Fox

**Foxes** are nocturnal passive mobs that spawn naturally in Forests, Taiga, Giant Tree Taiga, Snowy Taiga, Badlands, and Desert biomes.

## Appearance

Foxes are medium-sized mobs that comes in 14 variants in different colors and patterns, including the first variant added to Minecraft and 13 other variants, which are based on real life fox species.

## Behavior

Foxes move quickly like ocelots and flee from nearby players and wolves. However, they do not flee if the player approaches them while sneaking. They are unaffected by sweet berry bushes, taking no damage or speed reduction while moving in them.

## Attacking

Foxes attack either by running up to the target or by pouncing. Like Rabbits, Goats, and Mountain Goats, Foxes can jump (pounce) more than one block high without status effects or player input. A Fox prepares to pounce by tilting and lowering its head and lowering its body to become shorter. Then it leaps 2–5 blocks into the air. Foxes can jump over fences and walls. In Bedrock Edition, foxes also shake side to side before pouncing and their legs can be seen waving while in midair.

Foxes attack Chickens, Rabbits, Cod, Salmon, and Tropical Fish. Foxes also attack baby Turtles on land only. However, Foxes don't attack Wolves, even if they are being attacked by them. Foxes also may attack mobs that hurt a player they trust.

Red Foxes and Gray Foxes prefer to attack Chickens, Rabbits, and baby Turtles, all of which are on land, over Cod, Salmon, and Tropical Fish; conversely, Arctic Foxes prefer to attack Cod, Salmon, and Tropical Fish over land-dwelling creatures. Fennec Foxes prefer to attack Spiders, Tarantulas, Tarantula Hawks, and Mice over other mobs.

A Fox that pounces into a snow layer becomes momentarily stuck, remaining face-down, emitting particles while shaking, and returning to normal shortly after. Foxes swim to attack fish in water for food. Foxes attempt to run toward the closest attackable mob, even if attached to a lead, but do not attempt to break the lead.

Foxes that trust the player attack Zombies, Drowned, Husks, Vampires, Zombified Piglins, Skeletons, Wither Skeletons, Strays, Skeleton Wolves, Werewolves, Wendigos, Phantoms, Silverfish, Endermites, Spiders, Cave Spiders, Tarantulas, Vexes, Vindicators, Pillagers, Ravagers, Blazes, Endermen, Goats, Mountain Goats, and Pandas, when those mobs attack the player. They do not attack any mob the player attacks, unlike tamed wolves. They also do not attack zombie villagers despite the fact that they are zombie variant.

Foxes that trust the player still run away from Wolves, Grizzly Bears, and Polar Bears. Polar Bears, Grizzly Bears, and Wolves still attack them. When attacking Phantoms, Foxes do not jump to attack.

## Sleeping

Foxes are one of the few mobs in the game that can sleep, along with Cats, Deer, Otters, Raccoons, Villagers, Humans, Dylanuses, and Bats.

During the day, if a thunderstorm is not occurring, Foxes attempt to find a space with a sky light level of 14 or less and sleep. Block light has no effect on this. While it sleeps, it slowly moves its head up and down. A Fox wakes if approached by a player or mob. Foxes do not flee if the player approaches while sneaking until the player gets on an adjacent block.

If the sky light at the Fox's position becomes 15 or above, either due to a block above being destroyed or the Fox being moved, the Fox wakes up. Foxes can drop and pick up items in their sleep. Trusting Foxes can fall asleep even if attached to a lead. They can also be moved with leads while sleeping. Foxes do not sleep if they are within 12 blocks of an armor stand.

## Screeching

Foxes occasionally make loud screeches during nighttime, unless a trusted player is near them.

## Sitting

A Fox sits down sometimes during the day if the Fox cannot find a shaded area to sleep. The Fox sits only for a short time, then hops back up. Foxes sit down even when attached to a lead or in a boat. Foxes that have not been bred by the player always sit while in the Nether, even while attached to a lead.

## Holding items

If any item is on the ground near a Fox, it travels to the item and picks it up, and the item appears in the fox's mouth. This behavior is not limited to food and animal products; a Fox can pick up any item that the player can pick up. However, they prefer to pick up food items, and if they have already picked up non-food items, they drop the non-food items to pick up food instead. A Fox eventually eats any food item it picks up (besides cake) and the Fox is affected by any side effects from the food, such as poison or teleportation. For example, if a Fox eats an enchanted golden apple, it obtains the absorption and effects of the enchanted apple. If there is a stage 3 or 4 sweet berry bush within a 16 block radius of a Fox, it sprints toward the bush and eats the berries, dropping the item it was holding. It is the only mob not damaged by the sweet berry bush, and still moves quickly. If a Fox picks up a weapon or an item with enchantments, these items affect the Fox's attack as if the Fox is wielding the weapon in its main hand, although the item retains its durability when used by the Fox. If a Fox is holding a totem of undying, it receives the effects after taking fatal damage. If a Fox is holding a chorus fruit, it eats the fruit and teleports accordingly. If a Fox wields a sword with the Fire Aspect enchantment while attacking a mob on a campfire / soul campfire, it ignites the campfire and does critical damage to the entity.

## Villages

During the night, Foxes sometimes go to villages. There, they can be seen attempting to attack villager-owned Chickens and Turkeys, which can be heard squawking and gobbling. Snow Foxes go to snow villages, Fennec Foxes go to desert villages, and Gray Foxes and Red Foxes go to any other type of village.

## Breeding

Baby Foxes follow adult Foxes. Breeding two adults with sweet berries produces a kit that trusts the player, but still follows nearby adult Foxes. Naturally spawned kits do not trust players.