Minecraft

How To Get A Happy Ghast In Minecraft (The Complete Guide)

Raj

12 August 2026

21 min read

To get a Happy Ghast in Minecraft, obtain a Dried Ghast in the Nether, place it in water for about 20 minutes until it becomes a Ghastling, then wait another 20 minutes for it to grow. Feeding the Ghastling snowballs speeds this up. Once grown, equip a Harness to ride it.

Ghasts have spent most of Minecraft's history screaming, throwing fireballs at you, and generally making every trip across the Nether slightly more stressful than it needed to be. The Happy Ghast flips that reputation completely.

Added with the Chase the Skies Minecraft update, this friendly flying mob can carry up to four players, help with high-altitude building, and even transport certain mobs and boats using leads.

There is one catch: you can't simply wander around the Overworld and find one floating above a village. Getting your own requires a Dried Ghast, some water, a little patience, and preferably a healthy supply of snowballs.

This Happy Ghast Minecraft guide covers the whole process from start to first flight.

#What Is A Happy Ghast In Minecraft?

The Minecraft Happy Ghast is a passive flying mob and the friendly counterpart to the regular Nether Ghast. It doesn't shoot fireballs or become hostile toward players. Instead, an adult Happy Ghast can be equipped with a Harness and ridden as a flying mount.

And yes, this is very much a group activity. Up to four players can ride the same Happy Ghast at once, with the first player to mount becoming the pilot.

Happy Ghasts also have a few abilities that make them much more useful than simply being a cute flying taxi:

They can be ridden through the air with a Harness.
Up to four players can travel together.
Players can stand on top of them while they're stationary.
They can carry certain leashed mobs, boats, and boats with chests.
They follow players holding snowballs.
An unharnessed Happy Ghast can also be tempted toward a player holding a Harness.

They're especially handy on multiplayer survival worlds, where one Happy Ghast can turn a normal expedition into a full-on flying road trip.

#How To Get Happy Ghast In Minecraft: The Quick Steps

If you're mainly here because you want to know how to get a Happy Ghast in Minecraft as quickly as possible, the process is straightforward:

Obtain a Dried Ghast by finding one in a Soul Sand Valley, bartering with Piglins, or crafting one.
Place the Dried Ghast in water and keep it hydrated.
Wait around 20 minutes for it to transform into a Ghastling.
Wait another 20 minutes for the Ghastling to mature naturally, or feed it snowballs to speed up its growth.
Craft a Harness using 3 Leather, 2 Glass, and 1 Wool.
Equip the Harness on the adult Happy Ghast.
Mount it and fly.

The important thing to remember is that there are two growth stages. Water doesn't instantly give you an adult Happy Ghast: it first creates a Ghastling, which then needs to grow up.

#How To Find A Dried Ghast

#Find One In A Soul Sand Valley

Your adventure starts in the Nether.

Dried Ghasts can generate around Nether Fossils in Soul Sand Valley biomes. They're considerably smaller than normal Ghasts and have a grey, shrivelled appearance, so they can blend into the surroundings surprisingly well.

Search around exposed Nether Fossils and keep an eye on the ground rather than the sky.

Once you find one, collect it and take it somewhere safe. You'll eventually need water for the next step, which makes bringing the Dried Ghast back to the Overworld the easiest option in a normal survival world.

#Craft A Dried Ghast Instead

Can't find one? You can craft a Dried Ghast using:

8 Ghast Tears
1 Soul Sand

Soul Sand isn't difficult to collect, but eight Ghast Tears can turn this into the more expensive route unless you've already been farming regular Ghasts.

Dried Ghasts can also be obtained through Piglin bartering, giving you another option if you've already stocked up on Gold Ingots.

#How To Turn A Dried Ghast Into A Ghastling

With your Dried Ghast secured, the next part is much calmer than wandering around a Soul Sand Valley while Ghasts take potshots at you.

Place the Dried Ghast in water so it remains hydrated. Green particles indicate that the process has started, and its appearance gradually becomes happier as it absorbs water.

After roughly 20 minutes, the Dried Ghast transforms into a baby form known as a Ghastling.

Keep the water in place throughout the process. Removing the Dried Ghast from its water interrupts its progress, so it's worth setting up a small dedicated pool somewhere protected near your base.

A simple setup works perfectly:

Dig a small pool.
Fill it with water.
Place the Dried Ghast so it is properly waterlogged.
Leave it undisturbed until the transformation finishes.

No complicated Redstone contraption required.

#How To Grow A Ghastling Into A Happy Ghast

Once the Ghastling appears, you're almost there.

A Ghastling naturally takes about 20 minutes to grow into an adult Happy Ghast. You can simply leave it alone and let nature do its thing, but snowballs dramatically speed up the process.

#Using Snowballs To Speed Up Growth

Feed snowballs to the Ghastling if you don't feel like waiting.

The exact growth mechanics differ slightly between editions. In Java Edition, each snowball reduces a portion of the Ghastling's remaining growth time. In Bedrock Edition, a newly spawned Ghastling can be grown using around 10 snowballs.

Either way, bringing a stack of snowballs is a good idea.

There's also an important misconception worth clearing up: snowballs do not “tame” a Ghastling by creating a heart-particle state. They accelerate its growth. Adult Happy Ghasts aren't tamed in the same way as Wolves, Cats, or Horses.

Once your Ghastling reaches adulthood, you'll have the smiling, full-sized Happy Ghast you're looking for.

#How To Craft A Happy Ghast Harness

Getting the mob is only half the fun. To actually pilot it, you'll need a Harness.

