Tutorial:Trapping every mobShare article feedback

Trapping every mob is a very, very difficult task. However, it can still be done. This tutorial only covers mobs that can be encountered in survival without exploiting glitches or using other versions.

Before you start

It is best to set up an area where the mobs will be kept, else they will roam about and fight each other. A zoo or a bunch of small boxes can do, as long as the mob fits inside. Name tags will come in necessary to prevent mobs from despawning.

Common Mobs

Passive Mobs

Chicken, Cow, Pig and Sheep

These mobs can be found in most parts of the Overworld. Trapping them is easy, all you have to do is get them to follow you by holding their favorite food. Alternatively, chickens can be hatched from eggs.

Hostile Mobs

Zombie and Zombie Villager

Similar to the common passive mobs, get them to follow you, but no items are needed and it can only be done at night. Once trapped, make sure they have shelter above so that when day comes they do not burn. Alternatively, a villager can be trapped then getting a zombie to zombify it to obtain the zombie villager. This can only be done in Hard or Hardcore.

Skeleton

Similar to the zombie, skeletons will automatically follow you when you are in sight. However, they can shoot you from afar and strafe about. A shield can counter their arrows. To get them into their holding place, use trapdoors. Skeletons also burn in daylight so only bring them in at night unless they have a helmet.

Spider

Spiders are a bit tricky to trap, since they can climb walls. You can get them to follow you (if they are neutral, hit them to get them to follow). To trap them, get them in their holding area, then close up the ceiling. Afterwards, break out (make sure the spider cannot escape) or eat a chorus fruit to teleport out.

Creeper

Creepers also follow you on sight. However, they explode if they get too close. Simply use the same tactics as with the skeleton, just keep your distance so they do not explode.

Other Animals

Horse, Donkey & Mule

Horses and Donkeys are found in Plains and Savannas while Mules come from cross-breeding the two (tamed) mobs. All three can be easily trapped by taming them, equipping them with a saddle and riding them into their holding areas.

Wolf, Cat & Parrot

Wolves are found in several biomes, cats are found in villages and parrots are found in jungles. These three mobs can be easily trapped by taming them and then leading them to their holding areas. Make sure to sit them down or else they will teleport out.

Llama & Trader Llama

Llamas are found in windswept biomes and savanna plateaus while Trader Llamas spawn alongside Wandering Traders. They can be leashed and taken into their holding areas. Trader Llamas need to be tamed or else they will despawn as name tags do not prevent them from despawning.

Panda

Pandas are found in jungles. Unlike many animals, pandas cannot be leashed. They can be tempted with bamboo. Alternatively, they can be taken on a boat or a minecart.

Bat

Similar to pandas, bats cannot be leashed. However, they also cannot ride vehicles. To trap them, create a dark box below y=63 in a light level of 3, which can be achieved with 1 lit candle. This light level allows bats to spawn but not hostile mobs. Have a staircase that leads from the box to the bat's holding place. Once a bat spawns, cover up the path as it flies up so that it does not fly down. Once the bat is trapped, escape quickly before the bat flies out. Make sure the bat is name-tagged or else they will despawn.

Fishes and Axolotls

These mobs can be easily trapped by bucketing them and bringing them to their holding area.

Squid, Glow Squid & Dolphin

Unlike the fishes, these aquatic mobs cannot be placed in a bucket. Instead, create a water passage from them to their holding area. They can be leashed. Name tags will prevent them from despawning.

Frog

Frogs can be found in swamps and mangrove swamps. They can be led into their holding area, but there is an easier way. Breed the frogs with slimeballs. Once the frogspawn hatches, collect the tadpole in a water bucket. Bring the tadpole to its holding area and release it, then wait for it to grow, which can be sped up with slimeballs.

Bee

Bees can be found near bee nests. To trap it, wait for a bee to enter its nest. Then, break it with Silk Touch. Make sure no other bees are nearby or else they will be aggravated. Bring the nest and place it inside the bee's holding area.

Sniffer

Sniffers do not spawn naturally. To get one, find a warm ocean ruins. Make sure to have a brush with you. Brush the suspicious sand and you might get a sniffer egg. To hatch it, place it and after 20 (10 if placed on a moss block) minutes, a snifflet will hatch.

Other animals

For every other animal not mentioned (excluding nether animals), one can simply lead them to their holding areas using a lead.

Overworld Monsters

Drowned

Drowneds spawn in rivers or when a zombie drowns. Taking into account of the latter method, simply follow the same tactics as with trapping a regular zombie, except that its holding area must have a two-block-deep water. The zombie will then turn into a drowned.

Husk

Find a desert, and follow the same tactics as with trapping a zombie. Unlike zombies, a shelter is not needed as husks do not burn in daylight.

Stray & Bogged

They are found in cold biomes and swamps respectively at night. Follow the same tactics as with trapping a skeleton. Alternatively, freezing a skeleton is an easier way of obtaining a stray.

Slime

Find a slime chunk or a swamp. Get the slime to follow you. Make sure the holding area can fit the slime. If not, kill the slime until you get the desired size. Alternatively, you can just throw an oozing potion at a mob, and then kill it, making two slimes spawn.

Silverfish

Go to a stronghold. Wait for a silverfish to spawn. To make the transportation quicker, lead the silverfish through the end portal and take it through the end. Then, head to the world spawn and take the silverfish to its holding area. An alternative method to obtaining Silverfish is that they have a chance to spawn when an entity with the Infested status effect takes damage.

Breeze

Find a Trial Chamber. Head to the room where the breeze spawns. Kill every mob in that room except for one breeze. Trap that breeze in a small room first. Set up a minecart track that leads from the breeze to its holding area and send off the breeze.

