Drowned (2024)

For the mob in Minecraft Dungeons, see MCD:Drowned.

This article is about the zombie variant. For drowning, see Damage§Drowning.

Drowned are common underwater zombie variants that spawn in oceans, rivers and dripstone caves, or when zombies drown. They usually attack through melee attacks, but may also come armed with tridents that they throw. They are the only source of tridents, and the only renewable source of copper.

Spawning[]

Natural generation[]

Drowned spawn naturally at light level of 0 in all ocean biomes, aquifiers in the dripstone caves biome, and river biomes. They spawn at higher rates in rivers and dripstone caves than in ocean biomes.

In Java Edition, drowned spawn individually inside flowing water or source water that is 2 blocks or taller (this can include waterlogged blocks). 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. 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 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, creating a drowned chicken jockey. They are the only zombie variant within the game that cannot spawn naturally with any armor. The only way drowned can spawn with armor is if they used to be a zombie with armor. Their eyes give off a glow effect, but not any light levels.

Ocean ruins[]

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[]

If a zombie's head (not the legs) 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.

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.

Only normal zombies can transform, while zombie villagers and zombified piglin can not. For husks, they first transform into a regular zombie, and subsequently convert to a drowned in the usual fashion. The zombie that converted from a husk also always has full health even if converted from a damaged husk.

Drops[]

Drowned drop 0–2 Rotten flesh after dying. The maximum drop is increased by 1 per level of Looting, for a maximum of 0-5 with Looting III.

Adult drowned drop 5 and an additional 1–3 per naturally-spawned equipment if killed by a player or tamed wolf. Baby drowned drop 12 and an additional 1–3 per naturally-spawned equipment if killed by a player or tamed wolf.

They can also drop:

• 1 Copper ingot (11% chance, increased by 2% per Looting level) if killed by a player or tamed wolf.
• 1 Helmet, Chestplate, Leggings, and/or Boots.‌^{[Bedrock Edition only]}

Any picked-up equipment has a 100% chance of dropping, and drops without changing the damage that has accumulated on it.

If a drowned is able to pick up equipment and is wielding a trident, it can trade its trident for a nautilus shell if it is not currently attacking anything.^{[Bedrock Edition only]}

Naturally-spawned equipment[]

Java Edition

For naturally-spawned drowned:

• Main hand (mutually exclusive):
  • 6.25% spawn with a trident. May be enchanted.
  • 3.75% spawn with a fishing rod. May be enchanted.
• Offhand:
  • 3% spawn with a nautilus shell in their offhand.

Only 6.25% (or 1 in 16) drowned spawn with tridents. Of these, they have an 8.5% chance to drop their trident when killed by a player. The chance is increased by 1% for each level of looting up to a max of 11.5% with Looting III. This means the overall chance of obtaining a trident from any given drowned is 0.53125% (about 1 in 188) or 0.71875% with looting III.

Nautilus shells always drop.

Converted drowned are never equipped with any items.

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.

Only 15% (or 3 in 20) drowned spawn with tridents. Of these, they have a 25% chance to drop their trident when killed by a player. This chance is increased by 4% for each level of looting up to a max of 37% with looting III. This means the overall chance of obtaining a trident from any given drowned is 3.75% (or 3 in 80) or 5.55% with looting III.

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.

On Halloween, zombies may spawn wearing a carved pumpkin or jack o'lantern‌^{[Java Edition only]}. They do not drop this, even when killed with Looting.

Farming[]

Farms that convert zombies into drowned produce all of naturally-spawned equipment dropped by zombies, as well as fishing rods, copper ingots, and (in Bedrock Edition) nautilus shells. A drowned farm must be designed to harvest naturally-spawned drowned to produce tridents in all game editions and nautilus shells in Java Edition.

Behavior[]

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. Thrown tridents cannot be picked up by the player for the same reason skeleton-shot arrows cannot be picked up by the player. In Bedrock Edition, drowned with tridents use a melee attack if the target is 3 blocks away or less.

They are always hostile toward axolotls, and like other zombie variants, they chase and attack villagers, wandering traders, snow golems,‌^{[BE only]} baby turtles and iron golems at night or in dark areas.

