Pufferfish

This article is about the mob. For the item, see Pufferfish (item). For other uses, see Fish (disambiguation).

Pufferfish

Java Edition

Bedrock Edition

Java Edition

Bedrock Edition

Java Edition

Bedrock Edition

Health points	3HP
Behavior	Neutral
Mob type	Animal Aquatic
Attack strength	Contact: Semi-puffed: Easy and Normal: 2HP Hard: 3HP Fully puffed: In Java Edition: Easy: 2.5HP × 1.25 Normal: 3HP Hard: 4.5HP × 2.25 In Bedrock Edition: Easy and Normal: 2HP Hard: 3HP Venom: Semi-puffed: Poison for 3 seconds (HP) Fully puffed: In Java Edition: Poison for 6 seconds (HP) In Bedrock Edition: Poison for 10 seconds (HP)
Hitbox size	In Java Edition: Unpuffed: Height: 0.35 blocks Width: 0.35 blocks Semi-puffed: Height: 0.49 blocks Width: 0.49 blocks Fully puffed: Height: 0.7 blocks Width: 0.7 blocks In Bedrock Edition: Height: 0.96 blocks Width: 0.96 blocks
Speed	0.7
Spawn	Lukewarm Ocean Deep Lukewarm Ocean Warm Ocean
Usable items	Water Bucket Name Tag

Pufferfish are bucketable aquatic neutral mobs found in oceans. Although they never seek out mobs to attack, they defensively inflate themselves when approached too closely by players, axolotls, or non-aquatic mobs, dealing damage and inflicting Poison on them.

Spawning

In Java Edition, pufferfish spawn in groups of 1-3 in warm, lukewarm, and deep lukewarm ocean biomes, subject to fish spawning requirements. If trying to spawn inside a waterlogged solid block, the pufferfish uses the bigger "puffed" size to determine if it collides with anything solid.

In Bedrock Edition, pufferfish spawn underwater at around 12–32 blocks away from the player in groups of 3–5 in warm ocean biomes, and only on the surface; that is, there must not be a spawnable block above the spawn location with a non-solid block on top. They are considerably rarer than tropical fish, with only ¹⁄₅ of fish groups or ²⁄₉ individual fish (within the warm ocean biome) spawning as pufferfish.

Pufferfish spawns in:

Category: Water ambient‌[JE only] Water creature‌[BE only]	Java Edition			Bedrock Edition
Spawn area	Spawn weight	Spawn chance	Group size	Spawn weight	Group size
Warm Ocean	15⁄40	37.5%	1–3	25	3–5
Deep Lukewarm Ocean	5⁄38	13.16%	1–3	—	—
Lukewarm Ocean	5⁄45	11.11%	1–3	—	—

Drops

On death

Java Edition:

Item		Quantity / Chance / Average
		Default			Looting I			Looting II			Looting III
	Pufferfish	1	100.00%	1.00	1	100.00%	1.00	1	100.00%	1.00	1	100.00%	1.00
	Bone Meal	0–1	5.00%	0.05	0–1	5.00%	0.05	0–1	5.00%	0.05	0–1	5.00%	0.05

Item		Quantity / Chance / Average
		Default			Looting I			Looting II			Looting III
	Pufferfish	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
	Bone Meal	0–1	1⁄20	1⁄20	0–1	1⁄20	1⁄20	0–1	1⁄20	1⁄20	0–1	1⁄20	1⁄20

Item		Amount	Probability
			Default	Looting I	Looting II	Looting III
	Pufferfish	1	1 (100.00%)	1 (100.00%)	1 (100.00%)	1 (100.00%)
		Average	1 (1.00)	1 (1.00)	1 (1.00)	1 (1.00)
	Bone Meal	0	19⁄20 (95.00%)	19⁄20 (95.00%)	19⁄20 (95.00%)	19⁄20 (95.00%)
		1	1⁄20 (5.00%)	1⁄20 (5.00%)	1⁄20 (5.00%)	1⁄20 (5.00%)
		Average	1⁄20 (0.05)	1⁄20 (0.05)	1⁄20 (0.05)	1⁄20 (0.05)

