Minecraft’s At ease Ghasts Add Original Flying Mechanic To Sport

While each of Minecraft’s biannual updates introduced new mobs, the second release in the fall of 2025 stands out from the rest. Introducing the happy ghast. In this case, a ghast that desires your companionship.

That’s right: Known for launching fireballs and wreaking havoc in the Nether, this new variant truly seeks to be your dear friend. The happy ghast exists in several varieties, which depend on how the player chooses to proceed.

One of the most exciting features of the happy ghast is that it enables players to fly around the overworld. If you’ve been playing Minecraft for a while and visited The End, this may not seem significant as you glide across the landscape with your elytra wings. However, for newer players, the journey to obtaining a happy ghast starts in the Nether—a realm you explore long before heading to The End. This grants players the ability to fly much earlier in the game. An added benefit is that up to four players can ride a single happy ghast, making team adventures easier.

However, this doesn’t mean you can take it easy. There is a process to go through in order to acquire a properly rideable happy ghast.

How to get your own ghost ride

First, you need to obtain the dried ghast block in the Nether. This block resembles a tiny shriveled ghast and is essentially a dehydrated form of the ghast. Players can mine this block to bring it back to the overworld, where the hydration process begins.

Once back in the overworld, you must fully submerge the dried block in water. Whether you choose to place it in a new body of water or create your own happy ghast hydration pool is entirely up to you. Then, the waiting period begins. According to Mojang, it takes about 20 real-world minutes for a dried ghast to transform into a happy ghastling. During our experiments with this new gameplay feature at the Swedish studio of the game maker, we found that the timing could vary. If you drop multiple dried ghast blocks simultaneously, there’s no telling which one will evolve first.

You will notice changes as the process progresses. Just like regular ghasts, the dried ghast blocks have sad faces. However, as they gradually rehydrate, the frown transforms into a smile. Eventually, the happy ghastling is born.

The ghastling is essentially a small version of the happy ghast that you cannot fly with. If you wait a little longer, it will eventually grow into a full happy ghast. If you’re impatient and eager to start flying, you can feed the little creature snowballs to accelerate the growth process.

Once the ghastling matures, there’s one final step before you can fly it. Naturally, you’ll need a harness to saddle up. These are crafted using glass, leather, and wool blocks. Right from the start, there are several harness variants based on the color of wool you use for crafting. While we may have recency bias, the happy ghast’s harness is visually more captivating than any previous saddle introduced in the game. Take a look below at the new addition in all its splendor, complete with flying goggles.

Gallery

From there, you can simply attach yourself to the ghast similarly to how you would with a horse and ascend into the air. As previously mentioned, up to four players can ride the happy ghast at once, with the person in front directing its path. While you don’t travel quite as swiftly as you would with an elytra, it offers a beautiful journey that doesn’t deplete a lot of rockets.

Fortunately, group adventures are not the only utility of the happy ghast.

Constructing in the sky

The most remarkable aspect of the happy ghast is its ability to easily place items in the sky. Once you reach the desired height, detach from the harness and you will simply be perched atop the ghast, ready to build. Think of the ghast’s top as a scaffold that you can stand on, aiding you in building efforts.

Another creative application for some players is using happy ghasts as part of parkour course designs. Not only can they be tethered to prevent them from drifting away, but they can also be mounted on minecarts, transforming them into moving platforms that you can arrange to serve as convenient stepping stones.

These are merely the functions we managed to discover during a short play session of the preview. There will undeniably be numerous alternative methods for utilizing the happy ghast in your realm.

Currently, there is no official release date for the second game drop in 2025. In addition to the happy ghast, the drop will also introduce the player locator bar, enabling you to effortlessly locate others in your realm.

As for Minecraft’s first game drop of 2025, which was also announced during Minecraft Live, we will be getting new animal variations and plant blocks. And if that’s still not enough Minecraft for you, there’s also a project being released connected to A Minecraft Movie and, of course, the Vibrant Visuals update.