Overview
An Axolotl is a combat pet you carry in a bucket. It has 14 health, hunts fish, squid, tadpoles, drowned and guardians, and never turns on a player or on another Axolotl, which makes a bucket of four or five the standard opening move against an ocean monument. Two mechanics do the work. When an Axolotl drops low it plays dead, regenerating health on the sea floor while whatever was attacking it loses interest — so a pack that looks wiped out often is not. And when a hostile mob dies near one, the player gets Regeneration and, crucially, has Mining Fatigue removed, which is the debuff an Elder Guardian uses to make a monument unbreakable. Five colours exist: pink, brown, gold, cyan, and the blue variant, which appears on roughly one in 1,200 births and cannot be bred for directly. The practical catch is air. An Axolotl left on dry land suffocates after about five minutes unless it is raining, so they travel in buckets and are released only where you intend to fight. Breeding needs buckets of tropical fish rather than the fish item, which means a warm ocean trip before an Axolotl army is realistic.
Clearing ocean monuments. Axolotls fight guardians for you and strip Mining Fatigue off the player whenever one of their kills lands, which is the difference between mining a monument and being unable to break a single prismarine block.
Axolotls hunt fish, squid, glow squid, tadpoles, drowned and guardians, but never attack players or other axolotls. When badly hurt they play dead, regenerating health while attackers lose interest. Killing a hostile mob with an axolotl nearby grants the player Regeneration and clears Mining Fatigue, which makes a bucket of axolotls the standard tool for cracking ocean monuments. They suffocate on land after five minutes unless it rains.
Axolotl is a passive mob in Minecraft Java Edition 1.21.4. You will need to deal 14 damage — 7 hearts — to kill one. Its attacks do 2 damage on Normal.
Killing one drops 3 experience.
Properties
Axolotl has 14 health, which is 7 hearts. It drops up to 3 experience when a player kills it. Its hitbox is 0.75 blocks wide and 0.42 tall, which is what decides whether it fits through a gap or a one-block-high opening.
- Dimension
- Overworld
- Added in
- 1.17
- Breedable
- Yes
Damage by difficulty
Axolotl hits for 2 on Easy, 2 on Normal and 3 on Hard — the site's stat strip shows the Normal figure, which is the one most guides quote.
A full set of diamond armour cuts that by up to 80% against a small hit and less against a large one, and Protection IV on all four pieces — 16 EPF — takes a further 64% off what is left.
| Difficulty | Attack damage | Hearts |
|---|---|---|
| Easy | 2 | 1 |
| Normal | 2 | 1 |
| Hard | 3 | 1.5 |
Spawns in
Spawns underwater in lush caves below Y=63, on clay blocks, in complete darkness.
It is restricted to Lush Caves, so it will never turn up outside those biomes however dark it gets.
- Dimension
- Overworld
- Light level
- 0
- Biomes
- Lush Caves
- Added in
- 1.17
Dimension: Overworld · Added in 1.17
How it behaves
The Axolotl never attacks. The only reason to be careful around one is that killing it is often not what you want: breeding it is worth more than the drop.
Killed by a player it drops up to 3 experience; killed any other way it drops none.
Command
In a world with cheats on, this spawns one Axolotl where you are standing.
Summon
/summon minecraft:axolotl ~ ~ ~Guides and tools that cover this
Frequently asked questions
Where do Axolotls spawn?
Only in lush caves, underwater, on clay blocks, below Y=63 and at light level 0. They do not spawn in open oceans.
What do Axolotls eat?
Buckets of tropical fish. That is also the only breeding item; nothing else will do.
How rare is a blue Axolotl?
Roughly 1 in 1,200 from breeding. It cannot be bred for reliably — the roll is independent of the parents' colours.
Do Axolotls attack players?
Never. They attack fish, squid, tadpoles, drowned and guardians, and ignore players and each other entirely.
How much health does the Axolotl have in Minecraft?
The Axolotl has 14 health points, which is 7 hearts.
What does the Axolotl drop?
It drops no items, only 3 experience.
Where does the Axolotl spawn?
Spawns underwater in lush caves below Y=63, on clay blocks, in complete darkness.
How much damage does Axolotl do?
2 on Normal difficulty — 1 hearts — with 2 on Easy and 3 on Hard.
Related pages
How to get it
Axolotls spawn underwater on clay blocks in lush caves below Y=63, in total darkness. Scoop one up with a water bucket to get an axolotl bucket that never despawns, or breed two adults with 2 buckets of tropical fish.
Tips
- Release four or five at the monument entrance and let them tank the guardian beams while you break in.
- Carry every Axolotl in a bucket: a bucketed one never despawns and never suffocates on the way there.
- Breed with buckets of tropical fish, not raw tropical fish — the item does nothing and the bucket is consumed.
- Do not leave one on land for more than five minutes unless it is raining, because it drowns in air.