Zombie Nautilus
hostileOurs, not the game's own: how a zombie nautilus behaves. Same on Bedrock v1.26.40.05 for health. Checked 2026-08-22, and how
Added InOverview
In Minecraft, the Zombie Nautilus is classified as a hostile mob: it will attack players on sight whenever it is able to reach them.
Unlike most creatures, the Zombie Nautilus does not spawn naturally in the world. Stands in no biome spawn list of its own, so you come across it in the water rather than on a roll you can farm.
In practice you will recognise it quickly, because swims after anything it can reach and charges with a dash it winds up first, so the sound gives you a moment to move.
It carries 15 health points, 7.5 hearts, and yields 1 to 3 experience when it dies.
Players have been encountering the Zombie Nautilus since the 1.21.11 update.
Knowing how the Zombie Nautilus behaves is mostly about survival: recognising it early and reacting correctly is what keeps a night-time excursion from ending in a respawn.
Damage by Difficulty
Spawning
Stands in no biome spawn list of its own, so you come across it in the water rather than on a roll you can farm.
Because of this, you will not find zombie nautiluses by simply exploring; they have to be produced through the steps above.
Zombie Nautiluses do not spawn from a biome at all, so a farm has to feed the thing that produces them rather than a dark platform.
Drops
Killing a Zombie Nautilus produces the following loot:
Nothing here is guaranteed: a kill can give you 0 to 3 Rotten Flesh.
In terms of experience, each kill is worth 1 to 3 XP orbs.
Farming zombie nautiluses is the standard way to stockpile rotten flesh in quantity.
The Looting enchantment on your sword raises the quantity and, for many of these items, the drop chance of the rarer rolls, so it is well worth using when you grind this mob.
With nothing guaranteed, output is swingy: over many kills the averages hold, but any single Zombie Nautilus may give you little, so farm in volume rather than expecting a jackpot each time.
| Item | Count | Chance | Conditions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rotten Flesh | 0 to 3 | not every kill | player kill, Looting III up to 6 |
Zombie Nautilus attributes
| Attribute | Value |
|---|---|
 Knockback resistance | 30% |
 Size | 0.875 x 0.95 blocks |
 Eye height | 0.275 blocks |
 Tracking range | 10 chunks |
 Movement speed | 1.1 |
| Follow range | 16 blocks |
 Experience | 1 to 3 |
 Health | 15 points |
 Attack damage attribute | 3 |
The Zombie Nautilus does not stand alone on these numbers: the dolphin, whose 1.2 movement speed has nothing we list nearer than this 1.1, the nautilus on the same 15 health and the skeleton horse at that same figure.
Zombie Nautilus: 5 values straight out of Minecraft Java 26.2
Nothing in the biome spawn lists and nothing in the rolls on death names the zombie nautilus, so the numbers on this page come from one place only: the game's own entry for it in Minecraft Java 26.2sets 15 health, 3 attack damage, 1.1 movement speed, 16 blocks follow range and 0.30000001192092896 knockback resistance.
The ranges Minecraft Java 26.2 rolls for a zombie nautilus give 1.5 Rotten Flesh per kill, so 64 Rotten Flesh costs 43 kills before Looting. 1 of those 1 rows (Rotten Flesh) only roll when a player lands the killing blow, so a zombie nautilus killed by a fall or another mob averages 0 items instead of 1.5.
| Weapon | Attack damage | Full swings | Swings per 64 Rotten Flesh |
|---|---|---|---|
 golden sword, wooden sword | 4 | 4 | 172 |
 stone sword | 5 | 3 | 129 |
| iron sword | 6 | 3 | 129 |
 diamond sword, golden axe, wooden axe | 7 | 3 | 129 |
 netherite sword | 8 | 2 | 86 |
 diamond axe, iron axe, stone axe | 9 | 2 | 86 |
 netherite axe | 10 | 2 | 86 |
On the receiving end a zombie nautilus takes 15% off a player's 20 health per hit, so 7 of them land the kill; that share is the zombie nautilus's 3 damage on Normal. On Easy the same zombie nautilus hit is 10%, on Hard 20%, so 10 hits against 5.
