Why is a dolphin following me in Minecraft?

Dolphins are neutral mobs that live in non-frozen oceans, which grant a speed boost to players that swim near them.

Spawning[]

Dolphins are found in groups (pods) of 3–5 in all ocean biomes, except frozen oceans and cold oceans. They spawn exclusively between levels 50 and 64. Dolphins continuously spawn as long as their spawn requirements are met, and naturally despawn if no players are near by, similar to squid.

10% of dolphins spawn as babies.‌[Bedrock Edition only]

Drops[]

When killed, dolphins drop 0–1 raw cod (cooked cod if on fire). The maximum amount is increased by 1 per level of Looting, for a maximum of 0–4 with Looting III. 1–3 are dropped as well.

Behavior[]

Dolphins jumping in water.

Dolphins normally swim in pods, occasionally leaping out of the water to get air. They are also able to jump from one body of water to another. Additionally, they chase after players in boats.

Players who sprint swim within a 9 block spherical radius of a dolphin receive Dolphin's Grace for 5 seconds‌[Java Edition only]. Players with Invisibility do not receive the effect unless they already had Dolphin's Grace before receiving Invisibility, or if they are wearing armor. In Bedrock Edition, the player simply gets a swimming speed boost without a status effect.

Dolphins are lured by dropped items that are inside nearby water blocks, knocking them around and chasing them.‌[Java Edition only] If the dolphin can not find a path to a dropped item, the dolphin may stay underwater to the point of drowning.[1] If the dolphin is in, or on, a waterlogged bottom slab or chest with an air block above, the dolphin is prevented from drowning.

Should the player or another mob hit a dolphin (unless the dolphin is killed within one hit‌[Java Edition only]), the whole pod retaliates, attacking all at once similar to wolves and zombified piglins. Hostile dolphins remain hostile even if they are fed fish.

Feeding dolphins raw cod or raw salmon improves their "trust" and interactions with the player, depending on the amount of fish fed.

When dolphins are fed raw cod or raw salmon, they swim to the nearest shipwreck, buried treasure, or ocean ruins. Because they are locating the chest in the structures rather than the structures themselves, breaking the chests causes the dolphin to locate a new structure with intact chests. Dolphins also avoid guardians and elder guardians.

Weaknesses[]

If a dolphin leaves the water in dry weather, it starts taking suffocation damage after two minutes, and eventually dies. It takes no damage out of water during rain. Regardless of weather, a dolphin on land actively seeks out a body of water, or seeks its target if in a hostile state.

They cannot survive without getting air every once in a while, so if they stay submerged for about four minutes they begin drowning. The water breathing effect prevents them from drowning.

Dolphins cannot ride boats, similarly to squid and all types of fish.

Dolphins can be towed by a lead.

Because the dolphin is an aquatic mob, they are affected by the Impaling enchantment.‌[Java Edition only]

Sounds[]

SoundSubtitlesSourceDescriptionResource locationTranslation keyVolumePitchAttenuation
distance

//minecraft.fandom.com/wiki/File:Dolphin_idle1.ogg	Dolphin chirps	Friendly Creatures	Randomly on land	entity.dolphin.ambient	subtitles.entity.dolphin.ambient	1.0	0.8 - 1.2	16
//minecraft.fandom.com/wiki/File:Dolphin_water_idle1.ogg	Dolphin whistles	Friendly Creatures	Randomly in water	entity.dolphin.ambient_water	subtitles.entity.dolphin.ambient_water	1.0	0.8 - 1.2	16
//minecraft.fandom.com/wiki/File:Dolphin_attack1.ogg	Dolphin attacks	Friendly Creatures	When dolphin attacks	entity.dolphin.attack	subtitles.entity.dolphin.attack	1.0	1.0	16
//minecraft.fandom.com/wiki/File:Dolphin_death2.ogg	Dolphin dies	Friendly Creatures	When dolphin dies	entity.dolphin.death	subtitles.entity.dolphin.death	1.0	0.8 - 1.2	16
//minecraft.fandom.com/wiki/File:Dolphin_eat1.ogg	Dolphin eats	Friendly Creatures	When feeding fish to dolphin	entity.dolphin.eat	subtitles.entity.dolphin.eat	0.75	1.0	16
//minecraft.fandom.com/wiki/File:Dolphin_hurt1.ogg	Dolphin hurts	Friendly Creatures	When dolphin takes damage	entity.dolphin.hurt	subtitles.entity.dolphin.hurt	1.0	0.8 - 1.2	16
//minecraft.fandom.com/wiki/File:Dolphin_jump1.ogg	Dolphin jumps	Friendly Creatures	When dolphin jumps	entity.dolphin.jump	subtitles.entity.dolphin.jump	0.75	1.0	16
//minecraft.fandom.com/wiki/File:Dolphin_play1.ogg	Dolphin plays	Friendly Creatures	When dolphin plays	entity.dolphin.play	subtitles.entity.dolphin.play	1.0	1.0	16
//minecraft.fandom.com/wiki/File:Dolphin_splash2.ogg	Dolphin splashes	Friendly Creatures	When dolphin enters water	entity.dolphin.splash	subtitles.entity.dolphin.splash	Around 0.1 or 0.02[sound 1]	0.6 - 1.4	16
//minecraft.fandom.com/wiki/File:Dolphin_swim1.ogg	Dolphin swims	Friendly Creatures	When dolphin swims	entity.dolphin.swim	subtitles.entity.dolphin.swim	Around 0.03[sound 2]	0.8 - 1.2	16

