Talk:Pufferfish

Who set its behavior to aggressive??? First of everything, its not aggressive, its hostile and actually is completely passive. 188.120.87.87 17:48, 27 May 2020 (UTC)

Guys, I have seen that pufferfish behavior is confusing, and I understand you. Pufferfish can be really confusing. Well, Pufferfishes are neutral mobs: why? Well. They inflict damage to you, and no passive mob do that. Passive mobs can inflict damage to another mobs, but never to the player.

Also, pufferfishes behave very similar to mother polar bears when a player go near their cubs. Imnediately that it feels on danger, it attack. Polar bears attack and chase you, but pufferfishes no, and that's the confusing part.

Well, pufferfishes don't chase the player, but they actually attack them. And how I said, our current classification of passive mobs says that they never attack the player. Also, all the mobs on the neutral mobs category are very different. Bees don't have the same behavior as llamas, but both are classified as neutral.

So, my final statement is that pufferfishes are neutral mobs that only attack the player when it is on their detection and attack range, but don't chase it. Also, pufferfishes do that with players, drowned and any non-water mob. --Supeika (talk) 20:20, 24 July 2020 (UTC)

I'd say they don't attack the player. They have an AOE thing going on, yes, but they never actually *attack* you.

This feeds into the whole other mob category discussion on the CP as well. -PancakeIdentity (talk) 20:37, 24 July 2020 (UTC)

"They inflict damage to you, and no passive mob do that." That's circular reasoning. If pufferfish are passive, there are passive mobs that deal damage to you.

"Well, pufferfishes don't chase the player, but they actually attack them." No, they don't. They do inflict damage/poison, but you'll have to provide sources if you claim that pufferfish attack anything.

But let's for a moment assume that pufferfish do attack the player, or that at least they can be considered hostile while the player is near them. A neutral mob is one that is sometimes passive, and sometimes hostile, towards the player. This would mean that it's behaviour of attempting to damage, but not chasing, the target, would count as hostile. But this is exactly how the pufferfish behaves when the player is not near them! The behaviour of pufferfish does not change, the targets are simply outside it's range and it does not chase them. The conclusion is: pufferfish are hostile. If one can convincingly make the case that pufferfish are hostile towards the players nearby, that's a conclusion I'm willing to accept, but for the time being, my opinion is that they are passive. Blue Banana whotookthisname (talk) 11:04, 25 July 2020 (UTC)

I think they fall under "neutral" in that they will harm the player if provoked (the provocation in this case is being near), but just won't directly aggro them. Pescavelho (talk) 18:27, 25 December 2020 (UTC)

This entire talk seems to hinge on them supposedly "attacking" the player. Pufferfish puff up in the presence of any "living" entity (i.e. not items or projectiles, but including armor stands) that is either a player or a non-aquatic mob, and their "attack" is of a more passive nature (more similar to that of slimes than any other melee mobs) in that they hurt any such entities around itself. Unlike slimes, pufferfish will not acquire a target "enemy" to attack or even move towards, the damage is merely a result of being too close to the pufferfish. In fact, like other fish, they will try to somewhat avoid being close to players. Pufferfish are as passive as all other fish mobs. You just need to respect the fact that it will hurt if you get too close to them, just like it hurts if you decide to hug a cactus or swim in lava. RealWormbo (talk) 13:54, 30 December 2020 (UTC)

An attack is an attack regardless of method, it doesn't have to be direct, it can be an AoE one like the pufferfish exhibits, the page itself even lists the damage as "attack strength", I think the fact that it is provoked by most entities isn't really relevant. The crux of the disagreement seems to rest on the fact that the pufferfish won't aggro the player, which goes partially against the definition of a neutral mob, which is that they will become hostile upon provocation, I personally believe this definition is fine, but the pufferfish has come to challenge it, a more inclusive and less technical definition would be "harm the player upon provocation", "provocation" in this case being "getting near it", would allow for more mobs to be included and not generate these debates. But I think this ultimately comes down to personal interpretation of what defines a neutral or passive mob, and nothing short of confirmation by Mojang staff will constitute a consensus.Pescavelho (talk) 01:17, 1 January 2021 (UTC)

