Phantom Tamer

Tame the thing that hunts you in the dark — then ride it.

What it does

Phantoms are the one mob that shows up uninvited when you haven't slept. This mod lets you turn one into a mount.

Catch a phantom, feed it, saddle it, and take off. No hunger bar to babysit, no elytra to repair — just a set of wings that stays yours.

Getting your first phantom

1. Find one. Don't sleep for a few nights. They'll come to you.

2. Leash it. Right-click the phantom with a Lead. Vanilla Minecraft won't let you leash a phantom at all — this mod makes it possible.

3. Feed it a raw fish. Cod, salmon, pufferfish, or tropical fish. Roughly a 1-in-3 chance each time, so bring a few. Hearts mean it worked; smoke means try again.

Once tamed, it stops attacking, the lead falls off, and it'll stick around and circle above you instead of drifting away.

4. Saddle it. Craft a Phantom Saddle and right-click your phantom with it.

5. Fly. Right-click with an empty hand to climb on.

⚠️ Phantoms burn in daylight. An untamed-looking phantom on fire at sunrise is still a phantom on fire. Craft the Phantom Armor if you want yours to survive the morning — that's what it's for.

Flying

Key	What it does
W / S	Forward / backward
A / D	Strafe left / right
Mouse	Steer
Space	Climb
Caps Lock	Descend
Left Ctrl	Boost — 3x speed while held

Let go of everything and it hovers in place. You won't fall out of the sky.

Why Caps Lock for down? Sneak makes you dismount any vehicle in Minecraft, so it was never available. Left Ctrl follows your sprint keybind, so if you've rebound sprint, boost moves with it.

Items

Phantom Saddle — shapeless, any 3x3 grid 4x Phantom Membrane + 2x Leather + 1x String

Lets you ride a tamed phantom. Also stops it despawning while you're away.

Phantom Armor — shapeless, any 3x3 grid 6x Phantom Membrane + 2x Ingot(whatever armor type) + 1x Fire Charge

Makes your phantom immune to fire and lava — including the sunlight that would otherwise kill it at dawn.

Both items appear in the Tools & Utilities creative tab. Saddled and armored phantoms are visibly marked so you can tell yours apart from wild ones.

Good to know

Tie it up. Right-click a fence while your phantom is leashed to tether it there.
Take it back. Sneak + right-click with an empty hand removes the armor, then the saddle.
Only you can ride it. A phantom answers to whoever tamed it.
It follows you. Tamed phantoms orbit their owner within about 96 blocks.
It won't vanish. Once saddled, your phantom stays loaded even after you fly off and come back.
Great for transporting. Attach a lead to a boat or mob directly and fly it off like a chinnook helicopter!

Requirements

Minecraft 1.21.11 or 1.21.1
NeoForge 21.11.x or 1.21.1
Java 21

Client and server both need the mod installed.

Ride Phantoms