Donkey

By Luis Joshua Gutierrez , Samuel Heaney , Dan Hammill

Updated: Jun 20, 2022 7:03pm UTC

Donkeys are a passive mob in Minecraft. They're primarily used for travel and can be used to carry items. In this IGN guide, we'll detail everything you'll need to know about donkeys with details on where they spawn, how to breed them, how to tame them, how to equip a chest on one, and more.

Looking for something specific about Donkeys? Click the links below to jump to...

What Are Donkeys and What Do They Do in Minecraft
Where to Find a Donkey
How to Tame a Donkey
How to Breed a Donkey
How to Ride a Donkey
How to Put a Chest on a Donkey
All Donkey Loot

What Are Donkeys and What Do They Do in Minecraft

Donkeys are extremely useful when traveling for long distances at a time. They're one of the few mobs in-game that you can ride. What particularly makes them stand out is that they are of three mobs that can have chests equipped on them.

Where to Find a Donkey

Donkeys usually travel in packs of one to three or two to six if you're on Bedrock. They can be commonly found in the Meadows Biomes. A complete list of all the Biomes Donkeys that can spawn in can be found below.

Meadow
Plains
Savanna
Savanna Plateau
Sunflower Plains
Windswept Savanna

To learn more about the different types of Biomes that are available to find across Minecraft, be sure to check out our Biomes guide for more details.

How to Tame a Donkey

Unlike cats, parrots, and wolves you don’t need to feed a donkey anything. To tame it is fairly simple; all you need to do is hop on its back. The first couple of times you do this, it'll knock you off. But give it enough time, and you'll have the donkey tamed in no time. If you're lucky enough, you'll be able to tame it in one go. Once you've successfully tamed a donkey, hearts will appear above its head. It's also worth noting that its hunger bar will now be replaced by a health bar when riding a tamed donkey. When damaged, a donkey can be healed by feeding them Sugar, Wheat, Apples, Golden Apples, Golden Carrots, or Hay Bales.

How to Breed a Donkey

To breed a Donkey in Minecraft, you'll first need to have it tamed. Once you've done that, make sure the donkeys are in an animal farm, so they can't run away.

Once you have the donkeys in a safe location, make sure to feed the donkey a Golden Apple or Golden Carrots so the donkey can enter Love Mode.

Although apples are a little harder to come by, and Golden Apples are even rarer and better used before a big fight, golden carrots are the safest bet. Carrots can be commonly found in villages. To make a golden carrot, go to a crafting table, put the carrot in the middle, and then surround it with gold nuggets.

Once you have the right food, feed it to both donkeys, and the donkeys will enter Love Mode. A baby will spawn within a few seconds.

How to Ride a Donkey

When you hop on a tamed donkey, you can control it if you have a saddle. You can equip a saddle by pulling up the inventory and transferring it from you to the horse. Once you've equipped the saddle on the donkey, you'll be able to fully control where the donkey goes.

How to Put a Chest on a Donkey

Putting a chest on a donkey is fairly simple. You'll need to approach the donkey after taming it and right-click it or press the left trigger, and you'll put a chest on it. You'll be able to access the inventory of the donkey by mounting it, and the chest won't be available until after the donkey dies.