Salmon

Overview

Cooked Salmon restores 6 hunger against cooked cod's 5, and in a river-side base that single point is the difference between fishing being worth the trip and not. Salmon are the cold-water fish: rivers, frozen rivers, cold oceans and deep frozen oceans, in schools of three to five, swimming upstream against the current in a way no other mob bothers to do. They come in three visibly different sizes — small, normal and large — which is purely cosmetic but makes a stocked aquarium look considerably better than one full of cod. Each has 3 health and dies to a single hit. Raw salmon is also one of the two fish that tames a cat and one of the two an ocelot accepts, and the fish axolotls hunt in the wild, so a river is quietly a supply line for three unrelated projects. Bucket one and it never despawns, which is how a live Salmon gets moved to a decorative pond far from any water it could have swum to. Out of water it suffocates within seconds, and a killed Salmon carries a 5% chance of bone meal on top of the fish itself.

The better of the two common fish as food — 6 hunger cooked — plus taming currency for cats and ocelots, and stock for an aquarium since a bucketed Salmon never despawns.

Salmon are the cold-water counterpart to cod and the better food of the two once cooked. They spawn in three visibly different sizes, swim upstream against current, and scatter from players. Like all fish they can be caught in a bucket to keep permanently, and they are the main food used to tame cats and befriend ocelots. Out of water they suffocate within seconds.

Salmon sits under Passive mobs in Minecraft 1.21.4. Health sits at 3 points (1.5 hearts). Killing one drops 3 experience.

Properties

Salmon has 3 health, which is 1.5 hearts. It drops up to 3 experience when a player kills it. Its hitbox is 0.7 blocks wide and 0.4 tall, which is what decides whether it fits through a gap or a one-block-high opening.

Health: 3 (1.5 ♥)
Experience dropped: 3
Size: 0.7 × 0.4
Dimension: Overworld
Added in: 1.13

Spawns in

Spawns in rivers and cold oceans in schools of three to five, in three sizes: small, normal and large.

It is restricted to River, Frozen River, Cold Ocean, Deep Cold Ocean, Frozen Ocean and 1 more, so it will never turn up outside those biomes however dark it gets.

Dimension: Overworld
Biomes: River, Frozen River, Cold Ocean, Deep Cold Ocean, Frozen Ocean, Deep Frozen Ocean
Added in: 1.13

Dimension: Overworld · Added in 1.13

Drops

Killing Salmon drops Raw Salmon and Bone Meal, plus up to 3 experience. Looting raises the maximum on most of these by one per level.

Raw Salmon: 1
Bone Meal: 1 (5%)

How it behaves

The Salmon 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 Salmon where you are standing.

Summon

/summon minecraft:salmon ~ ~ ~

Guides and tools that cover this

Frequently asked questions

Where do Salmon spawn?

Rivers, frozen rivers, cold oceans and deep frozen oceans, in schools of three to five.

How much hunger does cooked salmon restore?

6 hunger points, one more than cooked cod, which makes it the better of the two common fish.

Why are salmon different sizes?

Salmon spawn as small, normal or large. The size is cosmetic and does not change drops or behaviour.

Can you tame a cat with salmon?

Yes. Raw salmon and raw cod are the only two taming foods cats accept.

How much health does the Salmon have in Minecraft?

The Salmon has 3 health points, which is 1.5 hearts.

What does the Salmon drop?

It drops Raw Salmon and Bone Meal, plus 3 experience when killed by a player.

Where does the Salmon spawn?