Minecraft 1.13: The Update Aquatic

Released on July 18, 2018, Minecraft 1.13, known as "The Update Aquatic", fundamentally transformed the game's relationship with water. It wasn't just an update; it was a complete overhaul of oceans and water-related gameplay, breathing vibrant life into previously sparse underwater realms. It introduced a massive amount of underwater content, including entirely new ecosystems through varied biomes, fascinating creatures, valuable resources, intriguing structures, and game-changing mechanics that made exploring the sea a central, rewarding, and often perilous part of the Minecraft experience.

Major Ocean Overhaul

Before 1.13, oceans were vast, mostly empty expanses of water covering gravel seabeds. The Update Aquatic filled these voids with color, life, and geological diversity, making underwater exploration as compelling as caving or surface exploration.

New Ocean Biomes

The single, monotonous ocean biome was replaced with a spectrum of distinct underwater environments:

• Warm Ocean: Characterized by its bright, turquoise water and shallow depths. These oceans are the exclusive home to stunning Coral Reefs. The seafloor is predominantly sand, teeming with schools of colourful Tropical Fish. These are ideal locations for scenic underwater bases and harvesting coral.
• Lukewarm Ocean: A transitional biome with slightly less vibrant water than warm oceans. You'll find a mix of sand and gravel seabeds, dotted with seagrass and occasional small patches of kelp. While full coral reefs don't generate here, small coral structures can sometimes appear. These areas offer a blend of resources from both warmer and cooler waters.
• Cold Ocean: Featuring darker, deeper blue water, these oceans have a more subdued feel. The seafloor is mainly gravel, hosting dense forests of Kelp and abundant schools of Cod and Salmon. You won't find coral here, making it a more practical biome for focused kelp and fish farming.
• Frozen Ocean: The surface is choked with floating icebergs made of packed ice and snow layers, sometimes creating challenging navigation routes. Beneath the icy surface, the water is dark and cold, similar to the Cold Ocean but often featuring Polar Bears roaming the ice above. Exploration here requires careful preparation against the cold and potential threats.
• Deep Variants: Each of the above biomes (Warm, Lukewarm, Cold, Frozen) also has a "Deep" variant. These plunge to much greater depths (often down near Y=30 or lower), featuring more dramatic underwater cliffs, ravines, and larger sea caves. Importantly, Ocean Monuments exclusively generate in these deep ocean biomes, making them prime targets for adventurers seeking Prismarine and Sponges. Deep oceans are generally more dangerous due to the increased darkness and potential for hostile mob spawns far from the surface.

Coral Reefs

These are arguably the most visually stunning additions in 1.13, found exclusively in Warm Oceans.

• Blocks: Coral comes in five brilliant colors: tube (blue), brain (pink), bubble (purple), fire (red), and horn (yellow). Each color type generates as solid Coral Blocks, delicate Coral Fans (which attach to surfaces), and branching Coral plants. These blocks generate in massive, multi-colored structures resembling real-world reefs.
• Obtaining Coral: Coral is fragile. Mining it directly drops nothing unless you use a tool enchanted with Silk Touch. This is crucial for anyone wanting to build with live coral.
• Dead Variants: If any live coral block, coral, or coral fan is placed or exists outside of contact with water (even waterlogged blocks count), it quickly dies and turns into a grey, lifeless Dead Coral variant. While dead coral has its own aesthetic uses, preserving the vibrant colors requires careful underwater placement or waterlogging. Coral Reefs provide immense aesthetic potential for builders creating underwater scenes or aquariums.

Sea Grass & Kelp

These plants added much-needed verticality and texture to the ocean floor.

• Seagrass: A common, decorative underwater plant that generates in most ocean biomes (except Frozen). It appears as single or double-height plants and primarily serves an aesthetic purpose, adding greenery to the seabed. Turtles consume it for breeding. Bone meal can be used on the seabed to generate patches of seagrass.
• Kelp: This tall, green plant generates in dense "forests," primarily in Cold and Lukewarm oceans. Kelp stalks can grow many blocks tall, reaching towards the surface. It can be harvested block by block. Breaking the bottom stalk harvests the entire plant above it. Kelp can be cooked in a furnace or smoker to create Dried Kelp, a quick-to-eat food source. Nine Dried Kelp can be crafted into a Dried Kelp Block, which serves as efficient fuel (smelting 20 items per block) or compact storage. Kelp can be farmed easily as it grows rapidly when planted underwater on most solid blocks. Furthermore, placing Soul Sand beneath a column of water source blocks turns it into an upward bubble column, while a Magma Block creates a downward one; Kelp is essential for converting flowing water into source blocks to enable these useful water elevators.

