How to Find a Coral Reef in Minecraft

Guide Java Bedrock

Quick answer: Coral reefs generate in warm oceans - the aquamarine seas in the hottest zones, usually near deserts and mangrove swamps, and never touching badlands. Look for clear turquoise water over a sandy floor full of colorful coral structures, sea pickles and tropical fish. Shipwrecks and warm ocean ruins hide between the corals.

What you need

A boat for ocean travel
A door or water breathing potion for diving
Silk Touch tools if you want to take coral blocks home alive

Step by step

Sail the hottest zones: warm oceans generate at the highest temperature values, often next to deserts and mangrove swamps, less commonly windswept savannas.
They can sit near badlands but never border them - check the far side of the desert coast.
Spot the water: warm ocean water has a bright aquamarine tone, noticeably lighter than other oceans, over a pure sand floor with no dirt, clay or gravel.
Find the reef: dense clusters of coral blocks, coral, coral fans and sea pickles rising from the floor - so tall they can make the ocean look shallow.
No kelp grows here - a kelp-free sandy ocean full of color is the signature.
Meet the locals: pufferfish and tropical fish swarm the reefs (cod and salmon cannot spawn in warm oceans), plus zombie nautiluses nearby.
Loot the structures: shipwrecks and warm ocean ruins generate between the coral clusters - treasure maps, iron, gold and suspicious sand for archaeology.
Harvesting coral: mine coral blocks with Silk Touch to keep them alive, and keep them wet or they die and turn gray. Sea pickles also drop with Silk Touch and multiply with bone meal underwater on living coral.
Base idea: warm oceans make stunning bases - glass tunnels through the reef with tropical fish on all sides.
Still stuck? Use /locate biome minecraft:warm_ocean with cheats enabled for exact coordinates.

Java vs Bedrock

Hot coast, turquoise water, sand floor with no kelp: you are on the reef. Silk Touch the coral and the reef comes home with you.

Versions: Warm ocean and coral reef generation is the same on Java and Bedrock. Current as of 26.x.

Frequently asked questions

Where do coral reefs spawn in Minecraft?

In warm oceans, which generate in the hottest temperature zones near deserts and mangrove swamps. The reef itself is a dense cluster of coral blocks, coral fans and sea pickles on the sandy ocean floor.

How do I collect coral without killing it?

Mine coral blocks with a Silk Touch tool and keep them in contact with water - out of water they die and turn gray. Living coral blocks also let you farm sea pickles with bone meal.

What mobs live in warm oceans?

Pufferfish and thousands of tropical fish in every color combination, plus dolphins, squid and zombie nautiluses. Cod and salmon do not spawn in warm oceans.