drowning_damage

booleanJava 26.2 & Bedrock 26.32

Controls whether players and mobs take damage from drowning. When false, running out of breath underwater deals no damage — you can stay submerged indefinitely.

Enable drowning_damage

Drowning damage is active — running out of air deals 2 damage every half-second until you surface or die.

Java/gamerule drowning_damage true

Bedrock/gamerule drowningdamage true

Bedrock uses drowningdamage (all-lowercase, no separators).

Disable drowning_damage

No drowning damage. Players and mobs can breathe underwater indefinitely without taking harm.

Java/gamerule drowning_damage false

Bedrock/gamerule drowningdamage false

Default: true. Restore with /gamerule drowning_damage true

What drowning_damage does

Controls whether players and mobs take damage from drowning. When false, running out of breath underwater deals no damage — you can stay submerged indefinitely.

Related gamerules

fire_damage fall_damage freeze_damage

All Gamerule commands Java vs Bedrock guide