Lead

| Rarity tier |
Common |
|---|---|
| Renewable |
Yes |
| Stackable |
Yes (64) |
{
"title": "Lead",
"rows": [
{
"field": "Common",
"label": "(link to Rarity article, displayed as Rarity tier)"
},
{
"field": "Yes",
"label": "(link to Renewable resource article, displayed as Renewable)"
},
{
"field": "Yes (64)",
"label": "Stackable"
}
],
"invimages": [
"Lead"
],
"images": [
"Lead.png"
]
}
Leads are utilities used to leash and lead some entities.
Obtaining
Mob loot
Wandering traders always spawn with 2 trader llamas, each held with a lead. When a trader llama is detached, either by killing it or the wandering trader, dragging them far apart, or putting the llama in a boat or a minecart, the lead drops at the llama's position.
Generated loot
| Item | Structure | Container | Quantity | Chance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Java Edition | ||||
| Chest | 1 | 16.1%{ "item": "Lead", "stacksize": 1, "chance": 0.16110641166159667, "structure": "Ancient City", "container": "Chest" }
| ||
| Suspicious gravel | 1 | 2.2%{ "item": "Lead", "stacksize": 1, "chance": 0.022222222222222254, "structure": "Trail Ruins", "container": "Suspicious gravel" }
| ||
| Chest | 1 | 28.3%{ "item": "Lead", "stacksize": 1, "chance": 0.28319573699514855, "structure": "Woodland Mansion", "container": "Chest" }
| ||
| Bedrock Edition | ||||
| Chest | 1 | 16.1%{ "item": "Lead", "stacksize": 1, "chance": 0.16110641166159667, "structure": "Ancient City", "container": "Chest" }
| ||
| Chest | 1–3 | 34.3%{ "item": "Lead", "stacksize": "1–3", "chance": 0.3433494144021395, "structure": "Buried Treasure", "container": "Chest" }
| ||
| Suspicious gravel | 1 | 2.2%{ "item": "Lead", "stacksize": 1, "chance": 0.021739130434782594, "structure": "Trail Ruins", "container": "Suspicious gravel" }
| ||
| Chest | 1 | 27.9%{ "item": "Lead", "stacksize": 1, "chance": 0.2792703864726873, "structure": "Woodland Mansion", "container": "Chest" }
| ||
Crafting
| Ingredients | Crafting recipe | Description |
|---|---|---|
| String |
Usage
Crafting ingredient
| Name | Ingredients | Crafting recipe | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Balloon | Latex + Matching Dye + Helium + |
| |
| White Balloon or Blue Balloon or Brown Balloon or Black Balloon |
Latex + Bone Meal or Lapis Lazuli or Cocoa Beans or Ink Sac + Helium + |
|
Leashing mobs


Using a lead on a mob ties the lead to the mob, allowing it to be moved by the player. Multiple mobs can be held by leads at once, but each mob held requires its own lead. Mobs can also be attached to other mobs with leads.
It is possible to leash the following mobs and other entities:
Additionally, bats, pandas, fish, tadpoles, turtles, villagers, wandering traders, NPCs, agents, and monsters can be leashed using a map editor or NBT editor.
With a mob on a lead held by the player, using the lead on any type of fence (or wall) attaches the lead to it with a visible knot, tying the mob to it. To attach it to a wall on Bedrock Edition, the player must hold a lead in the main hand.[1] Multiple leads may be attached to one fence post. A mob tied to a fence tends to stay within 5 blocks of the fence post.
Pressing the use item control on a leash knot will leash any player-leashed mobs to the leash knot, or if the player is not currently leashing any mobs, leash all mobs leashed to the leash knot to the player.
Sneaking and pressing the use item control on a leashable mob while already having other mobs leashed will leash any leashed mobs to the new mob. If a boat or any leashable mob that cannot fit into a boat is leashed to a happy ghast (aside from another happy ghast), it will be attached in a four-leash configuration hanging below the happy ghast.
