As years go by, new things continue to be added to Minecraft. Each update sees changes for long-time and first-time players to discover, dive into, and enjoy. In the 1.17 patch, the Minecraft Axolotl was introduced. This Mexican-native creature is popular all over the world for being cute, and its digital counterpart is no exception.

Axolotls are an aquatic mob that can be found in specific areas of Minecraft. Finding these adorable amphibians is a great way of spicing up the aesthetic of your base, but they also have some practical uses when captured. These cute critters also come in a variety of colors. Looking to find an Axolotl for yourself? Read on to find out how!

Updated by Nathan Round on the 4th December 2023: We have updated this guide with additional images to better showcase how to get an Axolotl, along with reformatting content to make this guide more digestible for readers.

How To Find An Axolotl

Axolotls can be found in the Lush Caves Biome, a vibrant underground cave system filled with a lush ecosystem that is illuminated with Glow Berries. Lush Caves can spawn anywhere underground on the Y-coordinate. As the Lush Caves are a temperate area, it is easier to find underground pockets of this biome beneath regions with high humidity. These include:

• Jungles
• Wooded Badlands
• Dark Forests
• Old Growth Tiagas

When in a Lush Cave, look around for the appropriate flora filled with waterways. If it is part of the biome, there will be Dripleaves on the surface. This is where the Axolotl will spawn. Some will come to the surface or hang out on the shore, but it's more likely that jumping into the water will be necessary to catch them.

How To Get An Axolotl

How To Catch An Axolotl

Before embarking on your journey to catch an Axolotl, you will need a Water Bucket. Luckily enough, you should be able to find a decent amount of Iron in and around Lush Caves to craft several Buckets. Once you have located an Axolotl, simply scoop it up in a Bucket and store it in your inventory. We also suggest securing yourself some Tropical Fish via the same method in order to breed your Axolotls.

How To Keep, Tame, & Breed An Axolotl

Now that you have caught one or more Axolotls, it's time to prepare an environment for them to live in. Axolotls need to have regular access to a pool of water that is about 2 blocks deep. Though they can walk on land, unlike other aquatic mobs like Dolphins, they will die within 6000 ticks (or 5 real-world minutes) if not submerged in water. Preparing a reasonable-sized pool of water near your base should provide your Axolotls with adequate living conditions.

Once you have prepared a necessary home for your Axolotls, you can simply place them into their new habitat. Now comes the taming part. Axolotls technically cannot be tamed in the same sense that Dogs and Cats can, but they can be bred. To breed Axolotls, feed at least two of them a bucket of Tropical Fish.

Why Keep An Axolotl?

Though many of you may want to keep an Axolotl purely for aesthetic reasons, there is one notable use for these aquatic critters: combat. This typically passive mob will fight almost all other aquatic mobs - excluding other Axolotl, Frogs, Turtles, and Dolphins. Set them up near underwater locations, and you have an adorable army to defend your stuff.

If your Axolotl is damaged by hostile mobs, they may sometimes play dead and regenerate 4 hearts of health. Axolotls are specifically useful against hostile mobs such as Drowned, as they will be hit for 2 hearts per attack by your little friend. This makes them a great helper in underwater enemy mob farms.

Additional Information On Axolotls

Axolotl Variations

Axolotls in Minecraft come in 5 different color variations. Four of them are common colors, and one is a rare mutation of sorts.

• Leucistic/Lucy - Pale Pink with Rosy accents
• Brown - Dusty Brown with Deep Mud accents
• Gold - Goldenrod with Mustard accents
• Cyan - Pale Blue with Pink accents
• Blue - Periwinkle with Orange accents

Lucy, Gold, Cyan, and Brown are the common colors that appear in Axolotls. They all have the same chance of appearing when this mob spawns, which is 24.98% each. When breeding Axolotls for colors, the child has a 0.083% chance to become a Blue variant, unless one of the parents is already Blue. Otherwise, the baby has a 49.96% chance of adopting the same color as one of its parents.

Recommended World Seeds For Finding Axolotls

As Axolotls naturally spawn within Lush Caves, having a world that generates that specific biome will be a great help. Below we have provided some world seeds that provide some great Lush Cave generations. Be sure to try them out!