Dolphin

For other uses, see Dolphin (disambiguation).

Dolphin

Adult

Baby

Health points	10HP
Behavior	Neutral (adult) Passive (baby)
Mob type	Animal Aquatic
Attack strength	Easy: 2.5HP × 1.25 Normal: 3HP Hard: 4.5HP × 2.25
Hitbox size	Adult: Height: 0.6 blocks Width: 0.9 blocks Baby: Height: 0.39 blocks Width: 0.585 blocks
Speed	1.2
Spawn	Lukewarm Ocean Deep Lukewarm Ocean Ocean Deep Ocean Warm Ocean
Usable items	Lead Raw Cod Raw Salmon Tropical Fish Pufferfish Golden Dandelion (baby only)

Dolphins are aquatic neutral mobs that live in non-frozen oceans. They grant a speed boost to players that swim near them and follow the player while swimming.

Spawning

Dolphins are found in groups (pods) of 1-2‌^{[JE only]} or 3-5‌^{[BE only]} in all ocean biomes, excluding frozen oceans and cold oceans. They spawn exclusively between levels 50 and 64. Dolphins continuously spawn as long as their spawn requirements are met, and naturally despawn if no players are nearby, similar to squid and nautiluses.

In Java Edition, dolphins, squids, and nautiluses together make up the water creatures mob cap.

Dolphins have a 10% chance to spawn as a baby.

Dolphin spawns in:

Category: Water creature‌[JE only] Creature‌[BE only]	Java Edition			Bedrock Edition
Spawn area	Spawn weight	Spawn chance	Group size	Spawn weight	Group size
Deep Ocean	1⁄3	33.33%	1–2	7	3–5
Ocean	1⁄3	33.33%	1–2	7	3–5
Deep Lukewarm Ocean	2⁄12	16.67%	1–2	7	3–5
Lukewarm Ocean	2⁄14	14.29%	1–2	7	3–5
Warm Ocean	2⁄22	9.09%	1–2	7	3–5
Cold Ocean	—	—	—	7	3–5
Deep Cold Ocean	—	—	—	7	3–5

Drops

On death

Java Edition:

Item		Quantity / Chance / Average
		Default			Looting I			Looting II			Looting III
	Raw Cod[A]	0–1	50.00%	0.50	0–2	75.00%	1.00	0–3	87.50%	1.50	0–4	91.67%	2.00
	Cooked Cod[B]	0–1	50.00%	0.50	0–2	75.00%	1.00	0–3	87.50%	1.50	0–4	91.67%	2.00

Item		Quantity / Chance / Average
		Default			Looting I			Looting II			Looting III
	Raw Cod[A]	0–1	1⁄2	1⁄2	0–2	3⁄4	1	0–3	7⁄8	3⁄2	0–4	11⁄12	2
	Cooked Cod[B]	0–1	1⁄2	1⁄2	0–2	3⁄4	1	0–3	7⁄8	3⁄2	0–4	11⁄12	2

Item		Amount	Probability
			Default	Looting I	Looting II	Looting III
	Raw Cod[A]	0	1⁄2 (50.00%)	1⁄4 (25.00%)	1⁄8 (12.50%)	1⁄12 (8.33%)
		1	1⁄2 (50.00%)	1⁄2 (50.00%)	3⁄8 (37.50%)	1⁄4 (25.00%)
		2	0	1⁄4 (25.00%)	3⁄8 (37.50%)	1⁄3 (33.33%)
		3	0	0	1⁄8 (12.50%)	1⁄4 (25.00%)
		4	0	0	0	1⁄12 (8.33%)
		Average	1⁄2 (0.50)	1 (1.00)	3⁄2 (1.50)	2 (2.00)
	Cooked Cod[B]	0	1⁄2 (50.00%)	1⁄4 (25.00%)	1⁄8 (12.50%)	1⁄12 (8.33%)
		1	1⁄2 (50.00%)	1⁄2 (50.00%)	3⁄8 (37.50%)	1⁄4 (25.00%)
		2	0	1⁄4 (25.00%)	3⁄8 (37.50%)	1⁄3 (33.33%)
		3	0	0	1⁄8 (12.50%)	1⁄4 (25.00%)
		4	0	0	0	1⁄12 (8.33%)
		Average	1⁄2 (0.50)	1 (1.00)	3⁄2 (1.50)	2 (2.00)

