Cow

Cows spawn in Plains, Forest, Sunflower Plains, Flower Forest, Birch Forest, and Taiga.

Because it appears across 6 different biome types, it is one of the easier mobs to track down — heading to any of them should turn one up before long.

Spawns on grass blocks with light level 9+, in groups of 4.

Pay attention to lighting — a light level of 9+ is required, which is exactly what makes torch placement such an effective way to suppress or encourage these spawns.

They tend to arrive in clusters of 4 rather than alone, so expect to meet more than one at a time.

Naturally spawned cows will despawn over time when no player is nearby; naming one with a name tag or leading it away on a lead keeps it permanent.

With no attack to worry about, the Cow is something you gather or farm rather than fight.

Here is what you can expect to collect from a Cow:

Every kill yields 1–3 Raw Beef (always, 100% chance) and 0–2 Leather (always, 100% chance).

You also collect 1–3 experience for every Cow you defeat.

These are well worth keeping. One of the most useful passive mobs for early game food and leather armor.

Since every item here is guaranteed, the only variable is quantity, which makes this mob a dependable, low-variance source of what it carries.

Because the Cow is harmless and breeds, the efficient long-term approach is a small enclosed pen where a breeding pair keeps replacing what you harvest, rather than hunting wild ones down one by one.