Helmet

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Please update this page to reflect recent updates or newly available information.
Reason: Include information about armor trims and updated netherite upgrade information.

Helmets are a type of armor that covers the head of the player. There are seven types of helmets: leather cap, chainmail helmet, iron helmet, diamond helmet, gold helmet, netherite helmet, and turtle shell.

Obtaining[]

Crafting[]

Upgrading[]

Repairing[]

Grinding[]

Unit repair[]

Helmets can be repaired in an anvil by adding units of the armor material's repair material, with each repair material restoring 25% of the helmet's maximum durability, rounded down.

Mob loot[]

If a zombie, husk, stray or skeleton is wearing armor, there is a 8.5% chance (9.5% with Looting I, 10.5% with Looting II and 11.5% with Looting III) for the mob to drop a helmet upon death. The dropped helmet is usually badly damaged, and may be enchanted with enchantment levels 5-19.

In Bedrock Edition, vindicators and pillagers spawned in raids have a 8.3525% chance (10.28% on hard) to drop iron helmets. The dropped helmets are usually badly damaged, and have a 50% chance of being enchanted with a random enchantment.

Natural generation[]

Two armor stands are found in each taiga village outdoor armory, one of them equipped with an iron helmet.

Chest loot[]

In Bedrock Edition, a sealed room in woodland mansions can appear that has a chest sometimes containing an Efficiency I leather cap.^[1]

Trading[]

In Java Edition, novice-level armorer villagers have a 40% chance to sell an iron helmet for 4 emeralds. Journeyman-level armorers have a 40% chance to sell a chainmail helmet for 1 emerald. Master-level armorers always sell an enchanted diamond helmet for 11-27 emeralds. Apprentice-level leatherworker villagers have a ²⁄₃ chance to sell a leather cap^{[note 1]} for 5 emeralds. Master-level leatherworker villagers offer the same trade.

Armorer villagers may give the players with the Hero of the Village effect a chainmail helmet.

In Bedrock Edition, novice-level armorer villagers have a 25% chance to sell iron helmet for 5 emeralds, ¹⁄₃ chance to sell chainmail helmet at journeyman-level for an emerald, and 50% chance to sell enchanted diamond helmet for 8 emeralds at master-level. Apprentice-level leatherworker villagers have a 50% chance to sell leather cap for 5 emeralds as part of their trades, and 50% chance to sell an enchanted leather cap for 5 emeralds at the master level.

Usage[]

Helmets can be placed in the top armor slot of a player's inventory for activation.

Defense points[]

Defense points are each signified by half of a shirt of mail in the armor bar above the health bar. Each defense point reduces any damage dealt to the player that is absorbed by armor by 4%, increasing additively with the number of defense points. Different materials and combinations of armor provide different levels of defense.

The following table shows the number of defense points added by helmets.

Material
Leather	1 ()
Golden	2 ()
Chainmail
Iron
Turtle Shell
Diamond	3 ()
Netherite

Knockback resistance[]

A netherite helmet provides 10% knockback resistance.

Durability[]

The following table shows the amount of damage each piece of armor can absorb before being destroyed.

Any "hit" from a damage source that can be blocked by armor removes one point of durability from each piece of armor worn for every 4 of incoming damage (rounded down, but never below 1). Damage taken that armor doesn't protect (such as falling or drowning) does not damage the armor, even if it is enchanted to protect against that type of damage. The following chart displays how many hits helmets can endure.

Netherite armor is not damaged by lava or fire when worn.

Repair[]

Helmets may be repaired by using them along with some of their crafting material (leather, gold ingots, iron ingots, diamonds or netherite) in an anvil. Chainmail helmets may be repaired in this way with iron ingots. They may also be repaired by crafting them together with another helmet of like material.

Enchantments[]

A helmet can receive the following enchantments. Note that while iron and chainmail have the same durability, chainmail has a higher enchantability than iron or diamond.

