How to get Nautilus shells in Minecraft: Bedrock Edition

Having been in Minecraft: Bedrock Edition since version 1.4, Nautilus shells are currently a key component of crafting Conduits, which provide players with essential underwater buffs and can also strike nearby hostile mobs.

Though not as tricky to find as the other components necessary to create Conduits (Hearts of the Sea), Nautiloid shells are still not particularly common in Minecraft.

Within Minecraft: Bedrock Edition, there are three primary ways to collect Nautiloid shells.

While these processes won't require many materials, there is a fair amount of time and searching invested into them. But considering Nautiloids are a necessity to create Conduits, players in Survival Mode are left with little other choice than to search them out.

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Minecraft: The three main ways to find Nautiloid shells

In Minecraft: Bedrock Edition, Drowned have a small percentage to drop Nautilus shells upon death (Image via Mojang)

The three primary means of acquiring Nautilus shells in Minecraft: Bedrock Edition are via fishing, killing Drowned, and by trading with the Wandering Trader.

Outside of these three methods, vanilla Minecraft doesn't offer much to players in Survival Mode without the use of outside mods or at the very least the command console.

Obviously, Creative Mode is a different story, as Nautilus shells are readily available within the Creative Inventory.

When fishing with an unenchanted fishing rod, Minecraft players have an approximate chance of .8% to pull up a Nautilus shell as a treasure.

The maximum level of the Luck of the Sea enchantment, however, boosts this chance up to 1.9%. While those still aren't great odds, fishing may be used as a last resort to acquire these shells.

The other two methods are much more reliable, albeit tricky in their own right.

Drowned are hostile mobs found in ocean and river biomes, and are easily distinguished by their sickly blue-green appearance. Similar to their zombie cousins, Drowned don't take too much punishment before being defeated.

In Minecraft: Bedrock Edition, Drowned have an 8% chance to drop a Nautilus shell upon death.

If players are able to kill Drowned in a sizable group (they spawn in groups of 2-4 naturally in Bedrock Edition), they may pick up a few Nautilus shells for their trouble.

Lastly, the Wandering Trader occasionally sells Nautilus shells for five Emeralds per piece. The trader will only sell a maximum of five shells this way, but it's a solid way to get them in bulk alongside the work of killing Drowned.

Since the Wandering Trader's spawning is somewhat randomized, finding it can be difficult at times.

However, if Minecraft players are near a village, the Wandering Trader tends to travel to the village's central bell when it does spawn.

If the trader doesn't appear right away, have heart, as Minecraft's code is continuously attempting to place it near the player.

There's no guarantee it will have the Nautilus shells in its inventory, but checking in on the Wandering Trader's inventory from time to time can sometimes yield just what players need.

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Note: The article reflects the writer's own views.