Minecraft is finally adding wolf variants after over a decade of players requesting them

On March 6, Minecraft Monthly revealed one of the most requested features of all time is officially set to arrive soon, which is eight new variants of the wolf mob. Since the sandbox game launched on Nov. 18, 2011, wolves have been one of the most popular yet lacking mobs.

Over the years, most other Minecraft mobs have received many variants ranging from the many different types of cats you can collect to the vibrantly colored flying parrot variants you can find. Throughout all of this, man’s best friend has remained just one simple white wolf, but your favorite furry pal is about to get the upgrade they deserve.

As of March 6, you can officially see all of the new wolf variants in the latest Minecraft Snapshot. And once this feature is officially added, the standard white wolf won’t be the only four-legged friend you come across anymore.

With the eight new variants, there are nine different wolves in total. The original wolf is now the Pale Wolf and the new variants include the Rusty Wolf, the Black Wolf, the Striped Wolf, the Snowy Wolf, the Ashen Wolf, the Wood Wolf, the Spotted Wolf, and the Chesnut Wolf. The original wolf isn’t going anywhere, but it won’t be quite as commonly found as it used to be.

All of the different wolves will be exclusively found in certain biomes, which means you have to travel around the world to find them. This also makes some of them a lot rarer and tougher to befriend than others, which makes collecting all the wolves a new challenge you can tackle.

You’ll have to travel through wooded badlands, snowy groves, twisted jungles, and so many other biomes to find all the wolves you’re after. It’s going to be easy to get lost while trying to track them down, so be sure to turn on and use coordinates to make your journey easier.

There isn’t an exact official release date for this feature yet, but there’s a good chance the wolf variants will arrive with the 1.21 Minecraft update. The wolf variant announcement was paired with the latest update on wolf armor, which is confirmed to be included in the 1.21 update, so the two will likely be released together as part of it. In the meantime, you can meet all of the variants for yourself by testing out the latest Minecraft Snapshot.