Mules are infertile offspring of horses and donkeys that, when tamed, can be ridden and equipped with chests.
Spawning[]
Mules do not spawn naturally, but they can spawn through cross-breeding a horse with a donkey. Mules cannot breed with other mules. 20% of mule spawn eggs produce foals.
Appearance[]
Mules are the offspring of horses and donkeys and are closer to (but not quite) the size of a normal horse. Their ears, coats, and manes are like those of a donkey, though mules' coats are darker and reddish-brown. Like donkeys, mules cannot be equipped with armor but can be equipped with chests. Mules cannot have foals, much like mules in real life.
Unlike almost all other mobs, mules with equipped saddles or chests do not render them when under the effect of Invisibility.[1]
Drops[]
Upon death, mules drop:
- 0–2 Leather. The maximum amount is increased by 1 per level of Looting, for a maximum of 0-5 with Looting III.
- 1–3, when killed by a player or tamed wolf.
If equipped with a chest or saddle, they drop those items, as well as any contents of the chest.
Usage[]
Tamed and saddled mules can be used as a means of transportation in the game. Mules cannot float on water when being controlled by a player. They can be ridden in water up to 2 blocks deep. In deeper water, the player is automatically dismounted.[2]
Mules can be equipped with chests and used as pack animals. They can be pulled along and tied up using a lead.
Equipment[]
GUI of a mule.
Tamed mules have the following slot available:
- Saddle Slot: For equipping a saddle.
- An additional 15 inventory slots, provided the mule has been equipped with a chest.
Equipment can be placed on a mule by holding it and then using on the mule, or by accessing its inventory. A mule’s inventory can be accessed by mounting the mule and using inventory control, or by sneaking and then using or pressing the "open inventory" button [Bedrock Edition only] on the mule.
A mule starts out with just a saddle slot, but if it is given a chest, it acquires 15 more inventory slots that can hold anything the player wishes. Chests can be given to a mule by using it with the chest in hand, and the chest cannot be removed except by killing the mule. Upon death, the mule drops the attached chest and its contents.
Foals cannot be equipped with anything.
Riding[]
Once a mule is tamed and saddled, the player can control it with standard directional controls, jump, and the mouse. The player dismounts using the dismount control. Like riding other entities, it is impossible for a player to use a nether portal or end portal while on a mule.
A ridden saddled mule automatically runs up any one block high slope. The mule and rider can safely fit through a space as low as 2.75 blocks high. Lower clearance risks suffocating the rider if the rider's head enters a non-transparent block. The mule itself can enter gaps as low as 1.625 blocks high, but may itself take suffocation damage when clearance is less than 1.75 blocks. Mules cannot fit through a 1-block-wide gap.
The maximum speed of mules, when created by breeding a horse and a donkey, varies between 4.8375 blocks/second and 14.5125 blocks/second (compared to the player's walking speed, which is about 4.3 blocks/second). About 68% of mules are able to go faster than a minecart. Any mule spawned with its spawn egg always has a speed of 7.525 blocks/second, which is slower than a minecart at full speed. Mules are slow-moving backward, and about as fast as the player when moving sideways.
Ridden saddled mules have the ability of "jumping charging". When the player rides them, the experience bar on HUD is replaced by jumping charging bar. A ridden saddled mule can be made to jump and holding the control charges for a higher leap. Mules are not affected by jump boost beacons or potions.
Behavior[]
All mules roam idly, occasionally stopping to rear, swish their tails, or lower their heads as though eating the grass. Unlike sheep, the eating animation does not actually cause any grass to be consumed. Mules turn to look at any player that comes near. Any mule, even a wild one, allows itself to be attached to a lead without protest. However, if the player attempts to saddle an untamed mule, it rears and flails its front hooves.
Mules, like most mobs, can ride in a minecart and boat. Unlike other passive mobs, mules slowly regenerate health.
