How to tame a fox in Minecraft

Those adorable but speedy little creatures have huge personalities

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It’s Minecraft. It is (for the most part) a wholesome and relaxing sandbox game. If you stay above ground. And let’s face it, one of the best things to do is gather as many adorable pets as possible. One of the most adorable Minecraft creatures is the fox, so how do you tame a fox in Minecraft?

When foxes were added to Minecraft as part of the Minecraft Live vote-winning Taiga biome update of 2018, they were definitely the new cutest mob. In fact, they probably played a big part in getting the biome into the lead in the first place. Especially the extra cute Snowy Taiga variant. They make the sweetest squeaks, can be used for farming, and just look absolutely adorable, so let’s find out how to tame foxes in Minecraft.

How to tame a fox in Minecraft

While you can’t technically tame a naturally-spawned fox in Minecraft, you can encourage two to breed. Breeding two wild adult foxes will spawn a new baby fox which trusts the player, in other words, a “tamed” fox. However, foxes aren’t domesticated creatures, so they’re still not really tamed in the same way as some other Minecraft mobs. Baby foxes, even if they trust the player, will still follow its wild parent foxes. If they run away, so will their baby.

To breed a pair of foxes in Minecraft, as with most other mobs, simply feed them their favorite food. So what do Minecraft foxes eat? Well, no surprise since they were added to the same biome at the same time, but foxes just can’t get enough of sweet berries. And now, with the Caves and Cliffs update, they love to munch on glow berries, too.

So, can you get a “pet” fox in Minecraft?

There are still ways, of course, of getting yourself a fox or two to keep at your base. This is Minecraft, after all. The easiest way is simply using a lead, which you can even use on wild, untrusting foxes, provided you can get close enough (Hint – sneak with berries in hand!). Foxes will follow a player when attached to a lead – even if sitting or sleeping, weirdly. You can then lead two (or more) foxes back to your base, start breeding them, and wind up with your very own skulk of tamed Minecraft foxes.

But what do foxes do in Minecraft?

Foxes are one of the more entertaining Minecraft mobs, with a range of personality traits. For a start, they are one of the only mobs in the game who sleep. Which isn’t very useful, but is pretty darn cute.

Preying on the small

Minecraft foxes are also both predator and prey. All foxes will attack smaller mobs, such as chickens or rabbits, meaning you can use them to get food, feathers and more, while tamed foxes will attack any hostile mobs which attack the trusted player. In contrast, Minecraft foxes become victim to both wild wolves and polar bears.

Carrying items

Another trait of foxes in Minecraft is that they can carry an item in their mouths. While foxes will pick up any item from the floor, they prefer food items, and will even drop other items in favor of food. They eventually consume any food item except cake. Interestingly, foxes will be affected by any status effects from the food it eats, such as poisoning or absorption, even teleporting when fed chorus fruit. In addition, a fox may even spawn with one of seven items in its mouth, which you can encourage it to drop using food. These items include rarities such as a Rabbit’s Foot or even an Emerald, so keep an eye on those wild foxes for treasures!

Held items with which a Minecraft Fox can spawn

Item	Spawn rate
Emerald	5%
Rabbit’s Foot	10%
Rabbit Hide	10%
Egg	15% (Java Edition), 20% (Bedrock Edition)
Wheat	20%
Leather	20%
Feather	20% (Java Edition), 15% (Bedrock Edition)

Farming berries

One of the most common uses for foxes in Minecraft is using them to farm berries. Thanks to their unique nature and the fact that they pick berries, you can use them to make a fully automated berry farm. Sadly, it’s not hugely useful due to berries not having a lot of uses, but they can be used as an emergency food if you’re running out of everything else. For a full idea of how to utilise foxes for Minecraft berry farms, check out one of the hundreds of YouTube tutorials, including this one from well-known Minecraft YouTuber Wattles.

There’s so much more to foxes that we haven’t covered here. Another great resource that goes into detail on foxes is the unofficial Minecraft wiki. And if you’re looking to add even more adorable creatures to your Minecraft menagerie, don’t forget to check out our guide on taming and breeding every Minecraft mob.

More Minecraft mob guides

• How to breed animals in Minecraft
• Everything you need to know about Minecraft skeletons
• What is a Phantom in Minecraft? All you need to know
• How to tame a cat in Minecraft
• What are Minecraft Glow Squid?
• How to tame a Minecraft Fox
• How to tame and breed horses in Minecraft

And head over to our Minecraft hub for even more news, guides and how-tos!