The bug
If a dolphin / turtles / guardian / elder guardian / cod / salmon or pufferfish is outside of water they will not really try to get back into it.
EDIT:
Version | Edit-Comments |
---|---|
18w19a / 18w19b | The dolphins turn in circles and do not find the water. |
since 18w20a | Dolphins and fish jump on land and do not really try to get into the water. |
My Tests:
I spawned each entity 5 blocks from a large water source and documented if they made it into the water within 15 seconds.
I have tested this 10 times for each entity.
Version: 18w43c
Entity | Found water - Tries | Time |
---|---|---|
Dolphin | 3 / 10 | 15 seconds |
Turtle | 3 / 10 | 15 seconds |
Guardian | 4 / 10 | 15 seconds |
Elder Guardian | 3 / 10 | 15 seconds |
Cod | 0 / 10 | 15 seconds |
Salmon | 1 / 10 | 15 seconds |
Pufferfish | 1 / 10 | 15 seconds |
Cod / Salmon and Pufferfish die most times before they reach the water
Related issues
is duplicated by
relates to
Attachments
Comments

In a very glitchy way, the dolphins and guardians actually do try to go for water, but only if they are one block away from the water. Otherwise the guardians move around randomly and the dolphins just flip around and then die in my experience.

Unless this is fixed, no constructions can incorporate dolphins, they all constantly jump into blocks and stay there. Most notably if you build any kind of fence they tend to get stuck over it and can´t recognise water two or three blocks below them.

Confirmed in 18w22a.

Confirmed in 18w22b. Also squids do not try to find water either, but I think that is a different bug as they act completely different on land then all other water mobs (MC-130520).

The real problem is that dolphins will jump and take fall damage. This happens even in flat spaces, moreso if there is unevenness. Ideally, dolphins should have a higher tolerance to fall damage, taking hits only if they fall five or six blocks instead of three.

To be fair, squids don't even move on land in the first place

i put this as a separate bug as the baby turtles had been seeking water when they hatched but on 1.13 Pre-1 they stopped. It is an expected behaviour that baby turtles should seek water and therefore I feel it is a separate bug from dolphins, guardians etc.

Also turtles that have hatched on a specific beach just hang around, never going off into the ocean. My beach is now overrun with adult turtles. I do remember in the earlier snapshots that turtles would head off into the ocean and as I mentioned before, baby turtles headed straight for the water as soon as they hatched.

I wish this bug was fixed. When the baby turtles first came out they headed for the water so one was able to build a scute farm. Now they just hang around and make not attempt to get into the water. Not the mention the myriad turtles now hanging about. If it worked once why cannot it work again?

Can confirm for 20w11a. This has been mentioned before but I can reaffirm that turtles do in fact actually seek the water, but stop just before getting in

In 20w12a

In 20w18a

In 20w19a

In 1.16 Pre 3

Why is this WAI if there are fix versions listed?