Petting

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Petting is a Minecraft mod that lets you tame virtually any mob in the game — hostile or passive, ordinary or boss. Tamed pets follow your commands, defend you in combat, carry your items, ride alongside you, and respawn at a dedicated bed when they die. Every behavior is deeply configurable, making the mod suitable for survival, adventure maps, and modpacks alike.

Features at a Glance

Tame almost any mob, including Withers, Ender Dragons, and Wardens
Full riding support for land, flying, and swimming mobs
Per-pet inventory with armor slots, hand slots, and 14 item storage slots
Four AI modes: Following, Sitting, Waiting, Wandering
Combat modes: Aggressive, Defensive, Guard
Pet Bed block for infinite respawning — pets teleport to their bed on death, even across dimensions
Per-pet control mapping system with custom actions and conditions
Passive immunities: no fall damage, fire, or lava damage for tamed pets
Global whistle via Goat Horn to instantly recall all pets
Category system for grouping pets and enforcing per-group limits
Full server and modpack configuration via petting-common.toml

Getting Started

Installation

Download the latest release from CurseForge or Modrinth.
Place the .jar file in your mods/ folder.
Launch the game. A default config file will be generated at config/petting-common.toml.

Taming

Taming is how you acquire a pet. By default, right-click a mob while holding Golden Wheat (petting:golden_wheat) to attempt taming it. The item is consumed on every attempt. Heart particles appear on success; smoke particles appear on failure. The taming item is fully configurable via tamingItem.

When tamed, all three combat modes — Aggressive, Guard, and Defensive — are enabled by default. The pet is also automatically named "[YourName]'s [mob type]" with the name tag hidden above their head.

Holding Golden Wheat in either hand (main or offhand) causes nearby untamed animals within 12 blocks to follow you.

Success Factors

Factor	Config Key	Description
Base chance	`tameChance`	Default 33% per attempt
Weakness scaling	`healthScalesTamingChance`	Lower HP increases success chance
Health threshold	`tameHealthThreshold`	Mob must be missing a certain % of HP to be tameable
Kill requirement	`requireKillToTame`	Must have killed at least one of that mob type first
Custom items	`customTamingItems`	Assign specific taming items per mob (format: `entity_id\|item_id`)
Whitelist	`whitelistOnly`, `tamingWhitelist`	Only listed mobs can be tamed
Blacklist	`blacklistEnabled`, `tamingBlacklist`	Listed mobs cannot be tamed (supports `modid:*` wildcards)
Cooldown	`interactionCooldown`	Ticks between allowed taming attempts on the same mob (default: 20)

Controls & Pet Management

Empty Hand (Default Mappings)

By default, the control system uses per-pet mappings. Fresh pets have these defaults:

Input	Default Action
Right-Click	Toggle Sit on/off
Shift + Right-Click	Cycle follow/teleport distance presets (5/10 → 10/20 → 20/50 blocks)

These are fully remappable per-pet or globally via the Pet Settings Screen (press P while looking at a pet, or bind controls.petting.open_settings in Controls).

Pet Settings Screen (P Key)

Press P while targeting your pet to open the settings GUI. From here you can:

Toggle AI modes: Sitting, Waiting, Aggressive, Guard, Self-Defense, Ignore Whistle
Set exact follow and teleport distances
Open the Control Mappings sub-screen to customize right-click and shift+right-click actions

Control Mapping System

Each pet (and player default) supports a chain of ordered rules for right-click and shift+right-click. Rules follow the format ACTION|CONDITION and are evaluated top-to-bottom; the first matching rule is executed.

