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A bucket of aquatic mob is a small aquatic mob (a fish, axolotl, or tadpole) inside of a water bucket, obtained by using a water bucket on one of these mobs.

Obtaining[]

A bucket of aquatic mob can be obtained by using a water bucket on an applicable mob. Once a water bucket is used, the mob is picked up along with the water source block. The mob bucket obtained corresponds to the mob picked up.

Trading[]

Wandering traders have 16 chance to either sell a bucket of pufferfish or a bucket of tropical fish for 5 emeralds.

Novice-level Fisherman villagers have a 50% chance to sell a bucket of cod for 3 emeralds.

Usage[]

Pressing use with a bucket of aquatic mob places a water source block, and spawns the mob back into the world, leaving an empty bucket in the player's inventory. For buckets of tropical fish, the fish and its details (color, size, name) are kept. Placing a bucket of aquatic mob in the Nether causes the same particles to appear that generate when a normal water bucket is placed in the Nether, and the fish is spawned alone.

Mobs caught in buckets then released do not despawn, unlike mobs that spawn naturally in their aquatic environments.

If a bucket of aquatic mob is inside a dispenser, the dispenser spawns the mob and water block in front of it upon activation, leaving an empty bucket inside. Dispensers cannot pick up mobs with water buckets (the bucket is emptied).

If a bucket of aquatic mob is named a certain name through an anvil, the mob inside display that name as if it were named with a name tag, making fish, axolotls, and tadpoles the only mobs that can exist in item form, and be named without a name tag.‌[Java Edition only] Alternatively, if a named mob is captured with a bucket of water, the resulting mob bucket shares a name with the captured mob.‌[Java Edition only] If a named mob is captured in Bedrock Edition, the item is called "Bucket of <Name>".

Bucket of tropical fish[]

Tropical fish also have assigned names that can be seen after capture. In Java Edition, the smaller text under the item name is displayed showing the fish name, similar to the text that displays enchantments under enchanted items. In Bedrock Edition, the item name is displayed showing "Bucket of <fish name>". Their colors are mostly named according to the colored block names, though with a few exceptions:

  • White
  • Silver
  • Gray
  • Black
  • Brown
  • Red
  • Orange
  • Yellow
  • Lime
  • Green
  • Teal
  • Sky
  • Blue
  • Plum
  • Magenta
  • Rose

The base color comes first, and if the pattern color is different, it comes after that. Lastly, the fish bucket is given a name according to the shape and pattern of the fish:

Flopper Glitter Betty
Stripey Blockfish Clayfish
Tropical Fish Patterns
Kob Snooper Brinely
SunStreak Dasher Spotty

Some tropical fish don't follow the normal naming system, and instead, reference real-life fish species. Apart from these names, these types of fish aren't different from regular tropical fish in terms of design or behavior.

These varieties are:

Name Type
Anemone Orange-Gray Stripey
Black Tang Gray Flopper
Blue Dory ‌[Bedrock Edition only] Gray-Sky SunStreak
Blue Tang ‌[Java Edition only] Gray-Blue Flopper
Butterfly Fish ‌[Bedrock Edition only]/Butterflyfish ‌[Java Edition only] White-Gray Clayfish
Cichlid Blue-Gray SunStreak
Clownfish Orange-White Kob
Cotton Candy Betta Rose-Sky Spotty
Dottyback Plum-Yellow Blockfish
Emperor Red Snapper White-Red Clayfish
Goatfish White-Yellow Spotty
Moorish Idol White-Gray Glitter
Ornate Butterfly ‌[Bedrock Edition only]/Ornate Butterflyfish ‌[Java Edition only] White-Orange Clayfish
Parrotfish Teal-Rose Dasher
Queen Angel Fish ‌[Bedrock Edition only]/Queen Angelfish ‌[Java Edition only] Lime-Sky Brinely
Red Cichlid Red-White Betty
Red Lipped Blenny Gray-Red Snooper
Red Snapper Red-White Blockfish
Threadfin White-Yellow Flopper
Tomato Clown ‌[Bedrock Edition only] Red-White SunStreak
Tomato Clownfish ‌[Java Edition only] Red-White Kob
Triggerfish Gray-White SunStreak
Yellowtail Parrot ‌[Bedrock Edition only]/Yellowtail Parrotfish ‌[Java Edition only] Teal-Yellow Dasher
Yellow Tang Yellow Flopper


A bucket of tropical fish purchased from a wandering trader or pulled from the Creative inventory spawns random tropical fish when used, due to it having no associated NBT.

