A fox is a passive nocturnal mob found in taiga biomes.
Spawning
Foxes can only spawn naturally in taiga and snowy taiga biomes, in groups of 1-3, most commonly at night. They may spawn in either adult or baby form. In the taiga, their coat is orange (resembling a red fox), whereas, in a snowy taiga, they are white (resembling an arctic fox). A fox may spawn in a village if it is within one of the taiga biomes. When a fox spawns, there is an 20% chance it will be holding one of the following items in its mouth:
| Item | Chance | |
|---|---|---|
| JE | BE | |
| Emerald | 5% | 5% |
| Rabbit's Foot | 10% | 10% |
| Egg | 15% | 20% |
| Wheat | 20% | 20% |
| Leather | 20% | 20% |
| Feather | 20% | 15% |
Behavior
During the daytime, a fox will try to find shelter to sleep (a space with a block above it). It will curl up and make snoring noises, slowly lift its head every so often while lying down. If a player who is not sneaking (or a wolf or polar bear) approaches, it will wake up and run away.
At night, foxes will wander around, eating nearby sweet berry bushes, and will run from wolves, polar bears and players if they get too close. They will sometimes head over to villages to roam around. During the night, foxes will emit a screeching noise.
Foxes will chase and attack small animals such as chickens, rabbits, baby turtles (and even fish, if they are close enough to shore). Trusting foxes will attack any mob that harms the player. Foxes may even jump over fences and other blocks to get to their prey. They can jump 2-5 blocks.
If an item is dropped near a fox, it will walk over and pick it up to hold in its mouth. However, foxes will prioritize mostly food items.
Taming (or 'Trust')
A fox cannot exactly be tamed (at least can't be by the normal way). Instead, a player can breed two adult foxes by feeding them sweet berries while they are near each other. The player can then 'kidnap' the baby fox using a lead and once the fox is separated from its parents, it will eventually trust the player and will have the same behaviour as a wolf with some modifications. For example, it will attack any mob that its player attacks or any mob that attacks its owner.
History
Biome Chooser - Which Biome Should We Update Next?
Fox mobs appeared in the lead-up to Minecon Earth 2018.
Following the Minecon Earth live stream on September 29, 2018, Mojang announced the winner in a Twitter post:
- "The winner of the MINECON Earth biome vote is Taiga!!!
- Foxes, berries and campfires coming to an Overworld near you."
Trivia
- If a fox happens to be holding a totem of undying in its mouth and receives fatal damage, the totem will activate the same as if it were a player holding it. The totem will disappear, and the fox will stay alive.
- Foxes won't attack chickens that are invulnerable.
- Foxes will wake up if a chicken, rabbit, or fish are nearby.
- Like other animals that produce offspring, using a spawn egg on a fox will spawn a baby fox that is trusting to the player.
- Foxes that are holding any weapon with an enchantment will deal the same effect to the fox's victim when attacked (Ex. if a fox is holding a sword with a fire aspect enchantment, they will deal fire damage to their victim).
- Foxes can eat a food item in its mouth. If they eat food with any side effect (Ex. rotten flesh), they will get the side effect after eating the said food.
- Foxes are one of the first passive mobs that are nocturnal in Minecraft.
- If a fox pounces on an area that has snow after it jumps, it will get stuck on it temporarily and will dig out of the area.
- Wolves and polar bears will attack nearby foxes. Though, foxes can usually outrun them.
- The first texture of the fox is glitched, as it appeared as a flat box. This glitch is mentioned in a video of Magma's, Ten Things You Probably Didn't Know About Village & Pillage.
- Foxes are the only mob that will not take damage from sweet berry bushes.
- Foxes will look wall-eyed when viewed in the front, but they would look normal when viewed from their sides.
- Foxes will deal more damage if they are holding a weapon in their mouths.
- Foxes cannot eat cake when they are holding it.
- You cannot spawn white foxes in their respective biomes.
- White foxes are rarer than the red fox.
- There is a glitch in Bedrock Edition when a baby fox is holding an item, the baby fox will still have the collision box of the adult fox, thus making the object appear in the air.
Gallery
Video
