Slimes are bouncy cube-shaped hostile mobs that spawn in the swamp and, occasionally, deep underground.
Spawning
Slimes spawn in the Overworld in specific "slime chunks" below layer 40, regardless of light levels. They can also spawn in swamp biomes between layers 50 and 70 in light levels of 7 or less.
Only sizes 1, 2, and 4 spawn naturally. With use of /summon, slimes can potentially range from size 1 to 256 (NBT Size tag 0–255).
Slimes do not spawn within 24 blocks (spherical) of any player, despawn over time if no player is within 32 blocks, and despawn instantly if no player is within 128 blocks.
Slimes require two vertical, transparent blocks (such as air, signs, or torches, but excluding Redstone-related items[more information needed]) to spawn in, with an opaque block underneath. The space they spawn in must also be clear of solid obstructions and liquids.[more information needed] Big slimes require a 3×2.5×3 space to spawn, medium slimes require a 3×2×3 space, and small slimes require a 1×2×1 space (or 1×1×1 if the upper block is not opaque).[1]
Slime size is affected by regional difficulty: chances range from 33% for each size at the low difficulty to 16% small, 33% medium, and 50% big with higher difficulty.
Swamps
In swamps, slimes may spawn at night between the heights of 50 and 70 when the provided light level is 7 or less. They spawn most often on a full moon, and never on a new moon. Slimes spawn in the normal swamp, but not in its variant, swamp hills.
More precisely, the game checks two factors:
- If the light level is equal to or less than a random integer (from 0 to 7)
- If the fraction of the moon that is bright is greater than a random number (from 0 to 1)
If these conditions are met and the altitude is acceptable, there is a 50% chance of spawning a slime.
"Slime chunks"
Slimes spawn throughout the world (except mushroom islands) below level Y=40 regardless of light level, but only in certain chunks; 1⁄10 of all chunks. These "slime chunks" are determined pseudo-randomly by combining their chunk coordinates with the seed of the world:
import java.util.Random;
public class checkSlimechunk{
public static void main(String args[])
{
// the seed from /seed as a 64bit long literal
long seed = 12345L;
int xPosition = 123;
int zPosition = 456;
Random rnd = new Random(
seed +
(int) (xPosition * xPosition * 0x4c1906) +
(int) (xPosition * 0x5ac0db) +
(int) (zPosition * zPosition) * 0x4307a7L +
(int) (zPosition * 0x5f24f) ^ 0x3ad8025f
);
System.out.println(rnd.nextInt(10) == 0);
}
}
That is, using the chunk coordinates to help generate a seed, a random number between 0 and 9 inclusive is generated. If that number is 0, the chunk can spawn slimes. To convert world coordinates to chunk coordinates, divide by 16 and round down. Note that xPosition, and zPosition are 32-bit integers (ints).
Bedrock Edition
The slime chunk algorithm in Bedrock Edition is different from in Java Edition. The algorithm doesn't depend on the world seed, thus the chunks that slimes can naturally spawn in are the same for every world.[2]
Drops
If a slime's size is 1, it drops 0-2 slimeballs. This can be increased by 1 per level of Looting, for a maximum of 5 slimeballs.
Slimes also drop experience points equal to their size. 1, 2 or 4
Behavior
Dripping slime
Slimes move by hopping, which they do every 10 to 30 ticks (1⁄2 to 1 1⁄2 seconds), and can swim in water and climb ladders. Unlike other mobs, slimes continue moving when no players are nearby. Their exact routine is as follows:
The slime searches for a player (or, failing that, an iron golem or snow golem) within 16 blocks (spherical) distance.
- If no target is found, the slime waits 10 to 30 ticks (1⁄2 to 1 1⁄2 seconds). Then it changes direction by a random amount up to 57.26° (1 radian) left or right, jump forward, and repeat the process.
- If a target is found, the delay before jumping is 1⁄3 as long (3 to 10 ticks), and the slime's direction is set directly toward the target before jumping.
A slime's health is equal to its size squared, and its dimensions are 0.51 blocks times its size in each dimension. When a slime attacks, it deals damage equal to its size, except for size 1 (smallest) slimes. Small slimes do not prevent sleeping.