Additionaly, buckets of tropical fish may be used to lead and breed axolotls. It can also speed up the growth of a baby axolotl.

Bucket of axolotl[]

In Bedrock Edition, if an axolotl is picked up with a bucket, the bucket appears in the player's inventory as "Bucket of <Baby/Adult> <Color> Axolotl" based on the age and color of the axolotl. These varieties are:

  • Bucket of Baby Leucistic Axolotl
  • Bucket of Adult Leucistic Axolotl
  • Bucket of Baby Brown Axolotl
  • Bucket of Adult Brown Axolotl
  • Bucket of Baby Gold Axolotl
  • Bucket of Adult Gold Axolotl
  • Bucket of Baby Cyan Axolotl
  • Bucket of Adult Cyan Axolotl
  • Bucket of Baby Blue Axolotl
  • Bucket of Adult Blue Axolotl

When the player spawns in an axolotl with a bucket of axolotl from the creative inventory, it is always a leucistic adult. Buckets containing other variants will always spawn that variant when used in creative mode.

The bucket of axolotl does not change textures in the inventory to reflect the captured axolotl's color, it always appears leucistic.

Bucket of tadpole[]

When a tadpole is picked up with a bucket, the bucket appears in the player's inventory as "Bucket of tadpole". The bucket can be emptied again like any other bucket of aquatic mob, depositing the tadpole and water on the targeted location.

The water in the bucket of tadpole appears green, unlike the other buckets of aquatic mobs, in which water appears blue.

Sounds[]

Java Edition:

SoundSubtitlesSourceDescriptionResource locationTranslation keyVolumePitchAttenuation
distance
File:Fill fish bucket1.oggFile:Fill fish bucket2.oggFile:Fill fish bucket3.oggFish capturedFriendly CreaturesWhen a fish is collecteditem.bucket.fill_fishsubtitles.item.bucket.fill_fish1.01.016
Tadpole capturedFriendly CreaturesWhen a tadpole is collecteditem.bucket.fill_tadpolesubtitles.item.bucket.fill_tadpole0.51.516
File:Fill axolotl1.oggFile:Fill axolotl2.oggFile:Fill axolotl3.oggAxolotl scoopedFriendly CreaturesWhen an axolotl is collecteditem.bucket.fill_axolotlsubtitles.item.bucket.fill_axolotl1.01.016
File:Empty fish bucket1.oggFile:Empty fish bucket2.oggFile:Empty fish bucket3.oggBucket emptiesFriendly CreaturesWhen a fish is placeditem.bucket.empty_fishsubtitles.item.bucket.empty1.01.016
Bucket emptiesFriendly CreaturesWhen a tadpole is placeditem.bucket.empty_tadpolesubtitles.item.bucket.empty0.51.516
Bucket emptiesFriendly CreaturesWhen an axolotl is placeditem.bucket.empty_axolotlsubtitles.item.bucket.empty1.01.016

Bedrock Edition:

SoundSourceDescriptionResource locationVolumePitch
File:Fill fish bucket1.oggFile:Fill fish bucket2.oggFile:Fill fish bucket3.oggBlocksWhen a creature is collected into a water bucketbucket.fill_fish1.01.0
File:Empty fish bucket1.oggFile:Empty fish bucket2.oggFile:Empty fish bucket3.oggBlocksWhen a creature is placed from a bucketbucket.empty_fish1.01.0

Data values[]

ID[]

Java Edition:

