Minecraft Pigs Guide

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Arthur Monteclar

Arthur is a freelance writer. The first time he played Minecraft was an unforgettable experience. Since then, he has been learning the rules of the game. He pours hours structuring his ideal world in the game. In his spare time, he reads manga and watches anime.

Latest posts by Arthur Monteclar (see all)

• Minecraft Pigs Guide - April 11, 2022
• Minecraft Sheep Guide - March 11, 2022
• How to Make Stonecutter Recipe - October 30, 2021

Pigs are iconic and useful creatures in Minecraft. They have existed within the game ever since the first edition, dating back to September 1, 2009. They are the first passive mobs that the developers added to Minecraft! Nowadays, you can ignore pigs as a whole because there are plenty of food sources available. But back then, pigs were the most reliable food source and you’ll learn more about that in this Minecraft pigs guide.

This pink beast has a lot of history and surprises. For example, creepers came about when Notch, the original creator of Minecraft, messed up while designing a pig. Pigs also appear in Minecraft: Story Mode, a spinoff of the video game franchise. One of the main characters in that game is Reuben, Jesse’s pet pig and best friend who has distinct eyebrows.

They even appear in video games outside of Minecraft! For example, they appear as a DLC costume for the Mii Brawler, a fighter character in the hit game Super Smash Bros Ultimate for the Nintendo Switch. Many players simply adore the pig and make them their favorite animals in the game. If you want to understand how this mob got so popular among gamers, read on further to find out.

What are pigs in Minecraft?

Pigs are the first passive animals in Minecraft that the game developers added during the early development stages. They are as iconic as other mobs in the game like sheep, creepers, cows, and more. They provide pork chops when they die. You can cook their meat for consumption. They may also drop other items like a saddle if the player equipped the pig with one.

Pigs also drop one to three experience orbs when you or a tamed wolf kills them. No experience orbs will drop if they die on their own such as falling off a cliff, dipping themselves in lava, and more. No experience orbs also drop when you kill baby pigs. Like the other animals capable of breeding, they drop one to seven experience orbs when you make two pigs breed with each other.

Ideally, cows are much better to farm than pigs because cows have better drops and yields. Both animals provide meat (porkchop and steak) and both food items have the same values in terms of how many food points one can recover from eating them. However, cows also provide milk and leather, something pigs cannot. But if no cows are available, then you should have pigs on your farm.

What does a Minecraft pig look like?

Pigs in Minecraft are pink similar to how Yorkshire pigs look. They have a rectangular body and a square head with a snout slightly sticking out. They stand on four rectangular legs with textured feet. You can see pig udders when you flip a pig upside down (for example, by naming it “Dinnerbone” using a name tag). However, their udders do not stick out from their bodies like cow udders.

They have ears, but the graphics flatly draw them on the head. Their eyes are rectangular and white, and the pupils are cross-eyed going outwards. Their snout has two dark nostrils. If you attach a saddle to the pig, it will appear on its back. Baby pigs have a similar appearance as the adult ones, though their heads have the roughly same size as the adults, which makes their heads look larger than their bodies.

What are the Minecraft pigs’ uses?

The pigs’ primary function is to have some fulfilling food in their stomach. Pigs provide pork chops when you kill them. Pork chops are greatly nutritional, and you can last without eating another pork chop after you eat one. Plus, they can restore a lot of health. You can also equip pigs with saddles. You can then ride on one, but you can only steer them in a direction if you are holding an item known as a carrot on a stick.

Nowadays, this method of transportation has become obsolete because of the presence of horses. However, if there are no horses available then you can use pigs. They may also drop saddles if they have one on their back. Finally, they drop and experience orbs upon death if you or your wolf killed them. Breeding two pigs also give you experience orbs.

How to ride on a pig in Minecraft

Riding on a pig is relatively simple. First, you need to have a saddle. There are only four methods to get a saddle, and you cannot get it by crafting one. Below are the four methods in detail.

• While fishing using a fishing rod, there is a chance that you can pick up a saddle. The chances of that happening with a fishing rod without enchantments is 0.8%, so it is incredibly slim.
• You can get a saddle from villagers through trading. In Bedrock Edition, Master-level leatherworker villagers have a 50% chance of selling one in exchange for six emeralds. In Java Edition, however, they will always have this offer.
• Mob loot. Some mobs that can be equipped with saddles can drop one after they die. For example, a ravager always drops their saddle when they die. A zombified piglin riding a strider has an 8.5% chance of dropping a saddle when they die. That chance increases by 1% per level of the Looting enchantment. Thus, killing such a mob using a sword with level 3 Looting will have an 11.5% chance of dropping a saddle.
• Chest Loot. You can get a saddle as loot from chests in places like dungeons, desert temples, villages, and the like. Below is a table about the chances of getting one from chests in different structures and areas.

