5 things players don't know about pufferfish in Minecraft

One of the more unique underwater critters in Minecraft, pufferfish inflate and inflict poison in order to defend themselves from threats.

Found both as a fishing item and a roaming mob in warm ocean biomes, pufferfish spawn in small groups that vary in size depending on what version of Minecraft is being played. Despite spawning in groups, pufferfish don't move in schools like other fish.

Players can acquire pufferfish as an item either via fishing or by killing the pufferfish mob itself. Pufferfish can even be collected by using a bucket on them, which can keep a pufferfish alive as a players transport it.

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Minecraft: Fun facts about pufferfish you may not know

1) Pufferfish are threatened by armor stands

A pufferfish inflating in reaction to an armor stand (Image via Minecraft.net)

Typically, when a player or mob approaches a pufferfish in Minecraft, it will inflate to deter any potential attackers. In this state, pufferfish can also poison entities that make contact with it.

However, another object exists that can threaten a pufferfish and cause it to inflate: armor stand. When an armor stand is close enough to a pufferfish, it will inexplicably puff itself up in self-defense. It's not entirely clear why this occurs and whether or not it's a bug. Maybe armor stands are just too tall and imposing for the little fish.

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2) Pufferfish from buckets don't despawn

A pufferfish in a bucket, possibly enjoying the sunset (Image via Mojang)

This is likely a detail that has been overlooked by most Minecraft players unless they've tested it themselves.

When a pufferfish is placed in a bucket, it can be used in any given location. In most situations, doing this will dump water out of the bucket, much like a normal water bucket. However, the pufferfish in the bucket will also spill out alongside the water.

Once a pufferfish is placed by a bucket this way, it will no longer be capable of despawning naturally. This can be a great tool to utilize when players don't have a name tag on-hand to keep a pufferfish from disappearing.

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3) Different drops depending on Minecraft version

Many different fish can drop bone meal, including pufferfish (Image via Rays Works/Youtube)

While it's something of a rare drop for pufferfish in Minecraft, players can occasionally acquire bone meals from killing pufferfish. However, this depends on the version of the game in question.

In Bedrock Edition, instead of dropping bone meals, pufferfish drop entire bones instead. These bones can of course be crafted into bone meal anyway, but it's an odd distinction to make between versions of the game. Do Bedrock Edition pufferfish have better bones? Only Mojang may have the answers.

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4) Pufferfish used to be tougher

Pufferfish were introduced in version 1.13 (Image via Minecraft.net)

When they were first introduced in Minecraft's 18w08b snapshot for version 1.13, pufferfish had a significantly higher health total. Overall, pufferfish had a total of 20 health or 10 total hearts. However, this was considered a bit too much health for a pufferfish by Mojang, and they tweaked the health total down to three health or one and a half hearts.

This implementation was made in snapshot 18w10a, and has remained a constant in Java Edition ever since. However, Bedrock Edition pufferfish are still slightly more tough and sport six health points or three hearts.

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5) Pufferfish can poison the ground in traps

A pufferfish poisoning nearby carpet blocks (Image via u/DIGIREN42/Reddit)

Due to the way that pufferfish behave, it's possible to place them in small holes near other ground-level blocks. Doing so correctly can lead to players taking damage from the pufferfish while crossing a ground block adjacent to the fish.

This makes for excellent traps to keep players and other entities out of a desired location, especially because the pufferfish inflicts poison. Players and certain non-undead mobs won't enjoy constantly being poisoned attempting to enter an area, which makes pufferfish great for security.