Camel in Minecraft: Two Riders, Dashing and Breeding

Camels are big passive mounts from the desert. They need no taming, only a saddle, they carry two players, and they stand so tall that zombies and most other melee mobs can’t hit you while you ride. Breed them with cactus.

Stat	Value
Health	32 (16 hearts)
Behavior	Passive
Spawns	One per desert village; also uncommon in deserts since 1.21.5 (Java) / 1.21.70 (Bedrock)
Breeding food	Cactus
Drops	Saddle if equipped; 1-3 XP

Where to find a camel

Every desert village that isn’t abandoned starts with one camel in its center, and that camel never despawns. Newer 1.21 versions also let camels spawn in the open desert, though they’re uncommon. A saddle is the only thing you need to bring.

Riding

Put the saddle on and hop on. Camels speed up gradually when you walk in a straight line and can sprint at about 8 blocks per second. That’s slower than a good horse, and they turn sluggishly, so they’re better for open desert than winding forest.

The camel’s party trick is the dash. Hold jump to charge the bar where your XP normally sits, then release: the camel launches up to 12 blocks forward and a block up. It can dash every 2.75 seconds and can’t sprint briefly afterward. Dashing clears ravines and rivers that would stop a horse.

Camels also step up 1.5 blocks without jumping, which means fences and walls don’t stop them.

Why height matters

A standing camel lifts you out of reach of zombies, husks, vindicators, hoglins, silverfish and piglins with gold swords. Spiders, wolves, slimes and magma cubes can still get you because they jump. Skeletons shoot you as usual. On a desert night full of husks, this is the most relaxing way to travel.

The second seat makes camels good for co-op. The passenger can’t hurt the driver or the camel, but they can fight anything around you. If the driver gets off, the passenger takes control.

Sitting and other habits

Camels sit down every so often for a few seconds. A sitting camel can’t be pushed, so you can park one in a doorway without it wandering. They take half fall damage and only start taking it after six blocks, the same as donkeys.

Breeding

Hold cactus and camels follow you. Feed two adults and you get a baby camel plus 1-7 XP; the parents can breed again after five minutes. Babies take 20 minutes to grow up and can’t be ridden or saddled. Feeding more cactus to a baby only speeds growth by ten seconds per cactus, so most players just wait. Cactus also heals a camel by 2 health.

Killing a camel drops its saddle and a little XP. There’s no leather or meat, so there’s no reason to.