Killed		1
Item		Expected Drops
		Default	Looting I	Looting II	Looting III
	Pufferfish	1.00	1.00	1.00	1.00
	Bone Meal	0.05	0.05	0.05	0.05

Bedrock Edition:

Item		Quantity / Chance / Average
		Default			Looting I			Looting II			Looting III
	Pufferfish	1	100.00%	1.00	1	100.00%	1.00	1	100.00%	1.00	1	100.00%	1.00
	Bone	0–1	25.00%	0.25	0 / 2–3	26.00%	0.65	0 / 3–5	27.00%	1.08	0 / 4–7	28.00%	1.54

Item		Quantity / Chance / Average
		Default			Looting I			Looting II			Looting III
	Pufferfish	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
	Bone	0–1	1⁄4	1⁄4	0 / 2–3	13⁄50	13⁄20	0 / 3–5	27⁄100	27⁄25	0 / 4–7	7⁄25	77⁄50

Item		Amount	Probability
			Default	Looting I	Looting II	Looting III
	Pufferfish	1	1 (100.00%)	1 (100.00%)	1 (100.00%)	1 (100.00%)
		Average	1 (1.00)	1 (1.00)	1 (1.00)	1 (1.00)
	Bone	0	3⁄4 (75.00%)	37⁄50 (74.00%)	73⁄100 (73.00%)	18⁄25 (72.00%)
		1	1⁄4 (25.00%)	0	0	0
		2	0	13⁄100 (13.00%)	0	0
		3	0	13⁄100 (13.00%)	27⁄400 (6.75%)	0
		4	0	0	27⁄200 (13.50%)	7⁄150 (4.67%)
		5	0	0	27⁄400 (6.75%)	7⁄75 (9.33%)
		6	0	0	0	7⁄75 (9.33%)
		7	0	0	0	7⁄150 (4.67%)
		Average	1⁄4 (0.25)	13⁄20 (0.65)	27⁄25 (1.08)	77⁄50 (1.54)

Killed		1
Item		Expected Drops
		Default	Looting I	Looting II	Looting III
	Pufferfish	1.00	1.00	1.00	1.00
	Bone	0.25	0.65	1.08	1.54

• 1–3XP when killed by a player or a tamed wolf.

Behavior

Unlike other fish, pufferfish don't swim in schools.

Pufferfish inflate themselves when approached by the player and most mobs, including tripod cameras‌^{[BE & edu only]} and armor stands.^[1][2]

The player may collect a fish by using a water bucket on it, giving the player a bucket of pufferfish. Fish placed with buckets do not despawn naturally. Using the bucket against a block empties the bucket, placing water with that fish swimming in it.

Pufferfish can not be bred and only spawn in designated biomes.

Weaknesses

Like other fish, pufferfish cannot survive out of water. Outside of water, they flop around like guardians for a while until they start suffocating and then die like squid. In Bedrock Edition, they rotate when flopping. Fish cannot swim or breathe in cauldron water.^[3]

The Impaling enchantment affects pufferfish due to being aquatic‌^{[Java Edition only]} or simply being in water.‌^{[Bedrock Edition only]}

Pufferfish are actively targeted by axolotls, nautiluses and zombie nautiluses.

Defenses

A pufferfish inflates when approached by a player in Survival or Adventure mode, a drowned, an axolotl, or any non-water mob within 2 blocks of its hitbox, going from unpuffed, then semi-puffed, to fully puffed. Going near a semi-puffed or fully puffed pufferfish inflicts the player/mob with three or six seconds of Poison based on the inflation level, and touching one in its puffed or semi-puffed form deals damage separate from the Poison.

Pufferfish also instantly inflate to their fullest form after taking any kind of damage.‌^{[Bedrock Edition only]} After inflating, they slowly deflate to their normal shape as long as a threat is out of range. If the player/mob leaves the radius while the pufferfish is in its semi-puffed stage, it deflates back to normal.

Undead mobs, spiders and cave spiders are unaffected by the Poison effect, but they still take damage when they come into contact with pufferfish.

A pufferfish that inflicts damage on a mob other than a creeper or a ghast by touching it provokes that mob to retaliate.

