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Duncan Geere Mojang avatar

"It's a weapon that is intended to be used underwater," Jens Bergensten told Tom back when the update was released. "You can both swing with it and throw it." Tridents are pretty strong – they deal more melee damage than a diamond sword. But be aware that they have the durability of an iron one. So if you find a trident, you might want to keep it for special occasions.

Duncan Geere[1]

A trident is a spear-like weapon that can be used in both melee and ranged combat and is a rare drop from drowned.

Obtaining

Tridents are not craftable. They must be picked up as a drop from a killed drowned.

Drowned

15% of drowned in Bedrock Edition (6.25% in Java Edition) spawn with a trident of random durability as their natural weapon, and they have an 8.5% chance of dropping the trident (increasing by 1% with each level of Looting). In Bedrock Edition[until BE 1.16.0], drowned can also drop a trident as one of its normal drops. They have a 11% chance of dropping either a gold ingot or trident when killed by a player or tamed wolf. This is increased by 1% per level of looting. This gives tridents the following chances of dropping

  • 11200 (5.5%)
  • 13200 (6.5%) with Looting I
  • 340 (7.5%) with Looting II
  • 17200 (8.5%) with Looting III

In Bedrock Edition[until BE Edition 1.16], a zombie converted to a drowned has a chance of carrying a trident that can be dropped. In Java Edition, only naturally-spawned drowned can spawn with a trident or have a chance of dropping one.

In Java Edition and ‌in Bedrock Edition 1.16[upcoming], trident held by a drowned has a chance to be enchanted, but the trident's enchantments have no effects for drowned.[2]

Thrown tridents

Tridents thrown onto the ground by a player can be picked up. However, tridents thrown by drowned cannot be picked up similarly to arrows shot by skeletons.

Usage

Drowned

Main article: Drowned

15% of drowned in Bedrock Edition, and 6.25% in Java Edition, spawn with a trident as its natural weapon. It throws the trident at its opponent every 1.5 seconds, dealing 9♥♥♥♥♥ damage in normal difficulty. A drowned can throw unlimited tridents, and these tridents cannot be picked up by the player.

A villager can be turned into a zombie villager if it is killed by a trident thrown by a drowned: the chance of conversion is 0% on Easy difficulty, 50% on Normal and 100% on Hard and Hardcore.

In Bedrock Edition, a drowned can use the trident's melee attack if its target is within three blocks. The melee attack deals 9♥♥♥♥♥ damage.

Melee attack

Pressing attack while holding a trident deals damage to both mobs and players. In Java Edition, tridents deal 2♥ more base melee damage than an unenchanted diamond sword. In Bedrock Edition, tridents deal 1♥ more base melee damage. The trident's durability decreases by 1 when used as a melee weapon.

Ranged attack

Steve aiming with TridentAlex aiming with Trident

Pressing and holding use while holding a trident charges the trident. When released at full charge, the trident is thrown and deals damage to any entity that it hits. It flies on a ballistic trajectory similar to that of an arrow, but at 80% strength. If the trident hits a block, it sticks to the block, and if it hits an entity, it bounces and lands nearby. It is also blocked by shields and can be retrieved once it lands in the ground. Thrown tridents can trigger wooden buttons and pressure plates. A trident can be thrown at a chorus flower to break it, which causes the chorus flower to be dropped as an item.

In Bedrock Edition and Java Edition Combat Test 4, tridents can be shot by dispensers.

Tridents enchanted with Loyalty return to the thrower after hitting a mob or a block. Higher levels of enchantment result in shorter recovery times. In Java Edition, throwing a trident enchanted with Loyalty into the void destroys it, while in Bedrock Edition it returns to the player. Tridents (if enchanted with Loyalty), can take fire damage but still return to the player if thrown in lava. This is especially helpful in the Nether if the player prefers a trident over a bow. If a trident enchanted with Loyalty attempts to return to a player with no available inventory space, the trident floats near the player until inventory space becomes available.

Thrown tridents take 1 durability damage, regardless of whether it hit an entity or not. A thrown trident that has no remaining durability cannot be picked up and does not return to the player if enchanted with Loyalty.

Tridents enchanted with Riptide launch the player a certain distance when thrown, with the distance increasing for higher enchantment levels. They can only be thrown if the player is standing in water or it is raining or snowing on the block they are standing on. If the player charges it but walks into a nearby dry area, the charge is canceled. If the player throws a Riptide trident and collides with a mob, the mob takes melee damage (including critical damage if the player is falling). Tridents enchanted with Riptide take one durability damage upon throwing, and an additional -1 durability if it collides with an entity.

Unlike other projectiles, the trident does not slow down when thrown through water or lava.

In Java Edition, the Impaling enchantment affects all water mobs. In Bedrock Edition, it deals extra damage to players and mobs in water or rain.

