Tridents are a fun weapon in Minecraft as they can be used as a ranged weapon and are especially useful against aquatic mobs like the Guardians. They can also be used with Elytra and in the rain to increase their flight speed. In this post, I’m going to explain the two ways of getting a Trident: one is from the Drowned, and the new way is through the Vault in the Trial Chambers.
Let’s start with getting a Trident from the Drowned.
The Drowned have a 6.25% chance in Java Edition and a 15% chance in Bedrock Edition of spawning with a trident. When killed, a Drowned that is holding a trident has an 8.5% chance to drop it. This chance increases by 1% with each level of Looting on your sword. The maximum level of Looting is three, so you can have an 11.5% chance of a Drowned dropping a trident.
To give you an idea of how rare this is in Java Edition, approximately one in 16 Drowned will spawn with a trident. Of those Drowned with a trident, it could take killing nine of them before getting a trident drop, meaning you might need to kill up to 150 Drowned to get one Trident.
There are two main ways to get Drowned to spawn:
The first is through specific biomes. Drowned can spawn in any ocean biome or river biome. They spawn at a light level of zero.
- In oceans in Java Edition, Drowned will spawn in flowing or source water blocks from sea level down to six blocks below.
- In Bedrock Edition, Drowned will spawn in groups of two to four in water two blocks or taller, and they spawn at the highest Y level, meaning they will spawn at the ocean’s surface.
- In Java Edition, the spawn weight of Drowned in the ocean is very low (for example, 5 out of 520), which is less than a 1% chance. In Bedrock, it is 100 out of 520.
The second biome is rivers. In Java Edition, Drowned in rivers do not have the same height requirements and can spawn at any level. In Bedrock Edition, they still have the same height requirements. There is an increased chance of Drowned spawning in river biomes. In rivers, Drowned have the same spawning weight as Creepers. Because rivers are a smaller area, Drowned have an increased spawn weight here to spawn as frequently as they do in oceans. This makes rivers a good spot to build a Drowned farm, as you can build high in the world to reduce other mobs from spawning and increase the amount of Drowned that spawn in that biome.
The last spot is ocean ruins. Ocean ruins are the best spot if you don’t want to build a farm but want a trident. There are two types of ocean ruins (cold and warm) that generate in ocean biomes. You can spot them by looking for light under the water from sea lanterns. Ocean ruins are basically villages for the Drowned. The size of the ruins can vary from a single hut to a large group of structures. The number of Drowned in an ocean ruin depends on its size, with one to four Drowned able to spawn per building. Once you kill all the Drowned in a ruin, they will not respawn. This is a great spot to find Drowned, but be careful, as it can be overwhelming, especially if a Drowned with a trident spawns.
Another biome with an increased chance of spawning Drowned is the Dripstone Caves. This underground biome has pointed dripstone, dripstone blocks, and small pools of water. In Java Edition, the spawn weight is 95 out of 610, and in Bedrock, it is 100 out of 595. However, the chances of a Drowned spawning here are still very low because there isn’t much water, and it would be a difficult location for a farm due to the surrounding caves that would need to be lit up.
One other note: you can turn zombies into Drowned by submerging them in water. However, when they are converted, they never spawn holding a trident.
How to Get a Trident Through the Vault in the Trial Chambers
The new way to get the Trident is through the Trial Chambers and specifically The Vault. The Trial Chamber is a new structure found between Y-level -20 to -40 underground in the Overworld, which is about 80 blocks below the surface. A Trial Chamber map can be bought from a cartographer villager. This map works the same as other explorer maps and leads you to a Trial Chamber, which is composed of new Tuff and Copper blocks.
Once you find a Trial Chamber, you will find trial spawners and vaults throughout the structure.
- Trial Spawners spawn mobs when a player is within 14 blocks of them. Each spawner only spawns one type of mob. They have a limit on simultaneous mobs (how many can be alive at once; for most mobs this is three) and total mobs (the total number a spawner can spawn; for most mobs this is six).
- Once you defeat the total number of mobs from a trial spawner, it will eject loot items. There is a 50% chance it will eject a Trial Key. The other 50% of the time, it will eject food and potions to help with combat.
The Trial Key can be used to unlock the Vault. The Vault will eject 3 to 6 loot items. There is a 25% chance it will eject a unique loot item. The Trident is in this unique category of loot items. For the Trident, there is a 1.8% chance, meaning it could take opening 56 vaults to get one. The Trident is the hardest item to get from a vault.
It’s hard to know the exact number of vaults in a Trial Chamber, as the structures can generate differently. Vaults are found close to trial spawners and are in every room, like the combat rooms, corridors, and entrance. It may take looting a few Trial Chambers and unlocking all the vaults to get a Trident. This is a difficult way of getting the Trident, but it is the only way to get it without the Drowned.