Shipwreck in Minecraft
Shipwrecks are naturally generated structures that can be found underwater and they resemble sailing ships that can be found in the overworld’s landscape. They were added to Minecraft in The Update Aquatic as a part of v1.13. They are generated in all ocean biomes but that doesn’t mean that they are common structures. On much…
Shipwrecks are naturally generated structures that can be found underwater and they resemble sailing ships that can be found in the overworld’s landscape. They were added to Minecraft in The Update Aquatic as a part of v1.13. They are generated in all ocean biomes but that doesn’t mean that they are common structures. On much rarer occasions they can be generated beached on shores.
How does a shipwreck get generated?
When a shipwreck is generated they are made of multiple types of wood. Sometimes they can generate fully or even partially at times in a variety of configurations. They will always spawn with at least one chest but can spawn up to 3 chests if the ship is fully intact. In the hull section of the ship, one can find a chest full of supplies that can contain TNT, paper, coal, food, etc. In the lower section of the ship, the chest that generates is guaranteed to hold an exploration map along with other items that are required for mapping.
The exploration map will lead players to a buried treasure, other than this the chest will have items such as paper, books, feathers, compasses, and clocks. The upper section of the ship contains a chest with treasure inside it, such as ingots, nuggets, gems, lapis lazuli, or a bottle o’ enchanting.
Structure of a shipwreck
Shipwrecks resemble classic vessels sunken into the sea. When generated they can be in three positions: upright, keeled sideways, or upside down. In most cases they are missing their bows or sterns along with other blocks, these are the front and rear of the ship respectively. This gives them a damaged appearance but it is possible to find them completely intact even though this is a very rare occurrence.
They are completely made from wooden materials, including logs, planks, slabs, fences, stairs, doors, and up to three chests. The bow generates one chest meanwhile the stern generates two chests and a fully intact ship will generate three chests regardless of its rotation.
An upside-down shipwreck consisting of its bow (via screenshot)
Loot
As shipwrecks contain up to three chests they are always worth taking a look at. The location of the chests dictates what items are inside them. The three types of chests are supply, treasure, and map chests. In Java Edition each supply chest contains 3-10 items stacks from the following list:
- Suspicious stew (54.3% chance) (sus)
- Paper (46.4% chance)
- Wheat (42.1% chance)
- Carrot (42.1% chance)
- Poisonous potato (42.1% chance)
- Potato (42.1% chance)
- Moss block (42.1% chance)
- Coal (37.3% chance)
- Rotten flesh (32.2% chance)
- Gunpowder (20.8% chance)
- Enchanted leather cap (20.8% chance)
- Enchanted leather pants (20.8% chance)
- Enchanted leather boots (20.8% chance)
- Bamboo (14.4% chance)
- Pumpkin(14.4% chance)
- TNT (7.5% chance)
Items found in a supply chest (via screenshot)
In Java Edition each shipwreck treasure chest contains items that are drawn from 2 loot pools, with the following distribution:
- Iron ingot (97.4% chance)
- Iron nugget (94.5% chance)
- Emerald (73.7% chance)
- Lapis Lazuli (61.5% chance)
- Gold nugget (36.6% chance)
- Gold ingot (26.5% chance)
- Bottle o’ enchanting (14.1% chance)
- Diamond (14.1% chance)
Items found in a treasure chest (via screenshot)
In Java Edition each shipwreck map chest contains items that are drawn from 2 loot pools, with the following distribution:
- Buried treasure map (100% chance)
- Paper (89.4% chance)
- Feather (60% chance)
- Book (34.5% chance)
- Clock (7.7% chance)
- Compass (7.7% chance)
- Empty map (7.7% chance)
Items found in a map chest (via screenshot)
Trivia
When a player feeds a Dolphin some raw cod or raw salmon there is a chance that the dolphin will lead the player to a shipwreck.
On very rare occasions shipwrecks can be buried in the ground or a mountain usually with small sections of its mast still visible, instead of generating underwater
History
In November 2017 shipwrecks were first shown to the community in a clip at MINECON Earth and it was confirmed by Jeb that shipwrecks would be added to the game and that they would have loot chests inside. After some time in v1.13 shipwrecks were added to the game and their loot was tweaked over small patches. In v1.16 their spawn rates were reduced effectively making them much rarer.
Conclusion
Shipwrecks are a cool feature in the game that makes ocean exploration more diverse and immersive. Since they are filled with loot it is always worth the time and effort to check them out. Finding a shipwreck also grants the player the “Ahoy!” achievement.
Since there are no hostile mobs that spawn inside or around a shipwreck there is no inherent danger to exploring them other than drowning in the water that is why players should carry a door with them so that they can create an air pocket and be able to breathe.
FAQ
Q. How many different variants of shipwrecks are there?
A. There are a total of 16 different variants of shipwrecks and they all spawn with different chests.
Q. Can a shipwreck be found on the shore?
A. Yes, although they are quite rare.
Q. Do all shipwrecks have a buried treasure map?
A. Yes, all shipwrecks that spawn with a map chest will contain a buried treasure map.
