Drowned

"We're sorry. We're so so sorry. Our upcoming Update Aquatic ... was meant to be a pleasant experience for our players. A joyous dip into a wet and wonderful new ocean, overflowing with joy, smiles and laughter! Nothing could be further from the truth. Because something is down in those murky depths with you. Lurking beneath the surface, below the delightful dolphins, the colourful coral, the terrific tropical fish, awaits a new danger. Reader, I sincerely hope you never Meet the Drowned."

- Tom Stone

Drowned are common underwater zombie variants that spawn in bodies of water or when a zombie drowns. They are also the only source of tridents.

Natural generation
Drowned spawn naturally at light level of 7 or less in ocean biomes (all variants except warm ocean but including deep warm ocean), river (and frozen river), and swamp biomes, in groups of 2-4. They spawn throughout a body of water at surface floor. In ocean biomes, drowned spawn only below Y=58, five blocks below sea level; this restriction does not apply to rivers. Drowned also spawn at higher rates in rivers than in other biomes.

Drowned have a chance to spawn with either a trident or a fishing rod, and occasionally with a nautilus shell. They also have a small chance of spawning while riding a chicken, even after drowning as a zombie, creating a drowned chicken jockey. This is the only zombie counterpart within the game that cannot spawn naturally with any armor.

Conversion
If a zombie is not in a boat, and its head is submerged in water continuously for 30 seconds, it begins the process of converting to a drowned. Once this happens, it starts shaking, similar to the effect seen while a zombie villager is being cured. At this point the process cannot be stopped, and 15 seconds later the zombie becomes a drowned.

If a zombie is holding or wearing an item when it becomes a drowned, it drops the item it is holding or wearing, 100% of the time if it had picked the item up, or the normal 8.5% +1% per looting level if it spawned with the item naturally. Zombie villagers do not transform, and husks do not transform instantly; instead, they transform into a regular zombie as a midway point, which then converts to a drowned in the usual fashion.

Drops
Drowned drop when they die:
 * 3 s (4 when baby) if killed by the player or a tamed wolf.
 * 0–2 (additional 1 maximum drop for every Looting level, up to 0–5 rotten flesh for Looting III).
 * 0–1 if killed by the player. The drop chance is 11% (increased by 2% per Looting level) in Bedrock Edition, and 5% (increased by 1% per Looting level) in Java Edition.
 * 0–1 if killed by the player.
 * Java Edition: 8.5% chance (up to 11.5% chance with Looting III), only for drowned that spawn with a trident. The trident has random durability.
 * Bedrock Edition: 11% chance, increasing 2% for each level of Looting. The item has 20-90% durability. A drowned cannot drop both a trident and gold ingot as a natural drop.
 * 1 if held in the off-hand.
 * Any picked-up equipment has 100% chance of dropping, and drops with the same damage level it had when picked up.
 * Drowned always drop equipment in their off-hand.

Naturally-spawned equipment
For naturally-spawned drowned only: $$, converted drowned are never equipped with tridents or nautilus shells.
 * Java Edition and Legacy Console Editions
 * 6.25% of drowned spawn with a.
 * 3.75% of drowned spawn with a.
 * 3% of drowned spawn with a in their offhand.

Both naturally-spawned and converted drowned spawn with the same equipment:
 * Bedrock and PlayStation 4 Editions
 * 15% of drowned spawn with a.
 * 0.85% of drowned spawn with a.
 * 8% of drowned spawn with a in their offhand.

The trident and fishing rod are mutually exclusive. It is possible for a drowned to spawn with either a trident or fishing rod in the main hand and a nautilus shell in the offhand.

It is possible for a drowned to drop both its naturally-spawned trident and a second trident as one of its standard drops (0.935% chance, 1.235% chance with Looting I, 1.575% chance with Looting II, and 1.955% chance with Looting III).

Farming
In all editions, farms that convert zombies to drowned produce the usual zombie drops. In Bedrock Edition, such a farm also produces tridents and nautilus shells. In Java Edition, a drowned farm must be designed to harvest naturally-spawned drowned to produce tridents and nautilus shells.

Behavior
Drowned have a melee attack, and if they spawn with a trident, they use it as a ranged weapon. A trident is thrown every 1.5 seconds at up to 40 blocks away and is never enchanted. In the Legacy Console Edition and Bedrock Edition, drowned with tridents use a melee attack if the target is 3 blocks away or less. They stomp on turtle eggs, attack baby turtles, and like zombies they chase and attack villagers, wandering traders, snow golems and iron golems. If on land, drowned seek out nearby water. They sometimes step onto land, but quickly return to the water. If a drowned is in any way removed by force from the water, and all nearby water sources have been blocked from it, it becomes passive in daytime. However, it heads to the nearest water source when provided access once again and becomes hostile upon making contact.

During the day, drowned swim only to attack players that are swimming in the water with them; otherwise, they stay on the floor of the water body they are in, ignoring players on land or in a boat. However, at night, drowned swim to the surface and chase players as well as baby turtles, even outside the water, like regular zombies. The speed of their swimming is equal to that of the player.

If a drowned kills a villager with a thrown trident, the villager has a chance of turning into a zombie villager.

Drowned in Legacy Console, PS4 and Bedrock Editions use a swimming animation similar to the player. They use this animation whenever they try to pathfind to a player that is either below or above them, if the player is on the same ground level, the drowned simply walk towards them. Drowned also use this animation if they are tracking a player while they are not standing on a solid block. Their hitbox does not change when doing this animation. Also, if they hold a nautilus shell or anything else in their offhand, their arms are in the same posture as a player’s. When attacking, it uses the player’s attacking animation. Still, it uses the same swimming animation when tracking a player underwater.

Unlike zombies, drowned do not break down doors in hard mode.

They are immune to guardians or elder guardians attacks. They also have a small chance to be immune to knockback when damaged.

Data values
Drowned have entity data associated with them that contain various properties of the mob.

Trivia

 * Drowned are the only aquatic mobs that are considered undead.
 * A drowned chicken jockey floats to the surface because the chicken it is riding floats, causing the drowned riding it to burn in sunlight during the day, resulting in a chicken in the middle of the ocean or river where the drowned jockey spawned in.
 * In Bedrock Edition, drowned have a 3D outer layer. This causes their heads and arms to look larger than on the Java Edition.
 * Like spiders and endermen, drowned have eyes that appear to emit a light blue glow, although they do not actually produce light.
 * They are found anytime in oceans and rivers, but only at night in swamps.
 * When putting armor on a drowned using a dispenser, the helmet won't appear but still protects from sunlight