How do you get a puffer fish in Minecraft?

Pufferfish are one of the most interesting aquatic mobs in Minecraft. They are also very difficult to handle.

Pufferfish were introduced with the 1.13 update, also known as the Aquatic Update. Other things that were also introduced with this update were coral, sea turtles and tridents.

Minecraft pufferfish boast an impressive 20 health. They also have the ability to inject venom into players and other mobs when defending themselves.

Everything You Need to Know About Pufferfish in Minecraft! | Easy Minecraft Mob Guide

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, fish 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.

Defenses[]

A pufferfish inflates when approached by a player in Survival or Adventure mode, a drowned, an axolotl, or any non-water mob within a 5×5×5 volume around the fish, going from unpuffed, then semi-puffed, to fully puffed. Pufferfish are technically passive mobs but going near one when semi-puffed or fully puffed 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 pufferfish is in its semi-puffed stage, it deflates back to normal.

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

A pufferfish inflicting damage to a mob other than creeper and ghast via touching provokes that mob to retaliate.

In Peaceful difficulty, pufferfish do not inflict damage or poison to player.‌[Java Edition only]

Sounds[]

Sound	Subtitles	Source	Description	Resource location	Translation key	Volume	Pitch	Attenuation distance
None	None[sound 2]	Friendly Creatures	Randomly	entity.puffer_fish.ambient	None[sound 2]	?	?	?
https://minecraft.fandom.com/wiki/File:Pufferfish_blow_out1.ogghttps://minecraft.fandom.com/wiki/File:Pufferfish_blow_out2.ogg	Pufferfish deflates	Friendly Creatures	When a pufferfish deflates	entity.puffer_fish.blow_out	subtitles.entity.puffer_fish.blow_out	0.7	?	16
https://minecraft.fandom.com/wiki/File:Pufferfish_blow_up1.ogghttps://minecraft.fandom.com/wiki/File:Pufferfish_blow_up2.ogg	Pufferfish inflates	Friendly Creatures	When a pufferfish is threatened and inflates	entity.puffer_fish.blow_up	subtitles.entity.puffer_fish.blow_up	0.45	?	16
https://minecraft.fandom.com/wiki/File:Pufferfish_death1.ogghttps://minecraft.fandom.com/wiki/File:Pufferfish_death2.ogg	Pufferfish dies	Friendly Creatures	When a pufferfish dies	entity.puffer_fish.death	subtitles.entity.puffer_fish.death	?	?	16
https://minecraft.fandom.com/wiki/File:Pufferfish_flop1.ogghttps://minecraft.fandom.com/wiki/File:Pufferfish_flop2.ogghttps://minecraft.fandom.com/wiki/File:Pufferfish_flop3.ogghttps://minecraft.fandom.com/wiki/File:Pufferfish_flop4.ogg	Pufferfish flops	Friendly Creatures	When a pufferfish bounces on land	entity.puffer_fish.flop	subtitles.entity.puffer_fish.flop	0.3	?	16
https://minecraft.fandom.com/wiki/File:Pufferfish_hurt1.ogghttps://minecraft.fandom.com/wiki/File:Pufferfish_hurt2.ogg	Pufferfish hurts	Friendly Creatures	When a pufferfish is damaged	entity.puffer_fish.hurt	subtitles.entity.puffer_fish.hurt	?	?	16
https://minecraft.fandom.com/wiki/File:Pufferfish_sting1.ogghttps://minecraft.fandom.com/wiki/File:Pufferfish_sting2.ogg	Pufferfish stings	Friendly Creatures	When a pufferfish attacks something	entity.puffer_fish.sting	subtitles.entity.puffer_fish.sting	?	?	16

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FAQ

What do you feed puffer fish in Minecraft?