Drowned

The Drowned is what happens when a zombie decides dry land is overrated and takes the plunge — literally. These waterlogged undead are the hostile mobs lurking in oceans, rivers, and anywhere else you thought you were safe to take a swim. They look like zombies that have been marinating at the bottom of a lake for way too long, and they fight like it too — except some of them are packing tridents, which changes the conversation entirely.

If you have ever been swimming peacefully at night and suddenly taken a trident to the face from something you could not even see, congratulations — you have met a Drowned. They are the reason experienced players think twice before diving into dark water, and the primary reason new players develop a healthy fear of the ocean. On land they are just soggy zombies. In the water, they are faster than you, more aggressive than you expected, and occasionally armed with a weapon you desperately want for yourself.

Drowned are also the only reliable source of tridents in the game, which makes them simultaneously one of the most annoying and most farmed mobs in Minecraft. Love them or hate them, you are going to be dealing with them a lot.

Overview / Quick Stats

Appearance

Drowned use the standard zombie model but with a teal-blue-green skin tone that screams “I have been underwater for a very long time and it has not been kind.” Their skin is covered in darker patches and algae-like markings, and their eyes glow with the same dead stare as a regular zombie — just wetter.

Some Drowned spawn holding a trident in their right hand, which is visible in their model and makes them immediately identifiable as the dangerous variant. Others may spawn holding a nautilus shell in their off-hand. Both items are visible on the mob, so you can tell what you are dealing with before you get into melee range — assuming you are paying attention.

Baby Drowned exist, because the game hates you. They have the same proportions as baby zombies — oversized head, tiny body — but with the same waterlogged skin. They are faster than adults and fit through smaller gaps. They are just as awful as you would expect.

Behavior & AI

• Aggro / Targeting: Drowned are hostile toward players and, in Java Edition, also toward baby turtles and wandering traders. They attack on sight within their detection range, which extends to 35 blocks in water but shrinks to 16 blocks on land.
• Water vs. Land Behavior: Drowned are significantly more capable in water. They swim freely and pursue players aggressively. On land, they move like regular zombies — slow, shambling, and far less threatening. They actively seek out water to return to if they end up on dry ground during the day.
• Daylight Behavior: Drowned stay in the water during the day and only emerge to chase players at night or during thunderstorms. If a Drowned is on land when the sun comes up, it retreats to the nearest body of water. They do not burn in sunlight while submerged or while standing in water at least 1 block deep.
• Trident Throwing: Drowned that spawn holding a trident will throw it at players from a distance. They only throw when the target is between 3 and approximately 20 blocks away. If you close the gap, they switch to melee. If you back up, more tridents incoming.
• Idle Behavior: When not targeting a player, Drowned wander the ocean floor and occasionally swim upward. They tend to congregate around ocean ruins, which makes exploring those structures a gauntlet of soggy undead.
• Pathfinding: In water, Drowned pathfind in three dimensions and can swim directly toward you vertically. On land, they pathfind like standard zombies and can break wooden doors on Hard difficulty.
• Persistence / Despawn: Drowned follow standard hostile mob despawn rules. They despawn when more than 128 blocks from a player and have a chance to despawn when between 32 and 128 blocks away. Drowned that have picked up items or been named do not despawn.

Abilities, Attacks & Status Effects

• Melee Attack: Standard zombie melee with the same damage scaling per difficulty. Nothing special here — they punch you with the enthusiasm of something that has been dead for a while.
• Trident Ranged Attack: Deals 8 damage (4 hearts) regardless of difficulty. The trident has a 1.5-second cooldown between throws. The projectile travels in an arc similar to a player-thrown trident and can be deflected with a shield.
• Shield Interaction: Both melee attacks and thrown tridents can be blocked with a shield. Tridents that hit a shield are deflected and do not deal damage.
• Knockback: Their melee attack applies standard knockback. Trident hits also knock you back, which can push you into deeper water — exactly where they want you.
• Door Breaking: On Hard difficulty, Drowned can break wooden doors, just like regular zombies. Keep that in mind if you build a beach house.
• Immunities: Drowned are immune to drowning damage (obviously). They are undead, so they take extra damage from Smite enchantments, are healed by Potions of Harming, and are damaged by Potions of Healing. They are also immune to the Regeneration and Poison status effects.
• Sunlight Immunity (in water): Unlike regular zombies, Drowned do not burn in sunlight as long as they are touching water. Standing in even a single block of water protects them. On dry land in daylight, they burn normally.

