Tropical Fish
passiveOurs, not the game's own: how a tropical fish behaves. Bedrock v1.26.40.05 differs: spawn weight 25 on Java against 75 on Bedrock. Checked 2026-08-22, and here is how we check.
Added InOverview
The Tropical Fish is a passive mob in Minecraft, which means it will never attack a player and simply goes about its own behaviour.
Tropical Fishes make their home in the Overworld, turning up in Lukewarm Ocean, Warm Ocean, Lush Caves, and Mangrove Swamp.
In practice you will recognise it quickly, because swims in schools of the same variant.
It carries 3 health points, 1.5 hearts, and yields 1 to 3 experience when it dies.
The Tropical Fish has been part of the game since version 1.13.
Also worth noting: 22 unique preset variants.
The reason to seek out the Tropical Fish is what it leaves behind: Tropical Fish and Bone Meal, which is worth more than the fight it puts up.
Spawning
In the wild, the Tropical Fish is generated in Lukewarm Ocean, Warm Ocean, Lush Caves, and Mangrove Swamp.
Because it appears across 5 different biomes, it is one of the easier mobs to track down, and heading to any of them should turn one up before long.
Spawns in warm/lukewarm ocean water in groups of 8.
They tend to arrive in clusters of 8 rather than alone, so expect to meet more than one at a time.
Naturally spawned tropical fishes will despawn over time when no player is nearby; naming one with a name tag or leading it away on a lead keeps it permanent.
The Tropical Fish does not breed, so a steady supply means going back to where they spawn instead of penning a pair up at home.
Where the Tropical Fish spawns
Lush Caves and Mangrove Swamp are where it stands strongest: weight 25 on the water ambient list and 100% of it, arriving 8 at a time. It also turns up in Deep Lukewarm Ocean at 65.8%, Warm Ocean at 62.5% and Lukewarm Ocean at 55.6%.
| Biome | Weight | Share | Group |
|---|---|---|---|
 Lush Caves | 25 | 100% | 8 |
 Mangrove Swamp | 25 | 100% | 8 |
 Deep Lukewarm Ocean | 25 | 65.8% | 8 |
 Warm Ocean | 25 | 62.5% | 8 |
 Lukewarm Ocean | 25 | 55.6% | 8 |
Drops
Killing a Tropical Fish produces the following loot:
Every kill yields 1 Tropical Fish.
On top of that, you may come away with 1 Bone Meal (occasionally, 5% chance).
You also collect 1 to 3 experience for every Tropical Fish you defeat.
Tropical Fish is the reason to seek them out, and since they do not breed, each one has to be found rather than raised.
Across many kills the guaranteed items pile up steadily while the chance-based extras trickle in, so consistent farming is the way to build a meaningful stockpile.
As a harmless mob, the Tropical Fish is best gathered opportunistically while you explore, and there is no danger in collecting from it, so it rarely justifies a dedicated trip.
| Item | Count | Chance | Conditions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tropical Fish | 1 | always | |
| Bone Meal | 1 | 5% |
That Bone Meal row is not its own: the cod drops 1, the salmon the same and the pufferfish the same.
Tropical Fish attributes
| Attribute | Value |
|---|---|
 Size | 0.5 x 0.4 blocks |
 Eye height | 0.26 blocks |
 Tracking range | 4 chunks |
 Health | 3 points |
| Follow range | 16 blocks |
 Experience | 1 to 3 |
Tropical Fish: 5.82% of its category, rank 17 of 52
On 5 of the 66 biome lists (5 spawn entries in total), and 5.82% of every spawn the game puts in its water ambient group is a tropical fish.
64 tropical fish kills fill a stack of 64 Tropical Fish, because the ranges Minecraft Java 26.2 rolls for it come out at 1 per kill before Looting. Bone Meal comes in at 0.05 per tropical fish, so 1280 kills before that stack is full.
| Item | Average per kill |
|---|---|
 Tropical Fish | 1 |
 Bone Meal | 0.05 |
How this average is worked out
| Weapon | Attack damage | Full swings | Swings per 64 Tropical Fish |
|---|---|---|---|
 golden sword, wooden sword | 4 | 1 | 64 |
 stone sword | 5 | 1 | 64 |
 iron sword | 6 | 1 | 64 |
 diamond sword, golden axe, wooden axe | 7 | 1 | 64 |
 netherite sword | 8 | 1 | 64 |
 diamond axe, iron axe, stone axe | 9 | 1 | 64 |
 netherite axe | 10 | 1 | 64 |
Behavior & Combat
In the field, swims in schools of the same variant. Flops on land. Can be picked up with a water bucket.
Its 3 health is 75th of 80, just under the 4 of the chicken.
Because it never attacks, you are in no danger from it directly; the Tropical Fish simply goes about its routine.
The Tropical Fish cannot be bred, so the only way to get more is to find them spawning naturally in their home biomes.
It is a water-dwelling creature and will suffocate if it ends up on dry land, so keeping it in water is essential if you want to transport or keep one.
Like other fish, you can scoop it up with a bucket of water to create a "bucket of tropical fish", letting you carry it home and release it into a tank or pond without it taking damage.
All told, the Tropical Fish is a low-risk part of the world that rewards patience more than aggression.
Tropical Fish commands
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
| /summon minecraft:tropical_fish | Puts a tropical fish on the block you are standing on. |
| /give @p minecraft:tropical_fish_spawn_egg | Hands you the tropical fish spawn egg, so you can place tropical fish where you want them. |
| /kill @e[type=minecraft:tropical_fish] | Removes every tropical fish that is loaded around you. |
Entity id minecraft:tropical_fish, spawn egg minecraft:tropical_fish_spawn_egg.
Tropical Fish farm
Everything about a tropical fish farm follows the tropical fish spawn rule. Spawns in warm/lukewarm ocean water in groups of 8.
The tropical fish is heaviest in Lush Caves at 100%, out of the 5 biome spawn lists it stands on, so a tropical fish farm belongs there rather than in the first cave you find.
The game puts 8 tropical fish down per roll, so a wide tropical fish floor beats a tall one.
Each kill is worth 1 to 3 experience and up to 1 tropical fish, so the size of the tropical fish farm follows the number you need of that one item.
Tropical Fish version history
18 July 2018 is the day the tropical fish arrived, in Minecraft 1.13, and the tropical fish has been part of the game for 8 years since.
7 other mobs here came with it: the turtle, the cod, the salmon, the pufferfish, the dolphin, the phantom and the drowned. Of the 88 mobs we list, 47 were in the game before the tropical fish and 33 arrived after it.
All of the tropical fish data above is taken from Java 26.2, so it describes the tropical fish as it is today.
What Tropical Fish sounds like
Turn subtitles on and every tropical fish sound names itself in the corner of the screen. These are the 3 lines a tropical fish can put there, and you can play any of them yourself with /playsound minecraft:entity.tropical_fish.hurt master @p.
| Sound | What you hear |
|---|---|
| entity.tropical_fish.hurt |  Tropical Fish hurts |
| entity.tropical_fish.death | Tropical Fish dies |
| entity.tropical_fish.flop | Tropical Fish flops |
