Drowned
Health points |
20 |
---|---|
Armor points |
2 ( |
Behavior |
Hostile, Passive (Outside of water during day) |
Attack strength |
Melee: |
Hitbox size |
In Java Edition: |
Spawn |
Underwater, or when a zombie drowns |
Natural equipment |
|
Drowned are common underwater zombie variants that spawn in water or when a zombie drowns. They are also the only source of tridents.
Contents
Spawning[edit]
Naturally[edit]
Drowned spawn naturally at light level of 7 or less in all ocean biomes (except for warm ocean), and river biomes. They spawn at higher rates in rivers than in other biomes.
In Java Edition drowned spawn in groups of 1 inside flowing water or source water that is 2 blocks or taller.[more information needed] In ocean biomes, drowned spawn at Y < 58, or at least 6 blocks below sea level; this restriction does not apply to rivers.
In Bedrock Edition drowned spawn in groups of 2–4 inside flowing water or source water of any depth, but they spawn at higher rates in water that is 2 blocks or taller.[more information needed] They spawn only on the surface, that is, on the highest spawnable block at any given X, Z coordinate; other than that they do not have any specific Y-level spawn limitations. They count toward the monster population control cap and also have their own density caps of 5 in oceans and 2 in rivers.
Drowned have a greater chance of appearing in ruins and cities.
Drowned have a chance to spawn with either a trident or a fishing rod, and occasionally with a nautilus shell. in Java Edition they also have a small chance of spawning while riding a chicken, even after drowning as a zombie, creating a drowned chicken jockey. They are the only zombie variant within the game that cannot spawn naturally with any armor.
Ocean ruins[edit]
Drowned spawn during the generation of certain ocean ruin structures. These drowned do not naturally despawn unless the world is set to Peaceful difficulty.
Conversion[edit]

If a zombie's head is submerged in water continuously for 30 seconds, it begins the process of converting to a drowned. 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 drowned. The drowned appears with full health even if the previous zombie did not.
If a zombie is holding or wearing a picked-up item when it becomes drowned, it drops the item it is holding or wearing. Items spawned with the zombie drop with the normal 8.5% +1% per Looting level. In Bedrock Edition only, an item being held or worn by a zombie when it becomes drowned, whether it was picked up or naturally spawned, has a 100% drop rate, which includes any naturally spawned equipment dropping with full durability.
Zombie villagers do not transform, and husks do not transform instantly; instead, they first transform into a regular zombie, and subsequently convert to a drowned in the usual fashion.
Drops[edit]
Drowned drop when they die:
- 5 and an additional 1–3 per naturally-spawned equipment. (12 during its time as a baby) if killed by the player or a tamed wolf.
- 0–2 rotten flesh (additional 1 maximum drop for every Looting level, up to 0–5 rotten flesh for Looting III).
- 1 gold ingot[until JE 1.17 & BE 1.17.0] or 1 copper ingot[upcoming: JE 1.17 & BE 1.17.0] if killed by the player.
- Java Edition: 5% (increased by 1% per Looting level)
- Bedrock Edition: 11% (increased by 2% per Looting level)
- 1 trident 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. This means that the player has a 0.53% chance to receive a trident without Looting, and a 0.71% chance to receive a trident with Looting III. The trident has random durability.
- Bedrock Edition: 25% chance (up to 37% chance with Looting III), only for drowned that spawn with a trident. This means that the player has a 3.75% chance to receive a trident without Looting, and a 5.55% chance to receive a trident with Looting III. The trident has random durability.
- 1 nautilus shell 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.
Naturally-spawned equipment[edit]
- Java Edition
For naturally-spawned drowned:
- Main hand (mutually exclusive):
- 6.25% spawn with a trident.
- 3.75% spawn with a fishing rod.
- Offhand: 3% of spawn with a nautilus shell in their offhand.
In Java Edition, converted drowned are never equipped with tridents or nautilus shells, although they can have fishing rods.
0.53125% (about 1 out of 188) naturally-spawned drowned drop a trident when killed without Looting, because only 6.25% (1 of 16) drowned spawn with tridents and from these, 8.5% drop the trident.
- Bedrock Edition
For naturally-spawned drowned:
- Main hand (mutually exclusive):
- 15% spawn with a trident.
- 0.85% spawn with a fishing rod.
- Offhand: 8% spawn with a nautilus shell in the offhand.
For converted drowned:
- 1% spawn with a fishing rod in the main hand.
- 8% spawn with a nautilus shell in the offhand (same as naturally spawned drowned).
Converted drowned are never equipped with tridents.
In Bedrock Edition, 3.75% (3 out of 80) naturally-spawned drowned drop a trident when killed without Looting, because 15% (3 of 20) drowned spawn with tridents and from these, 25% drop the trident.