Variants, Jockeys & Special Forms

Zombie-to-Drowned Conversion

• Conversion Mechanic: Any zombie that has its head submerged in water for 30 seconds begins converting into a Drowned. The conversion takes about 15 seconds and includes a shaking animation. The resulting Drowned does not carry a trident or nautilus shell — only naturally spawned Drowned can hold those.
• Java Edition: The zombie converts in place, producing a new Drowned entity. Zombies wearing equipment retain it after conversion. Zombie villagers and husks convert to zombies first, then to Drowned if they stay submerged.
• Bedrock Edition: Works the same way, but husks skip the zombie step and convert directly to Drowned when fully submerged.

Baby Drowned

• Spawn Rate: 5% of naturally spawning Drowned are babies.
• Speed: Faster than adult Drowned, just like baby zombies are faster than adult zombies. They are small, quick, and deeply annoying.
• Behavior: Same AI as adults. They can ride chickens to form baby Drowned chicken jockeys in Java Edition, which is exactly as ridiculous as it sounds.

Drowned Chicken Jockey

• Java Edition Only: Baby Drowned can spawn riding a chicken. This rare variant combines the speed of a baby Drowned with the buoyancy of a chicken, creating a mob that can float and chase you on water surfaces. It is absurd. It is also real.

Spawning

Interactions with Environment & Other Mobs

• Baby Turtles: In Java Edition, Drowned actively seek out and attack baby turtles. This makes turtle egg farms near oceans or rivers a target if you do not light them properly or protect them with walls.
• Wandering Traders: Drowned attack wandering traders in Java Edition. The traders’ invisibility potions do not help when a Drowned is already in pursuit.
• Iron Golems: Iron golems attack Drowned on sight, and Drowned fight back. This can be used in farm designs to funnel Drowned into golem kill chambers.
• Villagers: Drowned attack villagers and can convert them to zombie villagers on Normal and Hard difficulty, the same as regular zombies.
• Snow Golems: Snow golems provoke Drowned, but their snowballs deal no damage to them. It is a one-sided relationship.
• Boats & Minecarts: Drowned can ride in boats and minecarts if they walk into them. They cannot enter boats while in water, but if a boat runs into a Drowned on land, the Drowned can end up as a reluctant passenger.
• Water Interaction: Drowned swim freely through water source blocks and flowing water. They are perfectly happy in any depth and do not take drowning damage. They pathfind through water in three dimensions, making them much harder to avoid underwater than on the surface.

Drops & Loot

Player Uses & Farming

• Trident Farming: The main reason anyone farms Drowned. In Java Edition, you need naturally spawning Drowned that are holding tridents — converted zombies will never drop them. This means your farm must use a natural spawn-based design in an ocean or river biome, not a zombie conversion farm. Bedrock players have it much easier since the drop rate is higher and more Drowned spawn holding tridents.
• Nautilus Shell Farming: Nautilus shells are required to craft a Conduit, one of the most powerful utility blocks in the game. Drowned are one of the few sources of nautilus shells, making Drowned farms a practical way to collect them.
• Copper Ingot Source: Since 1.17, Drowned drop copper ingots instead of gold. This makes them a renewable source of copper, though mining is generally faster unless you already have a Drowned farm running for tridents.
• Farm Design Basics (Java): Build in an ocean or river biome. Create a dark, flooded spawning platform at the correct Y level. Use water currents or bubble columns to funnel Drowned into a kill chamber. Trident-holding Drowned must be killed by the player or a player-activated mechanism to drop their trident — they will not drop from environmental kills.
• Farm Design Basics (Bedrock): Zombie-to-Drowned conversion farms work on Bedrock because converted Drowned can still drop tridents. Build a standard zombie spawner farm with a drowning conversion chamber, then kill the Drowned for trident drops. This is significantly simpler than Java farms.
• XP Farming: Drowned farms double as decent XP farms. Adults drop 5 XP and babies drop 12 XP. The rates are not as high as a dedicated Enderman or blaze farm, but the trident drops make the XP a nice bonus.
• Edition Caveat: If you are watching a Drowned farm tutorial, pay close attention to which edition it was built for. A Bedrock conversion farm will not produce tridents on Java, and a Java natural-spawn ocean farm may not work as efficiently on Bedrock due to different spawn rules.

