A nautilus shell is an item that is used for crafting conduits.

Obtaining

Fishing

Nautilus shells can be rarely obtained as a treasure item from fishing. The drop chances of nautilus shells slightly increase with each level of Luck of the Sea on the player's fishing rod.

Mob loot

Drowned have a 3%‌^{[JE only]} or 8%‌^{[BE only]} chance to spawn with a nautilus shell in their off-hand, and this nautilus shell always drops upon death.

Trading

Wandering traders may sell a nautilus shell for 5 emeralds each, but they only sell 5 of them at a time.

Usage

In Bedrock Edition, a nautilus shell is one of the few items that can be held in the off-hand.

Crafting ingredient

Data values

ID

Java Edition:

Bedrock Edition:

History

Java Edition
1.13		18w15a			Added nautilus shells.
1.14		19w05a			Added wandering traders, which sell nautilus shells.
Bedrock Edition
1.4.0		beta 1.2.20.1			Added nautilus shells.
		beta 1.2.20.2			The texture of nautilus shells has now been changed.
1.5.0		beta 1.5.0.0			Drowned now sometimes spawn holding a nautilus shell.
					Nautilus shells are no longer behind Experimental Gameplay.
		beta 1.5.0.1			Nautilus shells can now be used to craft conduits.
1.10.0		beta 1.10.0.3			Nautilus shells can now be obtained from trading with wandering traders.
Legacy Console Edition
TU69		1.76	Patch 38		Added nautilus shells.
		1.91			Nautilus shells can now be obtained from trading with wandering traders.

Issues

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

Trivia

• Nautiluses are animals that occupy deep oceans in the real world. However, they will appear to Minecraft in an upcoming game drop as a mob.
• Because Bedrock Edition allows for Nautilus shells to be held in the off-hand (since drowned hold them), they are the only item in that version that can be put in the off-hand slot without having a specific function.