In Minecraft, you can put chests on donkeys, mules, and llamas to significantly expand your portable storage capacity. These animals act as mobile inventories, allowing you to carry more items on your adventures.
Animals That Can Carry Chests
These three distinct animal types offer unique advantages for item transport within the game, transforming them into invaluable companions for mining, exploration, and resource gathering.
Donkeys
Donkeys are one of the most straightforward animals for carrying chests. Once tamed, they can easily be equipped with a chest, making them perfect for players needing immediate mobile storage.
- Taming: To tame a donkey, repeatedly attempt to ride it until it no longer bucks you off and heart particles appear.
- Attaching a Chest: Simply press use (right-click) on a tamed donkey while holding a chest in your hand. The chest will then visually appear on its back.
- Storage Capacity: A chest attached to a donkey provides 15 inventory slots.
- Breeding: Donkeys can breed with other donkeys or horses.
Mules
Mules are hybrid animals, combining the traits of horses and donkeys. They offer the same chest-carrying functionality as donkeys, making them equally useful for storage.
- Obtaining: Mules cannot be found naturally in the wild. They are bred by mating a horse with a donkey.
- Taming: Once a mule is born, it needs to be tamed, similar to a donkey or horse, by repeatedly riding it.
- Attaching a Chest: Press use (right-click) on a tamed mule while holding a chest in your hand.
- Storage Capacity: A chest attached to a mule also provides 15 inventory slots.
Llamas
Llamas are unique chest-carrying animals known for their ability to form caravans, which is particularly useful for moving large quantities of items over long distances.
- Taming: Similar to horses and donkeys, repeatedly ride a wild llama until it no longer bucks you off.
- Attaching a Chest: To equip a chest, press use (right-click) on a tamed llama while holding a chest.
- Storage Capacity: Unlike donkeys and mules, a llama's chest capacity varies based on its "strength" attribute, ranging from 3 to 15 slots.
- Caravan Feature: If you lead one tamed llama, other tamed llamas with chests nearby will automatically follow in a caravan, making them ideal for mass transport.
How to Attach and Remove Chests
Attaching and removing chests from these animals is a simple process that enhances their utility.
- Attaching a Chest: After taming a donkey, mule, or llama, hold a regular chest item in your main hand and press use (right-click) on the animal. The chest will appear on its back, and you won't be able to remove it by simply right-clicking again.
- Accessing Inventory: To open the animal's inventory and store items, simply press use (right-click) on the animal while not holding a chest (or when holding an empty hand).
- Removing a Chest: To remove a chest from a donkey, mule, or llama, you need to use shears on the animal. Using shears will cause the chest to drop as an item, allowing you to pick it up.
Comparison of Chest-Carrying Animals
Here's a quick overview of the key differences between these useful creatures:
| Animal | Taming Method | Chest Slots (Fixed/Variable) | Special Features | Useful For |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Donkey | Repeatedly riding | 15 (Fixed) | Can breed with horses to make mules. | General item transport, personal inventory expansion. |
| Mule | Bred from horse + donkey; then repeatedly riding | 15 (Fixed) | Offspring of a horse and a donkey. | General item transport, personal inventory expansion (same as donkey but requires breeding). |
| Llama | Repeatedly riding | 3-15 (Variable, strength-dependent) | Forms caravans, spits at attackers (neutral mob). | Bulk item transport via caravans, long-distance expeditions, more passive storage solution while exploring without direct riding. |
Benefits of Using Chest Animals
Incorporating chest-carrying animals into your gameplay offers several advantages:
- Increased Inventory Space: They act as an extension of your inventory, allowing you to carry more resources during mining trips, exploration, or construction projects.
- Portable Storage: Unlike stationary chests, these animals can move with you, ensuring your items are always nearby.
- Caravan System (Llamas): Llamas are particularly efficient for large-scale item transfers, as multiple llamas can follow a lead llama, creating a mobile chain of storage.
- Resource Transportation: Ideal for moving large quantities of blocks, ores, or other gathered materials back to your base.
Practical Tips for Using Chest Animals
- Tame First: Always tame the animal before attempting to attach a chest. Untamed animals will not accept a chest.
- Right-Click with Chest: Ensure you are holding a standard chest item when right-clicking the animal to attach it.
- Accessing Inventory: To access the chest inventory, right-click the animal while holding nothing or any non-chest item.
- Protect Your Animals: Remember that these animals can be attacked by hostile mobs. Keep them safe, especially if they are carrying valuable items.
- Llama Caravans: When leading a llama, up to 10 other tamed llamas (with or without chests) within a 12-block radius will follow it automatically. This makes large-scale transport much easier.