Unlike arrows, thrown tridents do not despawn.‌[Bedrock Edition only]

Magical damage

Using Riptide, nearby players or mobs deal splash damage within an 8.25×8.25×4.25 cubical area. It stacks with the Impaling enchantment and Strength effect. Critical hits don't increase splash damage but affect the target mob.

Oddly enough, in Bedrock Edition, thrown tridents can damage the ender dragon while resting on the bedrock fountain.

Damage

Thrown tridents and splashes deal 8♥♥♥♥ damage. The damage remains the same regardless of the trident's speed. It has a faster-charging speed than a bow or crossbow without enchantments.

Java Edition

In Java Edition, tridents have an attack speed of 1.1 and take ~0.91 seconds to recover.

Attack Melee Melee (critical) Range
Attack damage 9♥♥♥♥♥ 13♥ × 6.5 8♥♥♥♥
Damage/Second (DPS)[note 1] 9.9 14.3 ?
Lifetime damage inflicted[note 2] 2259♥ × 1129.5 3263♥ × 1631.5 2008♥ × 1004
Durability 250
  1. This does not take travel time into account
  2. The formula to find the total lifetime damage is Durability × Damage per hit = Lifetime damage minimum. It ignores enchantments and critical hits, and assumes the trident is at maximum charge

Bedrock Edition

In Bedrock Edition, tridents have no attack cooldown and do the following damage:

Attack Melee Range
Attack damage 9♥♥♥♥♥ 8♥♥♥♥
Lifetime damage inflicted[note 1] 2259♥ × 1129.5 2008♥ × 1004
Durability 251
  1. The formula to find the total lifetime damage is Durability × Damage per hit = Lifetime damage minimum. It excludes enchantments and critical hits.

Elytra

A trident with the Riptide enchantment can be used to propel the elytra, but only in rainy weather, during snowy weather in certain biomes[3] or while the player is in a body of water.

Impaling damage

In Java Edition, the Impaling enchantment deals extra damage to all water mobs. In Bedrock Edition, it deals extra damage to all players and mobs in water or rain.

Trident Damage by Impaling level
Level Increase Melee Ranged
I adds 2.5♥ × 1.25 11.5♥ × 5.75 10.5♥ × 5.25
II adds 5♥♥♥ 14♥ × 7 13♥ × 6.5
III adds 7.5♥ × 3.75 16.5♥ × 8.25 15.5♥ × 7.75
IV adds 10♥♥♥♥♥ 19♥ × 9.5 18♥ × 9
V adds 12.5♥ × 6.25 21.5♥ × 10.75 20.5♥ × 10.25

Enchantments

Tridents can receive the following enchantments:

Name Summary Max Level
Loyalty A thrown trident returns to the player after a few seconds. Incompatible with Riptide.[note 1] III
Channeling A thrown trident hitting a mob during a thunderstorm summons a lightning bolt. Incompatible with Riptide.[note 1] I
Riptide Throwing a trident when in water or rain propels the player. Deals water damage to entities hit with the riptide attack.‌[Bedrock Edition only] Incompatible with Loyalty and Channeling.[note 1] III
Impaling Deals extra melee or ranged damage to aquatic mobs (except Drowned because a Drowned is considered an undead mob.)‌[Java Edition only] or deal extra melee or ranged to any mobs in water or during rain.‌[Bedrock Edition only] V
Unbreaking Increases durability. III
Mending When trident is held, XP orbs collected repair it rather than increase the player's XP.[note 2] I
Curse of Vanishing

[Java Edition only]

When the player dies, the trident disappears instead of dropping on the ground.[note 2] I
Notes
  1. a b c Loyalty and Channeling are mutually exclusive from Riptide, but not from each other.
  2. a b Only available using enchanted books and an anvil.

Repairing

Tridents have the same durability as an iron sword. Whenever a trident deals damage, its durability decreases by 1.

Tridents can be repaired by:

  • combining two damaged tridents on a crafting table or the 2×2 inventory grid, which removes any enchantments.
  • combining two damaged tridents in the grindstone, which removes any enchantments.
  • combining a damaged trident with another trident on an anvil, which preserves enchantments.
  • the Mending enchantment.

Sounds

SoundSubtitlesSourceDescriptionResource locationTranslation keyVolumePitchAttenuation
distance
Trident stabs??item.trident.hitsubtitles.item.trident.hit??16
Trident vibrates??item.trident.hit_groundsubtitles.item.trident.hit_ground0.9?16
Trident clangs??item.trident.throwsubtitles.item.trident.throw??16

Data values

ID

Java Edition:

Trident Namespaced ID
Item trident
Entity trident

Bedrock Edition:

Trident Namespaced ID Numeric ID
Item trident 455
Entity thrown_trident 73

Entity data

See also: Chunk format

Tridents have entity data associated with them that contain various properties of the entity.

