Minecraft Cow Variant

Cow Variants

This content applies only to Java Edition.

Cow variant definition files define cow variants and their spawn rules.

Definition format

Cow variants use the COW_VARIANT registry; the datapack path is cow_variant (definitions in data/<namespace>/cow_variant).

Definition files use JSON with the following structure:

• JSON file root object
  • asset_id (string, required): (namespace ID) cow texture; resolved to assets/<namespace>/textures/<path>.png.
  • baby_asset_id (string, required): (namespace ID) baby cow texture.
  • model (string, default normal): normal, cold, or warm (temperate/cold/tropical cows).
  • spawn_conditions (list, required): variant spawn selectors.
    • One selector (compound):
      • condition (compound): type (string, required): biome (biomes string/list: tag #, ID, or list), moon_brightness (range min-max bounds; full moon 1, new moon 0), or structure (structures string/list: tag #, ID, or list).
      • priority (int, required): selection priority; ties resolved randomly.

Definition behavior

Cow variant data is loaded only once at server startup; /reload does not reload it — a server restart is required. The COW_VARIANT registry must have at least one element, or the game errors during sync and blocks world loading.

When spawning a cow, the game evaluates all variant selectors and spawns the variant of a highest-priority valid selector (random among ties).