Villainous Fish AI
Villainous Fish AI has vanilla fish move away from dropped items, lit TNT and projectiles, in addition to the nearby players they already flee from.
What it does
In the base game, fish already flee from players who come close. This mod extends that behavior so the same fish also try to move away from items lying on the ground, from primed TNT, and from arrows and other projectiles in flight. The change applies only to fish that already exist in vanilla Minecraft, and the mod adds no new creatures, items or blocks.
The mod is server-side only, so players join a server running it without installing anything, and single-player worlds need it on their own side. It is published for Fabric, Forge, NeoForge and Quilt, with files for 1.20.1, 1.20.4 and 1.21.1 under the MIT License, and the source code is public. Fabric API is required on the Fabric and Quilt loaders.
Key features
Fleeing from dropped items
Fish try to swim away from items dropped nearby, so a dropped stack no longer draws them in.
Reacting to primed TNT
Fish move away from primed TNT before it detonates, instead of staying in place around the blast.
Avoiding projectiles
Fish attempt to swim out of the path of arrows and other projectiles while they are in flight.
Vanilla fish only
The behavior is added to the existing vanilla fish, and no new mobs, items or recipes are introduced.
Compatibility
Latest build for each game version and loader.
Only full game releases are shown. This mod publishes no snapshot builds.
Requirements
Dependencies declared by the latest file for each loader.
Required 1
Use cases
Livelier aquariums
Fish in a built pond or aquarium respond to the items and projectiles that enter the water, which makes the scene feel less static.
Fishing setups
Fish that scatter from a dropped item or from TNT stop gathering in one spot near a farm or fishing area.
Who it’s for: Server owners who want vanilla fish to react to more of their surroundings, and players who build water features on a server running the mod.
How it compares
Villainous Mobs is a Fabric, Forge, NeoForge and Quilt mod for 1.20.1 that is server required and client optional, released under the MIT License and open source, so it adds content rather than changing fish behavior. Horses Can Swim is a Forge and NeoForge mod for 1.20.1 – 1.21.4 that needs both client and server, is not open source, and is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike 4.0, so it covers horses rather than fish.
| Mod | Loaders | Game versions | Environment | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Villainous Fish AI | Fabric, Forge, NeoForge and Quilt | 1.20.1 – 1.21.1 | Server-side only | 2025-08-24 |
| Villainous Mobs | Fabric, Forge, NeoForge and Quilt | 1.20.1 | Server required, client optional | 2025-11-03 |
| Horses Can Swim | Forge and NeoForge | 1.20.1 – 1.21.4 | Client and server | 2024-12-04 |
Questions
Does Villainous Fish AI need to be installed on the client?
Which loaders and versions are supported?
Is Fabric API required?
In the catalog
Villainous Fish AI is one of 11,058 Mobs mods on ModsFinder, and one of 5,189 Mobs mods for Fabric. 32,366 mods support Minecraft 1.21.1.
More from MaritheVillain
Similar mods
What the author says
All this mod does is make vanilla fish attempt to swim away from projectiles, dropped items, and primed tnt. This mod is a joke about some of the advertising/behind the scenes of Call of Duty: Ghosts, where one of the points made about their new innovations is "Next generation Fish AI".
Official listing
- Modrinth page
- modrinth.com/mod/villainous-fish-ai
- Owner
- MaritheVillain
- Published
- 2023-06-28
- Updated on Modrinth
- 2025-08-24
- Facts verified
- 2026-10-15