Craft a Harness using:

3 Leather
2 Glass
1 Wool

The Wool determines the initial colour of the Harness, giving you an easy way to match it with your base, team colours, or whatever questionable Minecraft fashion choices your group has committed to.

Approach an adult Happy Ghast and use the Harness on it to equip it. Happy Ghasts that aren't already wearing one are attracted to players holding a Harness, which makes getting close much easier.

If you want the Harness back later, use Shears to remove it.

#How To Ride A Happy Ghast

Once the Harness is equipped, interact with the Happy Ghast to mount it.

The first player who climbs aboard becomes the pilot. Up to three more players can then join, bringing the total capacity to four.

Controlling one is fairly intuitive:

Use your normal movement controls to fly in the direction you're facing.
Use the jump control to gain altitude.
Angle downward and move forward to descend.
Dismount when you reach your destination.

Happy Ghasts aren't designed to replace the Elytra as Minecraft's fastest form of air travel. Their real advantage is controlled multiplayer flight and the ability to act like a mobile platform. If you're wondering how to get Elytra in Minecraft, we have the perfect guide for you!

When a player stands on top of a Happy Ghast, the mob stops moving and behaves almost like a solid floating surface. That makes it surprisingly useful when constructing towers, bridges, floating bases, or anything else where one misplaced block normally means an unpleasant trip back to ground level.

#What Can You Use A Happy Ghast For?

Happy Ghasts are much more practical than their cheerful faces initially suggest.

#Multiplayer Exploration

Four-player flight makes them ideal for exploring with friends without constantly asking where everyone went.

Instead of splitting up across mountains, forests, and rivers, your group can travel together and get a clear aerial view of the terrain below.

It's especially fun on a persistent multiplayer world. If you're planning a shared survival adventure, using affordable Minecraft server hosting with Shockbyte gives your group a world that's available whenever someone decides it's time for another airborne expedition.

#Building In Difficult Places

Standing on top of a stationary Happy Ghast effectively gives builders a floating work platform.

That can make projects such as these much easier:

Tall towers
Sky bases
Large statues
Bridges
Mountain builds
Elevated Redstone projects

You still need to watch your footing, obviously. Gravity hasn't been removed from Minecraft just because your new friend has a smiley face.

#Carrying Mobs And Cargo

Happy Ghasts can also transport leashed entities through the air.

Boats and boats with chests can be attached beneath them, as can various leashable mobs. Larger animals such as Horses, Camels, and Sniffers can also be transported this way.

To attach a leashed entity, sneak while holding its lead and interact with the Happy Ghast. Shears can later be used to cut the connection.

That opens up some genuinely useful transport options if you've ever tried moving a Horse across an inconvenient mountain range.

#Can You Tame Or Breed Happy Ghasts?

Not in the traditional Minecraft sense.

A Happy Ghast doesn't need to be tamed before you ride it. Once it has grown into an adult, equipping a Harness is what makes it rideable.

Snowballs are useful because Happy Ghasts are attracted to them and Ghastlings eat them to grow faster, but they aren't a taming item.

Happy Ghasts also cannot be bred, so feeding two adults snowballs won't give you another Ghastling.

If you want several Happy Ghasts for your server, you'll need to repeat the Dried Ghast process for each one.

#Tips For Looking After Your Happy Ghast

You don't need to build a giant hangar for your new flying friend, but a few precautions can save you from searching the horizon later.

An unharnessed Happy Ghast generally wanders within roughly 64 blocks of its home location, while harnessed Happy Ghasts and Ghastlings stay closer, at around 32 blocks.

For an easier time:

Keep your Happy Ghast near a recognisable base or landing platform.
Use a lead if you don't want it wandering.
Carry snowballs when you need to tempt it toward you.
Keep a spare Harness or Shears nearby.
Avoid flying carelessly around lava; Happy Ghasts aren't immune to fire and lava like normal Ghasts.
Remember that dismounting places you on top of the Happy Ghast, which is useful in the air but still requires some attention.

Happy Ghasts also regenerate health naturally, with substantially faster regeneration while in rain, snow, or around the Overworld's cloud layer.

#Happy Ghast FAQ

#How Long Does It Take To Get A Happy Ghast In Minecraft?

Starting with a Dried Ghast, expect roughly 40 minutes without using snowballs: about 20 minutes for the Dried Ghast to become a Ghastling and another 20 minutes for the Ghastling to mature.

Snowballs can shorten the second stage significantly.

#Where Do Dried Ghasts Spawn?

Dried Ghasts can be found around Nether Fossils in Soul Sand Valley biomes. You can also craft one from eight Ghast Tears and one Soul Sand or obtain one through Piglin bartering.

#Do You Have To Tame A Happy Ghast?

No. Happy Ghasts don't use the conventional taming system. Raise a Ghastling into an adult, equip it with a Harness, and you can ride it.

#How Many Players Can Ride A Happy Ghast?

A Happy Ghast supports up to four players at once. The first player to mount controls its movement.

#Can Happy Ghasts Breed?

No. Happy Ghasts cannot currently be bred. To get another one, you'll need another Dried Ghast.

#Is Getting A Happy Ghast Worth It?

Absolutely, particularly if you play Minecraft with friends or spend a lot of time building.

The process takes some effort, but that's part of what makes your first flight feel so good. You go from hunting down a miserable-looking block in one of Minecraft's least welcoming dimensions to cruising over the Overworld with three friends on the back of a giant smiling Ghast.

And unlike plenty of Minecraft collectibles, the Happy Ghast is actually useful once the novelty wears off.

So grab a Dried Ghast, prepare your pool, stockpile a few snowballs, and get ready to take your survival world airborne.

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