Fish are aquatic creatures that are found in river and ocean biomes.
Mobs
There are four categories of fish mobs in Minecraft:
- Cod
- Salmon
- Pufferfish
- Tropical Fish - many color and pattern varieties
In addition, there are other fish-like mobs that have different characteristics from fish: Axolotl, Guardian, and Elder Guardian.
Obtaining and transporting
A live fish can be captured by using a water bucket on a fish, to obtain a bucket of fish, which is the only way to obtain the live mob in item form. Using the bucket of fish on a water source block transfers the fish from the bucket to the body of water. A water bucket may also be used on axolotls in this manner.
Items
Fish exist in several different item forms.
- Non-living
- Living
Spawning
Fish can be found in river and ocean biomes. All types of fish appear in oceans, but only salmon appears in rivers. They can also spawn in player-created bodies of water, as long as they are within river or ocean biomes. Upon death, they drop the raw equivalent of their meat, with a chance to drop a bone[Bedrock Edition only] or bone meal.[Java Edition only]
In Java Edition, Fish will not spawn in bubble columns generated by soul sand or magma blocks, although a bug in 1.18 and 1.18.1 did permit this behaviour.[1] In contrast, Bedrock Edition does permit fish to spawn in bubble columns[2]
Fish can spawn between 24 (cylindrical) and 64 (spherical) blocks away from the player.[Java Edition only]
Despawning
As of 1.16, fish can despawn at range of 40 blocks or more from the player, and will instantly despawn more than 64 blocks away, except when spawned using a bucket of fish.