A camel is a passive mob found in deserts[upcoming: JE 1.21.5 & BE 1.21.70] and desert villages and that can be saddled and ridden by up to two players at once. A camel is tall enough that its riders cannot be reached from the ground by a few melee-attacking harmful mobs, who do not attack the camel.
Spawning
A camel spawns in the center of each desert village during world generation, and can even spawn outside these villages. They do not respawn if they are killed.
Drops
1–3 experience orbs drop when camels are killed by a player or tamed wolf. A saddle is dropped if the camel was already equipped with one. Upon successful breeding, 1–7 is dropped. Killing a baby camel yields neither items nor experience.
Behavior
A camel wanders aimlessly, avoiding hazards and obstacles or it sits for two to seven seconds, before eventually getting up. Camels immediately get up and flee after being harmed. A seated camel cannot be pushed by players or mobs.[1] Sitting camels do not stand up if there are solid blocks above them, as doing so would cause them to take suffocation damage immediately after.
Camels are healed by 2 health points each time they are fed a cactus. Camels also heal on their own over time slowly.
Despite the fact they are bred with cacti, touching a cactus block still harms camels like any other mob.

A camel sitting in a desert village.
Camels have the unique ability to step up 1.5 block-high walls, unlike other mounts such as horses, which can automatically step up one block without jumping. This allows camels to step onto fences and walls, among other things.
Riding
Camels can be ridden by players. Up to two players can ride one camel. While riding, the player in the back seat cannot hurt the player driving or the camel itself.
Camels have one slot in their inventory, to put a Saddle on it. A saddle can be placed on a camel by holding it and then using it on the camel, or by accessing its inventory. A camel's inventory can be accessed by mounting the camel and using inventory control, or by sneaking and then using or pressing the "open inventory" button[Bedrock Edition only] on the camel.
Once a camel is saddled, the player can control it with standard directional controls, jump, and the mouse. The player dismounts using the dismount control. Like riding other entities, it is impossible for a player to use a nether portal or end portal while on a camel.
Camels cannot float on water when being controlled by a player. They can be ridden in water up to 3 blocks deep. In deeper water, the player is automatically dismounted.[2]

Several husks trying to attack Efe.
Camels walk slowly and can sprint. Saddled camels also have the ability of "dashing charging". When the player rides them, the experience bar on HUD is replaced by a dash charging bar. Dashing is done using the jump control, and holding the control charges for a longer dashing. Camels can dash every 2.75 seconds. When dashing, the camel launches up to 12 blocks forward and one block upward. For a short time after dashing, the camel cannot sprint.
Camels are tall enough that most melee hostile mobs such as zombies, vindicators, hoglins, silverfish, endermites and golden sword-wielding piglins cannot reach players to attack them. Spiders, wolves, slimes and magma cubes can attack because they jump or climb while attacking. Most mobs never deliberately attack camels under any circumstance, even to reach players riding one; the only exceptions are mobs that attack all other mobs, these being zoglins and vindicators named "Johnny".
Breeding
A camel follows the player who holds a cactus but stops following the player if it is separated from the player by at least 10 blocks[Java Edition only] / 16 blocks[Bedrock Edition only]. Sitting camels do not follow the player. Adult camels enter love mode and breed to create baby camels after they are each given a cactus. The parents have a cooldown of five minutes before they can breed again. The growth time that baby camels take to be an adult camel can be reduced by giving the baby camel cactus.
Sounds
Java Edition:
Camels use the Friendly Creatures sound category for entity-dependent sound events.