Taming[]
Adult mules can be tamed: with an empty hand, mount the mule repeatedly; when it no longer bucks the player and shows hearts, it is tamed. It is necessary to tame a mule in order to give it equipment or ride it for any length of time.
Taming depends on the mule's "temper". Mules begin with a temper of 0 out of 100. When a player is riding the mule, a random number between 0 and 99 is chosen. The mule becomes tame if this number is less than the temper, otherwise, the temper is increased by 5 and the player is bucked off. Temper can also be increased by feeding the mule.
While riding an untamed mule, a galloping sound is audible, more or less rapid to give a general idea of the mule's speed. It is unknown whether there is any indication of jump height before taming.
Like all tamed animals, a death message is displayed to their owner if they are killed.[Bedrock Edition only]
Breeding[]
Like their real-life counterparts, mules in Minecraft cannot produce offspring. The only way to produce a mule (other than using a spawn egg) is to cross-breed a horse with a donkey.
Food[]
Feeding a mule food can alter its behavior, cause it to grow (if it is not yet an adult; foals normally take 20 minutes to fully mature if not fed), and/or restore its health. The table below lists the effects of the various foods mules eat.
To feed a mule, hold a valid food item and press use on the mule. If the food is invalid, the player simply mounts the mule. Mules can be fed only when feeding would have an effect, similar to other animals.
| Food | Heals | Speeds growth by | Increases temper | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sugar | 1
|
30 sec | +3 | |
| Wheat | 2
|
20 sec | +3 | |
| Apple | 3
|
1 min | +3 | |
| Golden Carrot | 4
|
1 min | +5 | |
| Golden Apple | 10
|
4 min | +10 | |
| Hay Bale | 20 × 10
|
3 min | N/A | Hay bales cannot be fed to untamed adult mules. |
Statistics[]
Mules have three "equine stats" that vary from mule to mule: health, (maximum) movement speed, and jump strength. These stats are created once the mule is born or spawned, and are not affected by food.
Spawned values[]
When spawned in any way except breeding – for instance, using commands or using spawn eggs – mules are assigned their stats within certain ranges, specific according to their horse type.
Health[]
A mule's health ranges from 15–30, but tends toward the average of 22–23. Displayed hearts are health, divided by two, rounded down. A mule with a non-even number of health points (15, 17, 19, etc.) does not show the last half-heart. If the mule has lost one fewer health point than the inflicted damage and did not regenerate, it has an odd number of health points, otherwise, it has an even number of health points.
Movement speed[]
Spawned mules' speed is always 0.175; the player's normal walking speed is 0.1. The speed listed does not include any status effect that affects the speed of a horse or a player. Bred mules have speed based on their parent's speeds, like all other horse breeding.
See transportation to compare the speeds of various transportation methods.
Jump strength[]
Spawned mules' jump strength is usually 0.5, which is enough to clear 1 9⁄16 blocks. Other jump strengths can be found in bred mules, depending on the statistics of the parents (as explained later).
Bred values[]
When breeding a horse and a donkey, the foal's stats are determined by a variation of the average of both parents' stats, randomly determined as horses' stats are.
Sounds[]
Java Edition:
Mules use the Friendly Creatures sound category for entity-dependent sound events.