Drowned detect turtle eggs within 10 blocks in Bedrock Edition and 24 blocks in Java Edition. They stomp on turtle eggs until the eggs break. Drowned can even jump over a 1-block gap to reach a turtle egg successfully, even if the egg is raised 1 block higher than the gap.

If on land, drowned seek out nearby water. They sometimes step onto land but quickly return to the water.

During the day, drowned swim only to attack players that are in any water; otherwise, they stay on the floor of the water body they are in, ignoring players on land, in a boat or that have attacked them or other drowned. Drowned equipped with tridents continue throwing them at the player even after the player leaves the water, or gets a long distance away.^[1] They also attack players if they attack them or another drowned, unless the drowned is killed in one hit.^[2]‌^{[JE only]} Additionally, they may not always immediately become aggressive toward a player when they first enter water. At night or during thunderstorms, drowned swim to the surface and chase players as well as baby turtles, even outside the water, like regular zombies.

If a drowned kills a villager, either with a melee attack or with a trident, the villager has a chance of turning into a zombie villager (with a 0% chance on Easy, 50% on Normal, and 100% on Hard).

Drowned break down wooden doors in Hard mode.‌^{[BE only]}

They are immune to guardians or elder guardians attacks. They also have a small chance to be immune to knockback when damaged.^[3]

Some drowned spawn with the ability to pick up loot that is on the ground. That includes armor and weapons or tools just like regular zombies. Unlike zombies however, they can also pick up tridents, which they always prefer over anything else. They also can pick it up and throw it the wrong way.

Drowned can be damaged by a fully-powered conduit within 8 blocks.

If one drowned gets attacked by another drowned's trident, the attacked drowned ignores it.

Swimming[]

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.

In Java Edition a Trident enchanted with Impaling does not do extra damage to Drowned because they're classified as undead and not aquatic. This does not apply in Bedrock Edition as instead a Trident enchanted with Impaling does extra damage to any mob in water or rain.

Sounds[]

Java Edition:
Drowned use the Hostile Creatures sound category for entity-dependent sound events.

Bedrock Edition:

Data values[]

ID[]

Java Edition:

Bedrock Edition:

Entity data[]

Drowned have entity data associated with them that contains various properties.

Java Edition:

Bedrock Edition:

See Bedrock Edition level format/Entity format.

Achievements[]

Advancements[]

Icon	Advancement	In-game description	Parent	Actual requirements (if different)	Resource location
	Not Today, Thank You	Deflect a projectile with a 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: Blaze Cave Spider Creeper Drowned Elder Guardian Ender Dragon Enderman Endermite Evoker Ghast Guardian Hoglin Husk Magma Cube Phantom Piglin Piglin Brute Pillager Ravager Shulker Silverfish Skeleton Slime Spider Stray Vex Vindicator Witch Wither Wither Skeleton Zoglin Zombie Zombie Villager Zombified Piglin Only the riders of the chicken jockeys and skeleton horsem*n are counted in this advancement. Other mobs may be killed, but are ignored for this advancement.	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 a mob with a thrown trident.	adventure/throw_trident
	It Spreads	Kill a mob near a Sculk Catalyst	Monster Hunter	Kill one of these 70 mobs near a sculk catalyst: Axolotl Bee Blaze Camel Cat Cave Spider Chicken Chicken Jockey Cod Cow Creeper Donkey Dolphin Drowned Elder Guardian Enderman Endermite Evoker Fox Frog Ghast Goat Glow Squid Guardian Hoglin Horse Husk Llama Magma Cube Mooshroom Ocelot Panda Parrot Phantom Pig Piglin Piglin Brute Pillager Polar Bear Pufferfish Rabbit Ravager Salmon Sheep Shulker Silverfish Skeleton Skeleton Horse Skeleton Horseman Slime Sniffer Stray Spider Spider Jockey Squid Strider Trader Llama Tropical Fish Turtle Vex Vindicator Warden Witch Wither Wither Skeleton Wolf Zoglin Zombie Zombie Villager Zombified Piglin Mobs that drop no experience are ignored for this advancement.	adventure/kill_mob_near_sculk_catalyst
	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: Blaze Cave Spider Creeper Drowned Elder Guardian Ender Dragon Enderman Endermite Evoker Ghast Guardian Hoglin Husk Magma Cube Phantom Piglin Piglin Brute Pillager Ravager Shulker Silverfish Skeleton Slime Spider Stray Vex Vindicator Witch Wither Wither Skeleton Zoglin Zombie Zombie Villager Zombified Piglin Other mobs may be killed, but are ignored for this advancement. Only the riders of the chicken jockeys and skeleton horsem*n are counted in this advancement.	adventure/kill_all_mobs

