Minecraft: 10 Most Popular & Best Ways To Get Leather

Minecraft offers amazing adventures for players, in addition to a massive range of awesome materials to use in-game. But, although many resources can be simple to obtain, things can become tricky when you need tons of a certain material – and leather is one of these resources. Below are the best ways to get leather in Minecraft ranked in no particular order, including some of the most efficient and fastest methods out there!

1. Loot Chests & Villages

One of the best things about Minecraft is that it allows players to explore an endless list of amazing areas – from underwater Minecraft spaces to dark and spooky Minecraft caves. Players can find a ton of interesting things along the way, but it’s also possible to find some treasure chests in areas like Bastion Remnants – which may very well contain leather!

If you’re lucky, you might be able to find some leather stored in village chests as well, which typically come in numbers of 1 – 3 leather pieces per chest. Depending on the Minecraft edition and platform, you may be able to trade with a villager to acquire leather as well – players can get over 10 pieces of leather from a Leatherworker in exchange for Minecraft Emeralds.

2. Hoglins

Hoglins reside in the Nether’s Crimson Forests and are challenging to defeat, as they are seen as one of the strongest mobs in Minecraft. They will drop up to 1 piece of leather per kill, and the risk may not be worth it, but players can create a Hoglin farm which amounts to tons of leather and cooked pork chops.

3. Cows or Mooshrooms

Cows are the primary source of leather for many Minecraft players, typically the very first way to get leather in a playthrough. But, players can also slay Mooshrooms found in Mushroom Biomes (cows that look like mushrooms, a common feature in many Cottagecore Minecraft designs) and get the same outcome.

They are pretty common around Minecraft’s seemingly infinite overworld, and they can spawn just about anywhere. However, players usually find that hunting for cows in Plain Biomes is far easier since you can get a good view of the entire area – spotting cows can be tricky amongst trees.

Players can choose to defeat the cows that they find or spend some time taming cows using Wheat – after which you could take them back home with the help of Minecraft Leads.

Breeding them will take time and effort, and players will need to ensure they only breed whatever their device can handle as it can affect game performance. But, creating a well-populated cow farm is the most reliable way to get leather over time – and the fastest when using Looting III.

Players can also try making a semi-automated cow farm, where you would still need to breed the cows although the killing aspect would be automatic. In this case, the resources would be collected via a Minecraft Hopper and Chest setup, although most players still prefer manually slaying cows with a Looting sword if possible.

4. Barter with Piglins

Bartering with Piglins can be a great way to get leather in Minecraft, as players can throw gold ingots at a Piglin in return for various items – one of which is leather. Piglins provide leather per barter, which can amount to some really nice leather gains over time.

Players may also be able to automate the process by creating a gold farm and connecting it to a barter farm. This method will take time, and gold is not the easiest thing to get in Minecraft, but it can be a nice alternative to slaying innocent creatures for leather.

5. Fishing

Fishing is a passive way to get leather in Minecraft, although it’s definitely not as reliable as harvesting leather from cows or other animals. There are quite a few things players can obtain while fishing, but the leather drop is classified as a “junk” drop and its probability lies somewhere in the middle – not common, and not rare either.

As a result, players might be able to walk away with a decent number of leather pieces – especially without using the “Luck of the Sea” enchantment. But, this method is generally only worthwhile for players who create an AFK fishing farm in Minecraft, as players will only have to come back and collect the gathered leather over time rather than investing in-game time.

6. Llamas

Llamas are a fan-favorite for many Minecraft players, with a fuzzy appearance, a friendly stance, and a feisty yet loveable personality. Llamas can be used for a variety of things in Minecraft, and they make a really cool mount for players to use as well during travel, but they can also be used to acquire leather where needed.

Players can harvest leather by slaying llamas in Minecraft, although it’s definitely not the preferred method. Llamas do have a similar chance of dropping the resources for leather when compared to cows, but they are not as easy to breed – as a result, llama farms are far more valuable when your llamas are kept alive.

7. Horses

Horses can be an incredible addition to any Minecraft player’s world – simply mount or dismount your Minecraft horse and embark on a range of fun adventures! Horses offer numerous benefits, and some Minecraft horses are incredibly fast, but horses can be used for gaining leather in Minecraft as well.

Similar to the case with llamas, horses are not as easy to breed compared to cows. They are pretty common in Plain Biomes, so you may be able to slay some horses for leather while traveling, but it may not be worthwhile creating a horse farm simply for the sake of harvesting them for leather.

8. Donkeys or Mules

Donkeys and mules also provide leather after they have been slain by players, but finding donkeys and mules may not be the simplest process. Donkeys and mules are not as common as most animals in Minecraft, but they can help you get leather – so it might be worthwhile to slay a few where possible.

9. Rabbits

Farming rabbits can be a pretty simple way to get extra leather over time, but it may not be enough for every Minecraft player’s needs. Rabbits may drop up to 1 Rabbit Hide when killed, and it will take 4 Rabbit Hides to create one piece of leather in Minecraft.

In addition, rabbits will require some super safe building practices to make sure they do not escape, even if you choose to fence them in completely – they will probably require a confined space.

10. Minecraft Commands

If you’re not too fussed about playing Minecraft completely vanilla, the fastest option would be to use Minecraft commands. The possibilities are endless when it comes to using commands in Minecraft, provided that you have Cheats Enabled in your world.

/give @[player] [item] [amount]
Example: /give @p minecraft:leather 5

Simply open the chat bar, depending on your chosen platform, and type in the above command. You can choose to give as much leather as you’d like to yourself or friends in your Minecraft world by making some alterations to this command, as seen below.

@a = All Players
@e = All Entities
@p = Nearest Player
@r = Random Player
@s = Current Entity

Getting your hands on leather in Minecraft can be pretty easy, but obtaining countless stacks of leather for decor and items can be far more challenging. Fortunately, there are quite a few ways you can acquire as much leather as you need in-game, or set up a limitless farm to ensure your leather supply in Minecraft is stocked up around the clock.

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