Weapons
Minecraft Weapons are specific items that are designed to inflict high damage on other mobs, allowing you to kill them and prevent them from attacking you (and grab any loot they may drop upon death). In this Weapons guide, we'll detail everything you'll need to know about Minecraft's weapons, with details on finding specific weapons, what they are used for, and how to craft weapons.
Swords, Bows and Arrows and Axes, and can all be used as efficient weapons. You can use your other tools as a weapon such as Pickaxes, Shovels or a Hoe, but they won't do nearly as much damage. Swords, Axes, Shovels, Hoes, and Pickaxes all require the same materials to be made. You can craft any one of these using Sticks and either Wood, Stone, Iron, Gold, Diamond or Netherite. The amount of damage will change based on the materials you used to craft it.
All Weapons in Minecraft
How to Use Minecraft Weapons Effectively
In this section we'll go over some Tips and Tricks on using Weapons well in Minecraft, including the particulars of each weapon and how to use them effectively in combat.
- Swords are the go-to melee weapon in Minecraft. Their speed helps them give the most damage output over a period of time, so if an enemy can't be killed in one hit with an Axe or Trident, the Sword is your best option.
- Axes are primarily intended to chop wood, however they actually deal more damage per swing than Swords do. However they cannot be swung as quickly and wear out faster, meaning that their damage over time is actually lower. Still, you may want to consider using an Axe if it kills an enemy in one hit that a Sword cannot.
- Tridents blur the line between melee and ranged weapons: they are one of the most powerful weapons in the game when swung like a Sword, and are more powerful than Bow and Arrows. However unless Enchanted with Loyalty, they must be manually retrieved when thrown.
- Hoes, Pickaxes and Shovels can technically be used as weapons as well, however they deal much less damage and should only be considered in emergencies when you have no other options.
- Bows are a common ranged weapon that require separate Arrow ammunition. They use a charge-up mechanic, meaning the longer you charge it, the farther the arrow will fly. Arrows are also affected by gravity, so distance targets will require aiming higher to account for the drop of the arrow.
- Crossbows also use Arrows, but must go through a full charge before firing. The upshot is that they always deal a high amount of damage on the target, even more than a fully charged Bow. They can also fire Firework Rockets, turning them into effective rocket launchers thanks to their splash damage.
- Snowballs don't deal any damage (except to Armor), but unlike the Bows they require no charging time. Their primary use is to use knockback to keep the target away from you, which is especially useful in elevated areas.
Here's some general advice regarding the use of Weapons:
- Like other Tools, melee Weapons have Durability. Swords use up one hit per hit, while Axes and Tridents use two.
- Notably, a melee weapon only uses up Durability when it successfully deals damage. So for example, a Sword slashing into a Zombie will use one Durability point, however slashing a Dirt Block won't use any until the block is destroyed.
- Melee Weapons become more effective when they are made from stronger materials. In ascending order, they are Wood, Stone, Iron and Diamond. Diamond weapons can be upgraded with Netherite at Smithing Table to get the highest durability and damage in the game (not counting Enchantments, of course).
- While it is possible to make Gold Weapons, we do not recommend doing this as they only have the same damage as Stone weapons while having far less durability.
- Diamond Weapons are recommended for high-level mobs such as Withers and the Ender Dragon, and we also highly recommend giving them Enchantments that make them even more effective.
- TNT, while not technically classed as a weapon, will still of course deal a very high amount of damage, however they require much more strategy to use because they cannot move and must be manually activated with an ignition of some kind, in addition to their delay.