Available Actions

Action	Description
`SIT`	Toggle Sitting on/off
`TOGGLE_WAIT`	Toggle Waiting on/off
`RIDE`	Mount the pet
`OPEN_INV`	Open the pet inventory
`CYCLE`	Cycle through distance presets (5/10 → 10/20 → 20/50)
`TOGGLE_FOLLOW_TELEPORT`	Swap the follow and teleport distance values
`OPEN_SETTINGS`	Open the Pet Settings screen
`RUN_COMMAND`	Run a server command (requires the owner to have permission for it)
`NONE`	Do nothing

Available Conditions

Condition	When it passes
`NONE`	Always
`SADDLE`	Pet has a saddle equipped
`SNEAK`	Owner is crouching
`HEALTH_LT_50`	Pet is below 50% HP
`HOLD_ITEM`	Owner is holding any item

Multiple rules can be chained with ;, e.g. RIDE|SADDLE;SIT|NONE (mount if saddled, otherwise toggle sit).

Interaction Tools

All tool item IDs are configurable in the [Tool Settings] section of petting-common.toml.

Tool	Default Item	Function
Status Stick	`minecraft:stick`	Right-Click: cycle AI mode (Following → Sitting → Waiting → Wandering). Shift+Right-Click: detailed status report in chat
Whistle	`petting:follow_whistle`	Cycle follow distance through presets: 5 → 10 → 20 → 50 blocks
Orb	`petting:teleport_orb`	Cycle teleport trigger distance through presets: 10 → 20 → 50 → 100 blocks
Clock	`minecraft:clock`	Toggle whether this pet responds to the global Goat Horn whistle
Sword	any sword	Toggle Aggressive Mode — attacks what the owner attacks
Shield	`minecraft:shield`	Toggle Defensive Mode — retaliates when attacked
Cookie	`minecraft:cookie`	Toggle Guard Mode — attacks anything that hits the owner
Tether	`petting:pet_tether`	Bind the pet to a configurable roam radius around its current position
Shears	`minecraft:shears`	Crouch + Right-Click to release the pet back to the wild
Goat Horn	`minecraft:goat_horn`	Right-click to teleport all owned pets to your location instantly

Riding

Riding works across all movement types — land, flying, and swimming.

Input	Action
Space	Jump (on land) / fly upward / swim upward
S	Move backward / fly downward / swim downward
Sprint (Ctrl)	1.3x speed boost

Flying and swimming mobs maintain their current altitude or depth when you stop moving. The pet's rotation is always synced with your view. Use the RIDE|SADDLE control mapping to require a saddle before mounting.

AI Modes

Pets have four movement states:

State	Behavior
Following	Walks toward the owner and teleports if too far away
Sitting	Stays in place; heals over time if `sitHealEnabled` is on
Waiting	Stays in place without healing regeneration
Wandering	Roams freely in the area

Combat modes are independent of movement state:

Mode	Toggle Tool	Behavior
Aggressive	any sword	Attacks whatever the owner attacks
Defensive	shield	Retaliates when the pet itself is attacked
Guard	cookie	Attacks anything that hits the owner

Pet Inventory & Equipment

Open the pet inventory via the OPEN_INV control mapping action, or through the Pet Settings screen.

Armor slots — equip helmets, chestplates, leggings, and boots
Hand slots — equip swords or shields; pets physically hold and use them
Storage — 14 item slots for carrying loot
Equipment slots are auto-detected per mob type; extras can be forced via extraEquippableMobs
Global stat bonuses are applied to all pets via petBaseArmor and petBaseArmorToughness

Pet Safety

Passive Immunities

All tamed pets are permanently immune to:

Fall damage
Fire and lava damage

Mutual Pacifism

Pets never attack other tamed pets, even from splash projectiles.

Sitting Regeneration

Pets regenerate health while in the Sitting state. Configurable via sitHealAmount and sitHealInterval.

Pet Beds

The Pet Bed block allows a pet to respawn indefinitely at a fixed location.

Right-click a placed Pet Bed to enter Binding Mode.
Right-click your pet to link it to the bed.
If the pet dies, the death is cancelled — the pet teleports to its bed, fully healed, and sits.

Beds work across dimensions. The dimension is stored at binding time so pets can respawn even if they die in the Nether or End. Right-click the air while in Binding Mode to cancel.