History[]

Java Edition
1.13		18w11a			Added drowned mobs.
					Zombies now convert into a drowned instead of dying from drowning.
		18w15a			Drowned now occasionally spawn with a nautilus shell.
		18w16a			Drowned now spawn in underwater ruins.
		18w22a			Drowned now have a swimming animation.
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 to .
		19w07a			The drowned's trident throwing animation has been changed from to .[4]
		19w14a			Drowned no longer have a unique swimming animation.[5]
1.15		19w46a			Baby drowned can be spawned using their spawn egg on the adult.
1.17		21w05a			Drowned now drop copper ingots instead of gold ingots.
1.17.1		Pre-release 1			Increased the drop probability of copper ingots from 5% to 11%, and increased the drop probability of each level of Looting spell from 1% to 2%.
					Drowned no longer pick up glow ink sacs.
1.18		21w37a			Drowned are now able to spawn in warm oceans.[6]
		21w39a			Drowned are now able to spawn in aquifers inside dripstone caves.
1.19.4		23w05a			Drowned now have a unique swimming animation again.[5]
Bedrock Edition
1.4.0		beta 1.2.13.8			Added drowned mobs as part of "Experimental Gameplay."
					Drowned use lower-pitched zombie sounds as a placeholder.
		beta 1.2.14.2			Added baby drowned.
					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, not just when experimental gameplay is enabled.
					Drowned now sometimes hold nautilus shells.
					Zombies now turn into drowned when underwater.
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			A converted Drowned can no longer generate with a trident.
					Drowned without trident no longer drop a trident.
		beta 1.16.0.51			Drowned now have ability to pick up items.
1.16.210		beta 1.16.210.57			Drowned now drop copper ingots instead of gold ingots.
1.17.30		beta 1.17.30.20			Drowned no longer pick up glow ink sacs.
Legacy Console Edition
TU69		1.76	Patch 38		Added drowned mobs.
					Zombies now turn into drowned when underwater for too long.
		1.91			Drowned are now hostile toward the new wandering traders.

Issues[]

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

Trivia[]

• Drowned are not considered as aquatic mobs; instead, they are considered as undead, unaffected by Impaling enchantment.^[7]‌^{[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 and causes rendering conflicts with armor, particularly helmets.
• Like spiders and endermen, drowned have eyes that appear to glow, although they do not produce light.

Gallery[]

Screenshots[]

• 

  An unreleased drowned texture.

• 

  Three drowned mobs that spawned naturally in an ocean biome.

• 

  A group of drowned attacking the player.

• 

  Drowned within a coral reef.

• 

  A drowned attacking a pufferfish after being attacked by it.

• 

  Drowned can sometimes spawn in ocean ruins in positions that they can't get out of.

  See Also

  What Is a Goodwill Gesture? 10 Ways To Reap Its Benefits

• 

  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]}

• 

  Drowned wearing a pumpkin on Halloween.

• 

  A drowned chicken jockey with a trident.

• 

  A drowned with a fishing rod.

• 

  A drowned holding both a trident and a nautilus shell.

• 

  A drowned chicken jockey.

• 

  A Left Handed Drowned holding Trident in wrong direction.

• 

  Drowned with Loyalty Trident gets swarmed by his own tridents.

• 

  A trident drowned in a savanna village.

• 

  A creeper and drowned mixed together.

In other media[]

• 

  Efe fighting several drowned underwater.

• An animation of a zombie converting into a drowned.^[8]

• 

  The Drowned as it appears in Minecraft Dungeons.

• 

  The Drowned Necromancer, a unique variant that appears in Minecraft Dungeons.

• 

  Lego Minecraft Drowned.

• 

  Acid Drowned, an official T-shirt design.

Textures[]

References[]

External links[]

• DANGER: SCARY MOB SPOTTED IN SEAS — Minecraft.net on July 2, 2018