Turtle shell effect[]

Equipping a turtle shell provides the Water Breathing status effect, allowing the player to remain underwater for an additional 10 seconds. The time that this effect lasts does not begin to count down until the player dives underwater, then the 10 seconds are counted down. The effect immediately recharges after exposure to air.

Brewing ingredient[]

A turtle shell can also be used as a potion brewing ingredient.

Smelting usage[]

Piglins[]

Piglins are attracted to golden helmets and pick them up, examining them for 6 to 8 seconds. Piglins can wear other helmets but are not attracted to them. They prefer stronger helmets over weaker helmets, with one exception: They always prefer golden helmets, throwing out stronger helmets in favor of gold helmets. Enchanted helmets are preferred over unenchanted helmets.

Sounds[]

Java Edition:

Bedrock Edition:

Data values[]

ID[]

Java Edition:

Bedrock Edition:

Item data[]

When leather caps are dyed, it has the following NBT:

Achievements[]

Advancements[]

Icon	Advancement	In-game description	Parent	Actual requirements (if different)	Resource location
	Suit Up	Protect yourself with a piece of iron armor	Acquire Hardware	Have any type of iron armor in your inventory.	story/obtain_armor
	Cover Me with Diamonds	Diamond armor saves lives	Diamonds!	Have any type of diamond armor in your inventory.	story/shiny_gear
	Oh Shiny	Distract Piglins with gold	Nether	While aggravated, give a piglin one of these 25 gold-related items in the #piglin_loved item tag: Bell Block of Gold Block of Raw Gold Clock Enchanted Golden Apple Gilded Blackstone Glistering Melon Slice Gold Ingot Gold Ore Golden Apple Golden Axe Golden Boots Golden Carrot Golden Chestplate Golden Helmet Golden Hoe Golden Horse Armor Golden Leggings Golden Pickaxe Golden Shovel Golden Sword Light Weighted Pressure Plate Nether Gold Ore Deepslate Gold Ore Raw Gold Other gold-related items do not distract the piglin and do not trigger this advancement.	nether/distract_piglin
	Cover Me in Debris	Get a full suit of Netherite armor	Hidden in the Depths	Have a full set of netherite armor in your inventory.	nether/netherite_armor
	A Furious Cocktail	Have every potion effect applied at the same time	Local Brewery	Have all of these 13 status effects applied to the player at the same time: Fire Resistance Invisibility Jump Boost Night Vision Poison Regeneration Resistance Slow Falling Slowness Speed Strength Water Breathing Weakness The source of the effects is irrelevant for the purposes of this advancement. Other status effects may be applied to the player, but are ignored for this advancement.	nether/all_potions
	How Did We Get Here?	Have every effect applied at the same time	A Furious Cocktail	Have all of these 27 status effects applied to the player at the same time: Absorption Bad Omen Blindness Conduit Power Darkness Dolphin's Grace Fire Resistance Glowing Haste Hero of the Village Hunger Invisibility Jump Boost Levitation Mining Fatigue Nausea Night Vision Poison Regeneration Resistance Slow Falling Slowness Speed Strength Water Breathing Weakness Wither The source of the effects is irrelevant for the purposes of this advancement. Other status effects may be applied to the player, but are ignored for this advancement. This is a hidden advancement, meaning that it can be viewed by the player only after completing it, regardless of if its child advancement(s), if any, have been completed.	nether/all_effects

History[]

