How to Make a Lead in Minecraft

In a Nutshell

To craft a lead in Minecraft, you need 4 Strings and 1 Slimeball. Once you have all the required ingredients, open a 3×3 crafting grid using a crafting table. Then, put 3 strings in the top left, a slimeball in the middle, and 1 string in the bottom right of the grid. After placing them correctly, you will get two leads.

There is a wide variety of tools in Minecraft. Tools are special items that help makes a task efficient and quick. For example, players can use an axe to chop down wood blocks quickly or use a shovel to dig dirt blocks faster, and so on.

In this article, we look at a unique tool called Lead and learn how to make a lead in Minecraft.

Lead, also known as a leash, is one of the oldest items in Minecraft. It was added to the game as part of the Horse Update released in 2013. As apparent from its name, lead is used on mobs to make them move in a certain direction.

Without further ado, let us dive into the crafting recipe of lead in Minecraft.

Table of Contents

Minecraft Lead recipe and required Items

To make a lead in Minecraft, you will need:

4 Strings
1 Slimeball

The above is the lead crafting recipe in Minecraft.

A pair of lead can be crafted using four strings and a slimeball. You can obtain strings by killing spiders or cave spiders. As for slimeballs, the best way to get them is by killing slimes. Players can set up a spider and slime farm to have an infinite supply of strings and slimes.

How to make a Lead in Minecraft

1. Obtain four strings

The best source of string in Minecraft is spider/cave spider. You can find these creatures spawning commonly in caves. Spider spawners found in mineshafts can be used to create a string farm.

Alternatively, you can also get strings by breaking cobwebs using a sword. This way, players won’t necessarily have to fight spiders to get string. You can also get strings by bartering with piglins. A piglin can drop anywhere between 3-9 strings when given a gold ingot.

2. Get a slimeball

As mentioned earlier, slimes are the best source of slimeballs. It is the critical ingredient to crafting a lead in Minecraft. Slimes can be found in swamp biomes during nighttime. In slime chunks, slimes spawn below height level 40. You can get lots of slimeballs by finding a giant slime.

3. Crafting lead

Once you have all the required ingredients, you can start crafting leads in Minecraft. Place a crafting table and open the 3×3 crafting grid. Then, put four strings and a slimeball in the pattern, as shown in the above image. After placing them correctly, you will get two leads.

Other ways to get lead in Minecraft

Obtaining slimeballs can be challenging at times. Instead of crafting, you can obtain leads using other ways. Wandering traders usually travel with a pair of llamas. You can kill a wandering trader to make it drop two leads. If you don’t want to kill it, you can use a boat to kidnap llamas which will automatically cause the wandering trader’s leash to break.

You can also find Minecraft leads inside loot chests. The following structures usually have leads inside their loot chests:

Woodland mansion
Ancient city
Buried treasure (Bedrock Edition only)

Be sure to check loot chests in the structures when exploring worlds in Minecraft.

Usage of Lead in Minecraft

Lead is a simple tool in Minecraft. Using lead, you can put certain mobs on a leash and make them move along with you. Lead can be used on the following mobs in Minecraft:

Allay‌
Axolotl
Bee
Boat‌[Bedrock Edition only]
Cat (tamed)
Chicken
Chicken Jockey (only the mount)
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 mount)
Snow Golem
Squid
Strider
Trader Llama
Wolf (tamed)
Zoglin
Zombie Horse

You can also use lead to tie mobs to fences in Minecraft. A mob tied to the fence won’t wander off and stay in the exact location. It is helpful when leaving behind your horse or a pet before entering a cave or crossing an ocean.

Lead Minecraft FAQ

Can you make a lead in Minecraft without slime?

Yes, but the process is complex. There is another source of slimeballs in Minecraft. When a baby panda sneezes, it has a slight chance of dropping a slimeball. Given panda’s rarity, it will be easier to find slimes and kill them to get slimeballs.

Can I put a lead on a villager in Minecraft?

No, leads are not usable on villagers in Minecraft. You cannot put a villager on a leash and make it travel with you. However, there are many other ways to control a villager. You can use a boat or minecart to bring a villager easily. Even a bed or workstation can also help attract villagers.

Are leads reusable in Minecraft?

Leads are completely reusable in Minecraft. After removing the leash from a mob, it drops itself as an item. You can pick the lead back up and use it again.

How do you stop leads from breaking in Minecraft?

After a mob has been leashed, a lead turns into an entity. The mob has to stay within a ten-block radius from the player. Otherwise, the lead will break. This can happen if a mob gets stuck somewhere, but the player keeps moving. Lead also breaks automatically when the mob it is attached to dies.

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