How to Breed Pandas in Minecraft

Guide Java Bedrock

Quick answer: Feed bamboo to each of two pandas - but they only breed with growing bamboo nearby: at least 1 bamboo plant within 7x7x3 blocks in Java, or at least 8 bamboo plants within 5 blocks in Bedrock. A cub spawns right away and you get 1-7 XP.

What you need

Bamboo (2 per breeding)
Growing bamboo plants near the pen
2 pandas
A fenced pen

Step by step

Find pandas in bamboo jungles (and rarely in regular jungles). They are much rarer than other farm animals, so plan a trip.
Gather plenty of bamboo from the same biome - it is both the breeding item and the habitat requirement.
Bring two pandas to a pen (they follow you while you hold bamboo) and plant bamboo next to it.
Meet the bamboo requirement: 1+ growing bamboo plant within 7x7x3 blocks of the pandas in Java, or 8+ bamboo plants within 5 blocks in Bedrock. Without it, fed pandas just eat and sit.
Feed bamboo to each panda: hearts appear and a cub spawns, plus 1-7 XP. Cubs grow up in 20 minutes; fed bamboo cuts the time by 10% per item.

Java vs Bedrock

The bamboo-plant requirement differs by edition: at least 1 plant within a 7x7x3 area in Java, versus at least 8 plants within 5 blocks in Bedrock. Parents' cooldown is 5 minutes in Java and 1 minute in Bedrock.

Versions: Pandas were added in the Village & Pillage cycle (1.14, 2019). The Bedrock 1.21 cycle also tracks the same bamboo-plant requirement with its own radius. Brown pandas remain the rarest personality variant.

Frequently asked questions

Why won't my pandas breed?

The hidden bamboo-plant rule. Fed pandas only enter love mode when growing bamboo is nearby: 1 plant within 7x7x3 in Java, 8 plants within 5 blocks in Bedrock. Cake does not work either - pandas eat it but cannot breed with it.

What are panda personalities?

Pandas spawn with personalities - normal, lazy, playful, worried, weak, aggressive or brown - which a cub can inherit. Weak baby pandas sneeze and have a 1 in 700 chance to drop a slimeball when they do.

What do pandas drop?

Adults drop bamboo (1-3 with Looting III). Baby weak pandas are a quirky slimeball source through sneezing, but a swamp slime farm is far more efficient.