Java Edition Classic
August 13, 2009					Notch tested armor models on mob. Only chestplates and helmets were available. They were merely aesthetic at the time and had no effect on gameplay.
0.24_SURVIVAL_TEST					Added plate helmets.
					Added the model and the texture for unused chain helmets.
					Plate armor models have been tested on zombies and skeletons. It had no effect on gameplay.
Java Edition Indev
0.31		20091223-1			Plate and chain armor models are no longer used.
		20091231-2			Added items of relation to leather, studded, chainmail and plate (iron) helmets.
					The textures of leather helmets are taken from one of Notch's previous games, Legend of the Chambered. The rest are from Legend of the Chambered 2.
20100206					Added items of golden and diamond helmets.
					Removed leather-chain helmets.
20100212-1					Added armor models.
					Armor models are now displayed on the player in the inventory.
20100218					Added models of leather, chainmail, iron, gold, and diamond helmets.
					Helmets can now be crafted and worn.
					Helmets now function. All helmets give 3 (). Helmets have limited durability, with lower tier helmets less durable than higher tier helmets.
Java Edition Alpha
v1.0.8					With the introduction of leather, "Cloth Cap" has been renamed to "Leather Cap".
					Leather cap is now crafted with leather instead of cloth.
Java Edition
1.0.0		Beta 1.9 Prerelease			The armor protection behavior has been changed. Prior to this update, the total armor protection is based in this equation: (((total equipped armor damage reduction − 1) × (all equipped armor max damage − total equipped armor damage)) ÷ (total equipped armor max damage + 1)). Armor no longer reduces certain damage types to be covered by enchantments.
		October 3, 2011			The first images of a player wearing enchanted armor are revealed.
		Beta 1.9 Prerelease 3			Iron helmets can now be found in the new stronghold altar chests.
		Beta 1.9 Prerelease 4			Helmets can now be enchanted.
1.1		12w01a			Iron helmets can now be found in the new blacksmith chests in villages.
1.2.1		12w06a			Zombies now drop iron helmets on rare occasions and zombie pigmen now drop golden helmets.
1.3.1		12w15a			⇧ Shift+clicking can now be used to wear helmets.
		12w21a			Chain helmets can now be obtained legitimately in survival mode through trading.
					Blacksmith villagers now sell chain helmets for 5–6 emeralds.
					Blacksmith villagers now sell diamond helmets for 7 emeralds.
					Blacksmith villagers now sell iron helmets for 4–5 emeralds.
					Butchers now sell leather caps for 2–3 emeralds.
1.4.2		12w32a			Mob armor has been reintroduced. A partial or full set of any armor is now sometimes worn by zombies, skeletons and zombie pigmen, with the likelihood increasing with difficulty.
		August 17, 2012			Jeb and Dinnerbone tweeted pictures of dyeable leather armor.
		12w34a			Leather helmets can now be dyed by crafting a leather armor piece with dyes. Dyes can be removed by using dyed leather armor on a cauldron with water.
					Default leather caps textures are now slightly darker.
		12w36a			Dyed leather caps are now more saturated and have a slight tint of tan in respect to the default armor color.
		12w37a			Leather armor now has non-dyed parts on the cap. This has been implemented so that players can distinguish between other types of helmets and similarly colored leather caps.
1.5		13w04a			Helmets in the player's hand can now be equipped by right-clicking.
					Dispensers can now equip nearby players with helmets.
1.8		14w02a			Trades changed: armorer villagers now sell chain helmets for 5–7 emeralds.
					Armorer villagers no longer sell diamond helmets.
					Armorer villagers now sell iron helmets for 4–6 emeralds.
					Leatherworkers no longer sell other leather caps.
		14w05a			Helmets no longer turns red when mobs and players are hurt.
		14w06a			Helmets are now visible on giants.
		14w25a			Chain helmets cannot be crafted anymore due to the item form of fire being removed.
1.9		15w31a			Enchanted iron and diamond helmets can now be found in end city ship chests.
					Mobs now wear armor from the bottom to the top, rather than from the top to the bottom. This means that a mob with three armor pieces, for example, spawn with all armor except a helmet.
