Axolotl

For other uses, see Axolotl (disambiguation).

Axolotl

Adult

Baby

Adult

Baby

Adult

Baby

Adult

Baby

Adult

Baby

Health points	14HP × 7
Behavior	Passive
Mob type	Animal Aquatic
Attack strength	2HP
Hitbox size	Adult: Height: 0.42 blocks Width: 0.75 blocks Baby: Height: 0.21 Blocks Width: 0.375 Blocks
Speed	1
Spawn	Lush Caves
Usable items	Bucket of Tropical Fish Lead Name Tag Water Bucket Golden Dandelion (baby only)

An axolotl is a passive aquatic mob found in lush caves that hunts most other aquatic mobs, and can assist players with aquatic combat and grant them Regeneration. They can also be carried around in a bucket.

Spawning

Axolotls spawn underwater in the lush caves biome when there is a clay block less than five blocks below the spawning space.

Axolotl spawns in:

Category: Axolotl‌[JE only] Water creature‌[BE only]	Java Edition			Bedrock Edition
Spawn area	Spawn weight	Spawn chance	Group size	Spawn weight	Group size
Lush Caves	10⁄10	100%	4–6	10	4–6

Colors

Axolotls can be one of five colors: pink (leucistic), brown, gold, cyan and blue.

When breeding axolotls, there is a ¹⁄₁₂₀₀ (0.083%) chance of the offspring having the blue mutation, leaving ¹¹⁹⁹⁄₁₂₀₀ (99.917%) chance of matching one of the parents (including blue parents).

Blue axolotls cannot naturally spawn and can only be obtained through breeding.

Pose	Color
	Leucistic	Brown	Gold	Cyan	Blue
Ground crawling
Ground stationary
Swimming
Water stationary

Animation	Color
	Leucistic	Brown	Gold	Cyan	Blue
Ground crawling

Drops

Axolotls drop nothing when killed besides 1 experience when killed by a player or a tamed wolf.

Behavior

Axolotls are passive toward players, can be attached to leads, and follow players holding a bucket of tropical fish on either the main hand or the off-hand. When a player kills a mob that is in combat with one or more axolotls, the axolotls remove Mining Fatigue from the player, and give the player Regeneration I for 100 game ticks (5 seconds) per axolotl in the fight, up to a duration of 2400 game ticks (2 minutes) in Java Edition, and uncapped in Bedrock Edition.

Axolotls attack the following mobs, dealing 2HP points of damage per attack:

After killing a non-hostile mob, there is a two minute cooldown before another non-hostile mob can be hunted. Axolotls prioritize attacking hostile mobs over non-hostile mobs.

If an axolotl takes damage underwater, it may play dead, dropping to the ground for 200 game ticks (10 seconds) while gaining Regeneration I. Hostile aquatic mobs ignore healing axolotls. There is a ¹⁄₃ chance for an axolotl to play dead to recover 4HP. In addition, if either a random integer from 0–2 (inclusive) is less than the amount of incoming damage, or the axolotl's health before the damage is dealt is less than 50% of its maximum health, it plays dead.

Axolotls can leave the water and wander about on land. When an axolotl leaves the water, it wanders as far as 8 or 9 blocks beyond the water's edge before returning to the water, as long as there is water at least 2 blocks deep within 16 blocks of the axolotl. If 2-block-deep water is outside this range, the axolotl can wander off randomly on land in search of more deep water, and die after 6000 game ticks (5 minutes) exposure out of water. Axolotls are not attracted to shallow (1 block deep) water. They require water at least 2 blocks deep within 16 blocks to pathfind to the water.^[1]

Being hit with a splash water bottle or lingering water bottle will restore 1800 game ticks (90 seconds) of air to the axolotl.

Axolotls can also die out of water as passengers in a boat. Unlike fish and squid, axolotls do not die on land in rain or in a thunderstorm.

Unlike most mobs, axolotls cannot be moved by flowing water. However, they are still affected by bubble columns.

As aquatic mobs, they take extra damage from the Impaling enchantment in Java Edition. Unlike other aquatic mobs, they cause nearby pufferfish to inflate.

Axolotls picked up with a water bucket and re-spawned do not despawn.

Naming a bucket of axolotl in an anvil also sets the name of the axolotl inside‌^{[JE only]}. The name remains with the axolotl if it is picked up by another bucket.

Breeding

Axolotls follow players holding buckets of tropical fish within 10‌^{[JE only]} / 16‌^{[BE only]} blocks. Additionally, baby axolotls follow adults.

