If you’ve spent any amount of time fishing in Terraria, you’ve probably run into stretches where you reel in nothing but common fish and junk for hours on end. The Chum Bucket is one of the most underrated utility items in the game that fixes this exact problem, boosting your rare catch and crate drop rates significantly. This guide breaks down exactly how to get Chum Bucket Terraria, with no vague steps or hidden requirements you might miss on your first few tries.
How to Get Chum Bucket Terraria: Core Requirements First
The Chum Bucket only drops from three specific hostile mobs that spawn when you fish during a Hardmode Blood Moon event. That means you can’t farm for it before you beat the Wall of Flesh, no matter how many Blood Moons you trigger in pre-Hardmode. The eligible mobs are Blood Eels, Hemoglobins, and Dreadnautiluses, all of which you’ll reel in randomly when you fish during the event.
You don't need to be in a specific biome to farm these enemies, though ocean biomes have a slightly higher spawn rate for larger mobs like the Dreadnautilus. You do need a body of water that’s at least 75 tiles large to spawn these hostile fishing mobs, so skip tiny backyard ponds for this farm. If you’re playing Journey mode, you only need to get one Chum Bucket to research it, and then you can spawn as many as you want for free later.
If you're still struggling with how to get Chum Bucket Terraria after a couple of runs, double check you’ve actually unlocked Hardmode first. This is the most common mistake new players make when chasing this item, and it’s an easy fix if you just haven’t gotten around to beating the Wall of Flesh yet.
Farming Strategies to Cut Your Chum Bucket Grind Time
Base drop rates for the Chum Bucket sit at 8% for Blood Eels and Hemoglobins, and 10% for Dreadnautiluses. That means you might get it on your first mob kill, or you might go through a full Blood Moon without a drop if you’re unlucky. These tips will speed up your farm significantly so you don’t waste multiple nights fishing for it.
- Equip a Water Candle and drink a Battle Potion to double hostile mob spawn rates during the Blood Moon, so you reel in more eligible mobs per hour.
- Build a small enclosed fishing platform 10-15 tiles above the water surface to avoid taking damage from roaming Blood Moon mobs while you wait for bites.
- Use a Sonar Potion to tell if a bite is a regular fish or a hostile mob, so you don't waste time reeling in common catches when you're only farming for Chum Bucket drops.
The Dreadnautilus has the highest drop rate at 10%, so if you see the pop-up message that a Dreadnautilus has spawned, prioritize reeling that in first and take it down quickly. If you’re playing with friends, split up to fish in separate bodies of water nearby to spawn more mobs faster, and you can share the Chum Bucket if one of you gets it first. Don't use bait that has less than 20% bait power for this farm, because lower quality bait leads to fewer bites overall, which means fewer mob spawns per Blood Moon.
You can also speed up Blood Moon spawns by sleeping in a bed at night to skip nights that don’t trigger the event. Just make sure you don’t have any other active events like a Pirate Invasion or Goblin Army, because those will block the Blood Moon from spawning entirely.
How to Use Your Chum Bucket for Maximum Fishing Perks
Once you have your Chum Bucket, you can place it on any solid block next to the body of water you’re fishing in. Every time you catch a fish, you have a 33% chance to add one chum to the bucket, and it holds up to 10 chum total. When it’s full, you can interact with it to dump the chum into the water, which gives a 3 minute buff that increases fishing power, rare fish spawn rates, and crate drop rates for everyone fishing in that body of water.
You can stack up to 3 Chum Bucket effects in the same body of water to get even higher bonuses, which is perfect if you’re trying to catch rare items like the Zephyr Fish, Jellyfish Necklace, or farm Golden Crates for early Hardmode ores. The buff works in any biome too, so you can use it in Underworld lava to get more Obsidian Fish drops, or in the Snow biome to farm Bladetongues faster.
I usually keep 2 Chum Buckets on me whenever I’m doing extended fishing runs, so I don’t have to run back to my base if I want to trigger the buff while I’m far from home. Just don’t place the Chum Bucket on a platform over lava, because it will break immediately. Always place it on a solid, non-flammable block next to the water you’re fishing in to avoid wasting it.
Common Mistakes to Avoid When Farming for the Chum Bucket
Many new players who are confused about how to get Chum Bucket Terraria are making simple, avoidable mistakes that extend their grind for no reason. The first and most common mistake is trying to farm it pre-Hardmode. You will not get any Chum Bucket drops if you fish during a pre-Hardmode Blood Moon, no matter how many mobs you reel in, because the eligible mobs don’t spawn until Hardmode is active.
The second mistake is using too small a body of water. If your pond is less than 75 tiles, you won’t spawn the hostile Blood Moon fishing mobs at all, so you’re just wasting bait. I made this mistake myself early on, spending 2 full Blood Moons fishing in a tiny 30-tile pond behind my base and getting zero eligible mobs the entire time. I moved to a nearby ocean afterwards and got my first Chum Bucket within 20 minutes.
The third mistake is ignoring defense while farming. The Dreadnautilus hits really hard, especially in early Hardmode, so make sure you have at least 40 defense and a good weapon to take it down quickly once you reel it in. If you die before you kill it, you lose the chance to get the drop, and you’ll have to wait for another one to spawn. It’s also a good idea to keep a few healing potions on your hotbar just in case a mob spawns right next to you while you’re focused on reeling in a bite.
Once you know the exact requirements and optimize your farm, learning how to get Chum Bucket Terraria doesn’t have to be a multi-hour grind. It’s one of the most useful utility items for any player who spends time fishing, whether you’re hunting for rare vanity items, crafting materials, or just trying to complete your bestiary. If you follow the tips we laid out, you’ll probably get your first Chum Bucket within 1 or 2 Blood Moons, and you’ll wonder how you ever fished without it. I still keep a Chum Bucket next to every fishing spot I build across my world, even in late endgame when I have all the fishing items already, it just makes every run go so much faster.