Historical release: June 17, 2025 — Minecraft Java Edition 1.21.6. Chase the Skies introduced the happy ghast to Java and added the multiplayer Locator Bar. The official 1.21.6 notes are the basis for the mechanics described here.
Our screenshots show these features in Java 26.2.
A happy ghast with a cyan harness, posed above a river valley.
Raise the ride before building the skyport
A dried ghast can be found in Nether fossil structures or crafted using soul sand and ghast tears. Keep it waterlogged and it progresses toward a ghastling over roughly twenty minutes. The youngster then grows into a happy ghast; feeding it snowballs speeds that growth.
A dry dried ghast beside the demonstration deck.
Give that process an ordinary place near home. A small open nursery beside a storehouse is easier to revisit than a dramatic platform far above the ground. Keep the approach clear so the later trip from nursery to departure point feels like part of your base.
A separate dried ghast staged in water.
Once grown, a happy ghast can wear a harness and carry up to four players. The first rider controls it. Dismounting puts the rider on top, and the ghast stops when it detects players standing there. That makes it useful for looking at a roof or elevated wall from a different position.
Build for the arrival
Choose a short first route between two obvious landmarks. At each end, leave open space for approaching the build and a clear way down to the ground. Put decorative beams and roof overhangs away from the arrival area. Designing the destination is more useful than decorating a landing platform that is awkward to leave.
For a group flight, agree who boards first and where everyone should gather afterward. The Locator Bar helps show the direction of other visible players in multiplayer, but a named meeting point still makes a scattered group easier to organize.
Keep the editions straight
Chase the Skies also accompanied the launch of Vibrant Visuals for supported Bedrock devices. That does not mean Java 1.21.6 gained the same rendering mode. A Java happy-ghast scene and a Bedrock Vibrant Visuals screenshot can show related content while using different graphics systems.
Use the new perspective to solve one building problem: reach a high exterior, inspect a tower's proportions or choose a route over a valley. A short practical flight gives a skyport a reason to exist.
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