A player can breed axolotls by using buckets of tropical fish. After breeding, a baby axolotl spawns and 1–7 experience is generated. The parents cannot be bred again for 5 minutes in Java Edition or 1 minute in Bedrock Edition. The baby axolotl has a ¹⁄₁₂₀₀ chance to be the rare blue variant; otherwise, it inherits the color of one parent at random.

Baby axolotls take 24000 ticks (20 minutes) to grow up, but the growth time can be accelerated using buckets of tropical fish. Each use takes 10% off the remaining time to grow up.

An axolotl loses its willingness to breed if it is picked up in a bucket and released after it is fed but before it reaches its mate. It must be fed another bucket of tropical fish to become willing to breed again.

Sounds

Java Edition:

Bedrock Edition:

Data values

ID

Java Edition:

Name	Identifier	Entity tags	Translation key
Axolotl	axolotl	aquatic can_breathe_under_water sensitive_to_impaling	entity.minecraft.axolotl

Bedrock Edition:

Name	Identifier	Numeric ID	Family	Translation key
Axolotl	axolotl	130	aquatic axolotl mob	entity.axolotl.name

Entity data

Axolotls have entity data associated with them that contain various properties.

Java Edition:

Variant	Numerical ID	Identifier
Lucy	0	lucy
Wild	1	wild
Gold	2	gold
Cyan	3	cyan
Blue	4	blue

Bedrock Edition:

Color	Data value
	0
	1
	2
	3
	4

See Bedrock Edition level format/Entity format.

Achievements

Icon		Achievement	In-game description	Actual requirements (if different)	Gamerscore earned	Trophy type (PS)
PS4	Other
		The Healing Power of Friendship!	Team up with an axolotl and win a fight	Be near​ an axolotl when killing a hostile aquatic mob while the axolotl is fighting it (not playing dead).	30	Silver
		It Spreads	Kill a mob next to a catalyst	Kill any mob that drops experience near a sculk catalyst, with the sole exception of the ender dragon. Mobs that drop no experience are ignored for this achievement.	10	Bronze

Achievements that apply to all mobs:

Icon		Achievement	In-game description	Actual requirements (if different)	Gamerscore earned	Trophy type (PS)
PS4	Other
		Overkill	Deal nine hearts of damage in a single hit.	Damage can be dealt to any mob, even those that do not have nine hearts of health overall.	30	Bronze
		Over-Overkill	Deal 50 hearts of damage in a single hit using the Mace	Damage can be dealt to any mob, even those that do not have 50 hearts of health overall.	20	Silver
		Mob Kabob	Hit five mobs in the same Charge attack using the Spear	Armor stands and players also count for this achievement as they are technically mobs.	10	Bronze

Advancements

Icon	Advancement	In-game description	Actual requirements (if different)
	A Furious Cocktail	Have every potion effect applied at the same time	Have all of these 17​[until: Fourth Drop 2026]/18​[upcoming] status effects applied to the player at the same time: Fire Resistance Freezing Infested Invisibility Jump Boost Night Vision Oozing Poison Regeneration Resistance Slow Falling Slowness Speed Strength Water Breathing Weakness Weaving Wind Charged The source of the effects is irrelevant for the purposes of this advancement. Other status effects may be applied to the player, but are ignored for this advancement.
	How Did We Get Here?	Have every effect applied at the same time	Have all of these 34​[until: Fourth Drop 2026]/35​[upcoming] status effects applied to the player at the same time: Absorption Bad Omen Blindness Breath of the Nautilus Conduit Power Darkness Dolphin's Grace Fire Resistance Freezing Glowing Haste Hero of the Village Hunger Infested Invisibility Jump Boost Levitation Mining Fatigue Nausea Night Vision Oozing Poison Raid Omen Regeneration Resistance Slow Falling Slowness Speed Strength Trial Omen Water Breathing Weakness Weaving Wind Charged Wither The source of the effects is irrelevant for the purposes of this advancement. Other status effects may be applied to the player, but are ignored for this advancement. This is a hidden advancement, meaning that it can be viewed by the player only after completing it, regardless of if its child advancement(s), if any, have been completed.
	It Spreads	Kill a mob near a Sculk Catalyst	Kill any mob that drops experience near a sculk catalyst, with the sole exception of the ender dragon. Mobs that drop no experience are ignored for this advancement.
	The Parrots and the Bats	Breed two animals together	Breed a pair of any of these 27 animals: Armadillo Axolotl Bee Camel Cat Chicken Cow Donkey Fox Frog Goat Hoglin Horse Llama Mooshroom Mule Nautilus Ocelot Panda Pig Rabbit Sheep Sniffer Strider Trader Llama Turtle Wolf A mule must be the result of breeding a horse and a donkey for this advancement as they are not breedable together. Other breedable mobs are ignored for this advancement.
	Two by Two	Breed all the animals!	Breed a pair of each of these 26 animals: Armadillo Axolotl Bee Camel Cat Chicken Cow Donkey Fox Frog Goat Hoglin Horse Llama Mooshroom Mule Nautilus Ocelot Panda Pig Rabbit Sheep Sniffer Strider Turtle Wolf A trader llama does not count as a llama, and a mule must be the result of breeding a horse and a donkey for this advancement as they are not breedable together. Other breedable mobs can be bred, but are ignored for this advancement.
	The Cutest Predator	Catch an Axolotl in a Bucket	Use a water bucket on an axolotl.
	The Healing Power of Friendship!	Team up with an axolotl and win a fight	Have the Regeneration effect applied or updated by an axolotl after causing the final damage to its attack target while being less than 20 blocks away from the axolotl on each coordinate axis. A player with Regeneration II cannot obtain the advancement.