This whole argument is ridiculous. You may as well call a cactus a "neutral mob" because it does damage to you when you touch it. Pufferfish are passive. If you could equip any other passive mob, like a pig, with the Thorns enchantment so it does damage to you when you hit it, it would still be a passive mob. Neutral means the mob leaves you alone as long as you don't get it mad at you. Pufferfish simply have an automatic defense mechanism and don't actually attack... just like a cactus. Amatulic (talk) 02:46, 1 January 2021 (UTC)

I think this comes down to personal interpretation. To me, at least, an attack is any method of directly harming the player, it seems overly restrictive to me to say it has to be a single-target melee/ranged attack, the pufferfish's AoE "damage aura" constitutes an attack in my view. I don't get the comparisons to cacti, lava, thorns, etc. as these aren't mobs, they don't have AI behaviour, seems like a reductio ad absurdum, if any mobs with such properties were to be added in the future I would consider them neutral yes. Other people choose to view it as not an attack because to them an attack is something more specific and restrictive, as I have stated I think it's not really that useful to draw such lines. Others focus on the fact that pufferfish won't become directly hostile, or that proximity shouldn't constitute "provocation", since you can't draw a hard line, and believe that instead of falling into either category, pufferfish should be put into a fourth "defensive" category, which I see as another possible compromise. As I have stated nothing short of an official confirmation by a Mojang dev will make for a definitive answer as people choose to focus on different aspects as to what constitues an attack, a neutral mob and a passive mob. In fact in this very Wiki, pufferfish are listed as passive in their page, neutral in the mobs page and "defensive" on the entities template.Pescavelho (talk) 14:05, 1 January 2021 (UTC)

I changed my mind, after many time of research. Now I think that they are passive because they don't chase you, as some of you said. Also, on another perspective, in real life an animal may not be agressive but can damage you unintentionally because its skin can have poisonous toxins. That's why now I think that they are passive. Supeika (talk) 15:11, 11 February 2021 (UTC)

I think the current phrasing, that the pufferfish "defend themselves by dealing damage and inflicting poison to nearby players and certain mobs", is inaccurate, because pufferfish damage mobs and players that are not a threat towards them, and in case of certain mobs, pufferfish may provoke them to become hostile. Blue Banana whotookthisname (talk) 15:18, 30 September 2020 (UTC)

@Blue Banana whotookthisname: A defensive action doesn't always require a threat, it just requires a mechanism to trigger the action. It is also inaccurate to call them hostile. They are no more hostile than a cactus. Players and mobs are injured by bumping into them, pretty much the same as when bumping into a pufferfish. A hostile mob pursues an enemy and attacks. Pufferfish don't. ~ Amatulic (talk) 21:10, 30 September 2020 (UTC)

That seems to be either wrong or version-specific. I'm quite sure pufferfish also spawn deeper underwater as well. Can we get a source for the surface spawning claim? RealWormbo (talk) 19:19, 28 November 2020 (UTC)

Surface requirement is for Bedrock only. Testing in Java 1.18.2, pufferfish spawn down to y50. Was confused by this too, changed article to make phrasing more clear. 193.32.127.213 08:40, 27 April 2022 (UTC)

When I played an older version of Pocket Edition in 2018, I used spawn eggs to spawn pufferfish out of the water. They did not make a sound when hurt, but when they died, they used the player damage sound. 173.47.246.189 02:01, 28 January 2021 (UTC)

In the Mob page, it says that the pufferfish is a "neutral" mob. So is it Passive or Neutral? NexaForX (talk) 09:27, 6 February 2021 (UTC)

Moved pufferfish in the Mob page to passive. TheGreatSpring (talk) 09:40, 6 February 2021 (UTC)

