While each of Minecraft’s twice-annual game drops have brought new mobs, the second drop of 2025’s is a cut above the rest. Meet the happy ghast. Finally, a ghast that doesn’t want you dead.
That’s right: While ghasts are known for spitting fireballs at you, carving paths of destruction across the Nether, this new variant just wants to be your friend. The happy ghast comes in a few forms, the evolution of which are up to the player to set in motion.
The most interesting aspect of the happy ghast is that it allows players to fly around the overworld. If you’ve been playing Minecraft long enough and have been to The End, that might not sound all too valuable while you whip around the map with your elytra wings. However, for newer players, the process of getting a happy ghast begins in the Nether–a location you visit long before you venture into The End. That brings flight to users much earlier in the game. The added bonus is that up to four people can travel on a single happy ghast, making group adventures easier.
However, that doesn’t mean you won’t have to work for it. There’s a process to go through in order to get a proper pilotable happy ghast.
How to procure your own ghost plane
First, you’ll find the dried ghast block in the Nether. The block, which looks like a tiny shriveled ghast block and is basically a dehydrated form of the ghast. Players can mine the block to bring with them to the overworld, which is where the hydration process begins.
Once back in the Overworld, you need to submerge the dried block fully in water. Whether that means placing it in an existing body or creating your own happy ghast hydration pool is up to you. But then the wait begins. According to Mojang, it takes about 20 real-world minutes for a dehydrated ghast to become a happy ghastling. When we experimented with this new game feature at the game maker’s Sweden-based studio, we found that the timing may vary. If you place multiple dry ghast blocks at once, there’s no telling which one will evolve first.
However, you will notice the changes as the process goes along. Much like normal ghasts, the dried ghast blocks have unhappy faces. As they slowly rehydrate, though, the frown turns into a smile. Then, the happy ghastling is born.
The ghastling is basically a miniature version of the happy ghast that you are unable to fly. If you wait a while longer, it’ll eventually grow into a full happy ghast. If you’re impatient and want to get moving, though, you can also feed the little guy snowballs to speed up the growth process.
Once the ghastling grows up, there’s one more step before you’re able to fly it. Obviously, you need a harness in order to saddle up. Those are crafted using glass, leather, and wool blocks. And right off the bat, there are a number of saddle variants available based on what color wool you use in your crafting. We may have recency bias, but the happy ghast’s harness is much more visually appealing than any saddle the game has come up with yet. Take a look below at the new mod in all its glory, complete with flying goggles.
Gallery
From there, simply attach yourself to the ghast like you would a horse and take to the skies. As mentioned before, up to four players can ride the happy ghast simultaneously, with the user at the front controlling direction. You don’t fly as quickly as you would with a set of elytra, but it’s a scenic ride that doesn’t waste tons of rockets.
And luckily, group trips aren’t all the happy ghast is useful for.
Building in the sky
The most useful thing the happy ghast does is allow you to easily construct things in the sky. Once you get to a point in the sky you want to build, disengage yourself from the harness and you’ll simply be standing on top of the ghast, ready to build. Imagine the top of the ghast basically being scaffolding that you can stand on to keep you elevated for building purposes.
Another excellent use for some players is going to be the ability to use happy ghasts as part of any parkour course builds. Not only can they be leashed to keep them from wandering away, but they can also be mounted on minecarts, making them moving platforms you can configure to basically be large stepping stones.
These are just the uses we were able to glean from a limited time playing the preview. There will surely be several other ways the happy ghast can be put to work in your realm.
There is currently no official release date for the second game drop of 2025. In addition to the happy ghast, the drop will also include the player locator bar, which allows you to easily track down others in your realm.
As for Minecraft’s first game drop of 2025, which was also revealed during Minecraft Live, we are getting new animal variants and plant blocks. And if that’s still not enough Minecraft for you, there’s also the content being released connected to A Minecraft Movie and, of course, the Vibrant Visuals update.