The 
Nautilus is an underwater mount added in the Mounts of Mayhem update (1.21.11) that completely changes ocean exploration in Minecraft. This tameable aquatic mob can be saddled, armored, and ridden through ocean biomes at impressive speeds. When mounted, Nautiluses grant players the Breath of the Nautilus effect, which pauses their oxygen bar entirely and eliminates any risk of drowning.
Unlike other aquatic mobs, Nautiluses function similarly to 
Horses but for underwater travel. They can be equipped with 
Saddles and special Nautilus Armor, which comes in five tiers from Copper to Netherite. Their unique dash ability propels both rider and mount up to 12 blocks forward, making them the fastest way to traverse ocean depths.
In this guide, you will learn everything about Nautiluses in Minecraft, including where to find them, how to tame and breed them, how to equip them with armor, and how to use their special abilities for underwater exploration.
Where to Find Nautiluses
Nautiluses spawn naturally in all ocean biome variants throughout the Overworld. Understanding their spawn conditions will help you locate them more quickly and identify the best areas to search.
Spawn Locations
Nautiluses spawn between Y levels 38 and 58 in groups of one to three. They appear in all ocean biomes but have higher spawn rates in colder waters. Frozen Oceans and Cold Oceans have a 50% spawn rate, while Lukewarm Oceans have only a 14.29% chance.
In Bedrock Edition, 10% of naturally spawning Nautiluses are babies. This gives you a chance to find young Nautiluses to raise and tame as they grow.
Head to Frozen Ocean or Cold Ocean biomes for the highest spawn rates. Use a Boat to travel quickly across the surface while scanning the waters below for Nautiluses swimming at mid-depth levels.
Using Commands
If you have cheats enabled, you can spawn a Nautilus directly using the summon command. This is useful for testing or creative mode builds.
How to Tame a Nautilus
Taming a Nautilus requires patience and the right food. Unlike Horses that you mount repeatedly, Nautiluses are tamed by feeding them their favorite food: 
Pufferfish.
Required Items
You need Pufferfish or Buckets of Pufferfish to tame a Nautilus. Both items work, but using buckets ensures you have a steady supply. Pufferfish can be obtained by fishing or by using a 
Water Bucket on a live Pufferfish in the ocean.
Be careful when collecting Pufferfish by hand. They inflate and deal poison damage when you get too close. Use a bucket from a safe distance or fish for them instead.
Taming Process
Approach a wild Nautilus while holding a Pufferfish or a Bucket of Pufferfish. They will follow players holding these items within a 10-block radius. Right-click on the Nautilus to feed it, and each feeding has a 1 in 3 chance (33%) to successfully tame it.
When tamed, hearts will appear above the Nautilus, and it will no longer flee from you. Tamed Nautiluses will swim around within 32 blocks of their location, or 16 blocks if you equip them with a Saddle.
Healing Your Nautilus
Tamed Nautiluses can be healed by feeding them any type of fish. This includes 
Cod, 
Salmon, 
Tropical Fish, and Pufferfish. Each fish restores a portion of their health, so keep some fish in your inventory when exploring dangerous waters.
How to Ride a Nautilus
Once tamed, Nautiluses can be saddled and ridden like underwater Horses. Riding a Nautilus is currently the best way to conduct extended underwater exploration in Minecraft.
Equipping a Saddle
To ride a Nautilus, you must first equip it with a Saddle. Hold a Saddle in your hand and right-click on the tamed Nautilus to attach it. You can remove the Saddle later by using 
Shears on the Nautilus or by killing it, which drops any equipped gear.
Alternatively, while riding the Nautilus without a Saddle, its inventory can be opened to equip and remove Saddles. Without a Saddle, players won’t be able to control the direction a Nautilus moves in.
Mounting and Controls
Right-click on a saddled Nautilus to mount it. Use your movement keys to control the direction, and the Nautilus will swim wherever you steer it. To dismount, press the sneak key (Shift by default).
Nautiluses swim at 6.5 blocks per second in water, making them significantly faster than swimming with Depth Strider boots. On land, they slow down dramatically to 0.88 blocks per second and will take suffocation damage over time.
Breath of the Nautilus Effect
When riding a saddled Nautilus underwater, you automatically receive the Breath of the Nautilus effect. This powerful buff completely pauses your oxygen bar, meaning you cannot drown while mounted. This effect lasts as long as you remain on the Nautilus.
Breath of the Nautilus is superior to Water Breathing potions because it pauses your oxygen bar entirely rather than just preventing it from depleting. This means you keep your full oxygen when you dismount.
Using the Dash Ability
While mounted on a saddled Nautilus, press the jump key to activate the dash ability. The Nautilus will launch forward up to 12 blocks in the direction you are facing. This ability has a 2-second cooldown between uses.
Dashing near the water’s surface creates a spectacular breach as the Nautilus partially emerges from the water. This ability is excellent for quickly escaping dangerous mobs or covering large distances underwater.
Nautilus Stats and Behavior
Nautiluses have unique behaviors that differ between their wild and tamed states. Understanding these behaviors helps you manage your aquatic companion effectively.
Land Survival
Nautiluses can survive on land but will take suffocation damage over time. Unlike fish that flop around, Nautiluses remain stationary when beached. They are immune to poison damage, which prevents Pufferfish from harming them when hunting.
Never leave your tamed Nautilus on land for extended periods. They will slowly die from suffocation damage. Always ensure they have access to water deep enough to swim in.