1. ↑ Depends on the dolphin's motion, usually around 0.1 or 0.02.
2. ↑ Depends on the dolphin's motion, usually around 0.03

Achievements[]

IconAchievementIn-game descriptionActual requirements (if different)Gamerscore earnedTrophy type (PS4)PS4Other

		Echolocation	Feed a dolphin fish to have it lead you to treasure	Feed a dolphin cod or salmon and have it lure you to treasure.	20G	Silver

Advancements[]

Icon Advancement In-game description Parent Actual requirements (if different) Resource location

	How Did We Get Here?	Have every effect applied at the same time	A Furious Cocktail	Have all of these 27 effects applied to the player at the same time: Absorption Bad Omen Blindness Conduit Power Darkness Dolphin's Grace Fire Resistance Glowing Haste Hero of the Village Hunger Invisibility Jump Boost Levitation Mining Fatigue Nausea Night Vision Poison Regeneration Resistance Slow Falling Slowness Speed Strength Water Breathing Weakness Wither The source of the effects is irrelevant for the purposes of this advancement. Other status effects, if any, may be applied to the player, but are ignored for this advancement. This is a hidden advancement, meaning that it can be viewed by the player only after completing it, regardless if one or more of its child advancements have been completed.	nether/all_effects

Data values[]

ID[]

Java Edition:

NameIdentifierTranslation key

Dolphin	dolphin	entity.minecraft.dolphin

Bedrock Edition:

NameIdentifierNumeric ID Translation key

Dolphin	dolphin	31	entity.dolphin.name

Entity data[]

Dolphins have entity data associated with them that contains various properties.

Java Edition:

• Entity data
  •  CanFindTreasure: 1 or 0 (true/false) - if true, this dolphin can lead a player to treasure.
  •  GotFish: 1 or 0 (true/false) - if true, this dolphin got fish from a player.
  •  TreasurePosX: This dolphin's X coordinate destination when leading a player to treasure, 0 if CanFindTreasure is false.
  •  TreasurePosY: This dolphin's Y coordinate destination when leading a player to treasure, 0 if CanFindTreasure is false.
  •  TreasurePosZ: This dolphin's Z coordinate destination when leading a player to treasure, 0 if CanFindTreasure is false.

Bedrock Edition:

See Bedrock Edition level format/Entity format.

History[]

November 18, 2017Java Edition1.1318w15a18w19a18w19b18w20c18w21apre2pre61.1419w08a1.1821w40aBedrock Edition1.4.0beta 1.2.20.1beta 1.2.20.21.5.0beta 1.5.0.01.16.100beta 1.16.100.511.18.0beta 1.18.0.21Legacy Console EditionTU69 1.76 Patch 38

Dolphins were shown in a video clip during MineCon Earth.

Added dolphins.

Dolphins now swim to the surface, if drowning.

Dolphins now give the player the "Dolphin's Grace" status effect that allows the player to swim faster, if the player swims near them.

Dolphins now drop experience.[2]

Dolphins on land now jump to try to get back into the water.

Dolphins now survive for two minutes out of water, instead of ten seconds.

Dolphins now lead players to treasure.

Dolphins can no longer wear armor.[3]

Dolphins can no longer sit in boats.[4]

Dolphins now bring the player to buried treasure more accurately.

Dolphins can no longer have armor equipped onto them with a dispenser.

Dolphins now only spawn between y=50 and y=64.

Added dolphins and baby dolphins. Baby Dolphins are a version exclusive.

The models of dolphins have been updated with minor adjustments to the orientation of their fins.

Dolphins now have sounds.

Dolphins now lead players to shipwrecks and underwater ruins.

Dolphins now dry out at the same rate as they do in Java Edition; 120 seconds.

Dolphins on land now try to get back into the water.

Dolphins now only spawn between y=50 and y=64.

Added dolphins.

Baby dolphins can be spawned when the player uses a spawn egg on an adult dolphin.

Issues[]

Issues relating to "Dolphin" are maintained on the bug tracker. Report issues there.

Trivia[]

• To create the sounds that the dolphins make in the game, Mojang Studios' lead sound designer, Samuel Åberg, went to Kolmården Wildlife Park to record real dolphins.[5]
  • This was also done with pandas.
• Dolphins originally had a separate head and body when shown in a clip at MINECON 2017. It is also shown in artwork for Java Edition 1.13.
• Real-life dolphins don't suffocate outside of water; they breathe air like all mammals, although they can die of dehydration out of water.
• In 2018, a mob vote was held in which Chinese users could vote on which Chinese animal should be added to Minecraft, to promote the release of Minecraft China. One of the options for voting was the possibly extinct Baiji Dolphin. The Panda won the vote and was added into the game.[6]
• During development, there were large disagreements between developers over how Dolphins should behave.[7]

Gallery[]

• A pod of dolphins.

• A Dolphin seen underwater.

• Several dolphins attacking the player, after the player hit one of them.

• Dolphins swimming with the player.

In other media[]

• Official dolphin artwork.

References[]

1. ↑ MC-221510
2. ↑ MC-128681
3. ↑ MC-128493
4. ↑ MC-128241
5. ↑ "Talking Dolphins" – Minecraft.net, May 19, 2018
6. ↑ //mc.163.com/pe/client/activity/voteforanimalpc/
7. ↑ //www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEIj2Nob234

How do you befriend a dolphin in Minecraft?