Advancements that apply to all mobs:

Icon	Advancement	In-game description	Actual requirements (if different)
	Adventure	Adventure, exploration and combat	Kill any mob, or be killed by any living entity.
	A Throwaway Joke	Throw a Trident at something. Note: Throwing away your only weapon is not a good idea.	Hit a mob with a thrown trident.
	Take Aim	Shoot something with an Arrow	Using a bow or a crossbow, shoot a mob with an arrow, tipped arrow, or spectral arrow.
	Mob Kabob	Hit five mobs in the same Charge attack using the Spear	Armor Stand and Mannequin also count for this advancement.
	Arbalistic	Kill five unique mobs with one crossbow shot	Armor Stand and Mannequin also count for this advancement. This is a hidden advancement, meaning that it can be viewed by the player only after completing it, regardless of if its child advancement(s), if any, have been completed.
	Over-Overkill	Deal 50 hearts of damage in a single hit using the Mace	Damage can be dealt to any mob, even those that do not have 50 hearts of health overall.

History

Announcement

October 3, 2020							Axolotls are announced at Minecraft Live 2020.
							They are shown to spawn in lush caves biomes.
October 3, 2020							An unreleased[2] green variant was shown at the Minecraft Live 2020 recap, which was not shown on the live event.

Java Edition

Java Edition
1.17			20w51a				Added axolotls.
							When an axolotl is held with a lead on the ground, it begins walking at an exaggeratedly fast speed.[3]
			21w03a				Axolotls now attack glow squids.
			21w13a				The texture of the axolotls for four variants except the brown one has been changed.
							Axolotls now spawn naturally underwater in caves.
			21w18a				The lucy texture have been changed from to to remove the unused open mouth.
			21w20a				Axolotls now play dead only when in water.
							Axolotls can no longer be fed tropical fish.
			pre3				Axolotls now spawn only in total darkness and where there's a block with base_stone_overworld tag less than 5 blocks below the spawning space.
1.17.1			pre1				Blue axolotls no longer naturally spawn, and can be obtained only through breeding.
1.18			Experimental Snapshot 1				Axolotls now spawn only in lush caves.
			21w37a				Axolotls now have their own mob cap, separate from glow squids.
							Axolotls now avoid lava.[4]
			21w40a				Axolotls now spawn only when there is a clay block less than five blocks below the spawning space.
			pre5				The brown axolotl texture has been changed from to , to solve the issue of its off-centered back.
1.19			22w11a				Axolotls can now attack tadpoles.
26.1			snap5				The model and textures of baby axolotls have been changed.
							Added Golden Dandelions, which can be used to prevent baby axolotls from growing up.
			snap6				Baby axolotls now have a play dead animation.
			pre2				Fixed issue with Baby Axolotl's right hind leg not moving correctly when swimming.

