Where to Find Lead in Minecraft

Lead can turn up across All Overworld biomes (crafting), Woodland Mansions, and Ancient Cities, so the search area spans more than one place depending on which method you use. Slimeballs from Slimes (Swamp at night or Slime Chunks below Y 40). Attach mobs to fences to keep them in one area. In total, Lead can reach your inventory through collecting it as a mob drop and looting it from generated structure chests, so you can pick whichever path your current world makes easiest.

The most reliable way to get Lead is to craft it at a Crafting Table from String and Slimeball, which yields 2 per craft, because crafting is repeatable and does not depend on luck. Before you can craft it, gather the ingredients: String (kill spiders, or break cobwebs in mineshafts) and Slimeball (kill slimes in swamps at night or in slime chunks below Y 40). Works on most passive mobs, horses, wolves, and some hostile mobs. Wandering Traders spawn randomly near the player with leashed Trader Llamas; killing the trader drops the leads. Since this comes from a mob, the Looting enchantment on your sword raises the drop rate, and building or finding a dedicated spawn area turns a one-off kill into a renewable farm. It stacks to 64, so a single mining or crafting session can comfortably bank a chest's worth for later projects. Lead has been in the game since the 1.6.1 update, so it behaves the same on every up-to-date world and server.

Players hunting for Lead often look for Name Tag, Saddle, Fishing Rod, and Shears as well, since they share locations, recipes, or a progression path. For full stats and the crafting grid, the dedicated Lead item page has the complete breakdown.