Squid

Overview

Black dye is the whole point of a Squid, and it matters more than it sounds. Ink sacs dye wool, concrete, beds, banners, candles and leather armour, and combined with paper and a feather they make a book and quill. Each Squid drops 1 to 3 sacs and has 10 health, so a small pond stocks a base for a long time. It is worth clearing up a common misconception: ordinary books need leather and paper, not ink, so a Squid is not a prerequisite for an enchanting table — that is a cow's job. What a Squid does do is drift aimlessly through open water and jet away in a cloud of ink when hit, briefly clouding your view. It spawns in ocean and river biomes in any water between Y=50 and sea level, in groups of two to four, at any light level, which makes it one of the easiest mobs in the game to find deliberately. They suffocate out of water and are frequently killed by waterfalls carrying them onto land, or by drowned hunting them, so a squid pond needs sides. The glowing cousin is the Glow Squid, which lives in dark caves instead.

Ink sacs, which are the only source of black dye and one third of a book and quill. Black dye colours wool, concrete, banners, beds, candles and leather armour.

Squid drift aimlessly through open water and jet away in a cloud of ink when hit, which briefly obscures your view. Their ink sacs make black dye and, with paper and a feather, a book and quill. Ordinary books need leather rather than ink, so a squid pond is a dye supply, not an enchanting-table prerequisite. They suffocate out of water and are frequently killed by drowning in waterfalls or by drowned.

Squid is a passive mob in Minecraft Java Edition 1.21.4. You will need to deal 10 damage — 5 hearts — to kill one. It is worth 3 XP.

Properties

Squid has 10 health, which is 5 hearts. It drops up to 3 experience when a player kills it. Its hitbox is 0.8 blocks wide and 0.8 tall, which is what decides whether it fits through a gap or a one-block-high opening.

Spawns in

Spawns in any water between Y=50 and sea level in ocean and river biomes, in groups of two to four.

It has no biome restriction, so anywhere in the Overworld that meets the light and space conditions is a valid spawn.

Dimension

Overworld

Added in

1.0.0

Dimension: Overworld · Added in 1.0.0

Drops

Killing Squid drops Ink Sac, plus up to 3 experience. Looting raises the maximum on most of these by one per level.

• Ink Sac: 1–3

How it behaves

The Squid 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 Squid where you are standing.

Guides and tools that cover this

• GuidesHow to Fight Every Hostile Mob in Minecraft→
• GuidesHow to Build a Base That Mobs Cannot Enter→

Frequently asked questions

Related pages

AllayArmadilloAxolotlBatCamelChickenCodCow

How to get it

Squid spawn in groups of 2 to 4 in ocean and river biomes, in any water between Y=50 and sea level, at any light level. Each kill drops 1 to 3 ink sacs and 1 to 3 experience; they cannot be bucketed.

Tips

• Farm a river rather than the open sea; squid spawn in any water block down to Y=50 and rivers are shallower.
• Build sides on any squid pond, since a squid pushed onto land by a current suffocates within seconds.
• Remember ordinary books need leather, not ink — a squid pond does not replace a cow pen for enchanting.
• Use Looting on the kill, because 1 to 3 ink sacs scales with it and black dye is used in large quantities.