Killed		1
Item		Expected Drops
		Default	Looting I	Looting II	Looting III
	Raw Cod[A]	0.50	1.00	1.50	2.00
	Cooked Cod[B]	0.50	1.00	1.50	2.00

Bedrock Edition:

Item		Quantity / Chance / Average
		Default			Looting I			Looting II			Looting III
	Raw Cod[A]	0–1	50.00%	0.50	0–2	50.00%	0.75	0–3	50.00%	1.00	0–4	50.00%	1.25
	Cooked Cod[B]	0–1	50.00%	0.50	0–2	50.00%	0.75	0–3	50.00%	1.00	0–4	50.00%	1.25

Item		Quantity / Chance / Average
		Default			Looting I			Looting II			Looting III
	Raw Cod[A]	0–1	1⁄2	1⁄2	0–2	1⁄2	3⁄4	0–3	1⁄2	1	0–4	1⁄2	5⁄4
	Cooked Cod[B]	0–1	1⁄2	1⁄2	0–2	1⁄2	3⁄4	0–3	1⁄2	1	0–4	1⁄2	5⁄4

Item		Amount	Probability
			Default	Looting I	Looting II	Looting III
	Raw Cod[A]	0	1⁄2 (50.00%)	1⁄2 (50.00%)	1⁄2 (50.00%)	1⁄2 (50.00%)
		1	1⁄2 (50.00%)	1⁄4 (25.00%)	1⁄8 (12.50%)	1⁄12 (8.33%)
		2	0	1⁄4 (25.00%)	1⁄4 (25.00%)	1⁄6 (16.67%)
		3	0	0	1⁄8 (12.50%)	1⁄6 (16.67%)
		4	0	0	0	1⁄12 (8.33%)
		Average	1⁄2 (0.50)	3⁄4 (0.75)	1 (1.00)	5⁄4 (1.25)
	Cooked Cod[B]	0	1⁄2 (50.00%)	1⁄2 (50.00%)	1⁄2 (50.00%)	1⁄2 (50.00%)
		1	1⁄2 (50.00%)	1⁄4 (25.00%)	1⁄8 (12.50%)	1⁄12 (8.33%)
		2	0	1⁄4 (25.00%)	1⁄4 (25.00%)	1⁄6 (16.67%)
		3	0	0	1⁄8 (12.50%)	1⁄6 (16.67%)
		4	0	0	0	1⁄12 (8.33%)
		Average	1⁄2 (0.50)	3⁄4 (0.75)	1 (1.00)	5⁄4 (1.25)

Killed		1
Item		Expected Drops
		Default	Looting I	Looting II	Looting III
	Raw Cod[A]	0.50	0.75	1.00	1.25
	Cooked Cod[B]	0.50	0.75	1.00	1.25

• 1–3XP, if kill credit is given to the player.

Killing a baby dolphin yields neither items nor experience.

Behavior

Dolphins normally swim in pods, occasionally leaping out of the water to get air. They are also able to jump from one body of water to another. Additionally, they chase after players in boats but do not give the speed boost effect.

Players who sprint-swim within a 9 block spherical radius of a dolphin receive a swimming speed boost for 5 seconds, replenished as long as the player continues to sprint-swim within a 15 block spherical radius of a dolphin. Invisibility reduces both of these ranges like normal, based on the amount of armor the player is wearing. In Java Edition, the speed boost is granted by the Dolphin's Grace effect, while in Bedrock Edition the player simply gets the speed boost without a status effect. The dolphin keeps following the player as long as they are sprint-swimming, allowing the player to swim under the speed boost for long distances.

In Java Edition, dolphins are lured by dropped items that are inside nearby water blocks, picking them up, throwing around and chasing after them. If the dolphin is in, or on, a waterlogged bottom slab or chest with an air block above, or a bubble column, the dolphin is prevented from drowning.

