Polar bears are neutral mobs that live in icy biomes.
Spawning[]
Polar bears spawn above grass or ice in snowy plains, ice spikes, regular and deep frozen ocean biomes in groups of up to two at light level 7 or higher. If there is a group, the second polar bear is a cub.
They can also spawn in frozen rivers, legacy frozen oceans, snowy slopes, also sometimes at the jagged peaks, and the frozen peaks in Bedrock Edition.
Drops[]
An adult polar bear drops one of the following when killed:
- 1–3 from player or tamed wolves kills.
- There is a 3⁄4 chance of dropping 0 to 2 raw cod ̣(cooked cod if killed by fire[JE only]). The maximum amount can be increased by 1 per level of Looting, for a maximum of 0 to 5 with Looting III.
- There is a 1⁄4 chance of dropping 0 to 2 raw salmon (cooked salmon if killed by fire[JE only]). The maximum amount can be increased by 1 per level of Looting, for a maximum of 0 to 5 with Looting III.
Killing a baby polar bear yields no items or experience.
Behavior[]
A polar bear attacking.
Polar bears can exist in a passive or hostile state. The cubs are passive; adults are hostile when with cubs or provoked (unless it's killed in one hit[JE only]), adults also attack if a player gets near cubs in Bedrock edition.
If a cub is attacked, unless killed in one hit[JE only], all adults within a 41×21×41 area become hostile toward the player or mob, regardless of difficulty, although in Peaceful difficulty their attacks do zero damage to players.
Attacking an adult who is within a 16×8×16 area of a cub also provokes other adults within a 21×21×21 area of the attacked adult.[JE only]
Polar bears also attack foxes.
- In Java Edition, adult polar bears attack any fox that stays near it for a while, hitting it once every few seconds. Cubs are more aggressive and attack foxes within 16 blocks.
- In Bedrock Edition, adult polar bears attack foxes within 16 blocks. Cubs do not attack foxes.
Polar bears attack by rearing on their back legs and mauling down with their front paws. Their swimming speed is equal to the player's, making them difficult to get away from if they are attacking in water.
Polar bears cannot breed and cubs' growth cannot be sped up.
They do not take freezing damage from powder snow.
Sounds[]
Java Edition:
Polar bears use the Friendly Creatures sound category for entity-dependent sound events.
| Sound | Subtitles | Source | Description | Resource location | Translation key | Volume | Pitch | Attenuation distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Polar Bear groans | Friendly Creatures | Randomly from an adult polar bear | entity | subtitles | 1.0 | 0.8-1.2 | 16 | |
| Polar Bear hums | Friendly Creatures | Randomly from a baby polar bear | entity | subtitles | 1.0 | 1.3-1.7 | 16 | |
| Polar Bear dies | Friendly Creatures | When a polar bear dies | entity | subtitles | 1.0 | 0.8-1.2 (Baby: 1.3-1.7) | 16 | |
| Polar Bear hurts | Friendly Creatures | When a polar bear is damaged | entity | subtitles | 1.0 | 0.8-1.2 (Baby: 1.3-1.7) | 16 | |
| Footsteps | Friendly Creatures | While a polar bear is walking | entity | subtitles | 0.15 | 1.0 | 16 | |
| Polar Bear roars | Friendly Creatures | When a polar bear attempts to attack something | entity | subtitles | 1.0 | 0.8-1.2 (Baby: 1.3-1.7) [sound 1] | 16 |
- ↑ Except a second copy of
warning3, which is 0.72-1.08 (Baby: 1.17-1.53)
| Sound | Source | Description | Resource location | Volume | Pitch |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Friendly Creatures | Randomly from an adult polar bear | mob | 1.0 | 0.8-1.2 | |
| Friendly Creatures | Randomly from a baby polar bear | mob | 1.0 | 1.3-1.7 | |
| Hostile Creatures | When a polar bear dies | mob | 1.0 | 0.8-1.2 (Baby: 1.3-1.7) | |
| Hostile Creatures | When a polar bear is damaged | mob | 0.7 | 0.8-1.2 (Baby: 1.3-1.7) | |
| Friendly Creatures | While a polar bear is walking | mob | 0.7 | 1.0 | |
| Hostile Creatures | When a polar bear attempts to attack something | mob | 1.2 | 1.0 |
Data values[]
ID[]
| Name | Identifier | Translation key |
|---|---|---|
| Polar Bear | polar_bear | entity.minecraft.polar_bear |
| Name | Identifier | Numeric ID | Translation key |
|---|---|---|---|
| Polar Bear | polar_bear | 28 | entity.polar_bear.name |
Entity data[]
Polar bears have entity data associated with them that contains various properties.
