Minecraft:Java Edition guides/Update Aquatic

This guide is a simplified overview of all the changes in Minecraft:Update Aquatic (Template:JE 1.13.x releases), which assumes at least some familiarity with the Minecraft:World of Color Update (Java Edition 1.12.x releases).

Mobs

New

Minecraft:Dolphin	File:Dolphin.png	All oceans except for frozen ones	Template:Drop Template:Xp (when killed by a Minecraft:player or tamed Minecraft:wolf)	Like Minecraft:wolves, they attack any player that attacks first. When fed Minecraft:raw cod, dolphins guide the player to the nearest Minecraft:ocean ruin or Minecraft:shipwreck. Players receive the Minecraft:Dolphin's Grace status effect when sprint-swimming near dolphins. This effect allows players to swim significantly faster underwater.
Minecraft:Turtle	File:Turtle.png	Any beaches except for cold ones	Template:Drop Template:Xp (when killed by a Minecraft:player or tamed Minecraft:wolf)	Can be bred with Minecraft:seagrass. After mating, one turtle travels back to its home beach to lay its eggs, regardless of the distance. Baby turtles drop one scute when they grow into an adult.
Minecraft:Cod	Template:Animate	Cold, warm, and lukewarm Minecraft:oceans, including deep variants	Template:ItemLink (1) Template:ItemLink (0–1) Template:Xp (when killed by a Minecraft:player or tamed Minecraft:wolf)	Group together with other cod, forming small schools. Can be captured with a Minecraft:water bucket, becoming a Minecraft:bucket of cod.
Minecraft:Salmon	Template:Animate	Cold and frozen oceans, and normal and frozen Minecraft:rivers	Template:ItemLink (1) Template:ItemLink (0–1) Template:Xp (when killed by a Minecraft:player or tamed Minecraft:wolf)	Group together with other salmon, forming small schools. Can be captured with a Minecraft:water bucket, becoming a Minecraft:bucket of salmon.
Minecraft:Pufferfish	Template:Animate	Lukewarm and warm oceans	Template:ItemLink (1) Template:ItemLink (0–1) Template:Xp (when killed by a Minecraft:player or tamed Minecraft:wolf)	Can be captured with a Minecraft:water bucket, becoming a Minecraft:bucket of pufferfish. Unlike other fish, pufferfish don't swim in schools.
Minecraft:Tropical fish	Template:Animate	Lukewarm and warm oceans	Template:ItemLink (1) (All tropical fish variants drop the same tropical fish item) Template:ItemLink (0–1) Template:Xp (when killed by a Minecraft:player or tamed Minecraft:wolf)	Group together with other tropical fish, forming small schools. Can be captured with a Minecraft:water bucket, becoming a Minecraft:bucket of tropical fish. Tropical fish retain their type when captured and placed again.
Minecraft:Drowned	File:Drowned.png	Spawn in all ocean, swamp and river biomes. Additionally, groups of drowned spawn in Minecraft:ocean ruins when the structures are first generated.	Template:Xp (Template:Xp if it's a baby), plus Template:Xp per equipment piece (when killed by a Minecraft:player or tamed Minecraft:wolf) Spawned equipment Template:Drop Template:Drop Template:Drop	During the day, drowned stay on the ground underwater, ignoring players on land no matter how close they may get, they only become hostile during daytime if the player touches Minecraft:water.
Minecraft:Phantom	File:Phantom.png	Spawn at night and during thunderstorms high above players who are above sea level, have no obstructions above them, and have not entered a bed for at least three ingame days.	Template:Drop Template:Xp (when killed by a Minecraft:player or tamed Minecraft:wolf)	Phantoms are the fastest mob in the Overworld. Players are unable to outrun them. A good strategy versus phantoms is to obstruct their path, since they fly up if they collide with any block during an attack. Minecraft:Cats hiss at phantoms that are currently attacking players, and phantoms try to stay at least 16 blocks away from them. Phantoms do not spawn if the player has a solid block above them, meaning they do not spawn around players underground or within enclosed structures. Additionally, they do not spawn if the player is below sea level. Sleeping through the night is not actually required. The statistic that controls their spawning is reset when the player leaves a bed, so simply entering and then leaving a bed is enough.

Changed

Minecraft:Undead mobs	Template:Animate	All undead mobs, excluding Minecraft:phantoms, now sink in water as opposed to floating to the surface. Minecraft:Skeleton horses can now be ridden underwater. Minecraft:Zombies, Minecraft:zombie villagers, Minecraft:husks, Minecraft:drowned, and Minecraft:zombie pigmen actively seek out and trample Minecraft:turtle eggs. Additionally, zombies, zombie villagers, husks, drowned, and Minecraft:skeletons actively seek out and attempt to kill baby Minecraft:turtles.
Minecraft:Husk	128px|center 84px|center	Turn into Minecraft:zombies when underwater for a period of time.
Minecraft:Zombie	File:Zombie JE2 BE1.png 84px|center	Convert into drowned after being underwater for at least 30 seconds. Baby zombies now burn in daylight like other undead mobs.
Minecraft:Squid	84px|center	Now release ink when injured by the player. Now spawn only in Minecraft:rivers, Minecraft:oceans, and Minecraft:beaches.

