TL;DR: A dried ghast is a harmless block that shows up in the Nether. Put it in water for about 20 minutes and it turns into a baby ghastling. The ghastling grows into a happy ghast: a friendly, floating mount that you can put a harness on and ride, with room for up to four players. Water poured from a bucket vanishes in the Nether, so you hatch it back in the Overworld.
What a dried ghast is
A dried ghast is a shriveled-up Ghast in the shape of a block. It does not move, it does not attack and it does not shoot fireballs. It just sits there looking dry. You can break it instantly with any tool, or your hand, and it always drops itself.
Where does it come from? Even Mojang is not sure. One of their own write-ups says it is either the dried-out remains of an old Ghast, a kind of Ghast egg, or something else entirely.
This guide follows Java Edition. Dried ghasts and happy ghasts arrived in Java 1.21.6, so an older version will not have them.
Three ways to get a dried ghast
- Find one. Dried ghasts appear in Soul Sand Valley, next to Nether fossils. A fossil has about a 1 in 3 chance of having one beside it.
- Barter for one. Give a gold ingot to an adult Piglin and about 2 times in 100 it hands back a dried ghast. It is a long shot, so treat it as a bonus.
- Craft one. Put 8 Ghast Tears in a ring around 1 Soul Sand. That is a lot of tears, because a Ghast only drops one about half the time (a Looting sword helps).
Hatching it
- Take it to the Overworld. Water you pour out of a bucket instantly disappears in the Nether, so you cannot hydrate it there. Carry it through your portal. (More in No Water in the Nether.)
- Put it in water. Place it in water, or pour water onto it. Green particles appear and the ghast slowly gets a smile and a brighter color.
- Wait about 20 minutes. The changes show up in stages: roughly 5 minutes for partly hydrated, 10 for mostly, and 15 for fully hydrated. At about 20 minutes it turns into a ghastling. The timing is a little random, so do not be surprised if a stage takes longer.
If you take the water away before it finishes, the ghast slowly dries back out. Breaking it puts it straight back to the dried state, so be careful not to break it by accident.
The ghastling
The ghastling is the baby. It is small, it is friendly and it needs about 20 minutes to grow up. You cannot put a harness on it or ride it yet. Two things to know:
- Snowballs speed it up. Feeding a ghastling snowballs helps it grow faster. In Java, each snowball cuts the remaining growing time by 10%.
- It follows you. Ghastlings sometimes drift after nearby players and some friendly animals, like cows, sheep and Striders.
Unlike most animals, happy ghasts cannot be bred. In survival, hatching a dried ghast is the only way to get one.
The happy ghast
A grown happy ghast is a large, passive mob, about 4 blocks wide and tall, with 10 hearts of health. It does not panic when it gets hit and it follows players who hold a snowball. Unlike the Ghasts in the Nether, it cannot shoot fireballs.
Getting a harness. A harness is what makes it rideable. Craft one with 3 Leather across the top, then Glass, a Wool block and another Glass across the middle row. The Wool color you use sets the harness color, and you can re-dye it later. Use the harness on the happy ghast to put it on. Shears take it off again.
Riding. Up to four players can ride at once. The first one on steers: push forward and it flies the way you are looking, and jump to go straight up. There is no button for down, so look down and push forward. When you get off, you land on top of it, and while you stand there the happy ghast stays still and acts like a solid block. That is handy for building high above the ground.
With a lead, a happy ghast can also carry a boat or some large animals through the air.
Safety notes
- It is not fireproof. A regular Ghast ignores fire and lava. A happy ghast does not. Keep it away from lava, and keep your own flying plans away from lava too.
- Adults can drown. The ghastling does not drown in water, but a grown happy ghast does. Keep it out of deep water.
- You are high up. Stepping off the edge of a happy ghast is a long fall. Fly down low over solid ground before you get off.
Common mistakes
- Pouring water on the dried ghast in the Nether. The water vanishes. Carry it to the Overworld.
- Trying to ride a ghastling. It has to finish growing up and wear a harness first.
- Expecting to breed happy ghasts. You cannot. In survival, each one starts as a dried ghast.
- Mixing up the friendly ones with the hostile ones. A Ghast in the Nether is still dangerous. See Ghast Survival.
Related
Ghasts · Ghast Survival · Nether Fossils · Soul Sand Valley · Piglin Bartering · No Water in the Nether · Complete Nether Guide · Walk the World
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