Axolotls are the most popular small mob Mojang has added in years: five colors, a habit of playing dead, and a real use as underwater combat partners. One color, blue, is famously rare. This page covers all of it.
RateBlue: 1 in 1200 per baby
XP levelBreeding gives XP
Build timeMinutes to catch, longer for blue
DifficultyBeginner
Where to find axolotls
Axolotls spawn in water in lush caves, underground, in the dark. The easiest way to find a lush cave: look on the surface for azalea trees, which grow above them, and dig down. Lush caves have moss, glow berries hanging from the ceiling, and pools at the bottom.
Catching one
Use a bucket of water on an axolotl to scoop it up. That gives you a bucket of axolotl you can carry anywhere and release into water. Axolotls caught in a bucket do not despawn.
Out of water, an axolotl dries out and starts taking damage after about 5 minutes. Rain keeps it wet. Keep it in water, or in your bucket, when moving it.
Every color
| Color |
How common |
| Pink (leucistic) |
Natural spawn |
| Brown |
Natural spawn |
| Gold |
Natural spawn |
| Cyan |
Natural spawn |
| Blue |
Breeding only, 1 in 1200 |
The four common colors spawn naturally. Blue never spawns in the wild. It can only come from breeding.
Image: SyntaxMine, made from Minecraft's own textures.
Breeding axolotls
- Catch tropical fish in a bucket (use a water bucket on tropical fish in warm oceans or lush caves).
- Use the bucket of tropical fish on two adult axolotls. They enter love mode.
- A baby appears. It usually takes the color of one of its parents.
- Each baby has a 1 in 1200 chance of being blue, no matter the parents' colors.
You get an empty water bucket back after each feeding, with the fish gone. A stack of tropical fish buckets is the bottleneck, so find a warm ocean with lots of fish before you start.
1 in 1200 is a lot. On average, you need about 1200 babies for one blue. Expect hundreds of breedings at minimum. Keep a holding pool for the extras, or release them into a lush cave.
Axolotls as combat partners
Axolotls attack most aquatic mobs: drowned, guardians, elder guardians, fish and squid. Dolphins, turtles and frogs are left alone.
- When an axolotl kills a mob you were fighting, you get Regeneration and lose Mining Fatigue, which matters a lot in an ocean monument.
- Hurt axolotls play dead: they lie still and regenerate, and mobs stop targeting them.
Bring a few in buckets when you raid an ocean monument or fight drowned near a trident farm. Release them, fight alongside them, and scoop them back up afterwards.
Frequently asked questions
How do you get a blue axolotl in Minecraft?
Breed two axolotls with a bucket of tropical fish. Each baby has a 1 in 1200 chance to be blue. Blue axolotls never spawn naturally.
Where do axolotls spawn?
In water in lush caves, underground. Look for azalea trees on the surface and dig down.
What do axolotls eat?
Tropical fish, fed from a bucket of tropical fish. That is also how you breed them.
Can you tame an axolotl?
No, but you can carry one in a bucket, and it fights with you underwater.
Do axolotls die out of water?
Yes, after about five minutes without water or rain they start drying out and taking damage.
Axolotls are one of the friendliest mobs to keep around a base; the full list of pets is in how to tame every pet. Want to test what you know about them? The axolotl is in today's Mobdle pool, and its stats are in the Bestiary. Every solve also levels up your free SyntaxMine player profile.
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