New Mobs

The oceans became far less lonely with the introduction of several new aquatic creatures.

Dolphins

• Behavior: These intelligent mammals swim in pods and exhibit playful behavior, often leaping out of the water. They are neutral mobs; attacking one will anger the entire pod. If a player swims near a dolphin, they receive the "Dolphin's Grace" status effect, significantly boosting underwater swimming speed. Feeding a dolphin raw cod or salmon causes it to swim towards the nearest buried treasure chest, shipwreck, or ocean ruin, acting as a helpful guide for explorers.
• Biome: Found in most ocean biomes except Frozen and Cold Deep Oceans. They often follow boats, adding ambiance to sea voyages.

Turtles

• Spawning: Turtles spawn naturally in small groups on warm beach biomes. They remember their home beach and will always try to return there to lay eggs.
• Breeding: Feeding two adult turtles Seagrass causes them to mate. One turtle will then travel back to its home beach, dig in the sand, and lay 1-4 Turtle Eggs. These eggs are very fragile and can be crushed by players or mobs walking/jumping on them. They also attract undead mobs (Zombies, Husks, Drowned) who will try to trample them. Eggs take several in-game days to hatch, cracking progressively. They only hatch at night.
• Drops: When a baby turtle grows into an adult, it drops a single Scute. Scutes are the primary reason for farming turtles.
• Turtle Shell Helmet: Five Scutes can be crafted into a Turtle Shell helmet. Wearing this helmet grants the player 10 seconds of the Water Breathing status effect each time they submerge or surface, significantly extending underwater exploration time without potions. It offers protection equivalent to an iron helmet. It's also a required brewing ingredient for the Potion of the Turtle Master, which grants high Resistance but also Slowness.

Fish

(Cod and Salmon previously existed as items, but became actual mobs)

• Types: Cod (common in cold/temperate oceans), Salmon (common in cold/frozen oceans and rivers), Pufferfish (uncommon in warm/lukewarm oceans), and Tropical Fish (abundant in warm/lukewarm oceans, especially reefs).
• Behavior: Fish now swim freely in schools, adding dynamism to underwater environments. They flee from nearby players. Pufferfish will inflate when players or hostile mobs approach, inflicting poison on contact. Tropical Fish spawn in a staggering variety of colours, patterns, and shapes (over 3,570 unique visual combinations naturally occurring), making coral reefs incredibly vibrant.
• Catching: Fish mobs can be killed for their respective item drops or, more interestingly, caught alive using a Water Bucket. This creates a "Bucket of [Fish Type]" item, allowing players to transport live fish and create custom aquariums or fish ponds. Fish caught in buckets do not despawn when released. Naming a fish bucket in an anvil preserves the name on the released fish.

Drowned

• Type: An unsettling undead mob specifically adapted to underwater life. Drowned are essentially waterlogged Zombies. Regular Zombies that spend too much time submerged in water (without a boat or other air pocket) will convert into Drowned. They can also spawn naturally in oceans (especially deep variants) and rivers.
• Behavior: Drowned can swim effectively, often swarming players from below, but will walk on land like regular Zombies. Some Drowned spawn naturally holding a Trident or, more rarely, a Nautilus Shell.
• Weapons: Those wielding Tridents are particularly dangerous, capable of both strong melee attacks and deadly ranged throws.
• Drops: Drowned drop Rotten Flesh and occasionally Gold Ingots (or Copper Ingots in Bedrock Edition). Those that spawned holding equipment have a chance to drop it, making them the only renewable source of Tridents and Nautilus Shells. The chance of a Trident dropping is low (8.5% base, increased slightly with Looting enchantment) and only from Drowned that naturally spawned with one.

New Items

The Update Aquatic introduced powerful new tools and components centered around ocean exploration and conquest.