Wild Behavior
Wild Nautiluses are neutral mobs that will not attack players unless provoked. They occasionally dash toward and attack nearby Pufferfish using their dash ability. If you hit a wild Nautilus, it will retaliate and attack you.
Nautiluses follow players holding any fish or Bucket of Fish within a 10-block radius. This makes it easy to lure them to a specific location if you want to tame one there.
Tamed Behavior
Tamed Nautiluses become passive and will no longer attack anything or retaliate when hit. They swim randomly within 32 blocks of their position, or 16 blocks if equipped with a Saddle. This reduced roaming range makes saddled Nautiluses easier to find when you need them.
Nautilus Armor Guide
Nautilus Armor is special equipment that can only be worn by tamed Nautiluses and their zombie variants. Unlike Horse Armor, Nautilus Armor comes in five tiers with varying protection values.
Armor Tiers
Copper
Iron
Gold
Diamond
Netherite
Netherite Nautilus Armor provides the best protection with 19 armor points, 3 toughness, and +1 knockback resistance. Like all Nautilus Armor, it has no durability and requires no repairs.
Where to Find Nautilus Armor
Nautilus Armor cannot be crafted. You must find it as loot in ocean structures throughout the world. The following locations contain Nautilus Armor in their loot tables:
Buried Treasure chests have a 10.8% chance to contain 
Copper Nautilus Armor in Java Edition. Shipwrecks can contain armor in their supply, treasure, and map chests. Ocean Ruins also have Nautilus Armor in both small and big ruin chest variants.
Diamond Nautilus Armor can be upgraded to Netherite at a 
Smithing Table. You need a 
Netherite Upgrade Smithing Template and a 
Netherite Ingot to perform the upgrade, just like regular armor.
Equipping and Removing Armor
To equip Nautilus Armor, hold it in your hand and right-click on a tamed adult Nautilus. You can remove equipped armor by using Shears on the Nautilus. If a Nautilus dies, it will drop any equipped Saddle and Armor.
Piglins are attracted to 
Golden Nautilus Armor and may pick it up if dropped. Be careful when using gold armor near Nether Portals or any area where Piglins might spawn.
How to Breed Nautiluses
Breeding Nautiluses allows you to grow your collection of aquatic mounts. The process is straightforward once you have two tamed adults at full health.
To breed Nautiluses, you need two tamed adult Nautiluses at full health and any type of fish or Bucket of Fish. Both Nautiluses must be fully healed before they enter breeding mode.
Breeding Process
Feed fish to both adult Nautiluses when they are at full health. Hearts will appear above them, and they will swim toward each other. A baby Nautilus will spawn shortly after, and the parents will have a cooldown before they can breed again.
Raising Baby Nautiluses
Baby Nautiluses take 20 minutes (24,000 game ticks) to grow into adults. You can speed up their growth by feeding them fish. In Java Edition, each fish reduces the remaining growth time by 10%. In Bedrock Edition, feeding them 10 fish causes them to mature immediately.
Baby Nautiluses cannot be saddled, armored, or ridden. You must wait for them to mature into adults before equipping them with gear.
Nautilus Drops
When killed by a player or a tamed 
Wolf, Nautiluses drop the following items and experience.
Nautiluses have a 5% base chance to drop a 
Nautilus Shell (0-1). This drop chance can be increased with the 
Looting enchantment. They also drop 1-3 experience points when killed. Any equipped Saddle and Nautilus Armor will always drop when the Nautilus dies.
Nautilus Shells are used to craft 
Conduits. You need 8 Nautilus Shells and 1 
Heart of the Sea to craft a Conduit. Fishing and killing 
Drowned are usually faster ways to obtain shells than killing Nautiluses.
Advancements and Achievements
Several advancements and achievements are related to Nautiluses in Minecraft. Completing these demonstrates your mastery of this aquatic mount.
Best Friends Forever: Tame one Nautilus. This is your first step into Nautilus ownership and underwater exploration.
Free Diver: Ride a Nautilus underwater for 2 continuous minutes. Simply mount your Nautilus and explore the ocean depths to earn this advancement.
Sleep with the Fishes: Spend a cumulative 20 minutes underwater using Nautiluses. This tracks your total underwater riding time across all sessions.
The Parrots and the Bats: Breed two Nautiluses together. You must have two tamed adults at full health and feed them fish.
Two by Two: Breed all 26 breedable animal types, which now includes Nautiluses since the Mounts of Mayhem update.
Frequently Asked Questions
Feed a wild Nautilus Pufferfish or Buckets of Pufferfish. Each feeding has a 1 in 3 chance (33%) to successfully tame the Nautilus. Once tamed, hearts appear above it, and you can then equip it with a Saddle and Nautilus Armor.
Breath of the Nautilus completely pauses your oxygen bar while riding a saddled Nautilus underwater. This means you cannot drown while mounted and your oxygen level remains unchanged when you dismount. It is superior to Water Breathing potions.
Nautilus Armor cannot be crafted and must be found as loot. Check Buried Treasure chests, Shipwreck chests (supply, treasure, and map types), and Ocean Ruins chests. Diamond Nautilus Armor can be upgraded to Netherite at a Smithing Table.
For taming, Nautiluses only accept Pufferfish or Buckets of Pufferfish. For healing and breeding, they eat any type of fish including Cod, Salmon, Tropical Fish, and Pufferfish. Buckets of fish also work for all feeding purposes.
Nautiluses can survive briefly on land but will take suffocation damage over time. Unlike fish, they remain stationary rather than flopping around. They move extremely slowly on land at only 0.88 blocks per second. Always keep your Nautilus in water to prevent it from dying.
