How to fly using a trident in Minecraft (2022)

There are a variety of ways to fly in Minecraft, and players can even manage limited flight using a trident. This requires at least one enchantment, but it allows players to stay aloft in the air for a varied amount of time.

Once players have obtained a trident, usually from a Drowned, they'll need to apply a certain enchantment to it. Specifically, they'll need the Riptide enchantment and the presence of water or rain.

With these two factors secured, players can vault high into the air and get some solid hangtime, albeit not as much as flying via Elytra or the in-game flight function.

Fall damage is also a concern, but this can be addressed with an additional enchantment.

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Steps to reach the skies with a trident in Minecraft

Throwing a trident takes on a new face with the Riptide enchantment (Image via Mojang)

A trident in Minecraft changes some of its properties when it is enchanted with Riptide.

Normally, without the Riptide enchantment, the trident would simply be thrown when players use its secondary action. However, with Riptide applied, players will launch with the trident, flying into the air until gravity inevitably brings them back down to the ground.

With that in mind, players should be aware that they can still incur fall damage from launching themselves with Riptide, so precautions should be taken.

Here are the steps you can follow to launch into the air with a Riptide-enchanted trident:

1. Acquire a trident. In traditional Minecraft survival gameplay, you must obtain the weapon by killing a Drowned that is carrying it. Keep in mind, however, that there is a low percentage chance of the Drowned actually dropping the weapon when killed. You may need to kill multiple trident-wielding Drowned. This can be made slightly easier by using a weapon enchanted with Looting. It's also possible to obtain a trident via the Creative Mode inventory or console commands.
2. Apply Riptide to your new trident. This can be accomplished by placing the trident on an enchanting table and selecting Riptide from the list. The enchantment can also be applied via a Riptide-enchanted book by combining the trident with the book at an anvil block. The higher rank of the Riptide enchantment, the higher players will be able to leap with their trident.
3. To use the Riptide function of the trident, you'll need to touch some form of water. This can be accomplished by stepping into a body of water like a river, lake, or the ocean, or even just a puddle placed with a bucket of water. Otherwise, you'll need to be standing in the falling rain.
4. Press on the required button to charge up your trident (right-click is the standard bind in Minecraft for PCs). At full charge, let go of the button to fire yourself along with the trident. Just be absolutely certain you know where you're falling, or you may die from fall damage at higher Riptide ranks.

To defend yourself from large amounts of fall damage, you should enchant your boots with the Feather Falling enchantment in Minecraft. This will diminish the amount of damage you take upon landing.

Otherwise, it may be a good idea to keep a bucket of water or powder snow that can be deployed on the ground before you land in order to soften your fall.