Passive mobs never attack the player, even in response to an attack. Pufferfish do attack players if they happen to be nearby, though they don't actively pursue them. The invented “defensive” mob category, of which pufferfish are the only member, should be considered a special case of neutral mob. — BabylonAS 13:48, 31 August 2024 (UTC)

Yes. I believe Anachronist and I had a conversation clarifying what "defensive" means. -~- Nerdyguy2000   Talk   Edits  14:57, 31 August 2024 (UTC)

The conversation Nerdyguy2000 refers to is here. There was a question about whether llamas and pandas could be considered defensive mobs. I said the pufferfish is more like a cactus. Neither the pufferfish nor the cactus attacks deliberately, but you get damaged by touching them. Because pufferfish don't actually attack, they aren't neutral. ~Anachronist (talk) 22:15, 31 August 2024 (UTC)

A shulker deliberately attacks anything in its aggro radius, but doesn't chase you if you run away (other than shooting at you). It is considered a hostile mob, despite the fact it doesn't chase you.

A pufferfish deliberately attacks anything in its (small) aggro radius, but doesn't chase you if you run away. Yet, in this case, the fact it doesn't chase you means it's not a neutral mob, but a "defensive passive" mob.

The passive/neutral/hostile classification is meant to indicate if a mob will attack you on sight or is able to hurt you at all. Per the 'Mobs' page:

- "Passive mobs are harmless mobs".

- "Neutral mobs are sometimes passive and sometimes hostile".

- "Hostile mobs are dangerous, aggressive mobs".

Pufferfish aren't harmless or aggressive, but they do fit the description of a neutral mob. They deliberately attack you when you're too close to them, and don't attack you when you give them space. It just doesn't actively chase anything down to attack which, again, doesn't matter for shulkers.

Given all this, I think reclassifying pufferfish as a neutral mob would be a much better fit, remove the need for a "defensive passive" edge case and would also make "passive mobs" as a category more useful. With pufferfish removed, it actually would be a list of completely harmless mobs, with zero exceptions that need to be pointed out, and it'd just be overall neater. Batbrain55 (talk) 16:24, 27 September 2025 (UTC)

Just to explain my claim that pufferfish deliberately attack you; a pufferfish inflates itself as a defense mechanism in order to deter predators and other danger using the threat of its poisonous spines. It's basically signalling 'don't come too close to me or I'll poison you', which will happen upon if you ignore its warning. In other words, it purposely inflates in order to inflict harm on players that come too close to it.

Additionally, regarding the argument that pufferfish aren't neutral because they only attack to defend themselves: that's also true for bees, dolphins, iron golems, llamas and pandas. All of these mobs only attack players when they are provoked. The only difference is that pufferfish are provoked in a different way; getting too close instead of being attacked. It's worth noting that provoked llamas don't chase their aggro target either, they just stand and shoot. Yet they are neutral, while pufferfish aren't. The 'defensive passive' category seems pretty arbitrary to me when it'd be both simpler and fitting to just call pufferfish neutral.

I'm going to wait a week, and if no-one has any objections to me doing so, I'm going to reclassify the pufferfish as a neutral mob for the reasons I have outlined above. If there's anything I've missed or not considered about this, please let me know beforehand. Batbrain55 (talk) 10:03, 29 September 2025 (UTC)

Hostile = always aggro. Neutral = aggro when provoked. Passive = not aggro even when hit.

Pufferfish are passive, because they don't retaliate, any damage that happens is just from you getting too close.  Nixinova  T ⁄ C  10:06, 29 September 2025 (UTC)

Yes, I do generally agree with your explanation of the Passive/Neutral/Hostile categories, though I would clarify it a bit. Hostile = will attack you. Neutral = can attack you. Passive = will never attack or hurt you.