A slime's jump distance also depends on its size; a slime jumps a distance slightly farther than its length. When landing, a number of slime particles 1⁄8 its size appears.
When the player kills a slime and the slime's size is larger than 1, it dies and spawns 2-4 new slimes equivalent to its size divided by 2, rounding down.
A slime's attack speed is twice that of other melee-combat mobs. This speed is noticeable when the slime has the player cornered at a wall. Mobs like zombies and spiders attack at a rate of one hit per second, while slimes attack at a rate of two hits per second. Slimes damage all players and iron golems[JE only] they collide with, unlike other mobs that damage only those targets they specifically attack.
Sounds
| Sound | Subtitles | Source | Description | Resource location | Translation key | Volume | Pitch | Attenuation distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Slime attacks | ? | ? | entity | subtitles | ? | ? | 16 | |
| Slime dies | ? | ? | entity | subtitles | ? | ? | 16 | |
| Slime dies | ? | ? | entity | subtitles | ? | ? | 16 | |
| Slime hurts | ? | ? | entity | subtitles | ? | ? | 16 | |
| Slime hurts | ? | ? | entity | subtitles | ? | ? | 16 | |
| Slime squashes | ? | ? | entity | subtitles | ? | ? | 16 | |
| None | None[sound 1] | ? | ? | entity | None[sound 1] | ? | ? | ? |
| Slime squashes | ? | ? | entity | subtitles | ? | ? | 16 | |
| None | None[sound 1] | ? | ? | entity | None[sound 1] | ? | ? | ? |
- ↑ a b c d Reports on Mojira.
Data values
Slimes have entity data associated with them that contain various properties of the mob.
- Entity data
- Tags common to all entities
- Tags common to all mobs
- Size: The size of the slime. Note that this value is zero-based, so 0 is the smallest slime, 1 is the next larger, etc. The sizes that spawn naturally are 0, 1, and 3. Values that are greater than 126 get clamped to 126.
- wasOnGround: 1 or 0 (true/false) - true if the slime is touching the ground.
Advancements
| Icon | Advancement | In-game description | Parent | Actual requirements (if different) | Resource location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | 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
|
![]() | Monsters Hunted | Kill one of every hostile monster | Monster Hunter | Kill each of these 34 mobs:
| adventure/kill_all_mobs
|
Video
History
| alpha | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| v1.0.11 | | ||||
| Slimes are the fifth hostile mob added to the game. | |||||
| There are four sizes of slimes: small, medium, big and huge. Their exact size values in comparison to modern slimes is unknown. | |||||
| v1.0.12 | Big slimes no longer spawn in peaceful. | ||||
| Slimes now have sound effects. | |||||
| The targeting and attacking of slimes has been fixed. | |||||
| Huge slimes no longer spawn naturally. | |||||
| v1.0.13 | | ||||
| v1.0.14 | Slime spawning has been reduced as they now appear in abundance. | ||||
| A miscalculation in the new limit has now caused slimes to spawn only in strange locations, so natural slime spawning has been disabled. | |||||
| v1.0.17 | Slimes now spawn in multiplayer. | ||||
| v1.2.0 | Slime spawning has been completely disabled. | ||||
| beta | |||||
| 1.2_01 | Slimes have been returned to the game. | ||||
| Small slimes now drop 0 - 2 slimeballs.[3] | |||||
| Slimes are currently rare. | |||||
| 1.3 | Slimes have now become more common. | ||||
| 1.4 | A multiplayer bug has been fixed where slimes split were visible only to the player that caused them to split and would not take any damage. [4] Because these slimes were client-side, the player could remove them only by exiting and logging back into the server. | ||||
| 1.5 | Slimes no longer spawn in peaceful difficulty and attack only when provoked. | ||||
| Java Edition | |||||
| 1.0.0 | Beta 1.9 Prerelease 5 | Slimes now spawn on levels 0-39 rather than 0-16, making them much more common. | |||
| 1.1 | 11w49a | Added slime spawn egg, allowing the player to spawn slimes. | |||
| 1.3.1 | 12w15a | The slime spawning rate in superflat worlds has been decreased. | |||
| 12w25a | The slime spawning rate in superflat worlds has been decreased, even more. | ||||
