Minecraft Dungeons, see For the weapon in, see MCD:Bow

Bow Rarity Common Durability 384 Renewable Yes Stackable No

A bow is a ranged weapon that fires arrows.

Obtaining [ edit ]

Skeletons and Strays [ edit ]

Skeletons and strays have an 8.5% chance of dropping a normal or enchanted bow on death when killed by the player.

The chance of dropping a bow is increased by 1% per level of looting, allowing up to an 11.5% chance of dropping.

The chance of being enchanted depends on the difficulty, whether it is normal or hard. The enchantment level is equal to enchant level 5-22.

Bows of skeleton traps are always enchanted at level 5 to 23. The exact level depends on regional difficulty, as on Easy it is always a level-5 enchantment.

Illusioners [ edit ]

This feature is exclusive to Java Edition.

Illusioners have an 8.5% chance of dropping an unenchanted bow when killed by the player. The chance of dropping a bow is increased by 1% per level of Looting, allowing up to an 11.5% chance of dropping.

Trading [ edit ]

Apprentice-level fletcher villagers sell bows for 2 emeralds as part of their trade, and expert-level fletcher villagers sell enchanted bows for 8‌[Bedrock Edition only] or 17–22‌[Java Edition only] emeralds as part of their trade.

The enchantment level is equal to enchant level 5–19.

Fishing [ edit ]

Bows have a chance of being caught by fishing. When caught, the bow may be damaged and contain random enchantments equivalent to a level 30 enchantment from an enchantment table, including treasure enchantments like Mending.

Crafting [ edit ]

Repairing [ edit ]

Ingredients Grinding recipe Description 2x Damaged Bow The durability of the two bows is added together, plus an extra 5% durability.

Ingredients Crafting recipe Damaged Bow





Usage [ edit ]

Weapon [ edit ]

Bows can be drawn back by using it. In order to use a bow, the player must have at least one arrow in their inventory or be in Creative mode. While the bow is being charged or remains fully charged, the player is forced to move at sneaking speed, unless they are riding a horse, minecart or boat, or flying with elytra. The arrow that is shown inside the bow always looks like a regular arrow, regardless of what kind of arrow is actually being fired from the bow.[1]

When drawing a bow, the display zooms in slightly. Charging the bow to its maximum causes it to visually shake as an indicator. Releasing the button releases an arrow. A white sparkling effect signifies a full charged shot. The damage can be less than the maximum damage if the arrow slows down after being shot.

If the arrow hits another player, it makes a high-pitched "ding" sound.‌[Java Edition only]

Fully charged shots have a 25% chance to deal extra critical damage.

Charging time Maximum attack damage 0.1 s (no charge) 1 0.2–0.9 s (medium charge) 6 1+ s (full charge) 9 1+ s (critical) 10

Information above applies if the player or mob has no armor. [needs testing]

Damage caused by the arrow is not affected by the Strength status effect.

Endermen cannot be shot using an arrow, because the arrow either disappears as the enderman teleports, or it gets deflected. However, an arrow shot from a bow enchanted with Flame can ignite the enderman.

Crafting ingredient [ edit ]

Enchantments [ edit ]

Bows can receive several different enchantments and have a base enchantibility of 1. Bow enchantments have no effect on arrow speed or distance.

Name Summary Max Level Power Increases the damage by (25 * (level + 1)) %. V Punch Increases the knockback (+3 blocks per level) applied by the bow. II Flame Ignites arrow, dealing Fire damage. In addition to damaging mobs, a flaming arrow can be used to ignite TNT and light a Campfire from a distance. I Infinity[n 1] Prevents the bow from consuming arrows when fired. A single arrow is still required to fire. Fired arrows shot from an Infinity-enchanted bow cannot be retrieved if they land on the ground. Tipped arrows and spectral arrows are consumed even with Infinity. I Unbreaking Unbreaking causes a (100/(Level+1))% chance a shot fired reduces the durability of the bow. III Mending[n 1] Allows a certain proportion of XP orbs collected to contribute toward repairing the bow, rather than raising the player's experience. I Curse of Vanishing Causes the bow to disappear instead of dropping on the ground when the player dies. The keepInventory gamerule overrides this. I

Notes

a b Mending and Infinity are mutually exclusive.

