During Minecraft Live in 2025, Mojang announced the arrival of the Happy Ghast to its survival game. While the Ghast is a hostile Minecraft mob, its counterpart, the Happy Ghast, is passive and can eventually be ridden. There are a few steps to take before you can have a Happy Ghast at your disposal though, as they have to be rehydrated and grown into their adult form. Happy Ghasts do not spawn naturally in the survival game; instead you'll have to head to the Nether to start the process. Here's how to find, tame, and ride Happy Ghasts in Minecraft.
Dried Ghasts can be found near Nether fossils in the Soul Sand Valleys
Happy Ghasts do not spawn naturally. To find one, you will need to go through a Minecraft Nether Portal and look for a small cube with a sad face. This is the Dried Ghast--an immobile, shriveled Ghast. It can be crafted, found near Nether fossils in the Soul Sand Valleys biome of the Nether, or purchased through bartering. If you find a Dried Ghast near some fossils you can instantly mine it with any tool, or by hand. Piglins are just above 2% likely to offer a Dried Ghast when given a Gold Ingot.
You can craft a Dried Ghast, but the resources needed mean it's more efficient to search the Nether for one. Regardless, if you do one to craft one, arrange one Soul Sand in the center of the crafting grid and surround it with Ghast Tears. You can get Ghast Tears by defeating the hostile version of the mob, the Ghast, which is found in the Nether. To craft the Dried Ghast you will need:
When you've obtained a Dried Ghast, you'll need to submerge it in water to begin a rehydration process. You'll know if this is successful as it will emit green particles and begin to smile and lighten in color. The entire process takes around 20 minutes. After 5 minutes it will be partially hydrated, after 10 minutes it will be mostly hydrated, and after 15 minutes it will be hydrated. At 20 minutes, the Dried Ghast will turn into a Ghastling.
If the water is taken away during the hydration process, it will revert to a Dried Ghast slowly, at the same pace of hydration. If it is broken or harvested during the process, it will appear in your inventory as a Dried Ghast and the process should be started again.
Once you have rehydrated your Dried Ghast and possess a Ghastling, it will roam and follow players or mobs within a 16-block range. They will prioritize following you, but if there are certain mobs nearby they're happy to follow them too as long as they're not babies. Ghastlings will not drown underwater, and after 20 minutes your Ghastling will mature into a Happy Ghast. Alternatively, to speed along the process, you can feed your Ghastling 10 snowballs to make it fully-grown.
Minecraft Happy Ghasts can fly
As the Happy Ghast is technically nurtured from birth by you, it is already tame by the time it matures. It will be bound to the home where it matured, and will imprint on the closest player to it at the time of rehydration.
Once the Happy Ghast has a harness equipped, firstly it'll look adorable. Seriously, look at it. Secondly, up to four players can ride a Happy Ghast at once, making it one of the most efficient ways of quickly traveling across a map. Despite four players being able to ride, only the first one to mount it will be in control of the direction the Happy Ghast flies in. Soaring in the air allows for high-up construction, as the Happy Ghast will stay still if anyone is standing on it.
Happy Ghasts can transport mobs
While you can use the Happy Ghast to transport items and mobs, bear in mind that as soon as no players are standing on it, any other items will be flung off. A more successful way of transporting mobs is to attach a leash to it and then connect it to the Happy Ghast, creating a parachute of sorts.
Putting on or removing a harness, or dismounting, will reset the area the Happy Ghast is bound to. When harnessed, the Happy Ghast will roam within a 32-block radius of its home. Unharnessed Happy Ghasts roam up to 64 blocks away. If the Happy Ghast dies, it will drop its harness. Unlike their hostile counterparts, Happy Ghasts are not immune to fire damage, and they cannot shoot fireballs.
To ride the Happy Ghast, you will need to craft a harness. The harness is crafted from:
Any color wool is fine, but it will change the harness color so try to choose one you don't mind looking at. If you want to remove the harness without harming the Happy Ghast, use shears on it.
