How to Tame Animals in Hytale (Update 3 Guide)

To tame an animal in Hytale, feed it its favorite food once, then switch to a completely empty hand and press F to pet it — that final pet with an empty hand is what makes the bond permanent. Hytale Update 3, released on 17 February 2026, added the first real taming system to the game, letting players permanently bond animals, ride mounts, and collect milk, wool, and eggs. This guide explains the exact 3-step taming sequence, lists all confirmed tameable animals and their favorite foods, and covers mounts, resources, and how to build a farm in Hytale.

What Hytale Update 3 Changed About Taming

Before Update 3, Hytale had no permanent taming system at all. Players could feed animals and watch heart particles appear, but the effect was purely cosmetic — animals could not be permanently owned, ridden, or bred. This confused many players, because feeding an animal looked exactly like taming but did nothing mechanically.

Update 3 introduced full permanent taming. Friendly animals can now be permanently bonded to the player, a thought bubble appears above an animal's head showing its exact favorite food, and tamed animals stop fleeing, occasionally walk up to greet their owner, and — depending on the species — can be milked, sheared, or ridden as a mount. Breeding is not yet available, so every animal must be tamed individually in the wild, and taming functions only in Adventure Mode (not Creative Mode).

Luring vs. Taming — Know the Difference

There are two separate states when you interact with a Hytale animal, and new players constantly mix them up. Understanding the difference is the key to taming successfully.

• Temporary luring (not real taming) — hold the animal's favorite food in your hand and the animal calms down and follows you. This lasts about 5 minutes (up to 15 minutes) while you keep holding the food. The moment you stop holding it without finishing the full sequence, the animal returns to neutral and wanders off. Luring is used only to herd animals into a pen.
• Permanent taming (the real bond) — the multi-step sequence below that bonds the animal to you forever. A permanently tamed animal stops fleeing, greets you, and can be milked, sheared, or ridden depending on species.

In practice you will usually do both: lure the animal into your pen first, then complete the full taming sequence inside.

How to Permanently Tame an Animal — The 3-Step Sequence

Getting this sequence in the wrong order is the single most common reason players think Hytale taming is broken. It is not broken — the steps simply must be done in order. Follow these exactly:

Taming is not guaranteed on the first feeding. There is a hidden befriending chance behind the scenes: with the wrong food your odds can be as low as 5% (expect 5–10+ feedings), but with the animal's specific favorite food your odds jump to roughly 70–80%. If a feeding fails, the animal stays temporarily friendly — just keep feeding it. The lesson is simple: always use the correct favorite food.

Complete List of Tameable Hytale Animals and Their Foods

Below are all 15 confirmed tameable animals in Hytale Update 3. Each card shows the animal's favorite food, whether it can be ridden, what it produces, and where it spawns — click any card to open its full entry in the Creatures encyclopedia. Foods marked with ⚠️ are disputed between community sources, so verify them in-game by pressing F to read the thought bubble before stocking up.

Hytale Mounts — All 4 Rideable Animals

Four of the tameable animals can be ridden as mounts, and the best news is that no saddle is required — saddles are not yet implemented as a gameplay requirement, so once an animal is tamed you simply press F to mount it. Each mount handles its home terrain best, so match the mount to where you are exploring.

Tame the mount first with its preferred food using the full 3-step sequence, then press F to ride. Match the mount to the terrain — don't drag a Camel into Zone 1; get a Horse for the grasslands and save the Camel for the sand. To stable a mount at your base, build a fenced enclosure and guide it inside using temporary luring. Remember that tamed animals can be killed by hostile mobs, and because breeding does not exist yet, a dead mount is gone for good — you will have to find and tame a fresh one in the wild. Keep your stable walled and lit.

Resource-Producing Animals in Hytale

Some tamed animals earn their keep by producing materials. These four are the resource backbone of any Hytale farm.

• Milk (Cow) — fed Lettuce, the Cow produces standard milk for cooking recipes.
• Mosshorn Milk (Mosshorn) — fed Potato, the Mosshorn produces a special item. Drinking Mosshorn Milk transforms the player into a Mosshorn for 60 seconds, during which the player takes no damage. It is excellent for exploring dangerous areas or making an emergency escape — one of the most interesting reasons to tame a Mosshorn even though it is not a mount.
• Wool (Sheep) — fed Lettuce, the Sheep can be sheared with Shears to collect wool for crafting cloth.
• Eggs (Chicken and Desert Chicken) — the regular Zone 1 Chicken (Corn) and the separate Zone 2 Desert Chicken (Cotton) both lay eggs. Build a Chicken Coop structure to collect eggs automatically.
• Manure (all livestock) — every tamed livestock animal produces Manure, which crafts into Fertilizer Bags that make crops grow faster. This means every animal is worth keeping, even ones with no other special resource.

How to Capture and Move Animals: Feed Bag and Capture Crate

Getting animals home is half the battle in Hytale. Two tools make it manageable, and both are crafted at the Farmer's Workbench.

The Feed Bag is a passive lure tool. Held in hand, it keeps nearby animals calm and stops them fleeing; placed on the ground near a pen, it slowly draws nearby wildlife toward it over time. The best use is to drop it near your enclosure entrance to passively pull animals in before you use the Capture Crate. It is confirmed to attract piglets, chicks, rabbits, and most passive animals.