Behavior & Combat
In the field, swims after anything it can reach and charges with a dash it winds up first, so the sound gives you a moment to move. It counts as undead, which is what makes Smite the weapon of choice for it.
Hitting it barely moves it: 30% knockback resistance, where almost every other mob has none.
Its combat profile is 15 health (7.5 hearts) with attacks dealing 2 on Easy, 3 on Normal and 4 on Hard.
When fighting back, remember it is weak to Smite enchantment and Healing splash potions.
A sword enchanted with Smite shortens the fight considerably against this mob.
The practical takeaway is to respect its strengths, exploit the weaknesses listed above, and you will rarely lose a fight you choose to take.
Zombie Nautilus commands
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
| /summon minecraft:zombie_nautilus | Puts a zombie nautilus on the block you are standing on. |
| /give @p minecraft:zombie_nautilus_spawn_egg | Hands you the zombie nautilus spawn egg, so you can place zombie nautiluses where you want them. |
| /kill @e[type=minecraft:zombie_nautilus] | Removes every zombie nautilus that is loaded around you. |
Entity id minecraft:zombie_nautilus, spawn egg minecraft:zombie_nautilus_spawn_egg.
Zombie Nautilus farm
There is no platform that produces zombie nautiluses. Stands in no biome spawn list of its own, so you come across it in the water rather than on a roll you can farm. Anything you build has to feed that source instead of a dark floor.
Each kill is worth 1 to 3 experience and up to 3 rotten flesh, or 6 with Looting III, and that row only drops when you land the killing blow yourself, so a fall or a lava blade collects nothing, so the size of the zombie nautilus farm follows the number you need of that one item.
1 to 3 experience per kill
Rotten Flesh up to 3, 6 with Looting IIIZombie Nautilus version history
The zombie nautilus was added in Minecraft 1.21.11, which came out on 9 December 2025, so the zombie nautilus has been in the game for 0 years.
3 other mobs here came with it: the nautilus, the parched and the camel husk. Of the 88 mobs we list, 83 were in the game before the zombie nautilus and 1 arrived after it.
The zombie nautilus numbers here come from Java 26.2, the version running now, and not from the one that introduced it.
Zombie Nautilus variants (2)
| Variant | Where it comes from |
|---|---|
| Warm |  Warm Ocean |
| Temperate | Any zombie nautilus the game spawns without a rule of its own can be this one. |
What Zombie Nautilus sounds like
Turn subtitles on and every zombie nautilus sound names itself in the corner of the screen. These are the 12 lines a zombie nautilus can put there, and you can play any of them yourself with /playsound minecraft:entity.zombie_nautilus.ambient master @p.
| Sound | What you hear |
|---|---|
| entity.zombie_nautilus.ambient |  Zombie Nautilus burbles |
| entity.zombie_nautilus.hurt | Zombie Nautilus hurts |
| entity.zombie_nautilus.death | Zombie Nautilus dies |
| entity.zombie_nautilus.ambient_land | Zombie Nautilus burbles |
| entity.zombie_nautilus.dash | Zombie Nautilus jets |
| entity.zombie_nautilus.dash_land | Zombie Nautilus jets |
| entity.zombie_nautilus.dash_ready | Zombie Nautilus recovers |
| entity.zombie_nautilus.dash_ready_land | Zombie Nautilus recovers |
| entity.zombie_nautilus.death_land | Zombie Nautilus dies |
| entity.zombie_nautilus.eat | Zombie Nautilus eats |
| entity.zombie_nautilus.hurt_land | Zombie Nautilus hurts |
| entity.zombie_nautilus.swim | Zombie Nautilus swims |
Advancements that need Zombie Nautilus
2 advancements ask for zombie nautilus by name, and each of them counts other mobs too.
- Monster HunterKill any hostile monster
- Monsters HuntedKill one of every hostile monster