NameIdentifierFormItem tagsTranslation key
Bucket of Codcod_bucketItemNoneitem.minecraft.cod_bucket
Bucket of Salmonsalmon_bucketItemNoneitem.minecraft.salmon_bucket
Bucket of Pufferfishpufferfish_bucketItemNoneitem.minecraft.pufferfish_bucket
Bucket of Tropical Fishtropical_fish_bucketItemaxolotl_tempt_itemsitem.minecraft.tropical_fish_bucket
Bucket of Axolotlaxolotl_bucketItemNoneitem.minecraft.axolotl_bucket
Bucket of Tadpoletadpole_bucketItemNoneitem.minecraft.tadpole_bucket

Bedrock Edition:

NameIdentifierAlias ID Numeric ID FormTranslation key
Bucket of Codcod_bucketbucket / 2364Itemitem.bucketFish.name
Bucket of Salmonsalmon_bucketbucket / 3365Itemitem.bucketSalmon.name
Bucket of Tropical Fishtropical_fish_bucketbucket / 4366Itemitem.bucketTropical.name
item.bucketCustomFish.name
Bucket of Pufferfishpufferfish_bucketbucket / 5367Itemitem.bucketPuffer.name
Bucket of Axolotlaxolotl_bucketbucket / 12369Itemitem.bucketAxolotl.name
Bucket of Tadpoletadpole_bucketbucket / 13630Itemitem.bucketTadpole.name

Item data[]

Java Edition:

Main article: Player.dat format
  •  tag: The item's tag tag.
    •  BucketVariantTag: The variant data of the tropical fish in the bucket. Applies only to Bucket of Tropical Fish.
    •  EntityTag: Stores entity data that is applied to the aquatic mob when it is poured out. If this data includes a tropical fish variant, it overrides the one provided in BucketVariantTag.

Normal buckets of fish use only the BucketVariantTag tag to store the variant of any tropical fish that is picked up, and the item's display name to store the fish's custom name.

Bedrock Edition:

See Bedrock Edition level format/Item format.

Achievements[]

Icon Achievement In-game description Actual requirements (if different) Gamerscore earned Trophy type (PS4)
PS4 Other
I am a Marine BiologistCollect a fish in a bucketUse an empty bucket on any fish mob to collect it.20GBronze

Advancements[]

Icon Advancement In-game description Parent Actual requirements (if different) Resource location
Advancement-plain-rawBukkit Bukkit
Catch a Tadpole in a Bucket Husbandryhusbandry/tadpole_in_a_bucket
Advancement-plain-rawTactical Fishing
Catch a Fish... without a Fishing Rod! Fishy BusinessUse a water bucket on any fish mob.husbandry/tactical_fishing
Advancement-plain-rawThe Cutest Predator
Catch an Axolotl in a Bucket Tactical FishingUse a water bucket on an axolotl.husbandry/axolotl_in_a_bucket

History[]

