Updated 25 October 2026. Facts on this page come from minecraft.wiki, minecraft.net and the live Artemis PvP server; sources are listed at the bottom.
Fish in Minecraft: Cod, Salmon, Tropical Fish and Pufferfish
Minecraft has four fish mobs: cod and salmon (food), tropical fish (thousands of color patterns in warm water) and pufferfish, which puff up and poison anything that comes close. Catch any of them alive with a water bucket, or kill them for food. Fish die out of water and cannot be bred.
How do the four fish compare?
| Fish | Where | Drops | Special |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cod | Oceans except warm ones | Raw cod, sometimes bone meal (Java) or bones (Bedrock) | Schools of up to 9 |
| Salmon | Rivers and cold oceans | Raw salmon, bone meal or bones | Small, normal and large sizes; swim up waterfalls |
| Tropical fish | Warm and lukewarm oceans, mangrove swamps, lush caves | Tropical fish, bone meal or bones | 3,072 patterns on Java, 2,700 on Bedrock; 22 named types |
| Pufferfish | Warm and lukewarm oceans (warm only on Bedrock) | Pufferfish, bone meal or bones | Inflates and gives Poison |
All give 1-3 experience. Catching them with a rod instead: fishing.
How do you catch a fish in a bucket?
Use a water bucket on the fish. Bucketed fish never despawn, so you can stock an aquarium; tropical fish buckets keep their exact pattern and name. A water bucket also picks up axolotls (a bucket of axolotl); see axolotls.
Why is the pufferfish dangerous?
- It puffs up when a player in Survival, a drowned, an axolotl or a land mob gets within 2 blocks, and touching it then deals damage and Poison.
- Eating a pufferfish gives Hunger, Nausea and Poison; it is a brewing ingredient for Water Breathing.
- Undead mobs and spiders ignore the Poison but still take the contact damage.
Potion uses: brewing potions.
Which fish is the best food?
Cooked salmon (6 hunger) beats cooked cod (5). Tropical fish and pufferfish are poor food. Cats are tamed with raw cod or salmon; see cats.
Does fishing pay on ArtemisPvP?
Frequently asked questions
How many tropical fish variants are there?
3,072 on Java and 2,700 on Bedrock, with 22 named common types.
Can you breed fish in Minecraft?
No. Fish only spawn naturally; catch them with a water bucket to keep them.
Sources
Every fact on this page was checked against these pages; the wording is ours.