How to get Dolphin's Grace effect in Minecraft

Dolphins were first added to Minecraft in 1.13, released in July 2018. While not initially planned, the Dolphin’s Grace effect was added in one of the first snapshots. This addition made underwater traversal easier and more convenient for players, especially when stacked with other water-speed-related enchantments.

While Java and Bedrock players can experience a significant speed boost due to dolphins, it is interesting to note that the Dolphin’s Grace only exists in the Java Edition. Bedrock does not consider the impact of a status effect that appears within the player’s inventory.

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Diving into Minecraft's Dolphin's Grace and how to get it

Understanding the effect

Dolphin’s Grace is one of Minecraft's status effects, which increases the ability of the player to move quickly in the water.

This is done by reducing the friction the water applies to the player when moving through it. This increases the maximum speed at which the player can move underwater. This allows the player to lose momentum significantly slower than expected and makes it harder for the player to change directions.

Dolphin’s Grace on its own will increase the speed at which a player can swim to 9.8 blocks per second. This is already faster than a boat, which will allow players to move across the surface of the water at a flat eight blocks per second.

However, the real strength of Dolphin’s Grace comes with its ability to stack with depth strider enchantment. Each level of depth strider adds 8.983 blocks per second to the speed of Dolphin’s Grace.

This means that depth strider one allows players to move 18.783 blocks per second, depth strider two allows movement of 27.767 blocks per second, and depth strider three maxes out at a speed of 36.75 blocks per second.

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How to get the effect

Dolphins are a neutral mob found in any non-frozen ocean biome. They grant players the Dolphin’s Grace effect when swimming with the player, so long as the player is sprinting swimming within a nine-block radius of the dolphin.

Dolphins are found in groups (pods) of 3–5 in all ocean biomes, except frozen oceans and cold oceans. They spawn exclusively between levels 50 and 64. Dolphins continuously spawn as long as their spawn requirements are met, and naturally despawn if no players are nearby, similar to squid.

Minecraft players currently experiencing the invisibility effect will be unable to gain the Dolphin’s Grace, as the dolphins cannot see the player swim with them. However, if a player is wearing armor, dolphins can lock onto them and grant them the Dolphin’s Grace status effect.