Bedrock Edition

Bedrock Edition
1.17.0 Experiment Caves and Cliffs			beta 1.16.230.52				File:Lucy Axolotl BE1.png File:Gold Axolotl BE1.png File:Cyan Axolotl BE1.png File:Blue Axolotl BE1.png Added axolotls behind the "Caves and Cliffs" experimental toggle.
			beta 1.17.0.50				Axolotls now spawn naturally in underground water sources.
							Due to a bug, axolotls can spawn in The End, as well as The Nether, if there is a large amount of water.[5]
							Axolotls no longer get a Regeneration effect after killing a mob on their own.
1.17.0			beta 1.17.0.52				Axolotls now spawn in any biome and up to Y-63 instead of Y-30.
							Axolotls are now available without enabling experimental gameplay.
			beta 1.17.0.56				The texture of the axolotls for all variants except the wild one has been changed.
							Axolotls no longer attack invisible mobs.
1.17.10			beta 1.17.10.22				Axolotls now spawn only in complete darkness.
1.17.30			beta 1.17.20.22				Axolotls now spawn only where there is a stone block less than 10 blocks below the spawning space.
1.17.30 Experiment Caves and Cliffs			beta 1.17.20.22				With experimental gameplay enabled, axolotls spawn only in lush caves.
1.18.0			beta 1.18.0.20				Axolotls now spawn only in lush caves by default without enabling experimental gameplay.
							Axolotls no longer spawn in The End, as well as The Nether.
			beta 1.18.0.21				Axolotls now spawn only when there is a clay block less than five blocks below the spawning space.
			beta 1.18.0.24				Axolotls more frequently spawn in lush caves.
1.18.10			beta 1.18.10.22				The brown axolotl texture has been changed from File:Wild Axolotl (back view) BE1.png to File:Wild Axolotl (back view) BE2.png, to solve the issue of its off-centered back.
1.18.10 Experiment Wild Update			beta 1.18.10.24				Axolotls can now attack tadpoles behind the "Wild Update" experimental toggle.
26.10			Preview 26.10.20				The model and textures of baby axolotls have been changed.
			Preview 26.10.21				Added Golden Dandelions, which can be used to prevent baby axolotls from growing up.

Issues

Issues relating to "Axolotl" are maintained on the bug tracker. Issues should be reported and viewed there.

Trivia

• In the release notes Minecraft Launcher there is an encrypted message T⍑ᒷ ᔑ ̇/𝙹ꖎ𝙹ℸ ̣ ꖎᓭ ᔑ∷ᒷ リ𝙹ℸ ̣ ∴⍑ᔑℸ ̣ ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷ|| ᓭᒷᒷᒲ, which translates to "The Axolotls are not what they seem".
• Axolotls are small salamanders that are endemic to Mexico, which are critically endangered. Following Mojang Studios' trend of adding endangered species such as polar bears, giant pandas (no longer endangered as of 2022), sea turtles, endangered species of wild and native bees, and fireflies, axolotls were added to the game to raise awareness.^[6][7]
• The probability of a blue axolotl spawning is 1 in 1200 because that was the approximate number of axolotls left in the wild in real life at the time.^[8]
• Axolotls can eat only buckets of tropical fish and not tropical fish items because axolotls in real life eat only living fish.^[8]
• Even though they are not in the game, the green variant appears in the Caves & Cliffs Update: Part I – Official Trailer, as well as a recap.^[9] When asked on a livestream, Agnes Larsson said she cannot say why the green variant was cut from the game.^[10]
• Both the "play dead" behavior and the regeneration ability of axolotls are based on the abilities of real life axolotls.^[8]
• Because real axolotls don't actually vocalize, the sounds of axolotls were recorded from the incidental "hiccups" and "burps" real axolotls occasionally make when surfacing, as well as heavily edited dog sounds.^[11]
• During Minecraft Live 2021, Lydia Winters created an “aloto,” a hybrid of an axolotl and alligator.^[12]
• The blue axolotl originated from a Reddit post, suggesting that since Steve was added to Super Smash Bros., Mojang should add a blue axolotl variant to reference the Pokémon blue characters Mudkip or Wooper.^[13]
• In Minecraft Annual 2022, the wiki's custom made render Lucy Axolotl pJE20201003.png was used to represent the finalized axolotl.
• All axolotl variants except for the blue axolotl is inspired by real axolotl color morphs.

Gallery

Renders

Lucy

• 
  An axolotl playing dead
• 
  An axolotl swimming
• 
  An axolotl walking underwater
• 
  An axolotl walking on land
• 
  An axolotl idling
• 
  An axolotl idling on underwater floor
• 
  An axolotl underwater

• 
  A baby axolotl playing dead
• 
  A baby axolotl swimming
• 
  A baby axolotl walking underwater
• 
  A baby axolotl walking on land
• 
  A baby axolotl idling
• 
  A baby axolotl idling on underwater floor
• 
  A baby axolotl underwater

Screenshots

• 
  All current axolotl variants. From left to right: blue, cyan, gold, wild, and leucistic
• 
  A baby axolotl on the side of a group
• 
  Three axolotls attacking a glow squid underwater
• 
  All 5 types of axolotls swimming in a lush cave
• 
  Kai and Efe swimming with gold and cyan axolotls, while Alex holds one in a bucket
• 
  Steve showing Efe and Ari a blue axolotl
• 
  A golden axolotl playing dead

