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PASSIVE Present since 1.14 or earlier

Sheep mob in Minecraft

The Sheep is your renewable source of wool: shear it instead of killing it and it grows its coat back after eating grass. Dye a sheep once and every shearing gives wool of that color.

Health: 84 hearts
Behavior: Passive
Food: Wheat
Found in: 27 biomes

Sheep stats

Health: 8 4 hearts
Behavior: Passive
Main drop: Raw Mutton
Spawns in: 27 biomes
Size: 0.9 × 1.3 blocks
XP when killed: 1 to 3none as a baby
Speed: 0.23
Detection range: 16 blocks
Tempt range: 10 blocks

// Experience drops only when a player kills it. Speeds are the game’s internal values, not blocks per second.

Where to find Sheep

Biomes where it spawns naturally, with its share of the spawns in each group.

Old Growth Birch Forest

Old Growth Pine Taiga

Old Growth Spruce Taiga

All 27 biomes

Windswept Gravelly Hills

Spawning

Group size: 42 to 4 · depends on the biome
Light level: 9 or more
Spawns on: Grass Block

Structures

With the structureVillage

Sheep drops

Sheep dropsFrom the loot table · chance per kill

Raw Mutton+1 per Looting level · Cooked if it dies on fire1–2

Black Woolunder conditions

Blue Woolunder conditions

Brown Woolunder conditions

Cyan Woolunder conditions

Gray Woolunder conditions

Green Woolunder conditions

Light Blue Woolunder conditions

Light Gray Woolunder conditions

Lime Woolunder conditions

Magenta Woolunder conditions

Orange Woolunder conditions

Pink Woolunder conditions

Purple Woolunder conditions

Red Woolunder conditions

White Woolunder conditions

Yellow Woolunder conditions

Also gives you

Black WoolShearing100%

Blue WoolShearing100%

Brown WoolShearing100%

Cyan WoolShearing100%

Gray WoolShearing100%

Green WoolShearing100%

Light Blue WoolShearing100%

Light Gray WoolShearing100%

Lime WoolShearing100%

Magenta WoolShearing100%

Orange WoolShearing100%

Pink WoolShearing100%

Purple WoolShearing100%

Red WoolShearing100%

White WoolShearing100%

Yellow WoolShearing100%

Health compared

Health vs other passive mobshealth points

Ocelot10

Pig10

Squid10

Sheep8

Sulfur Cube8

Bat6

Parrot6

Food and breeding

Items it eats, follows or breeds with.

Wheat

What you can do with Sheep

Items to use on it and what happens.

ShearShearsShears take its wool. It grows back after the sheep eats grass.

DyeRed Dye · Blue DyeUse any dye on it to change the color of its wool.

Baby Sheep

Bred with

Wheat All baby mobs →

Gear and tools

Items it can wear, and items you use on it.

Use on itShears

Advancements with Sheep

Advancements whose criteria involve this mob, from the game files.

Two by TwoBreed all the animals!

Command

Summon a Sheep/summon →

/summon minecraft:sheep ~ ~ ~

Shear, do not kill

Use shears on a sheep and it drops one to three wool of its color, then walks away unharmed. Its coat grows back after it eats grass, which turns the grass block under it into dirt. Killing a sheep only gives a single wool and some raw mutton, so a sheep you shear ten times is worth far more than one you kill.

Keep the pen on grass so the flock can regrow its wool. A dispenser loaded with shears shears the sheep standing in front of it when powered, which is the base of every automatic wool farm.

Dyeing sheep and breeding colors

Use any dye on a sheep and it keeps that color for good. One dye therefore gives you wool of that color at every shearing, which is far cheaper than dyeing blocks one by one. You can dye it again at any time, back to white with white dye.

Sheep breed with wheat. A lamb takes the color of one parent, or a mix when the two dyes combine into a new one: a red and a yellow sheep can give an orange lamb. Most wild sheep are white; black, gray, light gray and brown ones also appear, and pink ones are rare.

What wool is used for

Beds: three wool of one color and three planks. Your first night usually depends on finding three sheep.
Carpets and banners: two wool give three carpets; banners take wool too and get their patterns at a loom.
Trading: a shepherd villager buys white, black, gray and brown wool for emeralds and sells wool and carpets in every color.

Keep wolves away

Wild wolves hunt sheep. A flock left in the open near a forest can disappear quickly, so fence it in. A tamed wolf sitting at home does not touch them.

✓ Checked in Java Edition 26.3 · updated 1 November 2026

Sheep — FAQ

How long does it take for a sheep's wool to grow back?

There is no fixed timer: the sheep regrows its coat the next time it eats grass. Give the pen plenty of grass blocks and shearing every few minutes works.

How do you get a rainbow sheep?

Name a sheep jeb_ with a name tag. It cycles through every color, but shearing it gives wool of its real color.

Can you dye a sheep back to white?

Yes. Use white dye on it, like any other dye.

Where does the Sheep spawn?

In 27 Overworld biomes, for example Badlands, Bamboo Jungle and Birch Forest.

What does a Sheep drop?

Raw Mutton, Black Wool, Blue Wool, Brown Wool, Cyan Wool, Gray Wool, Green Wool, Light Blue Wool, Light Gray Wool, Lime Wool, Magenta Wool, Orange Wool, Pink Wool, Purple Wool, Red Wool, White Wool and Yellow Wool.

Other passive mobs

Bat

Cat

Cod

Cow