Commands & NBT

/summon minecraft:drowned ~ ~ ~

/summon minecraft:drowned ~ ~ ~ {IsBaby:1b}

/summon minecraft:drowned ~ ~ ~ {HandItems:[{id:"minecraft:trident",Count:1b},{}]}

/summon minecraft:drowned ~ ~ ~ {HandItems:[{},{id:"minecraft:nautilus_shell",Count:1b}]}

/summon minecraft:drowned ~ ~ ~ {HandItems:[{id:"minecraft:trident",Count:1b},{}],ArmorItems:[{},{},{},{id:"minecraft:iron_helmet",Count:1b}]}

• Notable NBT Keys:
• IsBaby — 1b to spawn a baby Drowned.
• HandItems — Array of two items: main hand (index 0) and off-hand (index 1). Use this to give them a trident or nautilus shell.
• ArmorItems — Array of four slots: feet, legs, chest, head. Drowned can wear armor just like regular zombies.
• DrownedConversionTime — On a zombie, this tag tracks the conversion timer. Set to a value to begin conversion.
• PersistenceRequired — 1b to prevent the Drowned from despawning.
• CanBreakDoors — 1b to enable door-breaking behavior (used on Hard difficulty).

Tags, Gamerules & Datapack Hooks

• Entity Tags (Java): #minecraft:undead, #minecraft:zombies, #minecraft:aquatic — Drowned belong to all three, which affects targeting by Smite, potion effects, and mob interactions.
• Gamerule: doMobSpawning — Controls whether Drowned spawn naturally. Set to false to disable.
• Gamerule: doMobLoot — Controls whether Drowned drop items on death. Set to false to disable drops.
• Loot Table Path: minecraft:entities/drowned — Modify this to change Drowned drops in datapacks.
• Spawn Egg ID: minecraft:drowned_spawn_egg

Difficulty & Edition Differences

• Easy: Drowned deal reduced melee damage (2.5 / 1.25 hearts). They cannot break doors. Trident ranged damage remains 8 (4 hearts) across all difficulties.
• Normal: Standard melee damage (3 / 1.5 hearts). Zombie-to-villager conversion chance is 50%.
• Hard: Increased melee damage (4.5 / 2.25 hearts). Drowned can break wooden doors. Zombie-to-villager conversion chance is 100%.
• Java vs. Bedrock — Trident Drops: This is the single biggest difference. Java requires naturally spawned trident-holding Drowned for a trident drop (8.5% base). Bedrock allows converted Drowned to drop tridents and has a much higher drop rate (25% base from trident holders). This fundamentally changes how you design Drowned farms.
• Java vs. Bedrock — Nautilus Shells: In Java, Drowned holding a nautilus shell always drop it. In Bedrock, any Drowned has a flat 3% chance regardless of held items.
• Java vs. Bedrock — Spawning: Bedrock allows spawning in dripstone caves and at any light level in oceans. Java restricts spawning to light level 0 in water. Bedrock generally produces more Drowned overall.
• Java vs. Bedrock — Mob Targeting: Java Drowned attack baby turtles and wandering traders. Bedrock Drowned do not have these extra targets.