Once you have your saddle, you can equip it on your pig. You can finally ride on it; however, you cannot control where it goes if you do not have the item called carrot on a stick. Pigs are attracted to carrots, and so you can use this knowledge to make them go in a direction while riding on them.

To have one, you must craft it, and to craft it, you need only two things: a fishing rod and a carrot. Once you have both these items, follow the steps below.

1. Open up your inventory.
2. Place the fishing rod on any slot in your 2×2 crafting grid.
3. Place the carrot on any slot in your 2×2 crafting grid.
4. Drag the resulting carrot on a stick from the output slot and into your inventory.

Now that you have a carrot on a stick, you can finally direct your pig where to go. You must have it equipped with you while riding on one. Pigs are incredibly slow from the start but they will gradually accelerate to speeds of up to 5.20 blocks per second. You can ride the pig through bodies of water with a depth of one block high. Any more than that will cause you to dismount the pig automatically.

You can also use the carrot on a stick (the default key on the PC is right-clicking) to make the pig run faster at the cost of seven points of durability. Also, if you fall while riding on a pig, the pig will take the fall damage, and you won’t. You cannot put a saddle on a baby pig, so you cannot ride on one.

How to get pork chops from a Minecraft pig

Porkchops drop when a pig dies. Usually, they drop raw pork chops, but they drop cooked pork chops instead when the pig dies while on fire. Pigs drop one to three raw pork chops (or cooked ones) upon death. You can increase the maximum number of drops by killing them with a weapon that has a Looting enchantment. For every level of Looting, the maximum number of drops increases by one.

So, using a Looting III sword to kill a pig can give you one to six pork chops. You can cook raw porkchop through fueled furnaces, smokers, or campfires. Eating cooked pork chops will recover you eight points of hunger (four drumsticks) and 12 points of saturation. Overall, the pork chop is the third-best food to eat tied with the cow’s steak.

How to get experience orbs from a Minecraft pig

Killing a pig will give you one to three experience orbs, whether the final blow came from you or your wolf. Killing a pig indirectly will not offer the same rewards, e.g., falling off a cliff or drowning in water. Another way to get experience orbs from pigs would be to breed two of them to create a piglet. Killing a piglet does not drop experience orbs, and you cannot breed piglets either.

Where to find pigs in Minecraft

Pigs in Minecraft spawn on grass blocks in every biome in the Overworld except the following:

• Deserts
• Snowy Plains
• Snowy Slopes
• Meadows
• Mushroom Fields
• Ice Spikes
• Jagged Peaks
• Frozen Peaks
• Stony Peaks
• Badlands
• Wooded Badlands
• Dripstone Caves
• Lush Caves

They commonly spawn in herds of four in Java Edition and herds of two to three in Bedrock Edition. Furthermore, they rarely spawn individually in Java Edition but commonly spawn individually in Bedrock Edition. There is a 5% chance that pigs spawn as piglets.

Pigs in villages

There is a probability for pigs to spawn within villages inside specific structures. This spawning method may be the only way pigs can spawn in biomes they usually cannot spawn in, i.e., deserts and snowy plains. Specifically, they spawn individually in animal pens and butcher shops. They have different types of appearances, so it is hard to expand on every structure.

Overall, there are eight different designs for butcher shops, wherein two belong to plains, snowy plains, and savannas, and one to deserts and taigas. Meanwhile, animal pens have 13 different designs, wherein four belong to deserts, three to plains and savannas, two to snowy plains, and one to taigas.

How to cook pork chops from Minecraft pigs

You can cook raw pork chops by placing them inside a furnace, smoker, or campfire. You must also put fuel in them like coal, charcoal, lava, etc. for the cooking to be successful. After you cook a raw pork chop, it will turn into a cooked pork chop. It is the third most effective food tied with steak because of its high hunger points restoration and saturation. They restore eight points of hunger (four drumsticks) and 12.8 points of saturation.

What can Minecraft pigs do?

Pigs are harmless creatures and will not attempt to attack you at all even when you attack them first. They make oinking sounds randomly but especially when you hit them. They will also try to escape once you hurt them. In their neutral state, they will wander.

They commonly go to lit and grassy areas, and they have a habit of staring at players they can see for two to four seconds. They will actively avoid going into dangerous situations such as water or lava. However, they will go into the water if you attract them with the food they eat.

They will follow you if you are holding a carrot, potato, beetroot, or carrot on a stick in your hand and if you are six blocks near them. They will no longer follow you if you go too fast and leave the specified radius. Another way to make them go somewhere would be to attach a lead to them.

When lightning strikes a pig, it will not die. Instead, it will become a zombified piglin. A piglet struck by lightning will also turn into a zombified piglet. If it was wearing a saddle, it is immediately destroyed by the lightning strike. You will become dismounted if you were riding on the pig as it got struck by lightning. However, in peaceful difficulty, the pig will die instead.

