What is a pufferfish?
A pufferfish is one of the four fish mobs in Minecraft, alongside cod, salmon, and tropical fish. It lives in warm water, and unlike the other three, it fights back. Get too close and it balloons up, and anything that touches it while it is fully puffed gets poisoned.
You catch pufferfish for two real reasons: to brew Potions of Water Breathing, and to grab one in a bucket for an aquarium or a fish farm. Eating one is almost always a mistake, and the rest of this guide explains why.
Where pufferfish spawn
Pufferfish spawn in warm bodies of water. In Java Edition that means warm ocean, lukewarm ocean, and deep lukewarm ocean biomes. They show up in small numbers rather than the big schools you see with cod or tropical fish, so you may have to swim around a warm ocean for a bit before one turns up.
The warm ocean is your best bet. It is the bright turquoise water full of coral reefs, sea pickles, and tropical fish, and pufferfish drift around the same area. If you are hunting for one specifically, head for coral and start looking near the reef.
Each pufferfish has 3 health points, which is a hearts and a half. They take fall and suffocation damage like any fish, and they die quickly out of water, so a stranded one on the beach will not last long.
Like other fish, pufferfish need open water to spawn and swim freely. They will not appear in the small cave pools or rivers where you might find a stray squid, so do not waste time looking inland. Stick to large, warm ocean areas and you will find them eventually.
How to catch a pufferfish
There are three ways to get a pufferfish, and which one you want depends on what you plan to do with it.
Scoop it with a water bucket
Use a bucket of water on a pufferfish and you get a bucket of pufferfish. This is the best method if you want the fish alive. Place the bucket back down anywhere and the pufferfish pops out into the new water. A pufferfish caught and released this way never despawns, which makes the bucket the right tool for stocking an aquarium or a permanent fish supply.
Scooping also resets the fish to its calm, deflated state, so you do not have to worry about getting poisoned while you carry it around.
Kill it for the item
Hit a pufferfish until it dies and it drops a single raw pufferfish item. This is what you want if you are after the brewing ingredient and do not care about keeping the fish. Killing it with a player attack also drops a small amount of experience. Watch the puffing while you fight it, since a fully inflated pufferfish will poison you if you swim into it.
Reel one in with a fishing rod
Pufferfish are part of the junk pool you can catch while fishing. You will not get them reliably this way, but if you are already fishing for other reasons, a pufferfish will turn up now and then. It is the slowest method if you actually need one, so the water bucket or a quick kill in a warm ocean is usually faster.
The puffing mechanic
The puffing is the whole personality of this fish. A pufferfish has three states: deflated, partially inflated, and fully inflated. When a player or most mobs come within about two blocks, it starts to swell. Back away and it deflates again.
While it is fully puffed, any entity that touches it takes the Poison effect. The length of the poison scales with difficulty, so it stings more on Hard than on Easy. Poison drains your health down toward half a heart but cannot kill you on its own, though it will leave you wide open to drowning or a guardian if you are deep in the ocean.
A couple of details are worth knowing. Poison does not affect undead mobs, so a drowned swimming near a puffed pufferfish shrugs it off. The fish also cannot poison itself or other pufferfish. If you want to grab one without taking damage, scoop it with a water bucket the moment you approach, or hit it from more than a block away.
What pufferfish are used for
Brewing Water Breathing potions
This is the main reason most players hunt pufferfish. Drop one into a brewing stand on top of an Awkward Potion and you get a Potion of Water Breathing. Drink it and you can stay underwater without your air bubbles draining for three minutes.
You can stretch that to eight minutes by adding redstone dust for the extended version. Add gunpowder instead and you get a Splash Potion of Water Breathing you can throw, which is handy for sharing the effect with friends or applying it fast. Water Breathing pairs well with raiding ocean monuments, building underwater, or exploring deep caves that flood.
Water Breathing also stops your air bubbles from draining and slows the rate that water blurs your mining speed, so it is one of the most useful potions for any serious underwater project. A single pufferfish makes one potion, which is why most players keep a few fish on hand rather than swimming back to the ocean for each brew.
Filling an aquarium
A pufferfish in a bucket is a quick way to add some life to a glass tank or a moat. Because bucketed fish do not despawn, you can decorate with them and trust they will stay put. Just remember anything that swims into the puffed fish, including your pets, can get poisoned, so give it room.
Should you eat a pufferfish?
Almost never. Raw pufferfish restores only half a hunger point, and eating it hits you with three effects at once: Hunger, Nausea that blurs and warps your screen, and Poison for a full minute. The food value is tiny and the downside is brutal, so the only time it makes sense is a genuine emergency when it is the only food you have and you can wait out the effects somewhere safe.
There is no way to cook a pufferfish to make it safe, unlike cod and salmon. The fish is a brewing ingredient first and a food source basically never.
Drops
When killed, a pufferfish drops one raw pufferfish. A player kill also gives a little experience. There is no cooked version and no bonus drop to chase, so there is no reason to bring a Looting sword to a pufferfish hunt. One fish, one item, and you are done.
Tips and common mistakes
The most common mistake is swimming straight into a puffed pufferfish and eating a poison tick you did not need. Approach with a water bucket ready and scoop it before it can inflate, or keep your distance and let a ranged hit do the work.
Another trap is eating one to top off your hunger bar in a pinch. The Nausea and Poison cost far more than the half point of hunger you get back. Carry bread or steak and leave the pufferfish for the brewing stand.
If you are setting up a steady supply for potions, scoop a few into buckets and keep them in a small pool near your brewing area. They will not despawn, and you can kill one for an ingredient whenever you need it instead of swimming back to the ocean every time.
Finally, if you cannot find any in a lukewarm ocean, swim toward warmer water. The brighter and more colorful the ocean, the better your odds.
Frequently asked questions
Where do pufferfish spawn in Minecraft?
They spawn in warm ocean, lukewarm ocean, and deep lukewarm ocean biomes. Warm oceans with coral reefs are the easiest place to find them.
How do you stop a pufferfish from poisoning you?
Scoop it with a water bucket, which resets it to a calm state, or attack it from more than a block away. The poison only triggers when you touch it while it is fully puffed.
What is a pufferfish used for?
Its main use is brewing Potions of Water Breathing. You can also keep one in a bucket for an aquarium.
Can you eat a pufferfish?
You can, but it restores only half a hunger point and gives you Hunger, Nausea, and Poison. It is a last resort food at best, and you cannot cook it to make it safe.
Do pufferfish despawn?
Wild ones can despawn like other fish, but a pufferfish you catch in a bucket and release will never despawn.
How do you make a Water Breathing potion with a pufferfish?
Brew a pufferfish on top of an Awkward Potion in a brewing stand. Add redstone for a longer duration or gunpowder to turn it into a throwable splash potion.
How much health does a pufferfish have?
A pufferfish has 3 health points, the same as cod, salmon, and tropical fish, so it goes down in a hit or two.
The bottom line
Treat the pufferfish as a brewing ingredient, not a snack. Keep a water bucket handy when you go after one, scoop a few into a pool near your brewing stand, and you will have all the Water Breathing potions you need for your next ocean monument raid.