Pigs in Minecraft: Everything you need to know

Found in biomes throughout the world of Minecraft, pigs are common animal mobs that are not hostile to the player.

Pigs are likely one of the first mobs that players will encounter when entering a game world. They are commonly found in grassy biomes, where they have an abundant food source.

Even though they're seen quite often, players will want to be fully aware of how these mobs behave and how one can interact with them.

Pigs might seem pretty innocuous based on their appearance. However, there's a lot more to these animal mobs than meets the eye.

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Breaking down pig mobs in Minecraft

A parent pig accompanied by its piglets (Image via Mojang)

Depending on the version of Minecraft being played, pigs possess different spawn behaviors.

In Java Edition, pigs spawn in groups of four when the light level is nine or higher in most grass biomes. The only grassy biomes that pigs are unable to spawn in naturally are snowy plains, meadows, and wooded badlands biomes.

In Bedrock Edition, pigs spawn in groups of one to three individuals when the light level is seven or higher. They are unable to spawn naturally within snowy tundra and wooded badlands plateau biomes.

Pigs tend to roam their spawn area, linking and avoiding any potential hazards such as high falls or surface lava. They are entirely passive and will only flee in terror when struck by a player.

Hostile mobs have no interest in pigs and will not actively pursue them. When a pig is killed, it will drop 1-3 pork chops (or cooked pork chops if it is killed while on fire). It will also drop 1-3 experience if killed by a Minecraft player or tamed wolf and a saddle if it is equipped with one.

When fed carrots, potatoes, or beetroots in Minecraft, pigs will enter love mode. If two pigs near each other are in love mode at the same time, they will come together and breed.

After breeding, a piglet will spawn, and the parents will enter a cooldown phase for five minutes, during which they will be unable to breed. Piglets take 20 real-world minutes to age into adults, though this can be accelerated by feeding them carrots, potatoes, and beetroot. The piglet's maturation speed by 10% each time it is fed.

Pigs can also be ridden by Minecraft players if desired. By attaching a saddle to a pig, players can mount and ride it around. However, they will be unable to control the pig by default. This can be amended by using a carrot on a stick, which will coax the pig into following the player's riding commands, just like a horse would.

Interestingly, pigs are also capable of transforming in Minecraft. When struck by a bolt of lightning, pigs will turn into zombified piglins. The same can happen to piglets, who will become baby zombified piglins.

If the pig has a saddle equipped, it will drop its saddle upon transformation. The only way to prevent a pig's transformation from lightning is to set the difficulty to Peaceful. This will result in the pig simply taking damage from the lightning.