Sound | Subtitles | Source | Description | Resource location | Translation key | Volume | Pitch | Attenuation distance |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Camel grunts | Friendly Creatures | Randomly | entity | subtitles | varies [sound 1] | 0.8-1.2 (Baby: 1.3-1.7) | 16 | |
Camel dies | Friendly Creatures | When a camel dies | entity | subtitles | 0.8 | 0.8-1.2 (Baby: 1.3-1.7) | 16 | |
Camel hurts | Friendly Creatures | When a camel is damaged | entity | subtitles | 0.8 | 0.8-1.2 (Baby: 1.3-1.7) | 16 | |
Camel sits down | Friendly Creatures | When a camel sits | entity | subtitles | 0.3 | 0.8-1.2 (Baby: 1.3-1.7) | 16 | |
Camel stands up | Friendly Creatures | When a camel stands | entity | subtitles | 0.3 | 0.8-1.2 (Baby: 1.3-1.7) | 16 | |
Camel eats | Friendly Creatures | When a camel is fed a cactus | entity | subtitles | varies[sound 2] | 0.8-1.2 | 16 | |
Saddle equips | Friendly Creatures | When a saddle is equipped to a camel | entity | subtitles | 0.5 | 0.8 | 16 | |
Camel yeets | Friendly Creatures | When a camel dashes | entity | subtitles | 1.0 | 1.0 | 16 | |
Camel recovers | Friendly Creatures | When a camel's dash ability resets | entity | subtitles | 0.25 | 1.0 | 16 | |
Something fell | Friendly Creatures | When a camel falls from more than 1 block | entity | subtitles | 0.4 | 1.0 | 16 | |
Footsteps | Friendly Creatures | While a camel is walking | entity | subtitles | 0.5 | 1.0 | 16 | |
Footsteps | Friendly Creatures | While a camel is walking on sand, red sand, concrete powder, or suspicious sand | entity | subtitles | 0.45 | 1.0 | 16 |
Sound | Source | Description | Resource location | Volume | Pitch |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Friendly Creatures | Randomly | mob | varies [sound 1] | 0.8-1.2 (Baby: 1.3-1.7) | |
Friendly Creatures | When a camel dies | mob | 1.0 | 0.8-1.2 (Baby: 1.3-1.7) | |
Friendly Creatures | When a camel is damaged | mob | 1.0 | 0.8-1.2 (Baby: 1.3-1.7) | |
Friendly Creatures | When a camel sits | mob | 0.3 | 1.0 [sound 2] | |
Friendly Creatures | When a camel stands | mob | 0.3 | 1.0 [sound 2] | |
Friendly Creatures | When a camel is fed a cactus | mob | 0.2 | 0.8-1.2 | |
Friendly Creatures | When a saddle is equipped to a camel | mob | 1.0 | 0.8-1.2 | |
Friendly Creatures | When a camel dashes | mob | 1.0 | 1.0 | |
Friendly Creatures | When a camel's dash ability resets | mob | 0.25 | 1.0 | |
Friendly Creatures | While a camel is walking | mob | 0.5 | 0.8-1.2 (Baby: 1.3-1.7) | |
Friendly Creatures | While a camel is walking on sand, red sand, concrete powder, or suspicious sand | mob | 0.45 | 0.8-1.2 (Baby: 1.3-1.7) |
- ↑ 0.45 for
ambient1
andambient2
, 0.5 forambient3
throughambient6
, and 0.3 forambient7
andambient8
- ↑ a b MCPE-169568 — Baby camel sit and stand sounds are not higher pitched
Data values
ID
Name | Identifier | Translation key |
---|---|---|
Camel | camel | entity.minecraft.camel |
Name | Identifier | Numeric ID | Translation key |
---|---|---|---|
Camel | camel | 138 | entity.camel.name |
Entity data
Camels have entity data associated with them that contain various properties.
- Entity data
- Additional fields for mobs that can breed
- Tags common to all entities
- Tags common to all mobs
- Tags common to all horses
- LastPoseTick: The tick when the camel started changing its pose.
Advancements
Icon | Advancement | In-game description | Parent | Actual requirements (if different) | Resource location |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | It Spreads | Kill a mob near a Sculk Catalyst | Monster Hunter | Kill one of these 70 mobs near a sculk catalyst:
| adventure/kill_mob_near_sculk_catalyst
|
![]() | The Parrots and the Bats | Breed two animals together | Husbandry | Breed a pair of any of these 25 mobs:
| husbandry/breed_an_animal
|
![]() | Two by Two | Breed all the animals! | The Parrots and the Bats | Breed a pair of each of these 25 mobs:
| husbandry/bred_all_animals
|
Video
History
October 15, 2022 | ![]() ![]() | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Java Edition | |||||
1.20 (Experimental) | 22w42a | ![]() ![]() | |||
22w43a | The camel's walking animation has been tweaked to more closely mirror how real camels walk. | ||||
1.20 | 23w12a | Camels are now available without using the "Update 1.20" experimental datapack. | |||
1.20.2 | 23w31a | Camels no longer stand up when opaque blocks are placed over them, preventing them from taking suffocation damage as they stand up.[3] | |||
Camels now trigger sculk sensors when they stand up, sit down or dash.[4][5] | |||||
Camels are now able to panic when attached to leads.[6] | |||||
The pitch values for baby camels for getting up and laying down are now correct.[7] | |||||
Camels walking on suspicious sand, red sand, or concrete powder now plays the sound specific to sand blocks, instead of the generic stepping sound.[8] The translation key has also been changed accordingly, from subtitles.entity.camel.step_sand to subtitles.block.generic.footsteps . | |||||
23w32a | The subtitle for the generic stepping sounds of various mobs, including camels, have now been corrected.[9] The translation key has also been changed accordingly, from subtitles.entity.camel.step to subtitles.block.generic.footsteps . | ||||
Bedrock Edition | |||||
Next Major Update (Experimental) | beta 1.19.50.21 | ![]() ![]() | |||
beta 1.19.50.22 | Camels now heal over time. | ||||
The camel's walking animation has been tweaked to more closely mirror how real camels walk. | |||||
beta 1.19.60.25 | Camels no longer get pulled into ridable entities. | ||||
1.20.0 | beta 1.20.0.21 | Camels are now available without using the "Next Major Update" experimental toggle. | |||
1.20.30 | beta 1.20.20.21 | Camels now make sand stepping sounds instead of generic stepping sounds for suspicious sand,[verify] red sand, and concrete powder.[10] |
Issues
Issues relating to "Camel" are maintained on the bug tracker. Report issues there.