Now that you're soaring through the air on your new favorite Minecraft mob, check out our Minecraft guides hub for more helpful content.
Source
Dried Ghasts can be found near Nether fossils in the Soul Sand Valleys
How to find a Dried Ghast
Happy Ghasts do not spawn naturally. To find one, you will need to go through a Minecraft Nether Portal and look for a small cube with a sad face. This is the Dried Ghast--an immobile, shriveled Ghast. It can be crafted, found near Nether fossils in the Soul Sand Valleys biome of the Nether, or purchased through bartering. If you find a Dried Ghast near some fossils you can instantly mine it with any tool, or by hand. Piglins are just above 2% likely to offer a Dried Ghast when given a Gold Ingot.
Dried Ghast crafting recipe
You can craft a Dried Ghast, but the resources needed mean it's more efficient to search the Nether for one. Regardless, if you do one to craft one, arrange one Soul Sand in the center of the crafting grid and surround it with Ghast Tears. You can get Ghast Tears by defeating the hostile version of the mob, the Ghast, which is found in the Nether. To craft the Dried Ghast you will need:
- 1x Soul Sand
- 8x Ghast Tears
How to make a Ghastling
When you've obtained a Dried Ghast, you'll need to submerge it in water to begin a rehydration process. You'll know if this is successful as it will emit green particles and begin to smile and lighten in color. The entire process takes around 20 minutes. After 5 minutes it will be partially hydrated, after 10 minutes it will be mostly hydrated, and after 15 minutes it will be hydrated. At 20 minutes, the Dried Ghast will turn into a Ghastling.
If the water is taken away during the hydration process, it will revert to a Dried Ghast slowly, at the same pace of hydration. If it is broken or harvested during the process, it will appear in your inventory as a Dried Ghast and the process should be started again.
Once you have rehydrated your Dried Ghast and possess a Ghastling, it will roam and follow players or mobs within a 16-block range. They will prioritize following you, but if there are certain mobs nearby they're happy to follow them too as long as they're not babies. Ghastlings will not drown underwater, and after 20 minutes your Ghastling will mature into a Happy Ghast. Alternatively, to speed along the process, you can feed your Ghastling 10 snowballs to make it fully-grown.
Minecraft Happy Ghasts can fly
How to tame and ride a Happy Ghast
As the Happy Ghast is technically nurtured from birth by you, it is already tame by the time it matures. It will be bound to the home where it matured, and will imprint on the closest player to it at the time of rehydration.
Once the Happy Ghast has a harness equipped, firstly it'll look adorable. Seriously, look at it. Secondly, up to four players can ride a Happy Ghast at once, making it one of the most efficient ways of quickly traveling across a map. Despite four players being able to ride, only the first one to mount it will be in control of the direction the Happy Ghast flies in. Soaring in the air allows for high-up construction, as the Happy Ghast will stay still if anyone is standing on it.
Happy Ghasts can transport mobs
While you can use the Happy Ghast to transport items and mobs, bear in mind that as soon as no players are standing on it, any other items will be flung off. A more successful way of transporting mobs is to attach a leash to it and then connect it to the Happy Ghast, creating a parachute of sorts.
Putting on or removing a harness, or dismounting, will reset the area the Happy Ghast is bound to. When harnessed, the Happy Ghast will roam within a 32-block radius of its home. Unharnessed Happy Ghasts roam up to 64 blocks away. If the Happy Ghast dies, it will drop its harness. Unlike their hostile counterparts, Happy Ghasts are not immune to fire damage, and they cannot shoot fireballs.
Happy Ghast harness crafting recipe
To ride the Happy Ghast, you will need to craft a harness. The harness is crafted from:
- 1x leather
- 2x glass
- 1x colored wool
Any color wool is fine, but it will change the harness color so try to choose one you don't mind looking at. If you want to remove the harness without harming the Happy Ghast, use shears on it.
Now that you're soaring through the air on your new favorite Minecraft mob, check out our Minecraft guides hub for more helpful content.
Source