The Capture Crate scoops up a small animal and stores it as an item you can carry, so you can walk it back to base and release it exactly where you want. It works on small and baby animals — baby cows, baby horses, rabbits, chicks, piglets, and squirrels — but it does not work on flying birds.

Building Your Hytale Animal Farm

A good pen turns taming from a chore into a smooth routine. Build the pen first, before you go looking for animals — never try to herd an animal with no destination ready. Use a minimum fence height of 2 blocks to guarantee containment, lay solid floors (tilled soil, wood planks, or stone) to stop mobs spawning inside, and add lighting such as torches or lanterns to keep hostile mobs from spawning in the pen. Because tamed animals can be killed, a secure, lit pen protects your investment.

The recommended workflow is: build a fenced enclosure with a gate near your base, place a Feed Bag inside or near the entrance, hold the animal's favorite food to lure it toward the pen, use the Capture Crate to carry small animals straight inside, close the gate before releasing from the crate, and finally complete the full 3-step taming sequence inside the pen. For chickens, build a dedicated Chicken Coop — it houses them and collects eggs automatically. Playing co-op? Split the roles: one player spots animals, one lures, one transports. It is dramatically faster with friends.

Crafting Recipes for Taming Tools

Everything you need is built at the Farmer's Workbench. The recipes confirmed by the community are listed below; a couple of values are flagged because sources disagree slightly — verify them in-game.

• Farmer's Workbench (Level 1) — 6 Any Tree Trunk + 20 Plant Fiber. (Some sources list 6 Tree Trunk + 3 Any Stone instead — verify in-game.)
• Farmer's Workbench (Level 2) — 5 Softwood Trunks + 5 Wheat + 5 Lettuce + 50 Essence of Life.
• Feed Bag — 10 Wheat + 5 Any Vegetable + 5 Any Fruit + 10 Essence of Life.
• Capture Crate — 4 Any Wood + 50 Essence of Life.

You obtain Essence of Life by harvesting crops and wild plants, chopping trees (it drops alongside logs, sticks, and sap), and killing passive mobs such as cows, sheep, and rabbits.

Where to Find Animals by Zone in Hytale

Hytale animals spawn in specific zones of Orbis. Use this table to plan your taming trips.

Zone	Zone Name	Animals
Zone 1	Emerald Grove	Horse, Chicken, Cow, Sheep, Rabbit, Pig, Mosshorn (Swamp biome), Goat
Zone 2	Howling Sands	Horse, Camel, Ram, Goat, Mosshorn, Skrill (Badlands), Boar, Warthog, Desert Chicken
Zone 3	Borea	Ram, Mouflon, Goat

Two things are worth knowing. Goats are friendly by default — they approach you without any food, though you still need the full 3-step sequence to bond them permanently. And the Mosshorn is a Zone 1 swamp creature (also appearing in Zone 2); it is not a cold-region animal, so don't go hunting for it in the snow.

What's Coming Next for Hytale Taming

Update 3 laid the foundation, but several big features are not in the game yet. Do not go looking for these:

• Breeding — not available. Every animal must be found and tamed individually in the wild.
• Baby animal growth — wild babies stay babies forever and do not mature into adults.
• Animal commands (follow/stay) — no command system yet. Animals only follow while you hold their food.
• Combat pets and companions — no battle pets yet (hinted at for the future).
• Advanced mounts — basic riding only; no special abilities, stamina, or jump mechanics.
• Tetrabird flying mount — planned, but not yet rideable.
• Wolves, cats, and dogs — referenced in lore, but not tameable.
• Saddles — not yet required or implemented.

Hytale Taming — Frequently Asked Questions

How do you tame animals in Hytale?

To tame an animal in Hytale, approach it slowly, press F to see its favorite food, feed it that food once until hearts appear, then switch to a completely empty hand and press F again to pet it. The empty-hand pet finalizes the permanent bond. Taming only works in Adventure Mode.

Why does my Hytale tame keep failing?

The most common cause is holding an item when you press F to pet. Your hand must be completely empty for the final pet step — no tools, no blocks, and not even the taming food. The game gives no error message when this fails, so it is easy to miss.

What animals can you ride in Hytale?

Four animals can be ridden as mounts in Hytale Update 3: the Horse (best on flat grassland), the Camel (best in desert), the Ram (best on hills and mountains), and the Mouflon (best in snow and tundra). No saddle is required — just tame the animal and press F to mount.

Can you breed animals in Hytale?

No. Breeding is not available in Hytale Update 3. Each animal must be found and tamed individually in the wild, and wild baby animals do not grow into adults. Because there is no breeding, a tamed animal killed by a hostile mob is lost permanently.

What is Mosshorn Milk in Hytale?

Mosshorn Milk is a special item produced by a tamed Mosshorn (fed Potato). Drinking it transforms the player into a Mosshorn for 60 seconds, during which the player takes no damage — making it useful for exploration and emergency escapes.

Do tamed animals follow you in Hytale?

No, not automatically. There is no auto-follow or stay command yet. Tamed animals only follow you while you are actively holding their favorite food or a Feed Bag, which is how you guide them into pens.