How to Tame a Nautilus in Minecraft

To tame a nautilus in Minecraft, feed it a pufferfish or a bucket of pufferfish. Each feed has a 1 in 3 chance of working, so bring six to eight.

Mojang’s official 1.21.11 patch notes (December 9, 2025) say a nautilus can be bred and tamed with pufferfish. The 1 in 3 chance comes from the Minecraft Wiki, checked October 7, 2026.

The nautilus is a neutral aquatic mob added in the Mounts of Mayhem drop (Java 1.21.11 and Bedrock 1.21.130). Once tamed and saddled, it works as an underwater mount that stops you drowning.

This guide applies to Java Edition 26.3 (Wilderness Bound, released September 15, 2026) and Bedrock Edition 26.50, on PC, console, and mobile.

What do you need to tame a nautilus?

How do you tame a nautilus in Minecraft?

Feed the nautilus pufferfish until hearts appear, then use a saddle to ride it. Here are the steps in order.

1.       Find a nautilus. Swim down in any ocean biome to between Y level 38 and 58. They spawn in groups of one to three (Minecraft Wiki).

2.       Get your pufferfish. Fish for them or bucket live ones, and bring six to eight.

3.       Hold a pufferfish and swim close. Nautiluses follow players holding fish within 10 blocks, so you don’t need to chase.

4.       Use the pufferfish on the nautilus. Repeat until hearts appear. Each use has a 1 in 3 chance of taming it.

5.       Equip a saddle. Use the saddle on the tamed nautilus, or sneak and use it to open its inventory.

6.       Mount it and ride. While you ride underwater you get the Breath of the Nautilus effect, which pauses your oxygen bar.

How many pufferfish does it take to tame a nautilus?

On average, three. With a 1 in 3 chance per feed, you reach about 90% odds at six pufferfish.

These figures are our own maths from the Minecraft Wiki’s 1 in 3 chance. Plan as if every failed feed uses up one pufferfish.

Where do you find a nautilus in Minecraft?

Nautiluses spawn in every ocean biome, between Y level 38 and 58, in groups of one to three (Minecraft Wiki, checked October 7, 2026). They don’t appear near the surface, according to PC Gamer (December 9, 2025).

Here is a tip the main guides skip. In Java Edition, the Minecraft Wiki’s spawn table gives cold and frozen oceans the biggest share of the water creature list (50%) and lukewarm oceans the smallest (about 14 to 17%).

Pufferfish lean the other way, so catch your pufferfish in a warm or lukewarm ocean first. Then head to a cold ocean to hunt the nautilus. In Bedrock Edition every ocean biome has the same spawn weight.

How do you ride a nautilus, and what does it do?

A tamed nautilus can always be ridden, but you need a saddle to steer it (Minecraft Wiki). These are the details worth knowing before you set off.

•         Riding it gives Breath of the Nautilus, which pauses your oxygen bar underwater (Minecraft Wiki, checked October 7, 2026).

•         Hold the jump control to charge a dash. It launches you about 12 blocks and recharges every 2 seconds.

•         Top swim speed is 6.5 m/s, per the Minecraft Wiki.

•         It roams up to 32 blocks from where it was tamed, or 16 blocks if saddled.

•         It can’t leave the water in any useful way. On land it crawls at under 1 m/s and takes suffocation damage.

•         After you interact with it once, it stops despawning.

The effect only slows your air loss while you ride. PC Gamer notes you still have to resurface eventually, though it takes far longer than swimming.

How do you heal and breed a nautilus?

Any fish or bucket of fish heals an adult nautilus, and breeds two nautiluses at full health (Minecraft Wiki). Cooked salmon heals the most (12 HP) and pufferfish the least (2 HP).

A baby takes 20 minutes to grow up. In Java, each fish cuts the remaining time by 10%. In Bedrock, it takes 10 fish.

How do you tame a zombie nautilus?

Kill the drowned riding it, then treat it like a regular nautilus. Mojang’s notes say a zombie nautilus spawns with a drowned rider wielding a trident, and it is only hostile while a hostile mob rides it.

A coral variant spawns in Warm Ocean biomes. Like the regular mob it can be ridden, but Mojang says it can’t be bred.

G-Portal’s guide says you tame it with pufferfish after the rider is gone. Mojang’s notes only say it behaves like a nautilus, so the exact taming method is [SOURCE NEEDED].

Why won’t my nautilus tame?

Work through these from most likely to least likely.

1.       Bad luck. Two feeds in three fail, so keep going. Six misses in a row happens about 9% of the time.

2.       Wrong fish. Only pufferfish tames it. Cod, salmon, and tropical fish just heal or breed it, though it will still follow you while you hold them.

3.       You hit it first. An untamed adult nautilus is neutral, and it retaliates with a dash attack if provoked (Minecraft Wiki). Leave your sword in the hotbar.

4.       Bedrock pufferfish shortage. PC Gamer says pufferfish can only be caught outside jungle, sparse jungle, and bamboo jungle biomes in Bedrock.

5.       It is tamed but won’t steer. Check the saddle is in its saddle slot. Without one you can sit on it but not control it.

A few low-quality pages in search results claim nautiluses can’t be tamed. They have mixed the mob up with the nautilus shell item. Mojang’s own 1.21.11 notes say pufferfish tame it.

How is taming different on Java and Bedrock?

What could change after Minecraft 26.4?

Java 26.4 is in snapshots now and is planned for the fourth quarter of 2026, with ice caves as the headline feature (Minecraft Wiki, checked October 7, 2026). The 26.3 changelog has no nautilus entry.

Re-check the 1 in 3 taming chance and the spawn weights after 26.4 ships. Both are the kind of number Mojang can tweak in a drop.

FAQ

How many pufferfish do you need to tame a nautilus?

Bring six to eight. Each pufferfish has a 1 in 3 chance of taming it, so three is the average and six gives you about 91% odds.

What can you feed a nautilus?

Pufferfish tames it. Any fish or bucket of fish heals and breeds it, and the nautilus will follow you while you hold one.

Can you ride a nautilus without a saddle?

You can sit on a tamed nautilus, but you can’t steer it. A saddle is required to control it, and you craft one with 3 leather and 1 iron ingot.

Can you tame a zombie nautilus in Minecraft?

Yes, after you defeat the drowned riding it. The exact method is [SOURCE NEEDED], though G-Portal reports pufferfish work the same way.

Can a nautilus go on land?

Barely. A ridden nautilus crawls at under 1 m/s on land and takes suffocation damage, so keep it in water.