Even sticking to your exact wording, I still believe pufferfish is neutral. If it was passive, players would not be able to provoke it and cause it to inflate to defend itself in retaliation for players getting too close. Again, they are not provoked by being attacked. They are only provoked by being too close to a player, and don't chase. Even if it doesn't need to inflate to hurt players, the fact it does illustrates that it intends to. In any case, putting it in the Neutral mob category would just be an overall smoother way to show that it is capable of causing damage. Batbrain55 (talk) 10:32, 29 September 2025 (UTC)

The thing with neutral mobs is that they go from being passive to hostile when you provoke them. Pufferfish prick you but that's one and done unless you do it again - not a hostile action, but defense. If they chased you, then they'd be neutral, but they dont.  Nixinova  T ⁄ C  19:41, 29 September 2025 (UTC)

Yes, most neutral mobs attack you when provoked, but not all of them. If you attack a llama, it will spit at you once, but it's one and done until you do it again - not a hostile action, but defense. Goats don't retaliate when you attack them and ram you pretty much for fun. If these unconventional mobs can be neutral, so can pufferfish. Batbrain55 (talk) 20:29, 29 September 2025 (UTC)

The pufferfish does not attack you deliberately, as many have said before, its like standing on a cactus, the cactus is not really attacking you. Every other neutral mob attacks you deliberately. This is also why villagers are considered passive mobs, even though they can actually kill you with their fireworks. Rogerio980Pizzaa (talk) 20:37, 29 September 2025 (UTC)

Maybe you missed it, but I have already explained why this doesn't hold water. To avoid cluttering this thread I won't repeat myself.

On second thought, elaborating a bit would probably be helpful, as I haven't addressed the cactus analogy.

Basically, I don't think that matters. Regardless of any semantics over if a pufferfish really 'attacks' on a technical level, even if that's what is impressionistically conveyed through its inflating (which, again, it does on purpose in response to nearby players), I think it'd still be more useful for people reading this wiki to have it classified as Neutral. This would serve to indicate it is capable of dealing damage in direct response to the action of a player, as this is one of its primary mechanics and I don't think most players care about the technicalities. They'd see it's Neutral and understand that means it sometimes attacks and sometimes doesn't, and they can find out the specifics by reading its article or testing in-game. Having 'defensive passive' as an edge case seems not needed to me when the Neutral category is already full of wildly-different edge cases and provocation levels which a pufferfish could easily fall under without standing out.

Additionally, while villagers can deal damage to you via fireworks, this is pretty unquestionably an accident on their part, and not a deliberate attempt to harm. Batbrain55 (talk) 08:28, 1 October 2025 (UTC)

@ArthurTheCrafter1000, why do you believe pufferfish are Passive despite my arguments for why they belong in Neutral?

EDIT: A consensus has been reached on ArthurTheCrafter1000's talk page. Batbrain55 (talk) 11:30, 5 October 2025 (UTC)

That is inconsistent with goats, which don't aggro when hit but can still attack the player, and are considered neutral. --MinecraftExp123^{(talk|contribs)} 11:33, 5 October 2025 (UTC)

Yes, goats are another edge case. However, I'd say they are 'provoked' by you standing nearby and them just feeling mischevious/bored. If you didn't 'provoke' them with your presence, they'd just charge at thin air when no-one is around.

Like pufferfish, I think they're better off in Neutral, regardless of any minor technicalities, as this indicates they are capable of hurting the player, but they're not hostile.

EDIT: Apologies if this comes off as confusing. The way the wiki shows threads makes it hard for me to tell if you're replying to me or someone else. I wrote this assuming you're replying to me. Batbrain55 (talk) 11:45, 5 October 2025 (UTC)

Oh, okay. You can always look at the indentation to see which thread someone's replying to. --MinecraftExp123^{(talk|contribs)} 11:47, 5 October 2025 (UTC)

Since 1.21.130 pufferfish can now spawn in lukewarm ocean and deep lukewarm ocean instead of just warm ocean. Can someone find out the spawn weight of the pufferfish in bedrock edition that spawn in lukewarm ocean and deep lukewarm ocean? RaffaKinils (talk) 13:55, 6 March 2026 (UTC)