A lead is broken by pressing the use item control on the leashed mob again, hitting the knot, removing or pushing the attached fence post, or using shears on a leashed mob or a leash knot. Leads also break when hit by projectiles. Whenever a lead is removed or broken, it drops as an item at the location of the mob. However, it does not drop when unleashed in Creative mode.[2] A lead does not break if the attached animal dies.
A lead can stretch a maximum of 12 blocks (16 if the leashed mob is a happy ghast). If the mob can move toward the player or fence post, it does so. If not, or if the mob is moving quickly away from the player, the lead breaks.
When the player or the knot is more than 7 blocks above the ground, the mob being leashed becomes suspended.
Most mobs that can be leashed can still be leashed even if attacking the player leashing them, and any attached leads do not break.
Wolves cannot be leashed after becoming angry. Despite this, if they become angry while already leashed, the lead does not break, but it cannot be reattached when broken through other methods while the wolf is still angry.
A lead does not prevent mobs from despawning if they normally would despawn.
When moving downward and accelerating toward the ground, leashed mobs accumulate fall damage and take it if they hit the ground while still accelerating. When moving up or decelerating (such as when the lead is stretched to its limit), the fall distance is set to one block and the mob therefore does not take any fall damage if it touches the ground.
If the player walks into and back out of a nether portal while holding a lead connected to a mob, the lead remains attached to the mob. However, if a mob attached to a lead walks into a nether portal, the lead breaks and drops as an item in the other dimension.
A lead can be used to remove a mob from a boat without needing to break the boat, if the mob can normally be leashed.
In Bedrock Edition, if a chunk unloads while containing a leashed mob (either by the player walking too far away, or traveling to another dimension via a portal), sometimes the lead breaks and drops as an item, leaving the mob free to wander around.[3]
Boats are unaffected by leads if a player is a direct passenger to a boat. Leads still work on boats with a player riding a mob that is riding the boat.
Sounds
| Sounds | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sound | Subtitles | Source | Description | Resource location | Translation key | Volume | Pitch | Attenuation distance |
| Leash Knot broken | Friendly Mobs | When a leash knot is destroyed | entity | subtitles | 1.0 | 1.0 | 16 | |
| Leash Knot tied | Friendly Mobs | When a leash knot is placed on a fence | entity | subtitles | 1.0 | 1.0 | 16 | |
| Lead snaps | Friendly Mobs | When a lead is broken due to distance | item | subtitles | 1.0 | 1.0 | 16 | |
| Sounds | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sound | Source | Description | Resource location | Volume | Pitch |
| Friendly Creatures Friendly Mobs | When a leash knot is broken by interacting with it | leashknot | 1.0 | 1.0 | |
| Friendly Creatures Friendly Mobs | When a leash knot is placed on a fence or wall | leashknot | 1.0 | 1.0 | |
| Friendly Creatures Friendly Mobs | When a lead is broken due to distance | item | 1.0 | 1.0 | |
Leash Knot
A leash knot is an entity created when the player right-clicks a fence or a wall post while having a mob leashed. It can be destroyed by attacking it, which detaches all mobs bound to the post and drops the leads.
Summoning
Using the command /summon minecraft:leash_knot <X Y Z>, it is possible to summon a leash knot without using a fence. A leash knot spawned this way does not have a leash attached to it.

| Hitbox size |
Height: 0.5 blocks |
|---|
{
"title": "Leash Knot",
"rows": [
{
"field": "Height: 0.5 blocks<br>Width: 0.375 blocks",
"label": "(link to Hitbox article, displayed as Hitbox size)"
}
],
"invimages": [],
"images": [
"Knot.png"
]
}
Data values
ID
| Item | Identifier | Form | Translation key |
|---|---|---|---|
lead | Item | item |
| Entity | Identifier | Translation key |
|---|---|---|
leash_knot | entity |
| Item | Identifier | Numeric ID | Form | Translation key |
|---|---|---|---|---|
lead | 547 | Item | item |
| Entity | Identifier | Numeric ID | Translation key |
|---|---|---|---|
leash_knot | 88 | entity |
Entity data
Leash knots have entity data that define various properties of the entity.