Fuel [ edit ]

A bow can be used as fuel in furnaces, smelting 1.5 items per bow in Java Edition or 1 item per bow in Bedrock Edition.

Arrows [ edit ]

As arrows are affected by gravity, they take an arcing path over distances. One must aim above the target when firing from a distance, or gain higher ground, to effectively make a hit. Arrows slow down if shot through water, reducing their damage significantly.

Arrows that hit solid blocks become stuck and can be recollected unless the arrow was shot by a bow enchanted with Infinity, a player in creative mode, or a skeleton/illusioner.

Arrows shot through lava ignite, similar to the Flame enchantment. The arrow likewise ignites any entities it hits. If not extinguished, the fire damage can be up to 4 . Although they cannot spawn naturally with bows, if a wither skeleton holds a bow it also shoots flaming arrows.

Arrows from bows can trigger wooden pressure plates, target blocks, and wooden buttons, as well as tripwire. However, they cannot trigger stone pressure plates or stone buttons.

The player can choose the type of arrow to fire based on its location in the inventory. Arrows in the off-hand, or the selected hotbar slot if the bow is in the off-hand, are prioritized first. If there are no arrows in the off-hand or selected hotbar slot then the arrow closest to slot 0 is selected.

Sounds [ edit ]

Sound Subtitle Source Description Namespaced ID Translation key Volume Pitch Attenuation

distance Sound parameters Volume Pitch Attenuation

distance Stream Preload https://minecraft.gamepedia.com/File:Bow_shoot.ogg Arrow fired ? ? entity.arrow.shoot subtitles.entity.arrow.shoot ? ? 16 ? ? ? ? ? https://minecraft.gamepedia.com/File:Random_break.ogg Item breaks ? When durability is exhausted entity.item.break subtitles.entity.item.break 1.0 0.9 16 ? ? ? ? ?

Data values [ edit ]

ID [ edit ]

Java Edition:

Name Namespaced ID Translation key Bow bow item.minecraft.bow

Bedrock Edition:

Name Namespaced ID Numeric ID Translation key Bow bow 261 item.bow.name

Achievements [ edit ]

Icon Achievement In-game description Actual requirements (if different) Gamerscore earned Trophy type (PS) Sniper Duel Kill a Skeleton with an arrow from more than 50 meters. Use a launched arrow to kill a skeleton, wither skeleton, or a stray from 50 or more blocks away, horizontally. 30G Bronze Dispense With This Construct a Dispenser. — 20G Bronze Archer Kill a creeper with arrows. — 10G Bronze Bullseye Hit the bullseye of a Target block. — 15G Bronze

Advancements [ edit ]

Icon Advancement In-game description Parent Actual requirements (if different) Namespaced ID Take Aim

Shoot something with an arrow Monster Hunter Using a bow or a crossbow, shoot an entity with an arrow, tipped arrow, or spectral arrow. adventure/shoot_arrow Sniper Duel

Kill a Skeleton from at least 50 meters away Take Aim Kill a skeleton with a projectile while being at least 50 blocks away horizontally. adventure/sniper_duel Bullseye

Hit the bullseye of a Target block from at least 30 meters away Take Aim Shoot the center of a target with a projectile from at least 30 blocks away horizontally. adventure/bullseye

Video [ edit ]

History [ edit ]

Historical sounds:

Sound From to Pitch https://minecraft.gamepedia.com/File:Bow_Shooting_Old.ogg 0.31 Sound Update 1.0

Issues [ edit ]

Issues relating to "Bow" are maintained on the bug tracker. Report issues there.

Trivia [ edit ]

If a bow is enchanted with a level 1 enchantment, it always gets Power 1.

Bows are the first ranged weapon in Minecraft.

Bows with its enchantments are effective against single targets, while the Crossbow enchantments affect multiple targets.

Bows were intentionally left unchanged in the Texture Update as to appear to be made of a different wood type from crossbows. [3]

Dinnerbone got the idea for the high-pitched "ding" sound from playing on a former PvP server called Project Ares.[4][5]

Gallery [ edit ]

An enchanted bow.

Using the bow.

(Click to see the animation)

Using the bow in third person view. (Click to see the animation)

References [ edit ]