Happy ghast and harness might become a popular, cheap way to fly in Minecraft

Mojang Studios recently revealed new ghast variants and their related features for Minecraft's upcoming summer game drop. This was shared in the first Minecraft Live event of 2025. A jaw-dropping feature developers announced was that one of the ghast variants — happy ghast — can be ridden using a new item called the harness.

This confirmed that the development studio will soon add a second method of flying in the game after elytra. By observing the new ghast variant and harness, it is safe to say that this combination will become an extremely cheap method of flying in Minecraft.

Note: This article is subjective and solely reflects the writer's opinion.

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How the harness and happy ghast will become a popular, cheap way to fly in Minecraft

Harness and happy ghast will be easily available compared to elytra

To fly in Minecraft, players must embark on a long journey of increasing strength, fighting the Ender Dragon, and finding the End City with the floating ship. Currently, this is the only way to get elytra, the only gear that allows one to fly using rockets.

After the next game drop, however, flying should become much easier because of the harness and happy ghast. Compared to elytra, both these new features are easier to obtain and use.

For a happy ghast, players will need to explore the Nether, find fossils in the Soul Sand Valley, get dried ghasts if they generate near fossils, nurture them in water to grow ghastling, and feed ghastling snowballs to get happy ghast. There is also a crafting recipe for the dried ghast block that will soon be revealed by Mojang Studios.

For a harness, players must combine three pieces of leather, two glass blocks, and one wool block.

When both the new ghast variant and ghast harness are obtained, gamers can fly anywhere they want.

Though the process of getting happy ghast sounds tedious, it is extremely easy compared to what players will have to do to get elytra.

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Some harness and happy ghast features could be better than elytra

Players will be able to fly and stand on the happy ghast while the mob is idling in the air (Image via Mojang Studios)

Elytra is known for allowing a single gamer to fly around in Minecraft relatively quickly, especially if someone is frequently using rockets. However, one elytra can only allow one player to fly, and they will not be able to stop midair.

These features will be offered by a harness and a happy ghast once they are released. Up to four players can sit on top of a happy ghast if it has a harness on it. This means that players can fly their friends from one place to another with ease.

Furthermore, they can stop mid-air and unmount the happy ghast. After doing so, they can stand on the happy ghast and perform all kinds of activities, such as eating, drinking potions, and placing blocks while the mob is floating. Players can use this feature to create sky structures easily or decorate high-altitude structures.

Thus, the harness and happy ghast are expected to become a much more popular alternative to elytra.

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