- [NBT Compound / JSON Object] Entity data
- Tags common to all entities see Template:Nbt inherit/entity/template
Achievements
| Icon | Achievement | In-game description | Actual requirements (if different) | Gamerscore earned | Trophy type (PS) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PS4 | Other | ||||||
| So I Got That Going for Me | Lead a Caravan containing at least 5 Llamas | — | 20 | Bronze | |||
Advancements
| Icon | Advancement | In-game description | Actual requirements (if different) |
|---|---|---|---|
![]() | When the Squad Hops into Town | Get each Frog variant on a | The frogs don't need to be leashed at the same time. |
History
| Java Edition | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.6.1 | 13w16a | ||||||
| Leads do not currently have a tooltip and are called “leashes” in the change notes. | |||||||
| Added horses, donkeys, mules, skeleton horses, and zombie horses, which can be leashed, when tamed. | |||||||
| Pigs, cows, chickens, sheep, and mooshrooms can also be leashed. | |||||||
| 13w16b | Leads have been given a tooltip. | ||||||
| 13w18a | Leads have been given a crafting recipe, which was originally four string and one slimeball.
| ||||||
| 13w22a | Untamed horses, donkeys and mules can now be leashed. | ||||||
| 1.8 | 14w27a | Added rabbits, which can be leashed. | |||||
| 1.9 | 15w50a | Added a sound for leads: entity.leashknot.place. | |||||
| 1.10 | 16w20a | Added polar bears, which can be leashed. | |||||
| 1.11 | 16w39a | Added llamas, which can be leashed. | |||||
| Leads can now be found in woodland mansion chests. | |||||||
| 1.12 | 17w13a | Added parrots, which can be leashed. | |||||
| 1.13 | 18w15a | Added dolphins, which can be leashed. | |||||
| Squids can no longer be leashed. | |||||||
| 1.14 | 18w43a | ||||||
| 19w05a | Added wandering traders and trader llamas, which are naturally connected with leads. | ||||||
| Trader llamas can also be leashed by the player. | |||||||
| 19w07a | Added foxes, which can be leashed. | ||||||
| 1.15 | 19w34a | Added bees, which can be leashed. | |||||
| 1.16 | 20w09a | Skeleton horses and zombie horses can now be leashed.[4] | |||||
| 20w13a | Added striders, which can be leashed. | ||||||
| 20w14a | Hoglins can now be leashed. | ||||||
| 1.16.2 | 20w27a | Zoglins can now be leashed. | |||||
| 1.17 | 20w51a | Added axolotls, which can be leashed. | |||||
| 21w13a | Added goats, which can be leashed. | ||||||
| 21w19a | Squids and glow squids can now be leashed.[5] | ||||||
| 1.19 | 22w11a | Added frogs, which can be leashed. | |||||
| 22w13a | Added allays, which can be leashed. | ||||||
| Leads may now be found in ancient city chests. | |||||||
| 1.19.3 Experiment | 22w42a | Added camels, which can be leashed. | |||||
| Mobs no longer accumulate fall damage when dangling on leads.[6] | |||||||
| 1.19.4 Experiment | 23w07a | Added sniffers, which can be leashed. | |||||
| 1.20 | 23w12a | Leads can now be found in suspicious gravel and suspicious sand in trail ruins. | |||||
| 23w16a | Leads no longer generate in suspicious sand in trail ruins. | ||||||
| Due to the split of the archaeological loot tables for the suspicious gravel within the trail ruins; leads are now in the common loot table. | |||||||
| 1.20.5 | 23w51a | Added armadillos, which can be leashed. | |||||
| 1.21 | Pre-release 1 | Boats and boat with chests can now be leashed. | |||||
| 1.21.6 | 25w15a | Added happy ghasts, which can be leashed. | |||||
| 25w16a | Using a firework rocket while gliding with elytra will now break any attached leads. | ||||||
| Leashed leads are now rendered twice as thick. | |||||||
| Leads can now leash two mobs together. | |||||||
| Leashed leads can now be snipped by using shears. | |||||||
| When leashing an already leashed mob, the current leash will now snap and the mob will be leashed to the player. | |||||||
| Interactions with leash knots and fences have been changed. | |||||||
| Boats and large mobs that can be leashed but not fit in a boat can now be leashed in a 4-leash configuration to a happy ghast. | |||||||
| Leash snapping distance has been increased to 12 blocks. | |||||||
| Happy ghast leash is now longer, with a free roaming distance of 10 blocks and snapping distance of 16 blocks. | |||||||
| 25w18a | Leads are now crafted with 5 strings instead of 4 strings and 1 slimeball.
