

Turtle Shell

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Turtle Shell
Turtle Shell.png










Namespaced ID


Duncan Geere Mojang avatar.png

Turtle shells are a wearable item that let players breathe a little longer underwater. Wearing a turtle shell in a helmet slot, while out of water or in a column of bubbles, will give the player a "water breathing" status effect, which only starts counting down when the player submerges. I guess the extra air is stored in the top of the shell somewhere, but who knows how those turtles weave their bubbly magic?

Duncan Geere[1]

Turtle shells are items that are used for brewing or as a helmet to give the player the Water Breathing status effect.



Ingredients Crafting recipe Description

Damaged Turtle Shell

The durability of the two turtle shells is added together, plus an extra 5% durability.


Like helmets, turtle shells can be placed in the top armor slot of a player's inventory for activation.


Steve in turtle shell.pngAlex in turtle shell.png

If a player is wearing a turtle shell in their helmet slot while out of water or in a bubble column, they receive the Water Breathing status effect for 10 seconds. In Bedrock Edition, Water Breathing is only given while in air, not in bubble columns. This effect starts counting down when the player goes underwater, effectively gives the player 10 extra seconds of breath underwater for a total of 25 seconds. Combined with the Respiration enchantment, this time can be increased to 70 seconds.

Equipping with a turtle shell also provides the player with 2 (Armor.svg) defense points, the same amount of defense that golden, chain, and iron helmets offer. This means that for damage done to the player while wearing a turtle shell, 8% of the damage is absorbed by the turtle shell.

Turtle shells have 276 durability, which is more than any type of armor except for diamond.

Brewing ingredient[edit]

Name Ingredients Brewing recipe
Potion of the Turtle Master Turtle Shell +
Awkward Potion


Turtle shells can be repaired with scutes using an anvil.


The Turtle Shell is capable of being enchanted with the following enchantments:

  2. a b c d Only available using enchanted books and an anvil


Java Edition
1.1318w07aAdded turtle shells.
18w16aWater Breathing from turtle shells no longer show particles.
Bedrock Edition
1.5.0beta turtle shells.
Legacy Console Edition
TU691.76Patch 38Added turtle shells.


Issues relating to "Turtle Shell" are maintained on the bug tracker. Report issues there.


  1. "Taking Inventory: Turtle Shell" by Duncan Geere. Minecraft.net, October 26, 2018