Riptide Enchantment: Launch Distances and Elytra Tricks

Riptide changes what a trident does: instead of throwing it, you launch yourself in the direction you’re facing. It only works when you’re in water or standing in rain. It has three levels and conflicts with both Loyalty and Channeling.

How far it throws you

Level	In rain or standing in water	Fully underwater
I	9 blocks	7 blocks
II	15 blocks	11 blocks
III	21 blocks	15 blocks

The formula is 6 × level + 3 in rain, and 4 × level + 3 underwater. Aim upward to gain height, sprint or sprint-swim first to go farther, or launch from higher ground.

Each launch uses one durability. If you crash into a mob, you deal the trident’s throw damage to it and stop dead, and that hit also ignores shields.

Where it doesn’t work

• Biomes where it never rains: deserts, badlands, savannas, the Nether and the End.
• Snowy biomes and high altitudes where rain falls as snow.
• Under a roof, even if it’s raining outside.

A trident with Riptide can’t be thrown at all, so it’s useless as a ranged weapon.

Riptide and elytra

This is where Riptide gets wild. With elytra on, a Riptide launch in the rain throws you into a glide at speeds far beyond firework rockets; repeated launches can top 500 blocks per second. Ocean travel in a storm becomes almost instant. The catch is obvious: you need rain or water every time.

Getting Riptide

It rolls on the enchanting table for tridents and turns up on books from fishing, monster rooms, trial chamber vaults and other chests. In default trading, librarians sell it; the experimental Villager Trade Rebalance removes trident books from trades.

Riptide or Loyalty?

Loyalty if the trident is your weapon, Riptide if it’s your boat. Since they conflict, most players eventually carry one of each. Pair Riptide with Unbreaking III and Mending, plus Impaling if you want melee damage. See best trident enchantments for both setups and best elytra enchantments if you plan to fly with it.