| Sound | Subtitles | Source | Description | Resource location | Translation key | Volume | Pitch | Attenuation distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mule hee-haws | Friendly Creatures | Randomly | entity | subtitles | 0.8 | 0.8-1.2 (Baby: 1.3-1.7) | 16 | |
| Mule neighs | Friendly Creatures | When a player is bucked off by a mule or attempts to feed a mule an invalid item | entity | subtitles | 0.8 | 0.8-1.2 (Baby: 1.3-1.7) | 16 | |
| Mule Chest equips | Friendly Creatures | When a mule equips a chest | entity | subtitles | 1.0 | 0.8-1.2 | 16 | |
| Mule dies | Friendly Creatures | When a mule dies | entity | subtitles | 0.8 | 0.8-1.2 (Baby: 1.3-1.7) | 16 | |
| Mule eats | Friendly Creatures | When a mule eats an item | entity | subtitles | 1.0 | 0.8-1.2 | 16 | |
| Horse jumps[sound 1] | Friendly Creatures | When a mule begins a leap | entity[sound 1] | subtitles[sound 1] | 0.4 | 1.0 | 16 | |
| Something fell | Friendly Creatures | When a mule falls from more than 1 block | entity | subtitles | 0.4 | 1.0 | 16 | |
| Mule hurts | Friendly Creatures | When a mule is damaged | entity | subtitles | 0.8 | 0.8-1.2 (Baby: 1.3-1.7) | 16 | |
| Footsteps | Friendly Creatures | While a mule is walking | entity | subtitles | Block-Dependent | Block-Dependent | 16 | |
| Footsteps | Friendly Creatures | While a mule is walking on wood | entity | subtitles | Block-Dependent | Block-Dependent | 16 | |
| Saddle equips | Friendly Creatures | When a mule equips a saddle | entity | subtitles | 0.5 | 1.0 | 16 |
| Sound | Source | Description | Resource location | Volume | Pitch |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Friendly Creatures | Randomly | mob | 0.8 | 0.8-1.2 (Baby: 1.3-1.7) | |
| Friendly Creatures | When a player is bucked off by a mule | mob | 0.8 | 0.8-1.2 (Baby: 1.3-1.7) | |
| Friendly Creatures | When a mule equips a chest | mob | 0.8 | 0.8-1.2 | |
| Friendly Creatures | When a mule dies | mob | 0.8 | 0.8-1.2 (Baby: 1.3-1.7) | |
| Friendly Creatures | When a mule eats an item | mob | 0.5-1.5 | 0.8-1.2 | |
| Friendly Creatures | When a mule begins a leap | mob | 0.4 | 1.0 | |
| Friendly Creatures | When a mule falls from more than 1 block | mob | 0.4 | 1.0 | |
| Friendly Creatures | When a mule is damaged | mob | 0.8 | 0.8-1.2 (Baby: 1.3-1.7) | |
| Friendly Creatures | While a mule is walking | mob | 0.45 | 0.9-1.1 | |
| Friendly Creatures | While a mule is walking on wood[sound 1] or is being ridden | mob | 0.45 | 0.9-1.1 | |
| Friendly Creatures | When a mule equips a saddle | mob | 0.5 | 1.0 |
- ↑ Except for stems, Nether wood, cherry wood, and bamboo wood due to MCPE-165012
Data values[]
ID[]
| Name | Identifier | Translation key |
|---|---|---|
| Mule | mule | entity.minecraft.mule |
| Name | Identifier | Numeric ID | Translation key |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mule | mule | 25 | entity.mule.name |
Entity data[]
Mules have entity data associated with them that contain various properties.
- Entity data
- Additional fields for mobs that can breed
- Tags common to all entities
- Tags common to all mobs
- Tags common to all horses
- ChestedHorse: 1 or 0 (true/false) - true if the horse has chests. A chested horse that is not a donkey or a mule crashes the game.
- Items: List of items. Only exists if ChestedHorse is true.
- An item, including the Slot tag. Slots are numbered 2 to 16 for donkeys and mules, and none exist for all other horses.
- Tags common to all items
- An item, including the Slot tag. Slots are numbered 2 to 16 for donkeys and mules, and none exist for all other horses.
