Summary

  • Happy ghasts in Minecraft can be fed snowballs to grow into adult ghasts that players can mount.
  • A simple mob launcher contraption can quickly launch players and happy ghasts into the air.
  • The contraption allows players to ascend quickly to work on builds, collect materials, and land on their happy ghast.

The addition of happy ghasts in Minecraft's latest experimental versions has inspired all kinds of clever builds, and one easy-to-replicate build provides a neat way for players to launch themselves and their happy ghasts skyward in no time. This friendly new mob has proven particularly useful to enthusiastic Minecraft builders thanks to it essentially serving as a mobile aerial platform, making it much easier for players to work on even the largest of builds.

Though they're only present in Minecraft's preview versions for now, happy ghasts have quickly become a fan-favorite mob following their reveal during Minecraft LIVE earlier this year. As the name suggests, they're a totally passive variant of the ghast that fans are familiar with, and can even be equipped with a saddle to carry players through the skies of their worlds. Like their more common hostile counterparts, happy ghasts aren't found naturally in the Overworld - instead, players will first need to find them as dried ghast blocks, which generate naturally in the Nether. Though these blocks can also be crafted, they'll still need to be brought back to the Overworld and submerged in water until they hydrate and become adorable baby ghastlings.

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Ghastlings in Minecraft can be fed snowballs to eventually grow into adult happy ghasts, which are capable of being mounted by players. To facilitate fast ascension while traveling with a happy ghast, one player known online as Srlorenez has designed a simple mob launcher contraption that can be built with very few components. The launcher simply requires four dispensers to be placed around a 3-block deep 1x1 hole, with each one facing inwards towards the hole. Each dispenser needs to be loaded with wind charges, which are fired when the player jumps into the hole and activates the pressure plate at the bottom.

How This Minecraft Mob Launcher Works

Players simply need to jump into the contraption and activate the pressure plate while holding a leash tethered to the new Minecraft mob, and they'll be launched high up into the air. It's important that the 3-block deep hole is filled with water, though, as this slows the player enough upon being launched that the lead connected to the happy ghast doesn't break.

Aside from just being a neat, fun addition to players' worlds, this contraption could be quite useful when built at the foot of a huge build that players are working on. Players would be able to return to the ground and collect building materials from chests, then quickly launch up and land on their happy ghast to continue working on their build. In any case, it's definitely one of the less cruel happy ghast-related contraptions that Minecraft players have come up with.

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Sandbox
Survival
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Systems
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Top Critic Avg: 90 /100 Critics Rec: 84%
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Released
November 18, 2011
ESRB
E10+ For Everyone 10+ Due To Fantasy Violence
Developer(s)
Mojang
Publisher(s)
Mojang
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Minecraft In Game Screenshot 6
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WHERE TO PLAY

DIGITAL
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Engine
LWJGL, PROPRIETARY ENGINE
Genre(s)
Sandbox, Survival