Boss Pets

Boss	Special Behavior
Wither	Side heads permanently suppressed; center head skull attacks cancelled when idle (no target)
Ender Dragon	Supports mounted combat; health bar hidden after taming
Warden	Anger levels towards owner and other pets are continuously cleared

The hideTamedBossBars config option can hide boss health bars for any tamed boss.

Entity Conversion

When a tamed mob converts to a new entity type (e.g. Zombie to Drowned), all pet data carries over automatically:

Owner UUID
Custom name
AI modes and follow / teleport distances
Saddle and equipped items
Pet Bed binding (including the stored dimension)

Advanced Systems

Pet Categories

Group mobs into named categories with shared per-player limits. Useful for modpacks and servers.

Format: SlotID|DisplayName|MobList|DefaultLimit

Example: 1|Undead|minecraft:zombie,minecraft:skeleton|5

Slot IDs 1–20 correspond to the petting:max_pets_category_X player attributes.

Custom Attributes

Gear and perk mods can grant players additional pet capacity using these player attributes:

petting:max_pets — increases the global pet limit
petting:max_pets_category_1 through petting:max_pets_category_20 — increases limits per category

Admin & Map-Maker Tools

Commands

/pet <target_mob> <target_player>

Instantly tames a mob and assigns it to a player. Requires operator permissions.

Pre-Tamed Mobs via NBT

Spawn a mob that is already tamed using a /summon command:

/summon minecraft:zombie ~ ~ ~ {ForgeData: {pettingtamed: 1b, ownerUUID: "YOUR-UUID-HERE"}}

Mobs spawned this way will have their hostile AI disabled and be bound to the specified owner. The RUN_COMMAND mapping action also allows owner-gated command execution from pet interactions.

Configuration Reference

All settings are in config/petting-common.toml.

General

Key	Default	Description
`disableRespawnOnTame`	`true`	Preserve original mob gear and NBT on tame instead of respawning
`interactionCooldown`	`20`	Ticks before the same mob can be taming-interacted with again
`enableParticles`	`true`	Show heart particles on successful taming
`maxPetsPerPlayer`	`-1`	Base pet limit per player (-1 = unlimited; also a player attribute)
`enableGoatHornWhistle`	`true`	Allow Goat Horn right-click to recall all pets
`whistleTeleportsTethered`	`false`	Include tethered pets in the Goat Horn recall
`hideTamedBossBars`	`true`	Hide health bars for tamed bosses
`commandFeedbackStyle`	`ACTION_BAR`	How state changes are shown: `ACTION_BAR`, `CHAT`, or `NONE`

Taming

Key	Default	Description
`tameChance`	`0.33`	Base success rate per taming attempt
`healthScalesTamingChance`	`false`	Lower mob HP increases success chance
`tameHealthThreshold`	`0.0`	Required missing health % before taming is allowed (0.0–1.0)
`requireKillToTame`	`false`	Must have killed one of this mob type first
`allowGoldenWheat`	`true`	Enable the universal Golden Wheat taming item
`whitelistOnly`	`false`	Only mobs in `tamingWhitelist` can be tamed
`tamingWhitelist`	`[]`	Allowed mob IDs
`blacklistEnabled`	`true`	Enable the taming blacklist (default list is empty)
`tamingBlacklist`	`[]`	Mob IDs to block (supports `modid`, `modid:`, `modid:prefix`)
`customTamingItems`	`[]`	Custom taming items per mob (`entity_id\|item_id` format)

AI & Survival

Key	Default	Description
`followDistance`	`10.0`	Distance (1–100) at which following behavior starts
`teleportDistance`	`20.0`	Distance (5–200) at which pet teleports to owner
`boundRoamRadius`	`10.0`	Roam radius (1–100 blocks) for tethered pets
`allowOwnerToHurtPets`	`false`	Allow friendly fire
`preventPetToOwnerDamage`	`true`	Prevent pets from damaging their owner
`sitHealEnabled`	`true`	Regenerate health while sitting
`sitHealAmount`	`1.0`	Health per interval (in half-hearts)
`sitHealInterval`	`40`	Ticks between heals (20 = 1 second)