Trident

• Use: A versatile and powerful weapon, unique in its ability to function effectively in both melee and ranged combat. Thrown tridents deal significant damage and travel in a ballistic arc. Melee damage is higher than a diamond sword.
• Obtained: A rare drop exclusively from Drowned that spawned holding one. This makes finding one a significant achievement for players. Tridents cannot be crafted. They can be repaired by combining two damaged Tridents in a crafting grid/grindstone or by using the Mending enchantment.
• Enchantments: The Trident boasts several exclusive and powerful enchantments:
  • Loyalty: Causes the Trident to automatically return to the player after being thrown (higher levels mean faster return). Essential for practical ranged use.
  • Channeling: If a thrown Trident hits a mob during a thunderstorm, it summons a lightning bolt. This can be used to create Charged Creepers, transform Villagers into Witches, or Pigs into Zombified Piglins. Only works if the mob is exposed to the open sky.
  • Riptide: When thrown while the player is in water or standing in rain, the Trident launches the player along with it at high speed. Cannot be combined with Loyalty or Channeling. An incredible mobility tool for traversing oceans or flying during rainstorms, but leaves you without a ranged attack as the trident doesn't return on its own.
  • Impaling: Increases damage dealt by the Trident (both melee and thrown) against aquatic mobs (fish, dolphins, guardians, turtles, squid, axolotls - though axolotls came later). In Java Edition, this only affects aquatic mobs; in Bedrock Edition, it increases damage against any mob while the player or the mob is in water or rain. Standard enchantments like Mending, Unbreaking, and Curse of Vanishing can also be applied.

Heart of the Sea & Conduits

These items allow players to establish permanent underwater bases with ease.

• Heart of the Sea: A rare, uncraftable item found only within Buried Treasure chests. It possesses a distinct shimmering animation. Its sole purpose is crafting a Conduit.
• Nautilus Shells: Another rare item needed for the Conduit. These can be obtained occasionally as a treasure item from fishing, or as a rare drop from Drowned (specifically those that spawn holding one). Eight are required per Conduit.
• Conduit: Crafted by surrounding one Heart of the Sea with eight Nautilus Shells. When placed underwater and activated by a surrounding frame of Prismarine, Prismarine Bricks, Dark Prismarine, or Sea Lantern blocks, the Conduit grants the "Conduit Power" status effect to players within its range. This effect provides unlimited Water Breathing, greatly improved underwater Night Vision, and increased underwater Mining Speed (Haste). The frame must consist of at least 16 blocks arranged in specific 5x5 open square patterns around the Conduit (up to three nested squares using 42 blocks for maximum range). An active Conduit emits light, damages nearby hostile mobs, and displays a captivating pulsating visual effect. It's the ultimate tool for sustained underwater living and construction.

Structures

The update populated the ocean floor and coastlines with new points of interest, rewarding exploration with loot and lore.

Shipwrecks

• Variety: These generated structures resemble sunken or beached sailing ships. They can spawn upright, sideways, or upside-down, fully intact or broken into multiple pieces (bow and stern). They are constructed primarily from various wood types, adding realism and decay.
• Loot: Shipwrecks typically contain one to three Loot Chests. Common chests include a Supply Chest (food like potatoes, carrots, wheat, suspicious stew), a Treasure Chest (iron nuggets/ingots, gold nuggets/ingots, emeralds, diamonds, lapis lazuli), and often a Map Chest containing a Buried Treasure Map. Finding a shipwreck is often the first step towards locating a Heart of the Sea. They might also contain miscellaneous items like leather armor, TNT, or paper.

Ocean Ruins

• Types: These clusters of small, dilapidated structures are made primarily of Stone Bricks and variants (in Cold Oceans) or Sandstone and variants (in Warm/Lukewarm Oceans). They can generate partially or fully buried under sand, gravel, or ocean floor sediment. Some ruins are small single huts, while others are larger village-like clusters.
• Inhabitants: Ocean Ruins are frequently guarded by groups of Drowned, making exploration potentially hazardous, especially in larger ruin complexes. They occasionally contain loot chests with items like coal, wheat, emeralds, enchanted fishing rods, or treasure maps. In later updates (post-1.13), some variants would contain Suspicious Sand/Gravel for archaeology, but in 1.13 their primary draw was atmosphere and occasional basic loot.