Blocks

New

Minecraft:Blue ice	File:Blue Ice JE1 BE1.png	Additionally it can be found naturally as part of Minecraft:icebergs.	Pickaxe (only drops with Minecraft:Silk Touch)	Can be used as a decorative block. Like packed ice, blue ice does not melt. Has the lowest friction compared to any other block, including packed and regular ice.
Minecraft:Conduit	File:Conduit.png		Any	Gives the Minecraft:Conduit Power status effect when powered. Click on the link to the Conduit page listed to the left for more information
Minecraft:Coral, dead coral, Minecraft:coral fan, dead coral fan, Minecraft:coral block, and dead coral block	Template:Animate Template:Animate Template:Animate Template:Animate Template:Animate Template:Animate	Coral, coral fans, and coral blocks can be found in Minecraft:coral reefs. Coral and coral fans can be created by applying bone meal to Minecraft:dirt, Minecraft:coarse dirt, Minecraft:sand, Minecraft:red sand, or Minecraft:gravel underwater in a Minecraft:warm ocean biome. Dead coral, dead coral fans, and dead coral blocks can be obtained by placing their living variety in any area not directly adjacent to water. Alternatively dead coral blocks can be obtained by being mined with a pickaxe not enchanted with Minecraft:Silk Touch.	Coral, dead coral, coral fans, and dead coral fans can be broken with any tool as well as by hand. Coral blocks can be mined with any pickaxe enchanted with Silk Touch. Dead coral blocks can be mined with any pickaxe.	Can be used as decorative blocks.
Minecraft:Dried kelp block	File:Dried Kelp Block JE1 BE2.png		Any	Can be crafted into nine Minecraft:dried kelp. Can be used as a fuel in a furnace; can smelt twenty items.
Minecraft:Kelp	File:Kelp.gif	Found growing underwater in all Minecraft:ocean biomes.	Any	Can be broken to obtain kelp items.
Minecraft:Seagrass	File:Seagrass JE1 BE2.gif File:Tall Seagrass JE1 BE2.gif	Found growing underwater in all ocean biomes, except the frozen ones, as well as rivers and swamps. Created by using bone meal underwater.	Shears	A decorative block. Can be used to breed Minecraft:turtles.
Minecraft:Sea pickles	Template:Animate	Can be found in Minecraft:warm oceans as well as part of Minecraft:coral reefs. Can be grown by placing one sea pickle on a coral block underwater and applying bone meal to the sea pickle.	Any	Can be used for decoration. Emits 3 light levels for every sea pickle in the block while underwater, does not emit light while outside of water.
Minecraft:Turtle eggs	Template:Animate	Can be obtained by breeding Minecraft:turtles.	Any (only drops with Minecraft:Silk Touch)	Hatch into baby turtles.
Minecraft:Bubble column	File:Bubble Column JE1 BE1.png	Created by magma blocks and soul sand placed underwater.	N/A	Bubble columns produced by magma blocks pull entities downwards. Bubble columns produced by soul sand push entities upwards.
Minecraft:Prismarine, Minecraft:prismarine brick and Minecraft:dark prismarine Minecraft:slab and Minecraft:stairs	Template:Animate Template:Animate		Pickaxe	Can be used as decorative blocks.
Minecraft:Wood	Template:Animate		Axe	Can be used as a decorative block. Can be crafted into planks of the same wood type.
Minecraft:Stripped log	Template:Animate	Can be obtained by right clicking any log with any tier of Minecraft:axe, this consumes one durability on the axe.	Axe	Can be used as a decorative block. Can be crafted into planks of the same wood type.
Minecraft:Stripped wood	Template:Animate	Can be obtained by right clicking any wood with any tier of Minecraft:axe, this consumes one durability on the axe.	Axe	Can be used as a decorative block. Can be crafted into planks of the same wood type.
Minecraft:Trapdoors for all wood types	Template:Animate		Axe	Can be opened and closed.
Minecraft:Pressure plates for all wood types	Template:Animate		Axe	Produce a redstone signal when stepped on.
Minecraft:Buttons for all wood types	Template:Animate		Axe	Produce a redstone signal when pressed.
Minecraft:Pumpkin	84px|center	Now generates throughout the world without carved faces on any sides. Can be grown using Minecraft:pumpkin seeds.	Axe	Can be used for everything the pumpkin could be used for previously, except for being worn.
Purple Minecraft:shulker box	84px|center		Any	Used in the same way as all other shulker boxes. Has a darker purple color than the non-dyed variant.