Trivia
- Minecraft camels are specifically based on the one-humped dromedary camel, though the first model was based on the two-humped Bactrian camel.[11]
- The camel is the tallest passive mob in Minecraft, being 2.375 blocks tall, and is the only passive mob with a height greater than 2 blocks.
- It is also the largest passive mob in terms of hitbox size, with a volume of 6.86375 m3.
- In comparison, the player's hitbox volume is 0.648 m3, less than one tenth of that of the camel.
Gallery
Screenshots
-
A saddled camel sitting next to a player.
-
Steve riding a camel out of the sunset.
-
Kai parking a camel.
Renders
-
A camel.
-
A camel sitting.
-
A camel standing up.
-
A camel walking.
-
A camel dashing.
-
A saddled camel.
-
A saddled camel sitting.
-
A saddled camel standing up.
-
A saddled camel walking.
-
A saddled camel dashing.
Trails & Tales Event
-
Camel Mask
-
Camel Hat
-
Camel Balloon
-
Camel Carousel
-
The Camel Carousel moving animation.
-
Balloon bundle, also featuring two sniffers.
-
The balloon bundle animated.
-
Secret Camel
-
The Camel Canyon cutout, featured in the Trails & Tales Event.
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The icon for the Camel Mask, an item in the Trails & Tales event.
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The icon for the Camel Hat, an item in the Trails & Tales event.
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The icon for the Camel Balloon, an item in the Trails & Tales event.
Concept art
-
Concept art of the camel showcasing the different coloring and face shapes considered during development.
-
Concept art of the camel showcasing the many designs of its face.
-
Concept art of the camel showcasing the camel's height next to a player and three blocks.
Development images
-
A prototype version of the camel in Java Edition.
-
Four prototype camels looking at the player in Bedrock Edition.
-
Camel t posing.
-
Bugged camel's walking animation.
Official artwork
-
The camel Xbox giveaway.[12]
-
Render of the camel Xbox.
-
Camels with Sunny
-
Camels with a wandering trader
-
Promotional artwork for Trails & Tales featuring camels on a map.[14]
-
Alex and Sunny riding a camel.
-
Sunny and Alex riding a camel in an advertisement for a Back to School sale.[15]
-
Steve approaching a camel about “becoming his sidekick.”
Pixel Artwork
-
Artwork of Alex with a camel.
-
Artwork of Steve and Alex riding a camel.
-
Wallpaper of Steve and Alex on a camel.
References
- ↑ MC-256538 — resolved as "Works As Intended".
- ↑ MC-72440 — resolved as "Works As Intended".
- ↑ MC-256690 — resolved as "Fixed".
- ↑ MC-256482 — resolved as "Fixed".
- ↑ MC-257628 — resolved as "Fixed".
- ↑ MC-249109 — resolved as "Fixed".
- ↑ MC-259452 — resolved as "Fixed".
- ↑ MC-263322 — "When a camel walks on suspicious sand, the sound produced is "camel steps" instead of "camel sands"" — resolved as "Fixed".
- ↑ MC-177110 — resolved as "Fixed".
- ↑ MCPE-163497 — resolved as "Fixed".
- ↑ "Minecraft’s camels have just one hump – but originally, they had two! As revealed by Alexander Sandor in our developer diary, the first camel model in the game was “basically a teddy bear with two humps”. “I shouldn’t say it was ugly...” added Agnes Larsson. So, it got a redesign into the version you see today." – Minecraft.net
- ↑ "To celebrate the Trails & Tales Update, we're giving away a custom art piece based on the newest mobs! But which one to give away: Are you part of the #SnifferSquad or #CamelCrew? 🤔" – @Minecraft (Minecraft) on X, May 27, 2023
- ↑ https://youtu.be/Rla3FUlxJdE
- ↑ https://twitter.com/Xbox/status/1666505408653959176?s=20
- ↑ https://twitter.com/Minecraft/status/1690423307089395712?s=20
External links
- Mob Menagerie: Camel – Minecraft.net on June 22, 2023