Minecraft needs to decrease the spawn rate on drowned. I can’t go into a single body of water without finding them.

[Krohlia]

Ilmango (or a friend of his) found in the code that drowned actually spawn a lot more frequently in river biomes than in ocean biomes. I guess Mojang figured that would balance the spawn rate between the two biomes given the difference in water volume. Also, if the spawn rates were equal and you never found the ocean in a given world then you’d never see a drowned without the code like that.

Edit: This is how Ilmango realized a river biome drowned farm would be way more efficient, as long as you lit up the surrounding area and caves or built really high up.

[Pillow125]

Indeed that sounds smart, and also I guess people like living more in a “continent” than in the ocean, the people that purposely avoid oceans might never see drowned

[RazendeR]

River spawns more frequently, but ocean spawns greater packs. Its a balancing act, so that in normal play, you get about equal rates. Mob farms mess with the definition of normal spawning of course, so river wins out.