| ||||||
| 25w21a | Leads now make a sound when they snap. | ||||||
| Pocket Edition Alpha | |||||||
| v0.15.0 | build 1 | ||||||
| Pocket Edition | |||||||
| 1.1.0 | alpha 1.1.0.0 | Leads now have better "physics". | |||||
| Leads can now be found inside woodland mansion chests. | |||||||
| Bedrock Edition | |||||||
| 1.4.0 | beta 1.2.14.2 | Leads can now be found inside buried treasure chests. | |||||
| Leads can now be used on boats. | |||||||
| 1.4.0 | beta 1.2.20.1 | Leads can now be used to craft balloons. | |||||
| 1.10.0 | beta 1.10.0.3 | ||||||
| Wandering traders now drop leads after they are detached from trader llamas. | |||||||
| 1.14.0 | beta 1.14.0.1 | Leads can now be used on polar bears, ocelots, parrots, dolphins and old villagers. | |||||
| 1.19.0 | beta 1.19.0.20 | Allays can now be leashed. | |||||
| 1.20.60 Experiment | Preview 1.20.60.23 | Added armadillos, which can be leashed. | |||||
| 1.21.80 Experiment | Preview 1.21.80.25 | Added happy ghasts, which can be leashed. | |||||
| 1.21.90 | Preview 1.21.90.20 | Using a firework rocket while gliding with elytra will now break any attached leads. | |||||
| Leads can now leash two mobs together. | |||||||
| Leashed leads can now be snipped by using shears. | |||||||
| When leashing an already leashed mob, the current leash will now snap and the mob will be leashed to the player. | |||||||
| Interactions with leash knots and fences have been changed | |||||||
| Boats and large mobs that can be leashed but not fit in a boat can now be leashed in a 4-leash configuration to a happy ghast. | |||||||
| Leash snapping distance has been increased to 12 blocks. | |||||||
| Happy ghast leash is now longer, with a free roaming distance of 10 blocks and snapping distance of 16 blocks. | |||||||
| Preview 1.21.90.21 | Leads are now crafted with 5 strings instead of 4 strings and 1 slimeball.
