Levels 0 through 39 in specific chunks, any light level
A Slime is a hostile mob that spawns underground and in swamp biomes.
Slimes spawn in specific chunks below layer 40. They can also spawn in swamp biomes between layers 50-70 in light levels of 7 or less.
Like other hostile mobs, slimes will not spawn within 24 blocks (spherical) of any player, and will despawn over time if no player is within 32 blocks and instantly if no player is within 128 blocks.
Like most other mobs, slimes require two vertical non-opaque blocks[Verify] (e.g., air, signs, torches) to spawn in, with an opaque block underneath. The space they spawn in must also be clear of solid obstructions and liquids.[Verify] Big slimes require a 3×2½×3 space to spawn, small slimes require a 3×2×3 space, and tiny slimes require a 1×2×1 space (or 1×1×1 if the upper block is not opaque).
Slime size is affected by regional difficulty: chances range from 33% for each size at low difficulty to 16% tiny, 33% small, and 50% big with higher difficulty.
In swamps, slimes may spawn at night between the heights of 50 and 70 provided the light level is 7 or less. They spawn most often on a full moon, and never on a new moon.
More precisely, the game checks if the light level is equal to or less than a random integer (from 0 to 7), then if the fraction of the moon which is bright is greater than a random number (from 0 to 1). If these conditions are met and the altitude is acceptable, there is a 50% chance of spawning a slime.
Slimes spawn throughout the world (except mushroom islands) below layer 40 regardless of light level, but only in certain chunks, 1 in 10 of all chunks. These "slime chunks" are determined pseudo-randomly by combining their chunk coordinates with the seed of the world:
Random rnd = new Random(seed + (long) (xPosition * xPosition * 0x4c1906) + (long) (xPosition * 0x5ac0db) + (long) (zPosition * zPosition) * 0x4307a7L + (long) (zPosition * 0x5f24f) ^ 0x3ad8025f); return rnd.nextInt(10) == 0;
That is, using the chunk coordinates to help generate a seed, a random number between 0 and 9 will be generated, and if that number is 0, the chunk will be able to spawn slimes. To convert world coordinates to chunk coordinates, divide by 16 and round down.
Slimes drop experience points equal to their size.
If a slime's size is 1, it will also drop 0-2 slimeballs.
Only sizes 1, 2, and 4 spawn naturally. With use of
/summon, slimes can potentially range from size 1 to 256.
Slimes move by hopping, which they will do each 10 to 30 ticks (1⁄2 to 1 1⁄2 seconds). Unlike other mobs, slimes will not stop moving when no players are nearby. Their exact routine is as follows:[Verify]
The Slime will search for a player within 16 blocks (spherical) distance.
- If no players are found, they wait 10 to 30 ticks (1⁄2 to 1 1⁄2 seconds). Then they will change direction, by a random amount up to 57.26° (1 radian) left or right, jump, and repeat the process.
- If a player is found, the delay before jumping will be 1⁄3 as long (3 to 10 ticks), and the Slime's direction will be set directly toward the nearest player before jumping.
A slime's health is equal to their size squared, and its dimensions are 0.6 blocks times its size in each dimension. When a slime attacks, it will deal damage equal to its size, except for size 1 (smallest) slimes, which cannot do damage.
A slime's jump distance also depends on their size; a slime will jump a distance slightly farther than its length.
When the player kills a slime and the slime's size is larger than 1, it will die and spawn 2-4 new slimes equivalent to its size divided by 2, rounding down.
Slimes also have an odd attack interval: that is, their attack speed is twice that of other melee-combat mobs. Mobs like zombies and spiders attack at a rate of one hit per second, while slimes attack at a rate of two hits per second.
|1.0.11||Added slimes, the fifth hostile mob added to the game. There are four sizes: Tiny, Small, Big and Huge.|
|1.0.12||Big Slimes no longer spawn in peaceful.|
|Slimes have sound effects.|
|Fixed Slime targeting and attacking.|
|1.0.13||Slimes have a new look.|
|1.0.17||Slimes spawn in multiplayer.|
|1.1.2||Slime spawning reduced as they would appear in abundance. A miscalculation in the new limit caused slimes to only spawn in strange locations, so natural slime spawning was disabled.|
|1.2_01||Slimes had been reskinned and returned in Beta 1.2_01 but were still very rare. Small slimes dropped 0 - 2 slimeballs in Beta. Slimes also used to be extremely rare.|
|1.3||Slimes became more common.|
|1.4||SMP bug fixed where slimes split were visible only to the player that caused them to split and would not take any damage. Because these slimes were client-side, the player could only remove them by exiting and logging back into the server.|
|1.5||Slimes no longer spawn in Peaceful mode and only attack with provocation.|
|1.0.0||Beta 1.9-pre5||Slimes now spawn on levels 0-39 rather than 0-16, making them much more common.|
|1.1||11w49a||Added slime spawn egg|
|1.3.1||12w15a||Decreased slime spawning rate in superflat worlds.|
|12w25a||Decreased slime spawning rate in superflat worlds even more.|
|1.4.2||12w38a||Slimes have a new mob sound, the same as magma cubes, to make the sounds more realistic.|
|12w40a||Slimes are now easier to find as they spawn in swamp biomes at low light level. Since slimes can't swim, it's quite likely that they will jump in deep water and eventually drown.|
|1.5||13w10a||Slime spawn rates in swamps now depend on the current moon phase.|
|1.8||14w06b||Now swim as a result of the update to the new AI.|
|Randomly change direction every so often, reducing the chance of them getting stuck at walls or corners.|
|Slimes will now randomly despawn over time if no player is within a 32 block range.|
|Slime jumping mechanics have changed. The distance they are able to jump corresponds to their size; they will jump approximately the same distance as the length they are. They will also turn and face their whole body to the player while attacking.|
|Pocket Edition Alpha|
|0.9.0||build 1||Added slimes and slime spawn egg.|
|build 2||Slimes now have sounds.|
|0.10.0||build 1||Slimes now have bouncing animations.|
|TU14||Decreased slime spawning rate in superflat worlds.|
The (pre-1.4) slime spawning algorithm is discussed in greater detail in this forum topic, but note that the algorithm has changed many times and older information may no longer be accurate.
- Slimes do not prevent you from sleeping.
- Slimes will only attack the player, even if a skeleton accidentally shoots it.
- Slimes hop much faster when pursuing a player.
- From one large slime, the maximum experience a player can get from killing it and all the slimes that split from it is 28 XP; 4 XP from the largest, 8 XP from the 4 it splits into, and 16 XP from the 4 each of those split into.
- Big slimes cannot climb vines or ladders.
A pack of slimes but the NPC Village is still there
- Magma Cube – a similar entity that spawns only in the Nether