Llamas can turn in boats

As of Minecraft 1.21, llamas can now rotate while seated in boats — a behavior that was not present in earlier versions. Prior to 1.21, llamas remained static in orientation when riding in boats.

This change appears to be unintentional. In the game's codebase, there's a file called:

// can_turn_in_boats.json
{
  "values": [
    "minecraft:breeze"
  ]
}

This file defines which entities are allowed to rotate while in boats. The fact that only the minecraft:breeze is listed strongly suggests that the new rotation behavior was explicitly intended only for the Breeze mob, which was introduced in the same update.

The rotation behavior likely changed as a side effect of broader refactoring of boat mechanics to support the Breeze. However, this seems to have inadvertently affected other entities — including llamas — even though they were not explicitly included in the can_turn_in_boats.json list.

Impact and Recommendation:

This change has serious implications for the Technical Minecraft Community. Llamas were commonly used in contraptions — especially tree farms and — because of their stable, non-rotating behavior in boats, which allowed players to stay perfectly aligned for precise block interactions. Now that llamas rotate, the player’s orientation shifts as well, breaking many existing designs in ways that cannot be fixed.

We recommend restoring the previous behavior where llamas do not rotate in boats. This adjustment would have no impact on casual gameplay, nor would it conflict with the intended design for the Breeze. However, it would restore vital functionality relied upon by technical players.