Mojang images

• 
  Multiple axolotls in a lush cave
• 
  Axolotls as seen during Minecraft Live 2020
• 
  Early axolotls attacking an elder guardian
• 
  Early axolotls hurting the elder guardian
• 
  Axolotl variants from development, including unreleased green one
• 
  A screenshot showcasing the addition of axolotls in 20w51a. A sculk sensor can also be seen
• 
  Axolotls underwater
• 
  Axolotls breeding
• 
  A large amount of axolotls
• 
  The pose of the no-pose in development
• 
  An axolotl playing dead in development
• 
  Buckets of axolotl and powder snow in item frames
• 
  An axolotl in serious danger
• 
  Axolotls burning to death
• 
  An axolotl dying to a sword
• 
  An axolotl about to get blown up
• 
  Axolotls in a river
• 
  An axolotl atop some clay and sand blocks looking at the player
• 
  Two baby axolotls
• 
  A axolotl fun fact that says “I MISS YOU”
• 
  A baby axolotl that wants to be adopted
• 
  Kai with some baby axolotls

Concept artwork

• 
  Concept art depicting other iterations for legs and frills, along with the unimplemented "suction" behavior
• 
  "Axolotl Patterns" - Grayscale art of unimplemented axolotl patterns
• 
  "Axolotl Colors" 1 - Sketches for other axolotl colors
• 
  "Axolotl Colors" 2 - Flipped gold axolotl depicting a concept for its belly
• 
  "Axolotl Possible Combinations" - The unimplemented patterns mixed with various axolotl colors
• 
  Iterations of legs tested on the model
• 
  Other iterations of legs tested on the model
• 
  "Having Fun!" - A group of axolotls swimming
• 
  "Cutie in a Bucket" - concept art for the bucket of axolotl
• 
  "Axolotl & Warden" - sketches of the axolotl and warden
• 
  "Scale of Cuteness" - sketches of the axolotl, goat, and warden
• 
  An axolotl
• 
  An axolotl crying
• 
  Lucy axolotl with unused mouth texture

Textures

• 
  Lucy axolotl texture file
• 
  Wild axolotl texture file
• 
  Gold axolotl texture file
• 
  Cyan axolotl texture file
• 
  Blue axolotl texture file
• 
  Baby lucy axolotl texture file
• 
  Baby wild axolotl texture file
• 
  Baby gold axolotl texture file
• 
  Baby cyan axolotl texture file
• 
  Baby blue axolotl texture file

In other media

• 
  Official axolotl artwork
• 
  Gold axolotl artwork made for the 15th anniversary of Minecraft
• 
  An axolotl in promotional artwork for the Caves & Cliffs: Part I update
• 
  An axolotl in promotional artwork for the Caves & Cliffs: Part II update
• 
  An axolotl in promotional artwork for the GOAT Update
• 
  Axolotls in promotional artwork for Mobile, Multiplayer & More
• 
  Pixel artwork of two axolotls swimming around a blue axolotl
• 
  All 5 variants of axolotls swimming
• 
  The green axolotl in the Caves & Cliffs: Part I trailer
• 
  An axolotl with a fox^[14]
• 
  Sticker of an axolotl from 15 Year Journey
• 
  An axolotl as it appears on the cover of Minecraft Legends: Return of the Piglins
• 
  Axolotl plushie
• 
  A Lego Minecraft pink axolotl
• 
  A Lego Minecraft blue axolotl
• 
  A Lego Minecraft gold axolotl
• 
  A Lego Minecraft cyan axolotl
• 
  An official axolotl beanie
• 
  An officially licensed T-Shirt featuring outlines of three axolotls
• 
  A mug made of an axolotl in a bucket
• 
  Axolotl in a pair of pants
• 
  Blue axolotl figure of Flippin' Figs
• 
  Axolotl in a bucket figure of Flippin' Figs
• 
  A missing poster of a gold axolotl
• 
  Nerf axolotl super soaker
• 
  A pink axolotl in the Plastic Texture Pack
• 
  A blue axolotl in the Plastic Texture Pack
• 
  A gold axolotl in the Plastic Texture Pack
• 
  A wild axolotl in the Plastic Texture Pack
• 
  A cyan axolotl in the Plastic Texture Pack

References

External links

• "Axolotl Adventures" by Sofia Dankis – Minecraft.net, June 2, 2021.
• "Mob Menagerie: Axolotl" by Duncan Geere – Minecraft.net, May 1, 2025.