Riding & Movement

Key	Default	Description
`allowPetRiding`	`true`	Master toggle for all riding
`mountRequireSaddle`	`false`	Require a saddle to mount
`landRidingSpeedMultiplier`	`1.0`	Speed multiplier on land
`flyingRidingSpeedMultiplier`	`1.0`	Speed multiplier while flying
`swimmingRidingSpeedMultiplier`	`1.0`	Speed multiplier while swimming
`ridingWhitelistOnly`	`false`	Only whitelisted mobs can be ridden
`ridingWhitelist`	`[]`	Mob IDs allowed to be ridden
`ridingBlacklistEnabled`	`false`	Enable riding blacklist
`ridingBlacklist`	`[]`	Mob IDs that cannot be ridden
`manualFlyingMobs`	`[]`	Force 3D flight for specific mob IDs
`manualSwimmingMobs`	`[]`	Force 3D swimming for specific mob IDs
`allowPetAttackWhileRiding`	`true`	Allow projectile attacks while riding Wither / Dragon

Inventory & Stats

Key	Default	Description
`petBaseArmor`	`0.0`	Global armor bonus for all tamed pets
`petBaseArmorToughness`	`0.0`	Global armor toughness bonus
`extraEquippableMobs`	`[]`	Force equipment slots on specific mob IDs
`alwaysShowEquipmentSlots`	`false`	Force armor and hand slots on all mobs
`inventoryWhitelistOnly`	`false`	Only whitelisted mobs receive an inventory
`inventoryWhitelist`	`[]`	Mob IDs allowed to have inventories
`inventoryBlacklistEnabled`	`false`	Disable inventory for blacklisted IDs
`inventoryBlacklist`	`[]`	Mob IDs blocked from having a pet inventory
`petPortraitRenderScale`	`45.0`	Portrait scale in the pet inventory screen

Tool & Item Settings

All tool items are configurable. The config key maps to a registry ID (namespace:item_name).

Key	Default	Controls
`tamingItem`	`petting:golden_wheat`	Primary taming item
`statusTool`	`minecraft:stick`	Status cycling and report
`aggressionTool`	`minecraft:iron_sword`	Aggressive mode toggle (any sword works by default)
`defenseTool`	`minecraft:shield`	Defensive mode toggle (any shield works by default)
`guardTool`	`minecraft:cookie`	Guard mode toggle
`followDistTool`	`petting:follow_whistle`	Follow distance cycling
`teleportDistTool`	`petting:teleport_orb`	Teleport distance cycling
`whistleTool`	`minecraft:clock`	Whistle response toggle
`tetherTool`	`petting:pet_tether`	Area tethering
`releaseTool`	`minecraft:shears`	Release to wild
`globalWhistleTool`	`minecraft:goat_horn`	Global pet recall

Interaction Toggles

Key	Default	Description
`allowPerPetStatus`	`true`	Enable Stick (status cycling)
`allowPerPetAggression`	`true`	Enable Sword (aggressive mode)
`allowPerPetSelfDefense`	`true`	Enable Shield (defensive mode)
`allowPerPetGuard`	`true`	Enable Cookie (guard mode)
`allowPerPetFollowDist`	`true`	Enable Whistle (follow distance)
`allowPerPetTeleportDist`	`true`	Enable Orb (teleport distance)
`allowPerPetWhistleToggle`	`true`	Enable Clock (whistle response toggle)
`allowPetTethering`	`true`	Enable Tether (area bind)
`allowPetReleasing`	`true`	Enable Shears (release to wild)

License

Petting is licensed under the GNU Lesser General Public License v3.0. See LICENSE for details.

Made by Yigit Guven · Join the Discord

Petting - Tame any mob!