Changed

Most of the semi-transparent blocks		Can now have water placed within them by right clicking them with a Minecraft:water bucket. This mechanic is called Minecraft:waterlogging.
Minecraft:Carved pumpkin	84px|center	Name changed from pumpkin to carved pumpkin. Now obtained by using Minecraft:shears on a pumpkin to carve the face into a side. Can no longer be used to craft Minecraft:pumpkin pie.
Minecraft:Shulker box	Template:Animate	Purple shulker box is now a regular shulker box. Purple shulker box can be crafted with a shulker box and purple dye. Shulker boxes can now be undyed with cauldrons, similar to leather Minecraft:armor.
Minecraft:Packed ice	84px|center	Can now be crafted with nine Minecraft:ice.

Items

New

Minecraft:Buried treasure map	Template:Animate	Found in Minecraft:ocean ruins loot chests.	Can be used to find Minecraft:buried treasure.
Minecraft:Bucket of fish	Template:Animate	Obtained by using a water bucket on a fish.	Can be used to spawn the respective fish type.
Minecraft:Heart of the sea	84px|center	Found in all buried treasure chests in stacks of one.	One of the ingredients for crafting the Minecraft:conduit.
Minecraft:Nautilus shell	84px|center	Drowned occasionally spawn holding a nautilus shell in their off-hand, which they drop when killed. Can be caught as a treasure item from Minecraft:fishing.	One of the ingredients for crafting the conduit.
Minecraft:Kelp	84px|center	Found growing underwater in all Minecraft:ocean biomes.	Can be smelted in a furnace to obtain dried kelp.
Minecraft:Dried kelp	84px|center		Can be eaten to regain one hunger point. It can be eaten faster than any other food. Can also be crafted into a Minecraft:dried kelp block.
Scute	84px|center	Dropped by baby Minecraft:turtles when growing into an adult.	Can be used to craft a Minecraft:turtle shell.
Minecraft:Turtle shell	84px|center		Can be worn as a helmet. When worn, provides ten seconds of Minecraft:Water Breathing while the player is out of water or in a Minecraft:bubble column, which starts counting down when the player goes underwater. Can be brewed into a Minecraft:potion of the Turtle Master.
Minecraft:Trident	84px|center 84px|center	Can be dropped by drowned as part of their naturally spawned equipment.	Used as a melee or ranged weapon. Most effective weapon underwater. When enchanted with Minecraft:Channeling, it can be used to turn Minecraft:creepers into charged creepers, Minecraft:pigs into zombie pigmen, and Minecraft:villagers into Minecraft:witches during Minecraft:thunderstorms. When enchanted with Minecraft:Impaling, it does more damage to aquatic mobs (drowned don't count). When enchanted with Minecraft:Loyalty, it returns to the player when thrown. When enchanted with Minecraft:Riptide, it takes the player with it when thrown underwater or in rain.
Minecraft:Phantom membrane	84px|center	Dropped by Minecraft:phantoms when killed.	Repairing Minecraft:elytra on an Minecraft:anvil. Can be brewed into a Minecraft:potion of Slow Falling.
Minecraft:Spawn eggs for all new mobs	Template:Animate	Obtained from the creative inventory.	Can be used to spawn the respective mob.
Minecraft:Debug stick	File:Debug Stick.gif	Only available with commands.	Can be used to change block states.

Changed

Minecraft:Elytra

File:Elytra JE1 BE1.png File:Broken Elytra (item) JE1 BE1.png

Now requires the Minecraft:phantom membrane to be repaired.

Potions

New

Minecraft:Potion of Slow Falling		Minecraft:Slow Falling
Minecraft:Potion of the Turtle Master		Minecraft:Slowness IV Minecraft:Resistance III

Effects

New

Minecraft:Slow Falling	File:Slow Falling JE1 BE1.png	Slow Falling potions	Reduces falling speed and fall damage.
Minecraft:Conduit Power	File:Conduit Power JE1 BE1.png	Conduits	Provides water breathing, night vision and haste while underwater.
Minecraft:Dolphin's Grace	File:Dolphin's Grace JE1.png	Dolphins	Increases swimming speed.

Enchantments

New

Minecraft:Impaling	V	Template:ItemSprite	None	None	Increases damage against aquatic mobs.
Minecraft:Channeling	I	Template:ItemSprite	None	Riptide	Causes a lightning strike where the trident hits.
Minecraft:Loyalty	III	Template:ItemSprite	None	Riptide	Causes the trident to return to the owner once thrown.
Minecraft:Riptide	III	Template:ItemSprite	None	Loyalty, Channeling	Allows the player to propel themselves through water and rain.

