A lead is an item in Minecraft which is used to transport mobs in Minecraft. It can be obtained in many ways, including via Crafting and Loot Chests. It’s one of the most sought after items in Minecraft.
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Uses for Leads in Minecraft
The main use for a Lead in Minecraft is to allow you to easily transport mobs and animals throughout your Minecraft World. At any time, you can have multiple animals on a leash, but each one will require its own lead.
Currently, the list of mobs that you can place on a lead include Bee, Cat, Chicken, Cow, Dolphin, Donkey, Fox, Hoglin, Horse (including Skeleton and Zombie variants), Iron Golem, Llama, Mooshroom, Mule, Ocelot, Parrot, Pig, Polar Bear, Rabbit, Sheep, Snow Golem, Squid (on Bedrock Edition only), Strider, Wolf and Zoglin.
Tying Mobs Up
With a mob connected to a lead, you can then attach this lead to a fence. This will prevent animals and mobs from wandering off, and also allow you to move freely again. Multiple animals can be tied to a single fence post. On Minecraft Bedrock Edition, players can also attach a lead to a boat.
Find a Lead in Minecraft
As well as being able to be crafted, there are plenty of locations where you can find a Lead in Minecraft. These include Woodland Mansions and Buried Treasure. When searching any of these locations, you have around a 30% chance of finding a Lead.
Alternatively, you might find a Wandering Trader. This is an NPC who can often be found travelling throughout your Minecraft world alongside 2 Llamas. You can obtain 2 Leads from a Wandering Trader by detaching them from the Llama (or killing them).
Lead Recipe in Minecraft
Luckily, you can craft a Lead relatively easy in Minecraft. All you need is 4 pieces of String and a single Slimeball. Combining all these items in a Crafting Table will provide you with two Leads.

Above, you can see an image showing the layout for crafting a Lead. Place the Slimeball in the middle slot, a single piece of String in the bottom right, and then the other three String in the top left corner.
Lead Item IDs & Data Values
Java Edition
Name | Namespaced ID | Translation Key |
Lead | lead | item.minecraft.lead |
Bedrock Edition
Name | Namespaced ID | Translation Key | Numeric ID |
Lead | lead | item.lead.name | 420 |