When a player or another mob hits a dolphin (unless the dolphin is killed in one hit in Java Edition), the whole pod retaliates, attacking all at once, similar to wolves and zombified piglins. Hostile dolphins remain hostile even if they are fed fish. Hostile dolphins are far more dangerous in Bedrock Edition.

When dolphins are fed raw fish, they swim to the nearest shipwreck or ocean ruins; in Java Edition, the structures a dolphin can locate are defined in the dolphin_located tag. Dolphins also avoid guardians and elder guardians.

Unlike most “animal” mobs, dolphins cannot breed. Baby dolphins can only be found when they naturally spawn. A baby dolphin eventually turns into an adult after 24000 ticks (20 minutes), and its growth time can be accelerated by 10% each time it is fed fish. A baby dolphin fed a fish once per second grows up in approximately 48 seconds using 47 fish.

Like many other baby mobs, a golden dandelion can be used on a baby dolphin to prevent it from growing up, or used a second time to resume its aging.

Dolphins do not deal any damage in Peaceful difficulty and are completely passive.

Unlike other neutral mobs, dolphins do not count toward the AngryAt tag.^[1][2][3]

Weaknesses

If a dolphin leaves the water in dry weather, it starts taking suffocation damage after two minutes, and eventually dies. It takes no damage out of water during rain. Regardless of weather, a dolphin on land actively seeks out a body of water, or seeks its target if in a hostile state.

They cannot survive without air. If they stay submerged for about four minutes, they begin drowning. The Water Breathing effect prevents them from drowning.

Like most other aquatic mobs, dolphins cannot ride boats. However, they can be towed by a lead.

In Java Edition, the dolphin is an aquatic mob and is thus affected by the Impaling enchantment. In Bedrock Edition, it is only affected when in the water, as all mobs are.

Breeding

Dolphins cannot be bred by the player. Baby dolphins only occur through natural spawning in the wild.

Sounds

Java Edition:

Bedrock Edition:

Data values

ID

Java Edition:

Name	Identifier	Entity tags	Translation key
Dolphin	dolphin	aquatic not_scary_for_pufferfish sensitive_to_impaling	entity.minecraft.dolphin

Bedrock Edition:

Name	Identifier	Numeric ID	Family	Translation key
Dolphin	dolphin	31	aquatic dolphin mob	entity.dolphin.name

Entity data

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

Java Edition:

Bedrock Edition:

See Bedrock Edition level format/Entity format.

Achievements

Icon		Achievement	In-game description	Actual requirements (if different)	Gamerscore earned	Trophy type (PS)
PS4	Other
		Echolocation	Feed a dolphin fish to have it lead you to treasure	Feed a dolphin cod or salmon and have it lure you to treasure.	20	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)
	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.

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

November 18, 2017							Dolphins were shown in a video clip during MineCon Earth.

Java Edition

Java Edition
1.13			18w15a				Added dolphins.
			18w19a				Dolphins now swim to the surface, if drowning.
							Dolphins now give the player the "Dolphin's Grace" status effect that allows the player to swim faster, if the player swims near them.
			18w19b				Dolphins now drop experience.[5]
			18w20c				Dolphins on land now jump to try to get back into the water.
							Dolphins now survive for two minutes out of water, instead of ten seconds.
			18w21a				Dolphins now lead players to buried treasure.
							Dolphins can no longer wear armor.[6]
							Added the TreasurePosX, TreasurePosY, TreasurePosZ, GotFish and CanFindTreasure tags.
			pre2				Dolphins can no longer sit in boats.[7]
			pre6				Dolphins now bring the player to buried treasure more accurately.
							Removed the CanFindTreasure tag.
1.14			19w08a				Dolphins can no longer have armor equipped onto them with a dispenser.
1.16			20w10a				Firework damage now provokes dolphins.[8]
1.18			21w40a				Dolphins now spawn only between Y=50 and Y=64.
1.21.2			24w33a				Added baby variants of dolphins, to match parity with Bedrock Edition.
1.21.5			25w07a				Removed TreasurePosX, TreasurePosY and TreasurePosZ tags. They were used to store the dolphin's X,Y and Z coordinate destination when leading a player to a treasure.
26.1			snap5				The model and texture of baby dolphins have been changed.
							Added golden dandelions, which can be used to prevent baby dolphins from growing up.
			pre2				Dolphins can no longer despawn when attached to a lead.[9]
							Fixed a bug causing dolphins to drown even when air was readily available.[10]