Buried Treasure

• Maps: The primary way to locate Buried Treasure is via a Buried Treasure Map found in Shipwrecks or Ocean Ruins. These maps show a section of terrain with a red 'X' marking the treasure's location. The player's position is shown as a white dot, which shrinks as they get closer to the map's area. Aligning the player dot with the 'X' indicates the treasure is directly below.
• Treasure: Digging at the 'X' (usually in sand or gravel) reveals a single chest. This chest is the only place to find the Heart of the Sea. Other common loot includes Iron Ingots, Gold Ingots, Cooked Fish, Emeralds, Diamonds, Prismarine Crystals, TNT, and sometimes Potions of Water Breathing. Finding one is a key progression point for underwater exploration. It's possible, though difficult, to find buried treasure without a map by meticulously searching beaches and shallow ocean floors where chunks align in a specific way (a known chunk-based generation pattern).

New Commands & Technical Changes

Beyond the gameplay features, 1.13 brought significant under-the-hood improvements, particularly for map makers, server operators, and technical players.

• Command Overhaul: The entire command system was rewritten. The new "Brigadier" system introduced smarter tab-completion, more consistent syntax across commands, real-time error highlighting, and generally made commands more user-friendly and powerful. For example, specifying block variants changed from using numerical data values (

  /setblock ~ ~ ~ stone 1

  ) to named states (

  /setblock ~ ~ ~ minecraft:granite

  ).
• Data Packs: A major addition allowing players and creators to customize Minecraft without modifying the game's code directly. Data Packs can add or change advancements, functions (sequences of commands), loot tables (what mobs drop or chests contain), structures, recipes, and tags (groups of blocks/items/functions). This largely replaced older, less flexible methods and empowered community creation.
• World Format ("Flattening"): A massive technical change where the concept of Block IDs and Data Values (used to differentiate block variants like wool color or wood type) was removed. Instead, every unique block state (e.g., "oak log facing Y", "red wool", "stairs facing east, shape=inner_left") received its own unique namespaced ID. This removed the old artificial limit on the number of distinct block types and paved the way for future updates to add many more blocks without technical constraints, though it required a world conversion process when updating older worlds.
• Function Tags: Related to Data Packs, tags allow grouping multiple functions, blocks, items, or entities under a single identifier. For instance, a

  #minecraft:tick

  tag could reference multiple functions that should all run every game tick.
• New Commands: Several powerful commands were added, including

  /datapack

  (manage data packs),

  /data

  (get, merge, or modify NBT data of blocks, entities, and storage),

  /bossbar

  (create custom boss health bars),

  /schedule

  (run a function after a delay), and more targeted selectors and execution options within existing commands like

  /execute

  .

Quality of Life

Several smaller changes significantly improved the feel and flow of interacting with water and the game world.

• Water Physics: Water became smarter. It could now flow into and exist within the same block space as non-solid blocks like fences, walls, stairs, slabs, trapdoors, signs, ladders, and coral fans. This "waterlogging" mechanic opened up countless new aesthetic building possibilities and impacted redstone contraptions and mob farms. Crucially, this update also introduced Bubble Columns, created when Soul Sand (upward motion) or Magma Blocks (downward motion) are placed beneath a column of water source blocks. These act as fast water elevators for players, mobs, and items, revolutionizing vertical transport underwater and on land.
• Swimming: The old awkward head-bobbing underwater movement was replaced. Players now have a dedicated swimming animation (triggered by sprinting while submerged or in a 1-block high gap) that is significantly faster and allows passage through 1x1 block holes. This made underwater movement fluid and intuitive.
• Bucket of Fish: As mentioned earlier, the ability to catch live fish in buckets was a delightful addition for collectors and builders wanting to create dynamic aquariums or populate custom ponds. It added a touch of life and personalization to bases.
• New UI & Sounds: The update included refreshed sounds for water (splashing, swimming, underwater ambience), new mob sounds (dolphins clicking, drowned gurgling, turtles hatching), and bubble column noises. There were also minor interface tweaks and a new panoramic background for the main menu showcasing an ocean scene.

Conclusion

The Update Aquatic was truly transformative. It revitalized Minecraft’s oceans, turning them from vast, barren wastelands into rich, vibrant, and genuinely exciting environments to explore. They became places teeming with unique life, hidden treasures, ancient structures, and new dangers. With a wealth of new blocks for builders, compelling mobs and structures for adventurers, powerful items like the Trident and Conduit for warriors and settlers, and deep technical changes for creators, Minecraft 1.13 didn't just add content – it fundamentally expanded the scope of the game, making underwater gameplay a core pillar of the Minecraft experience for years to come. It set a new standard for world updates and demonstrated the potential lying dormant in the game's existing environments.