How to make a lead in Minecraft & what it’s used for

❘ Updated: 2022-10-31T12:51:00

Mojang

Having a lead in Minecraft is not only crucial to collecting mobs for breeding and farming, but they can also be useful in other, less obvious, ways. Here’s how to make a lead rope in Minecraft and what to use it for.

In the early game, Minecraft players will be scrambling to find a source of sustainable food. Breeding mobs like chickens, sheep, pigs, and cows will be an absolute life-saver.

Getting those animals back to your dwelling and into a contained space like a pen, however, can be quite difficult, as the resources needed to lure some mobs are difficult to get and animals can often get distracted.

Tying the animal to a rope, known in Minecraft as the lead item, ensures that they will follow you no matter what if the terrain allows. This makes it an incredibly useful item in the early days of your Minecraft world.

Here’s how to get, craft, and use a lead in Minecraft.

What does a lead do?
How do you use a lead?
What mobs can you leash with a lead?
Can you find a lead in the world?
What is the recipe for a lead?

What does the Minecraft lead do?

Leads are primarily used to keep animals and mobs tied to the player as they move, or tying them up in a specific location.

However, there are some unconventional uses for a lead that can be amusing to try-out.

It’s not only neutral animal mobs that can be leashed, but also some hostile monsters and mobs like golems. This means that you can pull around some mobs that would otherwise be too dangerous or difficult to coax into a location if need be.

How do you use a lead in Minecraft?

Leads have two uses: attaching a player to a mob and attaching the mob to a stationary point like a fence or wall.

To use the lead, simply hold it in your hand and left click on the mob that you want to attach the lead to.

So long as you’re holding the lead, that mob will follow you, but be aware that it is possible for the lead to break if you get too far away by either running away or climbing impassible terrain.

A horse attached to a lead.

Once you’ve brought the mob to where you want, left click with the lead in hand on a wall or fence and the creature will be leashed to that point.

If you want to let a leashed mob off the lead, you can left click it while holding the lead (if it’s leashed to you) or just break the lead if it’s tied to a post.

If the lead does break, you will be able to recover it and use it again.

What mobs can you leash with a lead?

Below is a full list of mobs (both friendly, neutral, and hostile) that can be leashed with a lead:

Allay
Axolotl
Bee
Boat‌ (in Bedrock edition)
Camel‌ (when released, confirmed at Minecon)
Cat (only when tamed)
Chicken
Chicken Jockey (only the chicken itself can be leashed)
Cow
Dolphin
Donkey
Fox
Frog
Glow Squid
Goat
Hoglin
Horse
Iron Golem
Llama
Mooshroom
Mule
Ocelot
Parrot
Pig
Polar Bear
Rabbit
Sheep
Skeleton Horse
Skeleton Horseman (only the skeleton horse)
Snow Golem
Squid
Strider
Trader Llama
Wolf (only if tamed)
Zoglin
Zombie Horse

Can you find a lead in your Minecraft world?

It is possible to find a lead in your Minecraft world, as they can be found in both Woodland Mansions and Ancient Cities in both the Java and Bedrock versions.

However, in the Bedrock version, leads can also be found in some buried treasure chests.

Given how dangerous Woodland Mansions and Ancient Cities can be, and how difficult they are to find, it’s probably best to simply craft a rope instead.

What is the recipe for Minecraft’s lead?

A lead requires five ingredients:

One slimeball
Four pieces of string

You’ll need to kill spiders for the string and slimes for the slimeballs. Luckily, these mobs are relatively easy to locate with spiders roaming the world at night and slimes residing in swamp biomes.

The recipe for crafting two leads in Minecraft.

After you’ve found these materials, simply use a crafting table and place them in the order shown in the picture above. This will provide you with two leads to use on mobs across the world.

The recipe is the same for both Java and Bedrock versions of the game, and there is no difference other than those noted above between the PC, console, and mobile versions.

See more Minecraft guides below.