How To Get And Repair A Trident In Minecraft

Last updated on June 28th, 2024 to include looting vaults as the second way of obtaining tridents

Ways to Find a Trident in Minecraft

You can get a trident using two methods, though unfortunately, neither of them is through crafting. The first one sees you go drowned hunting, so let’s get started with this method:

1. Killing Drowned

Drowned are hostile Minecraft mobs that spawn in light level 0 inside all ocean biomes, rivers, and dripstone caves. They also spawn as part of ocean ruins and don’t despawn unless killed or difficulty is set to peaceful. However, they won’t respawn here either, as this spawning process is done only during world generation.
These aquatic hostile mobs will rarely spawn with a trident. To be exact, the chances of their spawn are 6.25% (1 in 16 drowned) in the Java edition, and 15% (3 in 20 drowned) in the Bedrock edition. After you carefully manage to kill this trident-wielding drowned, they will have a chance to drop the trident beside their usual drops. This is where the two Minecraft editions differ drastically. In Java edition, you’ve got only an 8.5% chance to get a trident from a drowned. On the flip side, the Bedrock edition gives you much better chances – 25% – to get a trident. Looting enchantment does help with these odds, giving you 11.5% on Java and a 37% chance on Bedrock with Looting III.
Yes, this does seem kind of crazy. However, that’s not all. It’s possible to “trade” with a drowned holding a trident in Bedrock. If they aren’t attacking at the moment, you can give them a nautilus shell, and they will let go of the trident to pick up the other item, giving you a trident with full durability.
So if you’re playing on the Bedrock edition, you will have far less trouble getting a trident than players on the Java edition. However, the super overpowered Bedrock edition Wither makes up for this feature difference.
Moreover, to clear any confusion, zombies converted into drowned never spawn with a trident, so you cannot farm it that easily. You cannot pick up the tridents drowned throw either.

2. Looting Vaults

The second method of obtaining tridents was added in the Minecraft 1.21 update. There is a slim chance (1.8%) that the vault will eject a trident once you unlock it with a trial key. This process is more dangerous than killing drowned and honestly, it’s also worse in the terms of chances. However, if you are already in trial chambers looking for good loot and unlocking vaults/ ominous vaults, this may be a fun way of getting a trident, instead of a boring grind for the drowned.

Steps to Repair a Trident in Minecraft

When you finally get your trident, it will most likely be pretty damaged. So, to use it fully, you will first need to repair it. How do you do that?
Well, you are going to need the mending enchanted book to repair a trident. There is no item you can combine with a trident in an anvil to repair it, like diamonds or iron.
So, the only option left is to enchant the trident with mending. You can’t get mending through the enchanting table. Instead, you will need to trade with librarian villagers, do some fishing, or loot structures. Our linked guide will help you obtain this unique enchantment easily. When you do so, you’ll need to apply it to the trident inside the anvil. Then, you can repair the trident in Minecraft.
Hold the trident in the off-hand and simply use bottles of enchanting or your sword to kill any mobs and get XP. You can also trade with villagers and obtain XP that way. If you want to make best farms to gain XP, then our linked guide will get you started. If you have two tridents with low durabilities, you can combine them in the anvil or the crafting grid to get one trident with higher durability. Though we don’t recommend this, as it is much easier just to have mending on both tridents and keep them instead of sacrificing one.

How to Use a Trident in Minecraft

You can use a trident as a melee and ranged weapon. Similarly to a sword or axe, get near a mob and right-click or use the secondary action button to hurt them up close.
If you want to throw your trident at something, hold the right-click, aim, and let go. This will launch the weapon in the direction you were looking at. But keep in mind you’ll need to pick up the trident if you haven’t enchanted it with loyalty yet. So, don’t throw it somewhere you can’t reach it, especially the void, as you won’t be able to retrieve it anymore.

What Enchantments Should You Use on Minecraft Trident

There are several trident enchantments available in the game, including:

Mending Unbreaking Riptide Channeling Loyalty Impaling Curse of Vanishing

They allow you to use this item as a super strong weapon, lightning summoner, and even a tool that can propel you through the air. We’ve got a dedicated guide on trident enchantments, where we go through each of them in detail. So to choose which enchantments to put on your trident, definitely follow the link above. And just like that, you now know how to get a trident, as well as repair it in your Minecraft world. This is for sure one of the coolest features that this game has. Though Minecraft 1.21’s new wind charge is not to be forgotten either.
So, how long did it take for you to get your first trident? Were you lucky and the first drowned dropped it or did you grind for hours before obtaining it? Share your experience with us in the comment section below!