Guardian

Locate an Ocean Monument. Place a bunch of boats above the guardians. Get a guardian into the boat. Then take the guardian to its holding area.

Cave Spider

Find a Mineshaft. lead it up to the surface. Then follow the same tactics as with trapping a spider.

Raid Mobs

Pillager

It is as simple as getting one into a boat and boating it to its holding area.

Vindicator, Ravager, Evoker & Witch

Set up a circling track with a bunch of minecarts. Get them close to the minecarts. They should get caught by the minecarts. Then redirect the minecarts to take the mobs to their holding areas.

Nether Mobs

Animals

Strider

Find a shore near the lava. Hold out a Warped Fungus. If they see it, they would come to you. Or you can drink a potion of Fire Resistance and swim up to them. Equip them with a saddle and take them with a Warped Fungus on a Stick to its holding area. If the holding area is in the Overworld, make sure to shelter them or else they will die from the rain unless the biomes is in a dry biome.

Hoglin

Find a Crimson Forest. Get them to follow you but stay away from blocks that repel them. Note that their holding area must be in the Nether or else they will Zombify.

Monsters

Zombified Piglin

There are 4 ways to get a zombified piglin. One way is to strike a pig with lightning. Another way is to bring Piglins and Piglin Brutes into the Overworld. The third way is to get one that spawned from a Nether portal. The last way is to aggro a naturally-spawning zombified piglin. When doing this method, make sure there are not many zombified piglin nearby or you will get swarmed. Alternatively, you can use boats or minecarts to transport it.

Piglin

Piglins are found in Crimson Forests, Nether Wastes and Bastion Remnants, of which Nether Wastes is the safest. You can lure the piglin to its holding area using Gold items (except Gold Nuggets). Note that their holding area must be in the Nether or else they will Zombify.

Piglin Brute

Piglin Brutes are found only in Bastion Remnants. Unlike Piglins, Piglin Brutes are not distracted by Gold. One can follow the same tactics as with trapping other melee mobs like zombies to trap the brutes. Note that their holding area must be in the Nether or else they will Zombify.

Zoglin

Follow the same tactics as with trapping the hoglin, except that you must lure the hoglin into the overworld. Since hoglins are afraid of Nether Portals, one can get the hoglin into the Overworld by leading it through the portal.

Wither Skeleton

Find a Nether Fortress. Then follow the same tactics as with trapping the husk. If refuge is required, duck under a 2-high ceiling as wither skeletons cannot reach you under the ceiling.

Blaze

Find the Blaze Spawner, found in Nether Fortresses. Place a bunch of boats or minecarts around the spawner and stay hidden from the blazes but close enough so that the blazes will spawn. One should get trapped in a boat/minecart when it spawns. Extract that blaze and bring it to its holding area. If the holding area is in the Overworld, make sure to shelter them or else they will die from the rain unless the biomes is in a dry biome. Be careful when extracting the trapped blaze as other blazes may shoot and destroy the vehicle, freeing the trapped blaze.

Magma Cube

Follow the same tactics as with trapping a Slime.

Ghast

Head onto the Nether Roof. Make sure the biome is not in one of the forests. Setup a netherrack platform with rails zigzagging with at least one block space between each rail line. Fill the sides with glass (make 5 blocks tall with gaps in between rows) and the ceiling with glass. Connect the rails to a large enough nether portal that links to the Ghast's holding area. Wait for a Ghast to Spawn. Once it spawns, send a minecart to catch the ghast and take it to the Overworld. In the Overworld, break the portal and get out of the holding area before the ghast destroys it.

End Mobs

Enderman

Endermen can be captured in a boat, then boating them to their holding area. However, do not break the boat, or the enderman will teleport out. This only works in Java Edition.

Endermite

Endermites spawn from Ender Pearls, so just spam a bunch of ender pearls in the place you want the endermite to be kept. Remember to name-tag them or they will despawn.

Shulker

Shulkers are found in End Cities. One can build a minecart track that goes all the way from the shulker to the exit portal. To save resources, one can send the shulker through an End gateway. Once the shulker is in the overworld, head to world spawn. Build a minecart track from the shulker to its holding area and send the shulker on a minecart.

Bosses

Wither

Getting the wither into its holding area isn't the hard part as it can be built. However, containing it is another story. To contain the wither, first build an iron golem at one end of the holding area. Then, make a nine-long bubble column in front of the iron golem. A couple blocks in front of the bubble column is where you spawn the wither. Make the cage out of waterlogged blocks and make sure there is an opening so that the wither can see the iron golem and shoot at it. The bubble columns will send the skulls away from the golem.

Untrappable Mobs

Vex

A vex cannot be trapped as it can phase through blocks. Even if they can be contained somehow, they will die.

Wandering Trader

While wandering traders can be easily trapped, they cannot be kept forever as they will despawn, regardless if name-tagged or is riding a vehicle.

Enderman

Enderman in Bedrock Edition cannot be trapped, as unlike their Java counterparts, they can teleport out from vehicles.

Ender Dragon

Ender Dragons are only meant to only exist in the end and can phase through blocks similar to a vex. When an ender dragon is present in the end, the end fountain remains unlit meaning the player must kill it to return to the overworld without dying and respawning which is not possible in hardcore mode without losing the world. Therefore it cannot be trapped without exploiting glitches or using other versions, unless you build the zoo in the End but that is not exactly trapping it either.

Useful resources

Wither Cage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SwwVoTzVk8

The original video by Sandiction: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ve_4oC1kjEQ