Zombified piglins are passive mobs and will only become hostile to a player if you attack it or another nearby zombified piglin first. They behave like normal zombified piglins you would find in the Nether. They are also immune to lava.

How to breed Minecraft pigs

Equip any food listed below on your hand and feed each to two pigs.

• Potatoes
• Carrots
• Beetroots

The pigs that you gave the food to will move closer to each other. You can see that hearts will constantly float from the pig’s body after you have given them the food. A piglet will pop out after a moment of intimate movements between the two pigs.

The piglet will mature into a pig in approximately 20 minutes, but you can accelerate its growth by 10% by feeding it the food they like. Furthermore, they will stick close to their parents and follow them wherever they go. You can breed the parents again after five minutes.

How to kill Minecraft pigs

Even though Minecraft pigs have one extra heart compared to sheep, they are still pretty easy to kill. They have ten health points (five hearts). I have listed the number of strikes needed to kill a pig for every weapon.

Note that the data presented below is only applicable to Java Edition. Bedrock Edition has different combat mechanics, so it may not be applicable all the time. Also, note that no enchantments are in effect, so the damage is the raw damage the unenchanted weapon can deal.

Based on the data presented, the most effective weapon to use against a pig while being relatively cheap to build would be a stone sword. A stone sword would only require two swings with 0.625 seconds in between as a cooldown. Axes are good too, as most can kill the pig in two strikes.

However, they have a longer cooldown. Axes are not as efficient because they do too much damage in a single strike. A swing from an axe can be strong enough to kill a sheep in one swing but not strong enough for a pig to die in the same circumstance.

Minecraft achievements related to pigs

Bedrock Edition has one single achievement related to pigs, and that is the “When Pigs Fly” achievement. Its details are listed below.

Rainbow Collection: “Use a saddle to ride a pig, and then have the pig get hurt from fall damage while riding it.”

As the in-game description says, you must ride on a pig using a saddle and fall to the ground high enough that it can get hurt. The minimum distance that a pig will get hurt from falling would be greater than five blocks.

Minecraft advancements related to pigs

Two Minecraft advancements are related to pigs. One of them essentially uses pigs to achieve it, while the other uses pigs as an option to achieve it. Their details are listed down below.

• The Parrots and the Bats: “Breed two animals together.”
• Two by Two: “Breed all the animals.”

You can get “the Parrots and the Bats” advancement by breeding other animals instead, but again you can use the pigs for breeding. Pigs are vital in the “Two by Two” advancement because you need to breed all the animals that are capable of breeding.

Fun facts about the Minecraft pig

Pigs are funny creatures, and some people even keep them as pets in their houses. Below are some fun facts about the Minecraft pig that makes them even more adorable.

• Minecraft’s original creator Notch showed a failed pig model and said, “it looks creepier when animated… haha. I’ll keep it for a creepy creature.” That failed pig model eventually became the creeper.
• Pigs originally dropped zero to two brown mushrooms after dying.
• You could breed pigs using wheat in the first version of Java Edition. However, the developers changed this feature to carrots in 1.4.2.
• You could ride piglets before Minecraft Java Edition 1.2.4 version.
• Pigs are the first passive mob in the game that still exists today.
• A miniature site existed within Minecraft.net known as Pig Tales. It allowed users to make and share conversations between two sock puppets resembling pigs from the game.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion: Are pigs useful in Minecraft?

Pigs are useful and valuable animals in Minecraft thanks to the meat they provide. Their porkchop gives the player efficient nutrition that can last for long durations. Furthermore, you can also ride them with a saddle and a carrot on a stick. However, two other mobs largely overshadowed the pigs: the cows and the horses. These two animals offer similar functions but are better than what the pigs offer.

Minecraft pig vs cow

Steak from cows offers the same nutritional value as pork chops from pigs, but cows have other things to offer other than food. Cows can provide you with milk, which you can use for negating negative or positive effects like poison, hunger, and the like. You can also use milk to make cakes, a great food option you can place on a surface.

Cows drop leather when they die, and you can use leather to make other vital things like item frames, books, leather armor, and more. Overall, you can skip cows over pigs, but if there are no cows available in your area, then you have no choice but to go with pigs.

Minecraft pig vs horse

You can ride pigs with a saddle and lead them in a direction using a carrot on a stick. However, after the game introduced horses in version 1.6, riding pigs became an obsolete technology. You can place saddles on horses much like pigs, but you do not need a carrot on a stick to lead it somewhere. Plus, horses are usually faster than pigs.

Another bonus for horses is that they can jump higher than pigs. So, they can reach places that you cannot usually reach using a pig. Overall, horses are better options as a mode of transportation than riding pigs.

Still, you can store pigs for their food. You can even keep them as pets in your home since they are passive mobs. Nowadays, the pig has become obsolete thanks to other animals, but they are still an essential mark in Minecraft history that must be appreciated. Without pigs, there might not be horses or creepers crawling around the world.

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