Achievements[]
| Icon | Achievement | In-game description | Actual requirements (if different) | Gamerscore earned | Trophy type (PS4) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PS4 | Other | |||||
| Saddle Up | Tame a horse. | — | 20G | Bronze | ||
| Artificial Selection | Breed a mule from a horse and a donkey. | — | 30G | Bronze | ||
Advancements[]
| Icon | Advancement | In-game description | Parent | Actual requirements (if different) | Resource location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | The Parrots and the Bats | Breed two animals together | Husbandry | Breed a pair of any of these 25 mobs:
| husbandry/breed_an_animal
|
| Best Friends Forever | Tame an animal | Husbandry | Tame one of these 8 tameable mobs: | husbandry/tame_an_animal
|
 | Two by Two | Breed all the animals! | The Parrots and the Bats | Breed a pair of each of these 24 mobs:
| husbandry/bred_all_animals
|
Video[]
History[]
| Java Edition | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.6.1 | 13w16a |   Added mules, assisted by DrZhark (John Olarte), creator of the Mo' Creatures mod, whose horses are a baseline for Minecraft's mule models.[3] | |||
| 13w16b | Mules are now slower and no longer glide so much. | ||||
| 13w18a | Horse saddles have been removed. Mules are now controlled using the saddle. | ||||
| 13w19a | Access to the mule inventory by sneaking and interacting has been enabled. | ||||
| 13w21a | Added new GUI for mules, to control their saddles and inventories. | ||||
| 13w22a | Added new sound effects for mules. | ||||
| 1.8 | 14w26c | Wheat's acceleration of baby mule growth has been reduced. | |||
| 1.9 | 15w47b | Added sounds for mules eating food given by a player. | |||
| 1.10 | 16w20a | Added mule spawn egg. | |||
| pre2 | The mule spawn egg has been removed. | ||||
| 1.11 | 16w32a | Mules now have a separate ID from horses: mule.
| |||
| The mule spawn egg has been re-added. | |||||
| 1.13 | 17w45a |   The models of mules have been changed. | |||
| 17w46a |  The new models of mules have been slightly tweaked. | ||||
| 18w03a |   The models of mules have been updated again. | ||||
| 1.14 | 18w43b |   The textures of mules have been changed. | |||
| 1.16 | 20w15a | Tamed mules can now be saddled by dispensers. | |||
| Dispensers can now put chests on tamed mules. | |||||
| 1.18 | experimental snapshot 6 | Mules now follow players that are holding golden carrots, golden apples, or enchanted golden apples. | |||
| 1.19.4 | 23w03a | The texture of the mule has been changed. | |||
| 23w07a | The speed, jump height and health of a baby is now a variation of the average of the parents' attributes, rather than being biased towards the average possible value. | ||||
| Pocket Edition Alpha | |||||
| v0.15.0 | build 1 | Added mules. | |||
| Bedrock Edition | |||||
| 1.2.6 | beta 1.2.6.2 | The models of mules have been changed to Java Edition 17w45a's mule models. | |||
| 1.10.0 | beta 1.10.0.3 | The textures of mules have been changed. | |||
| 1.20.10 | beta 1.20.10.20 | Mules can now be fed with golden carrots or enchanted golden apples. | |||
| Mules now follow players that are holding golden carrots or enchanted golden apples. | |||||
| Legacy Console Edition | |||||
| TU19 | CU7 | 1.12 | Patch 1 | 1.0.1 | Added mules. |
| TU22 | CU10 | 1.15 | Added quick move to the mule inventory. | ||
| TU31 | CU19 | 1.22 | Patch 3 | Baby mule growth can now be accelerated using wheat. | |
| TU43 | CU33 | 1.36 | Patch 13 | Added sounds for mules. | |
| TU60 | CU51 | 1.64 | Patch 30 | 1.0.11 | The models of mules have been changed to Java Edition 17w45a's mule models. |
| 1.90 | The textures of mules have been changed. | ||||
| New Nintendo 3DS Edition | |||||
| 0.1.0 | Added mules. | ||||
Issues[]
Issues relating to "Mule" are maintained on the bug tracker. Report issues there.
Trivia[]
- A "mule" specifically refers to the offspring of a male donkey (jack) and a female horse (mare). The offspring of a female donkey (jenny) and a male horse (stallion) is called a "hinny". Because mules are way more common than hinnies however, "mule" can colloquially refer to any donkey-horse hybrid.
Gallery[]
A herd of various horses and a baby mule.
A donkey and a mule.
See also[]
References[]