Sounds & Audio

• Ambient: entity.drowned.ambient — A gurgling, waterlogged groan. Distinctly different from regular zombie sounds and audible underwater. Also has a water-specific variant: entity.drowned.ambient_water.
• Hurt: entity.drowned.hurt / entity.drowned.hurt_water — Wet slapping sound when damaged.
• Death: entity.drowned.death / entity.drowned.death_water — The final gargle.
• Step: entity.drowned.step — Standard zombie footstep, only audible when on land.
• Swim: entity.drowned.swim — Swimming sounds when moving through water.
• Shoot (Trident): entity.drowned.shoot — The sound of a trident being thrown. Learn this sound — it is your warning to dodge.

History & Major Changes

• Java 1.13 (18w11a): Drowned added to the game as part of the Update Aquatic.
• Java 1.13 (18w14a): Drowned can now convert from zombies that stay submerged underwater.
• Java 1.14: Drowned now attack baby turtles and wandering traders.
• Java 1.16: Drowned spawning adjusted — they now require light level 0 to spawn in water (previously could spawn at higher light levels).
• Java 1.17: Drowned now drop copper ingots instead of gold ingots. This was a significant loot table change tied to the introduction of copper as a resource.
• Bedrock 1.4.0: Drowned added to Bedrock Edition.
• Bedrock 1.5.0: Drowned can now spawn in warm ocean biomes.
• Bedrock 1.16.0: Drowned updated with various spawn and behavior fixes.
• Bedrock 1.17.0: Gold ingot drop replaced with copper ingot, matching Java Edition.

Notable Bugs & Quirks

• Trident Duplication (patched): There was a well-known bug in earlier versions where killing a Drowned with its own reflected trident could cause the trident to duplicate. This has been patched, but it was a popular exploit while it lasted.
• Conversion Equipment Loss: When a zombie converts to a Drowned, armor drop behavior can be inconsistent. Some players have reported equipment vanishing during conversion in certain circumstances.
• Drowned on Land at Night: Drowned sometimes wander surprisingly far from water during the night, showing up in places you really do not expect them. If you build near a river, do not be surprised to find one knocking on your door.
• Trident Pickup Oddity: If a Drowned throws its trident and you kill the Drowned before the trident hits you, the trident falls as an entity but may not always be collectible depending on the timing and version.

Advancements / Achievements

• Monster Hunter (Java): Kill any hostile mob. Drowned qualifies.
• Monsters Hunted (Java): Kill one of every hostile mob. Drowned is on the checklist.
• A Throwaway Joke (Java): Throw a trident at something. You need a trident first, and Drowned are your primary source. So technically this advancement starts with farming Drowned.
• Very Very Frightening (Java): Strike a villager with lightning caused by a trident with Channeling. Again — starts with getting a trident from a Drowned.
• Monster Hunter (Bedrock): Kill any hostile mob. Same as Java.

Spin-offs, Culture & Trivia

• Origin: Drowned were added as part of the Update Aquatic (1.13 / 1.4.0), which was one of the largest content updates in Minecraft history. They were designed to give the ocean a genuine threat, since previously the underwater world was almost entirely peaceful.
• Community Nickname: Players often call them “soggy zombies” or “ocean zombies.” The trident-wielding variant has been lovingly called “Poseidon’s intern” by some of the community.
• Trident Economy: The Drowned single-handedly created the trident economy in Minecraft. Before they existed, tridents were not in the game. The fact that the only way to get a trident is from a Drowned drop makes them one of the most-farmed hostile mobs for a specific item.
• Minecraft Dungeons: Drowned appear as enemies in Minecraft Dungeons, maintaining their trident-throwing behavior.
• LEGO Sets: Drowned have appeared in several Minecraft LEGO sets, usually paired with ocean monument or underwater-themed builds.
• Design Inspiration: The Drowned’s teal-green color scheme was designed to make them visually distinct from regular zombies while still clearly reading as undead. The algae-covered texture is one of the most recognizable mob skins in the game.

See Also

• Zombie — The land-based ancestor of the Drowned.
• Husk — The desert variant of the zombie, which can also convert to a Drowned through a two-step process.
• Trident — The weapon that makes Drowned farming worthwhile.
• Conduit — Requires nautilus shells, which Drowned drop.
• Ocean Ruins — Structures where Drowned commonly spawn.
• Zombie Villager — Can be created when Drowned attack villagers.