How to Make a Rainbow Sheep in Minecraft

Last Updated: August 2, 2021

This wikiHow teaches you how to make a Minecraft sheep cycle through rainbow colors. This can be done by naming the sheep "jeb_" (with an underscore at the end) using a name tag and an anvil.

Steps

1
Find a sheep. If you don’t already have a sheep, you can look for any color of sheep in forest and plains biomes.^{[1]
X
Research source}
- If you're having a hard time finding sheep, you can summon them using this cheat in the console: /summon sheep [spawnPos].
2
Transport the sheep to your farm. Lure them to an enclosed area of your farm with wheat and they'll happily follow you through the gate.^{[2]
X
Research source} If you prefer, you can transport the sheep in a boat.

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3
Find a name tag. This is the hard part. There are three ways to find a name tag:
- Fishing: Each time you catch a fish, it has a 0.8% chance of being a name tag.^{[3]
  X
  Research source} With the Luck of the Sea enchantment on your fishing rod, the probability rate increases to 1.9%.
- Loot chests: Name tags can be found inside chests in dungeons, abandoned mineshafts, and woodland mansions.
- Trading with a librarian: Complete lower-tier trades with a librarian until you've unlocked the 6th tier. At that point, you can buy a name tag for 20 to 22 emeralds.
4
Stand in front of an anvil. This opens the Repair & Name menu.^{[4]
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Research source}
- If you don't have an anvil, see How to Craft an Anvil in Minecraft.
5
Move the name tag to the first box. This is the box to the left of the plus (+) sign.
6
Type jeb_ into the "Name Tag" field. It's the brown box at the top of the menu. A nametag called "jeb_" will appear in the third box (after the arrow).
- Make sure not to forget the underscore. If you do, the sheep won't turn rainbow.
7
Move the name tag to the inventory hotbar. Renaming the tag will cost 1 experience level.
8
Right-click the sheep while holding the name tag. Now that the sheep is named jeb_, it will start cycling through the Minecraft color spectrum.

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Community Q&A

Question

Why does naming it jeb_ give it rainbow colors?

Grahamster

Community Answer

Jeb_ is one of the original developers of Minecraft. He added it in as an Easter Egg.
Question

Why is there an under score?

SunPuppy

Community Answer

That is just how the developers made it. The underscore needs to be added, or the Easter Egg won't work.
Question

Can you name it other names?

SunPuppy

Community Answer

Yes, you can give it other names. If you name it "Dinnerbone" or "Grumm", it will turn upside-down. However, if you name it anything else, then nothing will happen.
Question

Why do you have to call it jeb?

SunPuppy

Community Answer

Jeb is the name of one of the developers of Minecraft, so they used it for this feature. As such, you must name a sheep "jeb_" for it to change colors.
Question

Do I just name it Jeb without a line or do I add a line like this jeb_?

SunPuppy

Community Answer

Yes, you will have to add the _ (underscore) for the sheep to turn rainbow.
Question

In minecraft 1.15.2 does it still work if you make it jeb_ in lowercase?

SunPuppy

Community Answer

Yes. The "jeb_" must be lowercase for it to work. Otherwise, the sheep will not turn rainbow.
Question

Can you say jeb and then put something else behind?

SunPuppy

Community Answer

No. It has to be "jeb_". You can't put anything else on the nametag, or else it won't work.
Question

How do I turn other animals rainbow?

SunPuppy

Community Answer

You can't. The sheep is the only animal that is able to turn rainbow when you name it "jeb_".
Question

Can Dinnerbone work on all mobs?

SunPuppy

Community Answer

Yes. The "Dinnerbone" Easter egg will work on all mobs that have that name.
Question

Why do you have to find it in the wild?

SunPuppy

Community Answer

You don't have to find it in the wild. If you want, you can get a spawn egg and spawn a sheep that way.