Bedrock Edition

Bedrock Edition
1.4.0			beta 1.2.20.1				Added dolphins and baby dolphins.
			beta 1.2.20.2				The models of dolphins have been updated with minor adjustments to the orientation of their fins.
							Dolphins now have sounds.
1.5.0			beta 1.5.0.0				Dolphins now lead players to shipwrecks and underwater ruins.
1.16.100			beta 1.16.100.51				Dolphins now dry out at the same rate as they do in Java Edition; 120 seconds.
							Dolphins on land now try to get back into the water.
1.18.0			beta 1.18.0.21				Dolphins now spawn only between Y=50 and Y=64.
1.21.130			Preview 1.21.130.26				Dolphins no longer spawn in cold ocean or deep cold ocean biomes.
26.0			Preview 26.0.23				Mobs can no longer be leashed onto adult dolphins.
26.10			Preview 26.10.20				The model and texture of baby dolphins have been changed.
			Preview 26.10.21				Added golden dandelions, which can be used to prevent baby dolphins from growing up.

Legacy Console Edition

Legacy Console Edition
Xbox 360	Xbox One	PS3	PS4	PS Vita	Wii U	Switch
TU69		1.76	1.76	1.76	Patch 38		Added dolphins.
							Baby dolphins can be spawned when the player uses its spawn egg on a dolphin.
							The maximum number of dolphins in a world is 18.

Issues

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

Trivia

• To create the sounds that the dolphins make in the game, Mojang Studios' lead sound designer, Samuel Åberg, went to Kolmården Wildlife Park to record real dolphins.^[11]
• Dolphins originally had a separate head and body when shown in a clip at MINECON 2017. It is also shown in artwork for Java Edition 1.13, the Bundles of Bravery trailer, an episode of the AI Adventurers series,^[12] Minecraft: Volume 2,^[13] and Minecraft Annual 2025.
• Real-life dolphins don't suffocate outside of water; they breathe air like all mammals, although they can die of dehydration out of water.
• In 2018, a prediction poll was held in which Chinese users could vote on which Chinese animal they expected to see in Minecraft, to promote the release of Minecraft China. One of the options for voting was the possibly extinct baiji dolphin. The panda won the poll and was announced days later at MINECON Earth 2018.^[14]
• Mojang has considered and rejected the suggestion to allow dolphins to be tamed or ridden. They also decided against adding behaviors that deviate significantly from real-life dolphins, such as fleeing from drowned.^[15]

Gallery

Screenshots

• 
  A pod of dolphins
• 
  A dolphin taking damage because it is not in water
• 
  A Dolphin seen underwater
• 
  Several dolphins attacking the player, after the player hit one of them
• 
  Dolphins swimming with the player

Mojang screenshots

• 
  2 dolphins leaping above the ocean at sunset
• 
  A pod of four dolphins swimming above an ocean ravine and a coral reef
• 
  Dolphins chasing after a raw cod item
• 
  A dolphin in Bedrock Edition
• 
  2 baby dolphins in "every timeline"

Textures

• 
  Dolphin texture file
• 
  Baby dolphin texture file

In other media

• 
  Dolphins in promotional artwork for the Update Aquatic
• 
  Official dolphin artwork
• 
  Animated dolphin artwork
• 
  Dolphin in official artwork
• 
  Ari following a dolphin
• 
  Lego dolphin
• 
  A dolphin on the cover of Minecraft: The Manga
• 
  Noor, Kai and a tamed wolf watching several dolphins
• 
  Dolphin figure of Flippin' Figs
• 
  A dolphin as seen in A Minecraft Movie
• 
  2 dolphins breathing affectionately
• 
  A hoodie featuring two dolphins
• 
  A "Dolphin's Grace" acid design
• 
  A dolphin as seen in Minecraft Dungeons
• 
  A dolphin and warm cow breaching
• 
  The Gang reacting to a dolphin

References

External links

• "Meet the Dolphin" by Per Landin – Minecraft.net, April 19, 2018.