Among passive mobs, there are those the player can utilize to get some of the rarer or more unique materials of the game. One of these are cows, a mob that can provide the player with milk and leather. However, there’s quite more to cover about a Minecraft cow.
Cow
The cow is a passive mob in Minecraft that the players can often find throughout meadows in small herds. These will often have both young and adult cows among them rather than being only a single type of mob.
Cows can be useful for getting milk or dropping some items that may be tougher to achieve without this mob. They will spawn both during world generation as well as afterward, making cows a rather common mob across the place. However, they need some grass blocks and a decent light level to spawn properly.
However, these mobs can appear in villages as well. More specifically, they spawn in animal pens and butchers’ houses. These will be a bit rarer to find, especially if a village has neither of the structures required, though they can still spawn naturally on nearby grass.
Cow Behavior
Minecraft Cows are completely docile, simply looking at the player when they approach rather than attacking or taking any actions against them. Cows will react if hurt, running away for a few seconds. While fleeing, cows move faster before returning to regular speed and behavior.
A cow will avoid water unless following a player, and cows also try to avoid any dangerous cliffs that could cause fall damage. Additionally, they will not walk on minecart rails.
Speaking of hazards, cows avoid most of the environmental ones. These include cactus, dripstone, fire, lava, and other similar blocks. However, they won’t avoid explosions. Because of this behavior, it’s possible for cows to survive far longer than some other passive mobs.
Of course, a cow may also be milked. A player can do this action by using a bucket on the cow. When a cow is affected by a bucket this way, the bucket will turn into a milk bucket. The milk bucket can be used to drink the milk, removing any status effects from the players. It’s also one of the key ingredients for crafting cake.
Cow Drops
The important part of a cow are its drops in Minecraft. An adult cow drops between 1 and 3 raw beef stacks. Each of these will spawn as a steak if a cow has been killed while on fire or has been killed through fire damage. The cow will also drop one more raw beef per stack of Looting, up to 6.
A cow can also drop between 0 and 2 stacks of leather. The maximum amount of leather increases depending on the Looting as well, maxing out at 5 at level 3. Leather is the most important drop from a cow and a reason to pursue them.
On top of it all, a cow will drop 1 to 3 experience orbs if killed or 1 to 7 if you successfully breed two cows.
The calf doesn’t drop any of these items, and it doesn’t provide experience.