Farming[edit]
Farms that convert zombies into drowned produce rotten flesh, gold ingots, fishing rods, copper ingots,[upcoming: JE 1.17 & BE 1.17.0] and nautilus shells.[BE only] A drowned farm must be designed to harvest naturally-spawned drowned to produce tridents and nautilus shells.
Behavior[edit]

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 20 blocks away. In 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[BE only] and iron golems within 16 blocks. 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 the daytime, but becomes hostile again at night. 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, the villager has a chance of turning into a zombie villager (with a 0% chance on Easy, 50% on Normal, and 100% on Hard).
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.[1]
Drowned can pick up other tridents that have not spawned with them. They also can pick it up the wrong way.
Swimming[edit]
Drowned 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 toward 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 using 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, they use the player's attacking animation. Still, they use the same swimming animation when tracking a player underwater.
Sounds[edit]
Sound | Subtitle | Source | Description | Namespaced ID | Translation key | Volume | Pitch | Attenuation distance |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Drowned gurgles | Hostile Creatures | Randomly from adult on land | entity.drowned.ambient | subtitles.entity.drowned.ambient | 0.9 | 0.8 - 1.2 | 16 | |
Drowned gurgles | Hostile Creatures | Randomly from baby on land | entity.drowned.ambient | subtitles.entity.drowned.ambient | 0.9 | 1.3 - 1.7 | 16 | |
Drowned gurgles | Hostile Creatures | Randomly from adult in water | entity.drowned.ambient_water | subtitles.entity.drowned.ambient_water | 0.9 | 0.8 - 1.2 | 16 | |
Drowned gurgles | Hostile Creatures | Randomly from baby in water | entity.drowned.ambient_water | subtitles.entity.drowned.ambient_water | 0.9 | 1.3 - 1.7 | 16 | |
Drowned dies | Hostile Creatures | Adult drowned dying on land | entity.drowned.death | subtitles.entity.drowned.death | 0.9 | 0.8 - 1.2 | 16 | |
Drowned dies | Hostile Creatures | Baby drowned dying on land | entity.drowned.death | subtitles.entity.drowned.death | 0.9 | 1.3 - 1.7 | 16 | |
Drowned dies | Hostile Creatures | Adult drowned dying in water | entity.drowned.death_water | subtitles.entity.drowned.death | 0.9 | 0.8 - 1.2 | 16 | |
Drowned dies | Hostile Creatures | Baby drowned dying in water | entity.drowned.death_water | subtitles.entity.drowned.death | 0.9 | 1.3 - 1.7 | 16 | |
Drowned hurts | Hostile Creatures | Adult drowned taking damage on land | entity.drowned.hurt | subtitles.entity.drowned.hurt | 0.9 | 0.8 - 1.2 | 16 | |
Drowned hurts | Hostile Creatures | Baby drowned taking damage on land | entity.drowned.hurt | subtitles.entity.drowned.hurt | 0.9 | 1.3 - 1.7 | 16 | |
Drowned hurts | Hostile Creatures | Adult drowned taking damage in water | entity.drowned.hurt_water | subtitles.entity.drowned.hurt | 0.9 | 0.8 - 1.2 | 16 | |
Drowned hurts | Hostile Creatures | Baby drowned taking damage in water | entity.drowned.hurt_water | subtitles.entity.drowned.hurt | 0.9 | 1.3 - 1.7 | 16 | |
Drowned throws Trident | Hostile Creatures | Drowned shooting trident | entity.drowned.shoot | subtitles.entity.drowned.shoot | 1.0 | 0.8 - 1.2 [check the code] | 16 | |
Drowned steps | Hostile Creatures | Drowned walking | entity.drowned.step | subtitles.entity.drowned.step | 0.15 | 1.0 | 16 | |
Drowned swims | Hostile Creatures | Drowned moving underwater | entity.drowned.swim | subtitles.entity.drowned.swim | Around 0.003[sound 1] | 0.6 - 1.4 | 16 |
- ↑ Depends on the drowned's velocity, around 0.003 when moving around underwater with no target.
Data values[edit]
ID[edit]
Name | Namespaced ID | Entity tags (JE) | Translation key |
---|---|---|---|
Drowned | drowned | axolotl_tempted_hostiles[upcoming: JE 1.17] | entity.minecraft.drowned |
Name | Namespaced ID | Numeric ID | Translation key |
---|---|---|---|
Drowned | drowned | 110 | entity.drowned.name |
Entity data[edit]
Drowned have entity data associated with them that contains various properties.
