How to get potato seeds in Minecraft

An automated potato farm using villagers (Image via Minecraft)
An automated potato farm using villagers (Image via Minecraft)

Potatoes are good food for the early and midgame of Minecraft. They can be eaten raw to restore one hunger, represented by half of a food icon, should a new player have little access to fuel to cook.

They can also be baked into baked potatoes, which instead restore five hunger, represented by 2.5 hunger icons.

Since they can be eaten raw, this gives them an advantage over wheat in the early days of the Minecraft world, making them the go-to for some players.


How to gain access to potatoes in Minecraft

1) Village

An example of a double village with many farms (Image via Minecraft)
An example of a double village with many farms (Image via Minecraft)

Village farm plots have a 20% chance to spawn as potato farms. Since there is no hard cap on the number of farms that can generate in a village, they can either be beneficial for players looking to access potatoes or completely worthless.

Farms spawn in villages as decorative structures, generated when no other buildings can be placed.


2) Mob loot

Potatoes can be dropped as potential mob loot from the following mobs

  • Zombies
  • Husks
  • Zombie villagers
A player fighting a group of zombies (Image via Minecraft)
A player fighting a group of zombies (Image via Minecraft)

When killed by a player or tamed wolf, these mobs have a 2.5% chance of dropping either an iron ingot, carrot, or potato. These drops are singular items. This chance increases by one percent for each level of looting.

Since the total percentage chance is divided between the three items, that means the following percentage chances of getting a potato for each level of looting apply to mob death:

  • No looting (1/120 or 0.83%)
  • Looting one (11/600 or 1.83%)
  • Looting two (17/600 or 2.83%)
  • Looting three (23/600 or 3.83%)

This progression follows the normal looting enchantment trend of increasing the chance of a drop by one percent per level.

This chance to drop a potato can also be combined with the flame enchantment. If a player kills a zombie with a fire aspect sword, or the zombie dies to fire damage, it will drop a baked potato instead of a normal potato. This only works for the Java edition, however.


3) Chest loot

A pillager outpost (Image via Minecraft)
A pillager outpost (Image via Minecraft)

Potatoes can also be found as chest loot in both versions of the game. This applies to the following locations, with the quantity and percentage of chances listed along with the location.

  • Pillager outpost (two to five potatoes at a 57.5% chance)
  • Shipwreck (two to six potatoes at a 42.1% chance)
  • Plains house chest (one to seven potatoes at a 74.2% chance)
  • Taiga house chest (one to seven potatoes at a 65.6% chance)
  • Snowy house chest (one to seven potatoes at a 66.3% chance)

This list applies to both editions of the game. The Bedrock edition of the game also features the following locations and changes:

  • Bonus chest (one to two potatoes at a 50% chance)
  • Taiga house chest (one to seven potatoes at a 69.3% chance)

This means that potatoes are found slightly more frequently in Taiga villages in Bedrock when compared to Java. Bedrock also features the potential to get potatoes in the starting bonus loot chest if players have that option turned on when generating the world.

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