  • Entity data
    • Tags common to all arrows
    • Tags common to all entities
    • Tags common to all projectiles
    •  DealtDamage: 1 or 0 (true/false) - true if the trident has already damaged an entity or been stuck in the ground for more than 4 ticks, in which case subsequent collisions with entities deal no damage and Loyalty tridents begin to return to the player.
    •  Trident: The tag representing the item that is given when the entity is picked up.
      • Tags common to all items

Achievements

Icon Achievement In-game description Actual requirements (if different) Gamerscore earned Trophy type (PS4)
PS4 Other
Do a Barrel Roll!Use Riptide to give yourself a boostObtain a trident enchanted with Riptide and launch yourself any distance with it.30GSilver

Advancements

Icon Advancement In-game description Parent Actual requirements (if different) Resource location
Advancement-plain-rawNot Today, Thank You
Deflect a projectile with a Shield Suit UpBlock any projectile with a shield.story/deflect_arrow
Advancement-plain-rawA Throwaway Joke
Throw a Trident at something.
Note: Throwing away your only weapon is not a good idea.
Monster HunterHit a mob with a thrown trident.adventure/throw_trident
Advancement-plain-rawVery Very Frightening
Strike a Villager with lightning A Throwaway JokeHit a villager with lightning created by a trident with the Channeling enchantment.adventure/very_very_frightening
Advancement-fancy-rawSniper Duel
Kill a Skeleton from at least 50 meters away Take AimBe at least 50 blocks away horizontally when a skeleton is killed by an arrow after the player has attacked it once.adventure/sniper_duel
Advancement-fancy-rawBullseye
Hit the bullseye of a Target block from at least 30 meters away Take AimBe at least 30 blocks away horizontally when the center of a target is shot with a projectile by the player.adventure/bullseye

History

Java Edition
November 18, 2017A trident was shown killing a zombie in a clip presented at MineCon Earth.
1.1318w07aTrident Added tridents, which are currently unobtainable in survival.
18w10a Tridents now have a new texture in the inventory.
18w11aAdded drowned mobs, which can spawn with a trident, allowing tridents to now become obtainable in survival.
18w14aIf the player is not in water and it is not raining, the player can no longer throw tridents enchanted with Riptide, but they can still deal melee damage.
1.1418w43aThrown tridents can now break chorus flowers.
1.1519w39aEnchanted Trident Enchanted Trident (item) Tridents that are enchanted now have a glint.
Upcoming Java Edition
Combat Tests1.14.3 - Combat TestThe attack speed of tridents has been increased to 2.
The base damage of tridents has been decreased from 9♥♥♥♥♥ to 7♥♥♥♥.
The attack reach of tridents has been increased to 4 blocks.
Combat Test 2The damage of tridents has been increased to 8♥♥♥♥.
Combat Test 4Tridents can now be shot from dispensers.
Tridents with Loyalty that fall into the void now return to their owner upon breaking in the void.
Tridents with Impaling now deal enchantment damage to all mobs that are in water or rain.
Bedrock Edition
1.4.0beta 1.2.13.8Trident Added tridents.
Tridents are currently apart of Experimental Gameplay.
beta 1.2.14.2Tridents have been fully implemented.
beta 1.2.20.1A new animation has been added for tridents with Riptide when they are thrown has been added.
1.5.0beta 1.5.0.0Tridents can now be enchanted with Mending and Unbreaking.
beta 1.5.0.7Tridents no longer break blocks in Creative mode.
1.10.0beta 1.10.0.3Thrown tridents can now break chorus flowers.
Upcoming Bedrock Edition
1.16.0beta 1.15.0.51Drowned can no longer have a trident when converted.
Legacy Console Edition
TU69 1.76 Patch 38Trident Added tridents.
Education Edition
1.4.0Trident Added tridents.

Issues

Issues relating to "Trident" are maintained on the bug tracker. Report issues there.

Trivia

  • If a player throws a Loyalty-enchanted trident and the player's inventory subsequently fills, the trident hovers around or through the player's skin until an inventory slot opens, which it fills immediately. Multiple tridents can be 'queued' to re-enter the player's inventory in this manner.
  • In Java Edition in Creative mode, sword enchantments can be applied to tridents. This includes Sharpness, Smite, Bane of Arthropods, Fire Aspect, and Looting. Sharpness, Smite, and Bane of Arthropods increases their damage against their specific mobs, as well.[more information needed]
  • In Bedrock Edition, a piston moving a block with a trident thrown onto it moves the trident as well, damaging any mobs in the trident's path. This is considered player damage.[4] It would allow for AFK experience farms, although the trident(s) fall off after a few minutes due to MCPE-54852.
  • Thrown tridents pass through nether portal blocks without being transported to the Nether or the Overworld.
  • Tridents have the same attack damage as a Netherite Sword.

Gallery

References

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