- Entity data
- Tags common to all entities
- Tags common to all mobs
- Tags common to all zombies
Achievements[edit]
Icon | Achievement | In-game description | Actual requirements (if different) | Gamerscore earned | Trophy type (PS) | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Monster Hunter | Attack and kill a monster. | Kill a hostile mob or one of the following neutral mobs: an enderman, a zombified piglin, a spider, or a cave spider. | 15G | Bronze |
Advancements[edit]
Icon | Advancement | In-game description | Parent | Actual requirements (if different) | Namespaced ID |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | Not Today, Thank You | Block a projectile using your shield. | Suit Up | Block any projectile with a shield. | story/deflect_arrow
|
![]() | Adventure | Adventure, exploration, and combat | — | Kill any entity, or be killed by any entity. | adventure/root
|
![]() | Monster Hunter | Kill any hostile monster | Adventure | Kill one of these 34 mobs:
| adventure/kill_a_mob
|
![]() | A Throwaway Joke | Throw a trident at something. Note: Throwing away your only weapon is not a good idea. | Monster Hunter | Hit an entity with a thrown trident. | adventure/throw_trident
|
![]() | Take Aim | Shoot something with an arrow | Monster Hunter | Using a bow or a crossbow, shoot an entity with an arrow, tipped arrow, or spectral arrow. | adventure/shoot_arrow
|
![]() | Monsters Hunted | Kill one of every hostile monster | Monster Hunter | Kill each of these 34 mobs:
| adventure/kill_all_mobs
|
History[edit]
The specific instructions are: Render of drowned in Bedrock Edition.
Java Edition | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1.13 | 18w11a | ![]() ![]() | |||
![]() | |||||
18w15a | Drowned now occasionally spawn with a nautilus shell. | ||||
18w16a | Drowned now spawn in underwater ruins. | ||||
18w22a | ![]() | ||||
1.14 | 18w43a | Drowned no longer spawn in swamps. | |||
19w05a | Drowned are now hostile toward the new wandering traders. | ||||
19w06a | The drowned's trident throwing animation has been changed from ![]() ![]() | ||||
19w07a | The drowned's trident throwing animation has been changed from ![]() ![]() | ||||
19w14a | Drowned no longer have a unique swimming animation.[3] | ||||
1.15 | 19w46a | Baby drowned can now be spawned using their spawn egg on the adult. | |||
Upcoming Java Edition | |||||
1.17 | 21w05a | Drowned now drop copper ingots instead of gold ingots. | |||
Bedrock Edition | |||||
1.4.0 | beta 1.2.13.8 | ![]() | |||
Drowned use lower-pitched zombie sounds as a placeholder. | |||||
beta 1.2.14.2 | ![]() | ||||
The drowned's face now glow in the dark. | |||||
Drowned now have their own sounds. | |||||
beta 1.2.20.1 | Drowned no longer drop sponge. | ||||
Baby drowned now burn in sunlight. | |||||
1.5.0 | beta 1.5.0.0 | Drowned are now present in normal gameplay, rather than only when experimental gameplay is enabled. | |||
Drowned now sometimes hold nautilus shells. | |||||
![]() | |||||
1.10.0 | beta 1.10.0.3 | Drowned are now hostile toward the new wandering traders. | |||
The number of drowned mobs that spawn has been reduced. | |||||
Drowned no longer spawn in swamps. | |||||
1.16.0 | beta 1.15.0.51 | Drowned can no longer have a trident when converted. | |||
Drowned without trident no longer drop a trident. | |||||
beta 1.16.0.51 | Drowned now have ability to pick up items. | ||||
Upcoming Bedrock Edition | |||||
1.16.210 | beta 1.16.210.57 | Drowned now drop copper ingots instead of gold ingots. | |||
Legacy Console Edition | |||||
TU69 | 1.76 | Patch 38 | ![]() ![]() | ||
![]() | |||||
1.91 | Drowned are now hostile toward the new wandering traders. |
Issues[edit]
Issues relating to "Drowned" are maintained on the bug tracker. Report issues there.
Trivia[edit]

- Drowned with tridents have sufficient range, accuracy, and rate of fire to hit players in boats, even if the boat travels at full speed. If the trident connects with the boat instead of the player, the boat is destroyed, reverting it to an item and dumping the player out. This can happen with little or no warning.
- Drowned are not considered as aquatic mobs, instead, they are considered as undead, unaffected by impaling enchantment.[Java Edition only]
- 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.[Java Edition only]
- In Bedrock Edition, drowned have a 3D outer layer. This causes their heads and arms to look larger than in Java Edition.
- Like spiders and endermen, drowned have eyes that appear to glow, although they do not produce light.
- When putting armor on a drowned using a dispenser, the helmet does not appear but still protects from sunlight.[Bedrock Edition only][verify]
Gallery[edit]
Screenshots[edit]
A drowned swimming in a river in Bedrock Edition.
A group of drowned attacking the player.
Drowned within a coral reef.
A drowned holding both a trident and a nautilus shell.
A drowned wearing armor. This occurs only on drowned zombies, not naturally spawned drowned.[Java Edition only]
Same posture as a player's, when holding a nautilus shell or anything else in their offhand.[Bedrock Edition only]
A drowned with a fishing rod.
In Other Media[edit]
Lego Minecraft Drowned.