Structures

New

Minecraft:Shipwreck	File:Shipwreck Jungle (With Mast) JE1 BE1.png	Underwater	Yes	Drowned	An underwater structure resembling a sunken ship.
Minecraft:Ocean ruins	Template:Animate	Underwater	Yes	Drowned	An underwater structure resembling a ruined building.
Minecraft:Coral reef	File:Coral Reef.png	Warm oceans	No	Tropical fish, pufferfish	A large growth of coral on the ocean floor.
Minecraft:Iceberg	File:Iceberg.png	Frozen oceans	No	Polar bears	A large chunk of ice and snow floating in the ocean.

Biomes

New

Minecraft:Cold ocean	184px|center	Like the Minecraft:frozen ocean, this variant has a Minecraft:gravel seabed, with the occasional patch of Minecraft:sand or Minecraft:dirt. Additionally this ocean biome has dark indigo Minecraft:water. It is home to Minecraft:kelp, Minecraft:seagrass, Minecraft:cod, Minecraft:salmon, and Minecraft:dolphins.	Cold Minecraft:underwater ruins Minecraft:Shipwrecks
Minecraft:Deep cold ocean	184px|center	Similar to the cold ocean, but twice as deep and can generate Minecraft:ocean monuments.	Cold underwater ruins Shipwrecks Minecraft:Ocean monuments
Minecraft:Frozen ocean	184px|center	A partially frozen area of ocean, with large, broken up sheets of Minecraft:ice covering the water. This variant of ocean has a gravel seabed and is home to kelp, seagrass, Minecraft:squid, salmon, Minecraft:strays, and Minecraft:polar bears.	Cold underwater ruins Shipwrecks Minecraft:Icebergs
Minecraft:Deep frozen ocean	184px|center	Similar to the frozen ocean, but twice as deep and can generate ocean monuments.	Cold underwater ruins Shipwrecks Icebergs Ocean monuments
Minecraft:Lukewarm ocean	184px|center	This ocean variant can be recognized by its light teal water and sandy seabed. It is home to kelp, seagrass, Minecraft:pufferfish, dolphins, Minecraft:tropical fish, and cod.	Warm underwater ruins Shipwrecks
Minecraft:Deep lukewarm ocean	184px|center	Similar to the lukewarm ocean, but twice as deep and can generate ocean monuments.	Warm underwater ruins Shipwrecks Ocean monuments
Minecraft:Warm ocean	184px|center	An ocean variant with bright teal water at the surface. It can contain coral reefs, sea pickles, seagrass, dolphins, tropical fish and pufferfish. It does not have a deep variant.	Minecraft:Coral reefs Warm underwater ruins Shipwrecks
Minecraft:Small end islands	184px|center	This biome is part of the outer Minecraft:End islands. They're between the bigger islands, which can be accessed easily by end gateway portals.	Minecraft:End gateway portals

Music tracks

Note: these track previews have been shortened to 30 seconds on the wiki due to an agreement with the author to allow them on the wiki

New

Axolotl	Underwater	"Axolotl"	File:Axolotl.ogg
Dragon Fish	Underwater	"Dragon Fish"	File:Dragon Fish.ogg
Shuniji	Underwater	"Shuniji"	File:Shuniji.ogg

Water

The physics for Minecraft:water have also been changed, and the way the player interacts with water has also changed.

Swimming

There is now an actual swimming animation used by the player while underwater, which can be activated by sprinting underwater. This also allows the player to move in any direction they are looking including down. Players who cannot sprint, i.e. are too hungry to sprint, cannot swim. Crouching underwater also allows the player to descend at a faster rate.

While swimming, players can go through one block gaps similar to when using an Minecraft:elytra.

Item and experience

Items and experience orbs now float to the surface of water rather than sink, this makes dying underwater easier to deal with because all of the player's items now wait at the surface. This also allows for easy vertical item transportation.

Bubble columns

Minecraft:Magma and Minecraft:soul sand now make Minecraft:bubble columns when placed underwater. Magma naturally generates in Minecraft:underwater ruins and where underwater ravines meet lava, while soul sand does not currently generate naturally in oceans. Players are able to breathe while in bubble columns.

Magma bubble columns pull things down to the bottom; this includes items, players, mobs, and boats. Soul sand bubble columns rapidly push all entities, including players, to the surface.

Breath

The breath meter no longer instantly refills when entering air from underwater; this means it is no longer possible to instantly refill the air meter with a torch while underwater.

Vision

Water has been given unique colors depending on the biome they are in. Water is also now clearer, and the longer the player is underwater the clearer it becomes.