| ||||||
| Preview 1.21.90.25 | Attaching a leashed entity to another entity and using Shears to cut leashes now take precedence over other interactions. | ||||||
| Leash break distance is now calculated between the centers of the two entities' collision boxes, aligning with the rest of the leash physics calculations. | |||||||
| Preview 1.21.90.26 | Leashing, unleashing, collecting leashed mobs, and leashing mobs to other mobs now play custom sounds. | ||||||
| Fence knots now play a sound when destroyed, either by being punched or when all their leashed entities are gone. | |||||||
| Boats can now be pulled out of water using a lead. | |||||||
| Upcoming Bedrock Edition | |||||||
| 1.21.100 | Preview 1.21.100.20 | It is no longer possible to connect leads to walls. | |||||
| 1.21.100 | Preview 1.21.100.22 | Leashes now emit their breaking sound from the location of the leash holder, rather than the actor being leashed. | |||||
| 1.21.100 | Preview 1.21.100.23 | Leashed mobs can now be pulled into boats, minecarts, and other rideable entities if the leash is slackened when close to those entities. | |||||
| Leashed mobs will now automatically dismount their vehicle if the leash is stretched far enough. | |||||||
| Legacy Console Edition | |||||||
| Xbox 360 | Xbox One | PS3 | PS4 | PS Vita | Wii U | Switch | |
| TU19 | CU7 | 1.12 | 1.12 | 1.12 | Patch 1 | 1.0.1 | |
| TU43 | CU33 | 1.36 | 1.36 | 1.36 | Patch 13 | Sounds have been added for leads. | |
| TU54 | CU44 | 1.52 | 1.52 | 1.52 | Patch 24 | 1.0.4 | Leads can now be found in woodland mansion chests. |
| TU69 | 1.76 | 1.76 | 1.76 | Patch 38 | Leads can now be found inside buried treasure chests. | ||
| 1.90 | |||||||
| 1.91 | Added wandering traders, which are naturally equipped with leads. | ||||||
| New Nintendo 3DS Edition | |||||||
| 0.1.0 | |||||||
Data history
| Java Edition | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.11 | 16w32a | The entity ID of the knot has been changed from LeashKnot to leash_knot. | |||||
| 1.13 | 17w47a | Prior to The Flattening, this item's numeral ID was 420. | |||||
| Pocket Edition | |||||||
| 1.1.0 | alpha 1.1.0.0 | The entity ID of the knot has been changed from leashknot to leash_knot. | |||||
Issues
Issues relating to "Lead" or "Leash" are maintained on the bug tracker. Issues should be reported and viewed there.
Trivia
- The lead is named "leash" in the texture file.
- If a player goes to sleep while holding a mob on a lead, the lead remains attached.
- In Java Edition, when using the
/itemcommand to put a lead in a player's head slot, the item gets rotated and positioned in such a way that it looks like the player is wearing a monocle.
Gallery
Screenshots
-
Many animals can be tied to one fence post. -
A horse wearing golden horse armor that is leashed to a fence post. -
Three sheep tied to the same fence. -
A shot of all the mobs that could be tied with leads as of 1.6.1, except donkeys and mules. -
With the use of the leash, it is possible to suspend animals in the air by tying the leash on high-up fence posts. -
A donkey with the Grumm/Dinnerbone name tag easter egg tied to a fence with a lead to make a yo-yo. -

Mojang screenshots
-
First image of a lead in Bedrock Edition, taken on mobile. The player is leashing a sheep. -
An ocelot leashed by the player. -
Two happy ghasts with mobs in boats leashed below them. -

-
Kai and Noor riding a happy ghast, with a mob in a boat leashed below. -
Sunny leashing 3 mobs, with 2 pyramids in the background. -
Noor attached 3 baby chickens to an adult chicken using leads. -
A happy ghast and 3 other mobs leashed together in a line. -
Kai leashing a wolf and 4 other mobs together in a line. -
Kai and Noor leashing happy ghasts, while riding in boats. -
Sunny riding a happy ghast that is leashed to a boat with mobs in it. -
Kai riding a happy ghast leashed to a pig in a boat. -
A happy ghast leashed to a frog. -
A happy ghast leashed to a pig, a panda, and a wolf (in a line). -

References
- ↑ MCPE-108078 — Lead can only be attached to a wall when holding a lead — resolved as "Won't Fix".
- ↑ MCPE-79639 — Unleashing a mob in creative mode drops an unnecessary lead — resolved as "Won't Fix".
- ↑ MCPE-157182
- ↑ MC-166246
- ↑ MC-136647
- ↑ MC-14167 — Mobs build up fall damage when dangling on a lead — resolved as "Fixed".
External links
- Taking Inventory: Lead – Minecraft.net on April 8, 2022
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