tamed by feeding Bones
  • Can be bred with Various Meats or Rotten Flesh
  • When tamed, a Red Collar will appear around the wolfs neck (it can be dyed another color)
  • When a Wolf is Hostile, its tail will stick out straight and its eyes will be red - it will attack and kill sheep whenever it wants but will only attack a player if it is attacked first
  • Once a Wolf is tamed it will follow you around unless you tell it to sit/stay
  • A tamed wolf will attack whatever the player attacks (except Creepers)

Step 10: Squids

Facts about Squids

  • They will not attack you even if you attack them
  • Are only found in water
  • Will drop Ink Sacs when killed which can be used as Black Dye

Step 11: Bats

Facts about Bats

  • Bats are passive mobs
  • They will not attack you even if you attack/kill them
  • Does not drop anything when killed
  • Are found in Caverns
  • They don't do anything except fly around and squeak in the dark

Step 12: Polar Bears

Facts about Polar Bears

  • Cannot be bred (that I know of).
  • Can possibly drop a Raw Fish or Raw Salmon, but you are not guaranteed anything if you kill one.
  • Will attack you if you attack it or if you get to near its cub, but normally cubs are Passive and adults are Neutral.
  • Can be led around on a Lead.

Step 13: More Minecraft