- Entity data
- Additional fields for mobs that can become angry
- Additional fields for mobs that can breed
- Tags common to all entities
- Tags common to all mobs
Advancements[]
| Icon | Advancement | In-game description | Parent | Actual requirements (if different) | Resource location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Adventure | Adventure, exploration and combat | — | Kill any entity, or be killed by any entity. | adventure/root
|
 | It Spreads | Kill a mob near a Sculk Catalyst | Monster Hunter | Kill one of these 70 mobs near a sculk catalyst:
| adventure/kill_mob_near_sculk_catalyst
|
History[]
| March 7, 2016 | Jeb hints at a neutral mob with a light gray "base texture" color. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 8, 2016 | Jeb tweets a picture of the polar bears. | ||||
| Java Edition | |||||
| 1.10 | 16w20a |   Added polar bears. | |||
| pre1 | Adult polar bears now jump in water, if on fire. | ||||
| pre2 | Polar bears now have sounds: entity.polar_bear.baby_ambient, entity.polar_bear.ambient, entity.polar_bear.death, entity.polar_bear.hurt, entity.polar_bear.step, and entity.polar_bear.warning. | ||||
| 1.11 | 16w32a | The entity ID has now been changed from PolarBear to polar_bear. | |||
| 1.13 | 18w19a | Polar bears can now spawn on top of ice. | |||
| 1.14 | 18w43a |   The textures of polar bears and baby polar bears have now been changed. | |||
| 19w07a | Polar bears now attack foxes. | ||||
| 19w14a | Polar bears are no longer a valid mob for earning the Monster Hunter advancement and are no longer required to complete the Monsters Hunted advancement. | ||||
| 1.15 | 19w39a |  Due to a bug, the baby polar bear model is currently broken.[1] | |||
| 19w40a | The baby polar bear model has now been fixed. | ||||
| 1.17 | 21w13a | Polar bears are now immune to freezing. | |||
| Now drop cooked cod or salmon instead of raw cod or salmon if on fire when killed or killed by a fire source. | |||||
| Pocket Edition | |||||
| 1.0.0 | alpha 0.17.0.1 | Added polar bears. | |||
| 1.1.0 | alpha 1.1.0.0 | The entity ID has now been changed from polarbear to polar_bear.
| |||
| Polar bears no longer hurt players in Peaceful difficulty. | |||||
| Bedrock Edition | |||||
| 1.4.0 | beta 1.2.14.2 | Polar bears can now spawn on top of ice. | |||
| 1.10.0 | beta 1.10.0.3 | The textures of polar bears and baby polar bears have now been changed. | |||
| 1.13.0 | beta 1.13.0.1 | Adult polar bears now attack foxes. | |||
| 1.17.0 | beta 1.16.230.54 | Polar bears are now immune to freezing. | |||
| Legacy Console Edition | |||||
| TU43 | CU33 | 1.36 | Patch 13 | 1.0.1 | Added polar bears. |
| New Nintendo 3DS Edition | |||||
| 1.7.10 | Added polar bears. | ||||
Issues[]
Issues relating to "Polar Bear" are maintained on the bug tracker. Report issues there.
Trivia[]
- Adding polar bears to Minecraft was a request by Jeb's wife, she was told they'd be added "if they ever had a bear of their own". Once their son was born, he was named "Björn" (Swedish for "bear"), and polar bears were added.[2]
- Unlike most other baby mobs, polar bear cubs have a unique sound effect that is not just a sped-up version of the regular polar bear sound effects; this is also reflected in subtitles.
- Polar bears are the first bears added into the game, later followed by pandas.
- During the development of the frozen ocean biome, polar bears were removed from spawning, due to being deemed too "sad". They were added back in because it is more accurate to the polar bear's real life status.[3]
- in Java Edition, the polar bear is the only mob whose baby variant can grow up, but the adults cannot breed or be bred.
Gallery[]
Screenshots[]
Development teaser screenshot by Jeb.
Polar bears featured on 16w20a banner.
A polar bear on its hind legs, attacking the player.
Image from Rockenroll4life of a "Polar Beary Bush".
In other media[]
Image from 16w20a blog post.
Lego Minecraft minifigure
Lego Minecraft Baby Polar Bear minifigure
Artwork
Polar Bear attacking artwork.
References[]
- ↑ MC-161946
- ↑ "We have a room in our house where all polar bear-related items end up. It’s essentially the library, or a hallway, really, with all our books in it, and there are two chairs so you can sit and read if you want - but we have a polar bear tapestry on the wall, and lots of polar bear plushies. So it feels like a Polar Bear room. Jenny had been nagging me for a long time to add a bear to Minecraft. And so I told her - well, if we ever have a bear of our own, I’ll add a bear in Minecraft. And then it turned true, because our son was born and we called him Björn - which means bear in Swedish! So I had to add a bear in the game. - JENS BERGENSTEN" – Minecraft.net
- ↑ https://clips.twitch.tv/DreamyCaringShingleNomNom
External links[]
- Mob Menagerie: Polar Bear — Minecraft.net on February 9, 2023
- Meet the Polar Bear — Minecraft.net on January 10, 2017