In Minecraft Java Edition (PC), you can ride animals like horses, pigs, and striders—but you need a saddle first. Many players try to craft one at a crafting table, but you can’t craft a saddle in Minecraft. Here’s the real way to get one, plus how to use it once you find it.
Why You Can’t Craft a Saddle in Minecraft
Saddles are non-craftable items in all Minecraft versions, including Java Edition for PC. There’s no recipe, and trying to use leather or iron in a crafting table won’t work. The only way to get a saddle is by finding, earning, or using commands. This helps balance gameplay and makes saddles more rewarding to collect.
Where to Find a Saddle in the Game?
You can find saddles inside chests across various structures. These are the most reliable places to look:
- Dungeons: Found underground with spawners and loot chests.
- Nether Fortresses: High risk but good rewards. Saddles are common in their chests.
- Bastion Remnants: Located in the Nether. Chests often contain rare loot, including saddles.
- Desert Temples and Jungle Temples: Each has two hidden chests behind trap systems.
- Mineshafts and Strongholds: Sometimes contain saddles in chests.
- Ancient Cities (1.19+): Rarely, saddles may appear in loot chests in deep dark biomes.
Search these areas with a pickaxe, food, and armor. Bring torches and blocks to stay safe.
Try Fishing for a Saddle (Rare Drop)
Fishing can give you a saddle, but it’s a low-chance treasure item.
To improve your odds:
- Craft a fishing rod using 3 sticks and 2 string.
- Use it in open water, not enclosed spots.
- Enchant your rod with Luck of the Sea to increase treasure chances.
- Be patient—saddles are rare but possible.
This method is good if you’re near water and don’t want to explore structures yet.
Can Villagers or Commands Give You a Saddle?
Yes, there are two other ways to get a saddle without exploring or fishing—villager trading and using commands, depending on your game settings.
Some villagers, specifically leatherworkers, can sell you a saddle once they reach expert level. To unlock this trade, you’ll need to interact with the leatherworker often and complete lower-level trades using items like leather or flint. As the villager levels up through experience, new trades become available, including saddles. This is a reliable method if you have a village nearby and enough emeralds to spend.
If you’re playing with cheats enabled or using Creative Mode, you can also get a saddle instantly with a simple command. Just open the chat window and enter:
/give @p minecraft:saddle 1
This will add one saddle directly to your inventory. While this method isn’t allowed in pure survival gameplay, it helps build custom maps, testing mechanics, or skipping the grind in casual play.
How to Use a Saddle After You Get One
Saddles let you ride animals, but how you use them depends on the mob:
- Horse or Donkey: Right-click to mount, then open inventory (
E) and drag the saddle to the correct slot. - Pig: Place the saddle, then ride with a Carrot on a Stick to control direction.
- Strider (Nether): Place saddle, ride with a Warped Fungus on a Stick.
You can remove the saddle from horses and donkeys, but not from pigs or striders once placed.
Now you know: you can’t craft saddles, but you can still get them by exploring, fishing, or trading. Once you’ve got one, you can ride across your world and reach places faster.
If this helped, share it with your Minecraft friends. Got a faster method or tip? Drop it in the comments.
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