How to Tame and Ride a Zombie Nautilus in Minecraft

The Mounts of Mayhem update gave the ocean a genuinely frightening patrol: a Drowned with a trident, riding an undead nautilus at speed. The good news hidden inside that threat is that the mount itself can be claimed. Once its rider is gone, the Zombie Nautilus calms down, and with a handful of pufferfish it becomes one of the fastest ways to explore the sea. Here is the whole process, from the fight to the first ride.

Where Zombie Nautiluses Appear

You will never find one swimming alone. The Zombie Nautilus is tied to Drowned spawning in ocean biomes: when a Drowned spawns holding a trident, there is roughly a 50% chance it appears riding a Zombie Nautilus. While ridden, the mount is fully hostile and charges at players, and those trident hits are no joke, taking off around eight or nine hearts. Treat every jockey as a mini-boss fight, not a curiosity.

Step 1: Kill the Drowned, Spare the Mount

Your goal is to kill the rider without killing your future ride. A few approaches work well:

• Bow or crossbow: pick the Drowned off from range, ideally with enchantments, before it closes the distance.
• Water Breathing potion: gives you a steady, unhurried fight if you are not mounted yourself.
• Your own nautilus and a spear: the dash plus the spear's charge attack is the most stylish way to win, and the fastest once you get the timing.

As soon as the Drowned dies, the Zombie Nautilus becomes neutral. It will leave you alone as long as you leave it alone.

Step 2: Tame It with Pufferfish

Zombie Nautiluses are tamed the same way as their living cousins: with pufferfish. Catch some by fishing, or scoop a live one up with a water bucket. Then swim up to the nautilus with a pufferfish in hand and use it on the mob. Black sparks mean it is not convinced yet, so keep feeding. After a few fish, red hearts appear and the nautilus is yours.

Step 3: Saddle Up and Ride

Use a saddle on the tamed nautilus, then interact with it again to climb on. Direction keys steer it like other mounts. The real fun is the dash: hold the jump key to charge the dash meter, then release to surge forward in the direction you are facing, which makes short work of trips between ocean monuments and shipwrecks.

Do not skip the armor. A Zombie Nautilus can wear nautilus armor in any tier, from copper up to netherite, for serious protection. Armor matters for a second reason too: like other undead, the Zombie Nautilus burns in sunlight above the surface, but with armor equipped it no longer catches fire, so your mount can survive trips that break the surface.

It takes a little courage to pick the first fight, but a tamed Zombie Nautilus turns the whole ocean into your highway.

Zombie Nautilus vs the Living Nautilus

Once tamed, the two are more alike than different: same feeding, same saddling, same dash. The meaningful differences are the ones this guide has covered, namely that the zombie version arrives with a hostile rider you must remove first, and that it burns in daylight above water unless it is wearing armor. Its undead nature also means healing and harming effects treat it like other undead mobs. If you already keep a living nautilus, think of the zombie as the same mount with a tougher interview process and a stricter dress code.