		15w34b			Helmet durability now affects armor value.
		15w36a			Armor and armor enchantment calculations have been changed. For the original values, see here.
		15w36d			Helmet durability affecting value has been removed.
					Helmets now has an attribute controlling the defense points.
		15w50a			Added equip sounds for leather armor.
		16w02a			Armor and armor enchantment calculations have been changed again.
		16w05a			Armor calculations have been changed, once again.
1.13		17w47a			Prior to The Flattening, these items' numeral IDs were 298, 302, 306, 310 and 314.
		18w07a			Added turtle shells.
		18w09a			Golden helmets now have a chance of generating in underwater ruins.
		18w11a			Enchanted leather caps can now generate in the chests of shipwrecks.
		18w20a			"Chain Helmet" has now been renamed to "Chainmail Helmet".
1.14		18w43a			The textures of all types of helmets have been changed.
		18w48a			Leather caps can now be found in chests in village tanneries.
		18w50a			Iron helmets can now be found on armor stands in taiga villages.
		19w08a			The textures of gold helmet items have been changed.
		19w11a			Armorer villagers now sell enchanted diamond helmets, making diamond helmets effectively renewable again.
					Leatherworker villagers now sell randomly dyed leather caps.
		19w13a			Armorer villagers now give chainmail helmets to players under the Hero of the Village effect.
1.16		20w06a			Added netherite helmets.
		20w07a			Added textures and models for all helmets when they are used by piglins.
					Netherite helmets are now obtained by combining one diamond armor piece and one netherite ingot in a crafting table.
					Turtle shells, when used by piglins and zombified piglins, result in a missing texture when being displayed.[3]
		20w09a			The textures of diamond helmet items have been changed.
		20w10a			The texture of netherite helmets has been changed.
					The texture of netherite helmets for piglins has been changed.
					Netherite helmets can no longer be crafted.
					Netherite helmets are now obtained by combining one diamond helmet and one netherite ingot in a smithing table.
		20w16a			Golden and netherite helmets now generate randomly enchanted, and sometimes damaged, in bastion remnant and ruined portal chests.
		20w17a			Diamonds helmets now generate in place of netherite helmets in bastion remnant chests.
		pre3			The special helmet models and textures created for piglins have been removed except for leather helmets.
1.17		20w48a			Wearing a leather helmet now prevents freezing entirely.
		21w13a			The two unused textures of the leather cap for piglins[4][5] have been removed.
1.18.2		22w03a			Netherite helmet knockback resistance is no longer random.
1.19		22w17a			The texture of the leather cap item has been changed.
					Changed the leather cap texture when worn so the center bar now extends to the bottom of the back face.
1.20 (Experimental)		23w04a			Non-leather helmets can now be trimmed using a smithing table.
					There are 10 types of material that determine the color of the trim: Iron Copper Gold Lapis Emerald Diamond Netherite Redstone Amethyst Quartz
					Upgrading diamond helmets to netherite helmets now requires the netherite upgrade smithing template.
		23w05a			Leather caps can now be trimmed using a smithing table.
					Helmets can now have trims of the same material it is made out of.
		23w06a			Swapped iron and iron_darker palette, then made iron_darker darker overall.
1.19.4		23w05a			Helmets can now be swapped by using them in the hotbar.[6]
?					Helmets can now be swapped in armor stands by using them/heads/carved pumpkins in the armor stand's slot.
1.20		23w12a			The pattern textures of dune and sentry armor trims are changed.
					Those previous patterns were left with different names: dune was renamed sentry and sentry was renamed shaper.
Pocket Edition Alpha
v0.6.0					Added helmets.
v0.8.0		build 2			The leather helmet sprite has been changed to that of Java Edition, but its armor model remains that of older versions.
v0.9.0		build 1			Iron helmets now naturally generate in village chests and in stronghold altar chests.
v0.11.0		build 11			Helmets now protect against damage from mobs only.
