How to get a Trident in Minecraft

The Trident is a rare item that can be used for both melee and ranged attacks in Minecraft. It can also be enchanted with magical abilities, like returning to the player when thrown and moving the player faster in water. Unfortunately, however, the Trident is a rare item that cannot be crafted with any materials. For this reason the Trident is rather difficult to obtain. So how do you get it?

The only way to get a Trident in Minecraft is by killing Drowned mobs. Even then, the likelihood of a Drowned dropping a Trident is slim - especially if you’re playing on Minecraft: Java Edition. This guide will give you tips on how to get a Trident in Minecraft just a little bit faster.

How to get a Trident in Minecraft

As previously stated, you must kill Drowned enemies that are holding tridents to get one yourself. But where are these undead mobs hiding?

Drowned mobs naturally spawn in ocean biomes and rivers. Because rivers are smaller bodies of water, your chances of spawning a Drowned are greater in rivers than attempting to find a Drowned in an ocean biome. In order for a drowned mob to spawn, the ocean and rivers must be at light level of 7 or less. Within ocean biomes, Drowned can also be found in ocean ruins.

Even then, this doesn’t guarantee the player a Trident. At least not immediately. The chances differ between Minecraft: Bedrock Edition and Minecraft: Java Edition. In Minecraft: Bedrock Edition, Drowned have a 15% chance of spawning with a Trident. In Minecraft: Java Edition, Drowned have a 6.5% chance. 

Tridents don’t have a great drop rate, but you can manipulate those odds. Enchanting your sword with Looting will increase your odds of receiving a Trident. Your odds increase by 1% for each level Looting increases.

Trident Enchantments

Below, you can find what enchantments the Trident can receive, with descriptions provided:

• Loyalty
  • Returns to the player after a few seconds from being thrown. Incompatible with Riptide.

• Channelling
  • During a thunderstorm, a thrown trident hitting a player or mob summons a lightning bolt. Incompatible with Riptide.

• Riptide
  • Propels the player when thrown in water or rain. Deals water damage to entities hit with the riptide attack. Incompatible with Loyalty and Channeling.

• Impaling
  • Deals extra melee or ranged damage to aquatic mobs (except Drowned) or any mobs in water or rain.

• Unbreaking
  • Increases durability.

• Mending
  • XP orbs will repair trident when held, instead of increasing the player’s XP.

• Curse of Vanishing
  • Trident will disappear instead of dropping on the ground when the player dies.

And that’s how you get a Trident! Bored of your Overworld? We’ve got a list of the best Minecraft seeds in 2020.