Turtle eggs in Minecraft take about 4 to 5 in-game nights to hatch on average, with 90% of eggs hatching within 7 nights or less. The eggs must be placed on sand or red sand blocks to hatch, and they progress through three cracking stages before hatching. Hatching occurs significantly faster during nighttime, especially between 3 to 4 a.m. in-game time. The player must be within 128 horizontal blocks of the eggs for them to progress toward hatching; if the player is too far away or sleeps through the night, the eggs will not crack or hatch. When multiple eggs are on the same block, they all hatch simultaneously

. In real time, this translates roughly to 1 to 1.5 hours, as one Minecraft day lasts 20 minutes. Protecting the eggs from hostile mobs like zombies is important since these mobs will seek out and trample the eggs if they can access them. Using fences or blocks to guard the eggs is recommended to prevent this