In Peaceful difficulty, pufferfish do not inflict damage or Poison to player.‌^{[Java Edition only]}

Pufferfish can deal damage to players at a longer distance compared to mobs.^[4]

If a pufferfish dies while in its semi-puffed or fully puffed form, it will still inflict damage and Poison to players, but not other entities.^[5]

Sounds

Java Edition:

Bedrock Edition:

Data values

ID

Java Edition:

Name	Identifier	Entity tags	Translation key
Pufferfish	pufferfish	aquatic axolotl_hunt_targets can_breathe_under_water nautilus_hostiles not_scary_for_pufferfish sensitive_to_impaling	entity.minecraft.pufferfish

Bedrock Edition:

Name	Identifier	Numeric ID	Family	Translation key
Pufferfish	pufferfish	108	aquatic fish pufferfish	entity.pufferfish.name

Entity data

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

Java Edition:

A pufferfish's damage and Poison time are directly related to its current PuffState data value, which can be changed using the /data command.

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
		I am a Marine Biologist	Collect a fish in a bucket	Use a water bucket on any fish mob by right-clicking.	20	Bronze
		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.
	Tactical Fishing	Catch a Fish... without a Fishing Rod!	Use a water bucket on any fish mob.

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

Development

Java Edition

Java Edition
1.13			18w08b				Added "puffer fish".
							Puffer fish have 20HP × 10 health.
			18w10a				The health of puffer fish has been changed to 3HP.[6]
			18w19a				"Puffer Fish" has been corrected to "Pufferfish".[7]
1.13.1			18w31a				Pufferfish now have a 5% chance of dropping bone meal when killed.
1.18			21w40a				Pufferfish now spawn between Y=50 and Y=63.
1.21.2			24w33a				The spike models of the medium pufferfish has been changed as a fix for MC-166880.

Bedrock Edition

Bedrock Edition
1.4.0			beta 1.2.14.2				Added pufferfish mobs.
1.13.0			beta 1.13.0.9				Pufferfish now drop experience when killed.
1.16.0			beta 1.15.0.51				Pufferfish now semi-puff when the player draws near, and fully puff when the player is up against it.
1.17.10			beta 1.17.10.22				Pufferfish no longer can be picked up with an empty bucket.
1.18.0			beta 1.18.0.21				Pufferfish now spawn between y=50 and y=64.
1.19.10			Preview 1.19.10.23				The health of pufferfish has been changed to 3HP.
1.21.130			Preview 1.21.130.20				Pufferfish can now spawn in Lukewarm Ocean and Deep Lukewarm Ocean biomes.

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 pufferfish mobs.

Minecraft Education

Minecraft Education
1.4.0							Added pufferfish mobs.

Issues

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

Trivia

• In real life, pufferfish use their spikes for intimidation purposes and do not inject venom. Some of their organs and skin is toxic, which is reflected accurately in-game.
• There are three textures for the three different PuffState data values in Minecraft. A PuffState value greater than 2 does not visually increase the pufferfish size, but does create a bigger shadow on the ground. All sizes of pufferfish textures are contained in the same texture file.

Gallery

Screenshots

• 
  A fully inflated pufferfish, with six deflated pufferfish and a school of cod behind it
• 
  A dying pufferfish in Bedrock Edition
• 
  A dying pufferfish in Java Edition
• 
  An up-close screenshot of a completely deflated pufferfish
• 
  A player being damaged by a pufferfish
• 
  An ocean with some fish visible
• 
  A cod and pufferfish taking damage because they are not in water
• 
  A gif of the pufferfish stages

Textures

• 
  Pufferfish texture file

Other

• 
  The pufferfish spawn egg in Bedrock Edition beta 1.2.14.2

In other media

• 
  Artwork of a pufferfish
• 
  Pufferfish in promotional artwork for the Update Aquatic
• 
  Several pufferfish as they appear in the Trails & Tales trailer
• 
  Official pufferfish artwork
• 
  Lego Minecraft pufferfish
• 
  Pufferfish artwork predating the actual addition of pufferfish mobs
• 
  Close-up of the pufferfish
• 
  A pufferfish waving hello with its entire body
• 
  A pufferfish as seen in Minecraft Dungeons

See also

• Cod
• Salmon
• Tropical Fish

References