Java Edition
1.1318w08bBucket of Cod JE1 BE1 Bucket of Salmon JE1 BE1 Bucket of Pufferfish JE1 Added cod, salmon and "Puffer Fish" buckets.
The texture of what appears to be a clownfish bucket can be seen in the game files.
18w10aBucket of Tropical Fish JE1 BE1 Added tropical fish buckets.
18w14aCatching a fish in a water bucket now awards the Tactical Fishing advancement.
18w19a"Puffer Fish Bucket" has been corrected to "Pufferfish Bucket".
The ID of tropical fish buckets has been changed to tropical_fish_bucket.
18w22aBucket of Tropical Fish JE2 The texture of tropical fish buckets has been updated, due to an inconsistent dark pixel on the bottom right of the bucket's texture that wasn't part of the other fish buckets.[1]
pre5The name of fish buckets has been changed from "[type of fish] bucket" to "bucket of [type of fish]", like they are in Bedrock Edition.
1.13.118w33aTooltips have been added for buckets of tropical fish.
1.1418w43bBucket of Cod JE2 BE2 Bucket of Salmon JE2 BE2 Bucket of Tropical Fish JE3 BE2 Bucket of Pufferfish JE2 BE2 The textures of buckets of cod, salmon, tropical fish, and pufferfish have been changed.
19w05aAdded wandering traders, which sell buckets of tropical fish and buckets of pufferfish.
19w11aFisherman villagers can now sell a bucket of cod.
October 3, 2020Bucket of Axolotl (pre-release) In Minecraft Live 2020, a bucket of axolotl was shown.
On the live event, it has an untranslated name: item.minecraft.axolotl_bucket.
1.1720w51aBucket of Axolotl JE1 BE1 Added buckets of axolotls.
Buckets of tropical fish can be used to breed the new axolotls.
Buckets of tropical fish can be used to make axolotls attack drowned and guardians.
21w20aAxolotls can now be fed buckets of tropical fish, not just tropical fish.
October 16, 2021Buckets of Tadpoles were mentioned, but not shown.
December 8, 2021Bucket of Tadpole JE1 BE1 LadyAgnes tweets the first image of a tadpole in a bucket.
1.1922w11aBucket of Tadpole JE1 BE1 Added buckets of tadpoles.
1.20pre2Fish buckets are now listed in the same order as the fish items in the Creative inventory.
Bedrock Edition
1.4.0beta 1.2.14.2Bucket of Cod JE1 BE1 Bucket of Salmon JE1 BE1 Bucket of Tropical Fish JE1 BE1 Bucket of Pufferfish BE1 Added fish buckets of cod, salmon, tropical fish, and pufferfish.
Buckets of pufferfish have a different texture compared to Java Edition.
beta 1.2.20.2Fish buckets are now available in the Creative inventory.
1.10.0beta 1.10.0.3Buckets of tropical fish and pufferfish are now sold by the new wandering traders.
Bucket of Cod JE2 BE2 Bucket of Salmon JE2 BE2 Bucket of Tropical Fish JE3 BE2 Bucket of Pufferfish JE2 BE2 The textures of buckets of cod, salmon, tropical fish, and pufferfish have been changed.
1.11.0beta 1.11.0.4Buckets of cod can now be bought from fisherman villagers.
1.16.100beta 1.16.100.56The IDs of buckets with fish have been changed from bucket to <fish>_bucket.
1.17.0beta 1.16.230.52Bucket of Axolotl JE1 BE1 Added buckets of axolotls.
Buckets of tropical fish can be used to breed and attract the new axolotls.
1.18.10beta 1.18.10.24Bucket of Tadpole JE1 BE1 Added the bucket of tadpole behind the "Wild Update" experimental toggle.
Legacy Console Edition
TU69 1.76 Patch 38Bucket of Cod JE1 BE1 Bucket of Salmon JE1 BE1 Bucket of Tropical Fish JE2 Bucket of Pufferfish JE1 Added buckets of cod, salmon, tropical fish, and pufferfish.
1.90 Bucket of Cod JE2 BE2 Bucket of Salmon JE2 BE2 Bucket of Tropical Fish JE3 BE2 Bucket of Pufferfish JE2 BE2 The textures of buckets of cod, salmon, tropical fish, and pufferfish have been changed.
Education Edition
1.4.0Bucket of Cod JE1 BE1 Bucket of Salmon JE1 BE1 Bucket of Tropical Fish JE1 BE1 Bucket of Pufferfish BE1 Added buckets of cod, salmon, tropical fish, and pufferfish.
The texture of the bucket of pufferfish and the texture of the bucket of tropical fish are the same as the ones in Bedrock Edition.

Issues[]

Issues relating to "Bucket of Fish", "Bucket of Mob", "Bucket of Cod", "Bucket of Salmon", "Bucket of Pufferfish", "Bucket of Tropical Fish", or "Bucket Of Tadpole" are maintained on the bug tracker. Report issues there.

Trivia[]

  • When a water bucket is transformed into a bucket of aquatic mob, it actually pushes the bucket texture down one pixel. According to Dinnerbone, JAPPA says this is due to the "weight of the fish".[2]
  • Buckets of tropical fish always appear to contain a clownfish, regardless of whatever fish is actually inside.[3]
  • The bucket of cod and bucket of tropical fish are actually re-colorations of each other.

References[]

External Links[]

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