Dolphin
Dolphin — mob.
Natural spawning
Dolphins spawn in groups of 1–2 between Y=50 and Y=64 in ocean biomes, excluding frozen and cold oceans. Babies have a chance to appear naturally, and a moved dolphin needs water to survive.
| Habitat | Ocean biomes except frozen and cold oceans |
|---|---|
| Height | Y=50 to Y=64 |
| Group size | 1–2 dolphins |
| Baby chance | 10% natural spawn |
| Water | Required for long-term survival |
| Default air | 4,800 ticks |
Drops
The dolphin loot table can yield 0–1 cod. A looting enchantment can increase the count, and fire-related conditions can turn the drop into its cooked form.
| Drop | Cod, 0–1 |
|---|---|
| Modifier | Looting can increase the count |
| Experience | 1–3 when killed by a player |
| Baby | No item or experience drops |
| Cooked result | Cod is smelted when the dolphin or attacker satisfies the fire condition |
Sounds
Dolphins use separate ambient events in and out of water, plus swim, splash, hurt, death, attack, eat, and item-play sounds. The source keeps the event choice tied to the current water state rather than to a client-only visual variant.
| Water ambient | entity.dolphin.ambient_water |
|---|---|
| Air ambient | entity.dolphin.ambient |
| Swim | entity.dolphin.swim |
| Splash | entity.dolphin.splash |
| Item play | entity.dolphin.play |
Behavior
The dolphin is a passive aquatic mob that normally swims in pods and occasionally jumps for air. A sprint-swimming player within 9 blocks receives Dolphin's Grace for 5 seconds; staying within 15 blocks refreshes the effect. Feeding raw fish makes a dolphin lead the player toward a nearby shipwreck or ocean ruin, while attacking one can make the whole pod retaliate.
The entity tracks 4,800 ticks of air and a separate 2,400-tick moisture reserve. It can pick up wet item entities, play with them within an 8-block search box, follow a nearby ridden boat or nautilus, and avoids guardians. When it reaches a located structure, the fish-guided search is cleared.
| Category | passive |
|---|---|
| Max health | 10 |
| Width | 0.9 |
| Height | 0.6 |
| Summonable | Yes |
| Fire immune | No |
| Swimming boost | Dolphin's Grace within 9 blocks |
| Refresh range | 15 blocks while sprint-swimming |
| Fish interaction | Leads toward shipwrecks or ocean ruins |
| Pod response | Nearby dolphins defend a hurt member |
| Breeding | Cannot be bred by the player |
| Air requirement | Must return to water to avoid suffocation |
| Dry land | Suffocation after about two minutes |
| Submerged | Can drown without air |
| Lead | Can be towed |
| Boat | Cannot ride |
| Air supply | 4,800 ticks |
| Moisture reserve | 2,400 ticks |
| Item play search | 8-block inflated box |
| Treasure search | Up to 50 blocks for tagged structures |
Data values
The Java entity identifier is `minecraft:dolphin`. It is an aquatic entity and is included in the not-scary-for-pufferfish group; the local snapshot supplies the health and size values shown in the infobox.
| Identifier | minecraft:dolphin |
|---|---|
| Version | Minecraft 26.2 |
| Entity ID | minecraft:dolphin |
| Entity tags | aquatic, not_scary_for_pufferfish, sensitive_to_impaling |
| Variant | Adult and baby |
| Max health | 10 |
| Movement speed | 1.2 |
| Baby scale | 0.65 |
History
Dolphins were added with the ocean update in 1.13. During development they gained the Dolphin's Grace effect, more reliable movement back to water, treasure-finding behaviour and the modern Y=50–64 spawning range; baby variants were later added for Java parity.
Trivia
Dolphin sounds were recorded from real dolphins. Their useful speed boost, treasure guidance and need for water make them both a navigation aid and a mob that needs care when transported.
Gallery
See also
References
The page combines the local dolphin loot table and structure tag with the Java entity source for air, moisture, treasure guidance, item play, and water-state sounds.
| Local source | Dolphindolphin |
|---|---|
| Entity source | net/minecraft/world/entity/animal/dolphin/Dolphin.java |
| Loot table | data/minecraft/loot_table/entities/dolphin.json |
| Located structures | data/minecraft/tags/worldgen/structure/dolphin_located.json |
Navigation
Data and provenance
minecraft:dolphin
Snapshot digest verified.
Facts
| Category | passive |
|---|---|
| Max health | 10 |
| Width | 0.9 |
| Height | 0.6 |
| Summonable | Yes |
| Fire immune | No |
a278b10ead1fa472a00c7a8f145e7f0f5472678f35bffccfab18a6c8907a9610Provenance and publication
- Readiness
- Pending
- Snapshot
- 918feb41c87c05a6f3e94e327fb01a82543180a2376b65610c6f0521456532a5
- Source set
- 918feb41c87c05a6f3e94e327fb01a82543180a2376b65610c6f0521456532a5
- Entity identifier
- minecraft:dolphin
- Digest
- a278b10ead1fa472a00c7a8f145e7f0f5472678f35bffccfab18a6c8907a9610
- Missing locales
- ru, en