Understanding the Saddle Conundrum in Minecraft
Let’s start with the biggest misconception concerning saddles. Unfortunately, it is not possible to craft any kind of saddle in Minecraft. No matter what materials you find and combine together, none of them will make a saddle. This has always been slightly confusing to the player base, as you’d think that a combination of leather and some other materials would be enough to craft the item. Now that we know it’s impossible to make a saddle in Minecraft, let’s go over all the actual ways to obtain one.
How to Get a Saddle in Minecraft
There are four primary ways to obtain a saddle. All of these methods involve various world activities, some of which are certainly easier than others. However, for the most part, your chances of adding a saddle to your inventory come down to luck. The four ways to obtain a saddle are individually described below:
Killing Mobs
Perhaps the most straightforward way of obtaining a saddle is through killing specific mobs in Minecraft. While only a couple of mobs have the chance to drop a saddle as loot, there’s a decent chance these mobs drop one relatively quickly. The most common mob to drop a saddle are Ravagers, as they drop one every time they die. Also, Zombified Piglins riding a Strider in the Nether have a chance to drop the saddle they’re currently using as well.
Opening Chests
Depending on the edition of Minecraft you’re playing, you can obtain a saddle through chest loot. The chest locations are the same, but the chances of obtaining a saddle from the chests vary slightly depending on the edition, Java or Bedrock. You can see a full list of chest locations that might contain a saddle for both Java and Bedrock below:
- Dungeon
- Ancient City
- Bastion Remnant (Hoglin Stable Chest)
- Desert Temple
- End City
- Jungle Temple
- Nether Fortress
- Stronghold (Altar Chest)
- Village (Weaponsmith’s house, Savanna house, Tanner’s Chest)
Fishing
Arguably, the rarest way to obtain a saddle is through fishing. You have a roughly 1% chance to reel in a saddle as “treasure” when fishing with an unenchanted fishing rod. If you enchant the fishing rod, your odds go up, but not by much.
Trading
The final way to obtain a saddle in Minecraft is by trading with Master-Level Leatherworker Villagers. There’s a 50% chance these Villagers sell a saddle in exchange for six emeralds on Bedrock while there’s a 100% chance the Villagers have a saddle for sale for six emeralds. This is the easiest way to obtain a saddle, but only if you’ve done the legwork required with your Villagers.
How to Use a Saddle in Minecraft
Now that you know how to get a saddle, it’s time you learned how to use one. For starters, only the following mobs can be saddled and ridden as a mount:
- Pigs
- Camels
- Horses
- Donkeys
- Mules
- Striders
There are different rules when it comes to applying a saddle and controlling different mounts. For example, you need a carrot on a stick in your inventory to control a pig after it’s been saddled while you need to tame mounts like horses and camels before you’re able to saddle them. Once a saddle is on a mount, you can climb on and ride them all across the world.
