Skip to main content

How to make a lead in Minecraft

You journey far beyond your typical stomping grounds in search of a swamp and slime. You dismount from your horse and slither into the marshes. Eventually, you emerge with slimeballs in hand, but your horse is nowhere to be found. We show you how to make a lead in Minecraft so your favorite mount doesn’t leave you stranded.

Technically, leads (or leashes) aren’t specific to horses. You can use a lead with any passive “mob,” or mobile creature, so you can keep sheep, cats, dogs, and more in check using a lead. Throw in a fencepost and you can tie up any mob wherever your Minecraft journey takes you.

To learn how to make a fence (and related post), check out our guide. For other horse-related guides, check out these articles:

What you need

Minecraft Spider and String
Image used with permission by copyright holder

String – You need four of these to make two leads. They’re dropped by fallen spiders, found in chests, and crafted in the Crafting Table using one cobweb.

Minecraft Slimeball
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Slimeball – You need one of these to make a lead. They’re dropped by fallen slimes, which you can find bouncing around in the dark within Swampland biomes. Here we merely created a slime farm to watch them grow and dance across the water like bouncy pool floats.

Minecraft Brown Horse
Image used with permission by copyright holder

A horse (or some other passive mob) – Horses are typically found in herds of two to six eating grass in Plains and Savanna biomes. A horse doesn’t need to be tamed to use a lead. Again, you can leash any passive mob, but we chose to use a horse for this specific guide.

Craft a lead

Minecraft Make Lead
Image used with permission by copyright holder

You’ll need to insert the ingredients into the crafting grid exactly as shown. Note that the pattern creates a weird arrow that points to the top left corner of your screen.

Step 1: Open your Crafting Table.

Step 2: Place one string each in the top and middle square in the left column.

Step 3: Place one string into the top square in the middle column.

Step 4: Place one slimeball into the middle square in the middle column.

Step 5: Place one string into the bottom square in the right column.

Step 6: Drag the resulting two leads down into your inventory.

Step 7: Repeat these steps for additional leads.

Use a lead

Minecraft Use Lead
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Tethering a mob is quick and easy.

Step 1: Drag the lead from your inventory down into the Hotbar and select it.

Step 3: To leash your mob, perform the following:

  • PC – Right-click on the mob.
  • Console – Target the mob and press the left trigger button.
  • Mobile – Tap on the mob.

Tie a lead to a fence

Minecraft Tie Lead to Fence
Image used with permission by copyright holder

With one end of the lead connected to the mob and the other end in your hand (selected), perform the following:

  • PC – Right-click on the fence.
  • Console – Target the fence and press the left trigger button.
  • Mobile – Tap on the fence.

Alternatively, if you’re far away from a bed and you don’t want your horse wandering around your current location, you can always plant a fencepost and tether your mount.

Minecraft Tie Lead to Fence Post
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Remove a lead

With one end of the lead connected to the mob and the other end in your hand (selected), perform the following:

  • PC – Right-click on the mob.
  • Console – Target the mob and press the left trigger button.
  • Mobile – Tap on the mob.

The lead falls to the ground like any other item drop.

Editors' Recommendations

Kevin Parrish
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Kevin started taking PCs apart in the 90s when Quake was on the way and his PC lacked the required components. Since then…
Here’s how you can win this insane, custom Starfield PC
custom starfield pc giveaway

Gaming PC Modeled After Starfield Control Panel?! [Giveaway]

Modders always come out with some wild PC designs for new game releases, but this custom Starfield PC from Skytech Gaming might be one of the coolest I've ever seen. It's a machine that comes from a collaboration between Skytech Gaming, Intel, and SignalRGB, and you can enter for a chance to win it.

Read more
All romanceable characters in Baldur’s Gate 3 and how to romance them
A player conversation in Baldur's Gate 3.

Romance options are by no means new in the CRPG genre. Even more traditional RPGs have added romance options for certain characters, but each game handles the process of actually entering into a romantic relationship differently. Baldur's Gate 3 is packed with interesting characters and companions that could catch your eye. Even if you're not new to CRPGs, it's always a challenge to understand what a certain character will like or dislike, as well as what actually counts as moving closer to a relationship with them. Thankfully, Baldur's Gate 3 developer Larian has made it so that there are no restrictions on who you can romance based on your chosen gender or race, so all that's left to do is study up on how to woo your dearly beloved.
All romance options and how to romance them
There are eight possible characters you can enter into a relationship in Baldur's Gate 3, including all available companions. Relationships are based on earning positive opinions from them and hinge on the actions you take in the world with them in your party. Even if what you're doing doesn't directly impact them, they will think differently based on what they see you do, so keep that in mind before you do something your love interest might think less of you for. Also, be sure to speak to them each time you go to camp to further their individual stories.

You can check the approval rating for all characters under the Detailed View section of your character sheet. Make sure it is high before you do the quest where you rescue the refugees.
Astarion

Read more
How to build an outpost in Starfield
Spaceship on planet in Starfield.

As advertised, Starfield is filled with over 1,000 planets to freely land on, explore, and plunder for resources. While you could simply go down and scan the surface for resources to mine manually, if you want to be an efficient miner, then you will want to set up an outpost to automate the process for you. Somewhat like the building system introduced in Fallout 4, outposts have a lot of systems going on. Getting started isn't too tough, but the amount of options and things you need to balance can get complicated if you plan on making this a lucrative venture for resources and Credits. The tutorial can get you started, but we'll get you the rest of the way there to managing a successful outpost in Starfield.
Find a vein
Your outpost isn't going to do much if you set it up in an area with no resources, so plotting out the best location to build is key. When you arrive at a planet of choice, you are given the option to scan it. This will reveal the main resources that planet has, plus change the view to show how those resources are distributed. Once you've found a planet with the resource(s) you're looking for, rotate the planet until you find a big concentration of it to land on.

But don't just drop your outpost beacon right where you land! Just because you set your ship to land on what looks like a mother lode of resources doesn't mean the specific spot you touch down will be right. Whip out your scanner and check the area, specifically for underground resources. When you find an area with a good amount of one or more resource veins, then its time to start building.
The basics

Read more