How to Tame a Fox in Minecraft

Guide Java Bedrock

Quick answer: You cannot tame an adult fox - instead, breed two wild foxes with sweet berries or glow berries. The baby fox trusts you permanently, does not flee, and will defend you from mobs that hurt you.

What you need

Sweet berries or glow berries
Lead
Two adult foxes (taiga or snowy taiga)

Step by step

Find foxes in taiga, snowy taiga and grove biomes (white snow foxes spawn in the snowy ones).
Crouch to approach - foxes flee from any player who is not sneaking.
Gather sweet berries from taiga bushes or glow berries from lush caves. Bring a lead and extra berries.
Feed berries to two adult foxes so they enter love mode and produce a kit.
The kit trusts you from birth: it will not flee as it grows. Problem: baby foxes follow adults, so lead the kit away from its parents (or remove them).
Wait for it to grow up. Your trusting fox follows you loosely, picks up items in its mouth, and attacks mobs that harm you.
Breed more kits the same way to build a fox pack - trusting foxes make surprisingly fierce base guards.

Java vs Bedrock

Identical in Java and Bedrock: adult foxes can never be tamed, and only a bred kit trusts the player. In Java, trusting foxes actively defend you from most damage sources; in both editions they stop fleeing and stay loyal.

Versions: Foxes were added in 1.14 (Village and Pillage). Glow berries joined sweet berries as breeding food in 1.17 (Caves and Cliffs), and foxes got their Arctic white variant in snowy biomes.

Frequently asked questions

Why can I not tame a fox like a wolf?

Foxes are trusting animals, not tameable ones. Adult wild foxes will always flee - the only fox that bonds with you is a kit born from two adults you bred with berries.

Will my trusting fox follow me home?

Not automatically - unlike wolves, trusting foxes wander. Keep yours safe with a lead or a fenced area, or name-tag it so it never despawns.

Do foxes really fight for you?

A fox that trusts you attacks mobs that hurt you, and with a sword held in its mouth it deals that weapon's damage. A pack of foxes carrying dropped swords is a legit defense strategy.