v0.12.1		build 1			Helmets can now be worn by mobs.
					Chainmail helmets can now be obtained in survival mode from a mob wearing it.
?					Helmets no longer turn red when mobs and players are hurt.
v0.14.0		build 1			The texture of leather helmets have been changed.
					Leather helmets can now be dyed.
v0.15.0		build 1			Helmets can now be obtained from strays and husks that naturally spawn with armor.
Pocket Edition
1.0.0		alpha 0.17.0.1			Enchanted iron helmets and enchanted diamond helmets can now be found inside chests within end cities.
1.0.4		alpha 1.0.4.0			Iron helmets and chainmail helmets are now sold by armorer smith villagers via trading.
1.1.0		alpha 1.1.0.0			Golden, chain and iron helmets can now be smelted down into one of their respective nuggets.
Bedrock Edition
1.4.0		beta 1.2.14.2			Chainmail helmets now generate in buried treasure chests.
					Enchanted leather helmets can now be found inside shipwreck supply room chests.
		beta 1.2.20.1			Golden helmets can now be found inside underwater ruins chests.
1.5.0		beta 1.5.0.4			Added turtle shells.
1.10.0		beta 1.10.0.3			The textures of all types of helmets have been changed.
					Iron helmets now can be found in plains village weaponsmith chests.
					Leather helmets can now be found inside plains village tannery chests.
1.11.0		beta 1.11.0.1			Iron helmets now can be found in savanna, taiga, desert, snowy taiga and snowy tundra village weaponsmith chests.
					Leather helmets can now be found inside savanna, taiga, desert, snowy taiga and snowy tundra village tannery chests.
					Iron helmets can now be found in village armorer chests.
		beta 1.11.0.4			Pillagers and vindicators that spawn in raids can now drop iron helmets.
					Diamond helmets are now sold by armorer villagers.
		beta 1.11.0.5			The textures of gold helmet items have been changed.
1.12.0		beta 1.12.0.2			Leather armor no longer shows as being dyed properly when worn by armor stands.
1.13.0		beta 1.13.0.1			Leather armor now appears properly dyed when worn by armor stands.
1.16.0		beta 1.16.0.51			Added netherite helmets.
					The textures of diamond helmet items have been changed.
					Helmets can now be obtained from piglins that naturally spawn with golden helmets.
		beta 1.16.0.57			Golden and netherite helmets now generate randomly enchanted, and sometimes damaged, in bastion remnant chests.
					Netherite helmets can no longer be crafted.
					Netherite helmets are now obtained by combining one diamond helmet and one netherite ingot in a smithing table.
		beta 1.16.0.63			Diamonds helmets now generate in place of netherite helmets in bastion remnant chests.
		beta 1.16.200.53			Netherite helmets now gives a 90% reduction in knockback.
1.16.210		beta 1.16.210.53			Wearing leather helmets now prevents freezing entirely.
Legacy Console Edition
TU1	CU1	1.0	Patch 1	1.0.1	Added helmets.
					Added a quick equip for armor to the inventory interface.
TU12		1.03			The textures for leather helmets have been changed.
TU14		1.05			Leather helmets can now be dyed.
					Item repair can now repair helmets.
TU25	CU13	1.16			Helmets now have the quick equip functionality.
TU53	CU43	1.49	Patch 23	1.0.3	Golden, chain and iron helmets can now be smelted down into one of their respective nuggets.
PlayStation 4 Edition
1.90					The textures of all types of helmet items have been changed (except for the leather helmets).
New Nintendo 3DS Edition
0.1.0					Added helmets.

• 

  First image of armor.

• 

  Dinnerbone's first screenshot of dyed armor.

• 

Armor durability from Indev until late Beta

Issues[]

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

Trivia[]

• Unlike the other helmets, the netherite helmet covers most of the player's face, due to a nose guard and cheek plates.
• The turtle shell is the only helmet that is not part of a complete set.
• In Bedrock Edition, there exists a bug^[7] that makes it possible to obtain a Leather Cap enchanted with Efficiency I from Woodland Mansion chests with a chance of 1.45%. The enchantment has no effect on the cap, however.

Gallery[]

• 

  A zombie wearing a helmet in Survival Test.

Enchanted Helmets[]

References[]

External Links[]

• Taking Inventory: Helmet – Minecraft.net on February 20, 2020