Cows in Minecraft: Everything players need to know

Cows in Minecraft are a peaceful mob found in any biome that has grass blocks. A variation of the normal cow is a mooshroom - a cow-like mob found in mushroom biomes.

These mobs can be a good source of necessary items for survival. Cows will typically drop raw beef and leather at despawn that players can collect. Buckets can be used on cows to gather milk. A player can drink milk to get rid of potion effects.

Players in survival mode will typically keep a few cows at their base for food and other materials. Breeding cows using wheat provides a small amount of XP and a baby cow that will not drop anything at despawn until adulthood.

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Cows in Minecraft: Everything players need to know

Image via Mojang

Cows are a common food source at the start of any player's spawn point in Minecraft. Regular Minecraft cows can be found nearly anywhere. However, mooshrooms are a type of cow that only spawn in mushroom biomes.

A mooshroom can turn into a regular cow through the use of shears. The mooshroom will turn into a regular cow and drop the corresponding type of mushrooms. For example, a red mooshroom will drop red mushrooms. Brown mooshrooms drop brown mushrooms. A brown mooshroom is the outcome of lightning striking a red mooshroom.

Cows in Minecraft drop raw beef and leather at despawn. Players can use leather to make armor, books, horse armor, and picture frames. Leather can be used to repair equipment as well. Villagers with a leather worker's job will buy leather in exchange for emeralds.

Raw beef can restore three hunger points. Players that need more hunger points can smelt raw beef to make steak. One steak can restore eight hunger points. Raw beef can be sold to butchers for emeralds as well.

Players in survival mode should keep cows at their bases in fenced-in areas. This makes it easier to access the materials dropped by cows. A player can lure a cow into the enclosure and put it in love mode with wheat. Two cows in love mode will breed. Leads can also be used on Minecraft cows to relocate them.