| 1.4.2 | 12w38a | Slimes now have a new mob sound, the same as magma cubes, to make the sounds more realistic. | |||
| 12w40a | Slimes are now easier to find as they spawn in swamp biomes at low light level. Since slimes can't swim, it is quite likely that they jump in deep water and eventually drown. | ||||
| 1.5 | 13w10a | Slime spawn rates in swamps now depend on the current moon phase. | |||
| 1.7.2 | ? | Huge slimes can now spawn while summoning with a command block. | |||
| 1.8 | 14w06b | Slimes can now swim as a result of the update to the new AI. | |||
| Slimes now randomly change direction every so often, reducing the chance of them getting stuck in walls or corners. | |||||
| Slimes now randomly despawn over time if no player is within a 32 block range. | |||||
| The jumping mechanics of slimes have been changed. The distance they are able to jump corresponds to their size; they jump approximately the same distance as the length they are. They also turn and face their whole body to the player while attacking. | |||||
| 1.11 | 16w32a | The entity ID for slimes has been changed from Slime to slime. | |||
| 1.14 | 18w43a | | |||
| Upcoming Java Edition | |||||
| 1.16 | 20w06a | Small slimes now make sounds again when moving.[5] | |||
| Pocket Edition Alpha | |||||
| 0.9.0 | build 1 | | |||
| build 2 | Slimes now have sounds. | ||||
| Slimes now spawn naturally. | |||||
| 0.10.0 | build 1 | Slimes now have bouncing animations. | |||
| 0.12.1 | build 1 | Slimes now have particles when jumping. | |||
| Slimes now drop slimeballs.[verify] | |||||
| 0.13.0 | build 3 | The spawning of slimes has been improved. | |||
| Bedrock Edition | |||||
| ? | Slimes spawn commonly in flat worlds. | ||||
| 1.10.0 | beta 1.10.0.3 | | |||
| Legacy Console Edition | |||||
| TU1 | CU1 | 1.0 | Patch 1 | | |
| TU14 | 1.04 | The slime spawning rate in superflat worlds has been decreased. | |||
| PlayStation 4 Edition | |||||
| 1.90 | | ||||
| New Nintendo 3DS Edition | |||||
| 0.1.0 | | ||||
Issues
Issues relating to "Slime" are maintained on the bug tracker. Report issues there.
Trivia
- A player can earn a maximum of 28 experience points from killing one slime and all the slimes that split from it: 4 experience from the largest, 8 experience from the 4 it splits into, and 16 experience from the 4 each of those split into.
- A named large slime that dies produces smaller slimes with the same name.
- In Java Edition, with commands, the size of slimes can be customized. Sizes go from 1 up to 256; the size-256 slime is the largest of any mob in the game, bigger than the ender dragon.
- Small slimes are the weakest of all mobs; they have only 1 health point and deal no damage, despite being a hostile mob. Tiny slimes make for a rather popular pet mob, though they must be named or else they will despawn if the player goes too far away. The same is also true with tiny Magma Cubes, though they are significantly harder to get into the overworld compared to tiny slimes.
- Because a slime's movement speed is tied to its size it becomes impossible for the player to outrun a size 8 slime on flat ground without potion effects.
- When a slime is searching for nearby players for the purposes of attacking them or checking to see if it should despawn, it checks not from its outer edges, but instead from a point in the center of its hitbox on the x and z-axis and the bottom of its y-axis. This means when a slime is spawned with a huge custom size it can be right in front of the player and be completely passive, it may even despawn despite its outer edge being less than a block away if the slime is large enough.
Gallery
Slimes of various sizes underground.
Big slime covering a minecart.
Slimes as seen on a Superflat world.
A group of slimes within a village.
Slimes spawn in swamps.
- Old slime skin.png
The original texture file for slimes.
See also
- Magma Cube – a similar mob that spawns only in the Nether
References
- ↑ http://www.minecraftforum.net/topic/385523-slime-spawning/
- ↑ The Bedrock Edition slime chunk algorithm was reverse engineered by @protolambda and @jocopa3 and can be found on GitHub:[1]
- ↑ http://getsatisfaction.com/mojang/topics/will_slimes_ever_return_to_minecraft
- ↑ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyNvBkn4E3U
- ↑ MC-97958

















