Bow

A bow is a ranged weapon that shoots arrows.

Obtaining[]

Crafting[]

Ingredients	Crafting recipe
Stick + String

Mob loot[]

Skeletons and Strays[]

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

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[]

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[]

Apprentice-level fletcher villagers sell bows for 2 emeralds as part of their trades.

Expert-level fletcher villagers sell enchanted bows for 7–21 emeralds as part of their trades. The enchantment level is equal to enchant level 5–19.

Fishing[]

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 enchanting table, including treasure enchantments like Mending.

Repairing[]

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[]

Weapon[]

Bows can be drawn back by using them. In order to use a bow, the player must have at least one arrow in their inventory or be in Creative mode. The arrow that is shown inside the bow always looks like a regular arrow, regardless of what kind of arrow is actually being shot 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 shoots an arrow if it is charged at least 15%. Drawing a bow can be canceled by switching to another hotbar slot while holding use.

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. It is not possible to sprint while charging a bow or holding a drawn bow. When the bow is released, normal motion resumes although any prior sprint is cancelled. Sneaking while drawing the bow makes the player move even slower.

If an arrow hits another player, the player that shoots the arrow hears a high-pitched "ding" sound.‌^{[Java Edition only]}

Fully charged shots launch critical arrows which have a trail of particles behind them and deal up to ${\textstyle \left ( \frac{3x}{2} \right ) + 2}$damage, where ${\displaystyle x}$is the damage after any enchantments. The listed values below describe maximum damage from a bow with no Power enchantments, assuming the target is at a distance where drag and gravity are negligible. However, the critical damage is likely to be more around 8-10; critical damage is added at a random value between ${\displaystyle x}$and ${\textstyle \left ( \frac{3x}{2} \right ) + 2}$ and it is rare to have minimum or maximum values. The damage dealt can ultimately be less than the maximum damage if the arrow slows down after being shot.

Charging time	Maximum attack damage
0.1 s (no charge)	1
0.2–0.9 s (medium charge)	5
1+ s (full charge)	6
1+ s (critical)	11 × 5.5

The game stores the damage of arrows even in values with a decimal point. For example, it is possible for a critical arrow shot to cause damage values such as 6.4. In this cases of a broken value, the game can round up or down and store the amount for subsequent damage sources.

Any projectile thrown by the player is under the influence of momentum in current versions of Minecraft. Naturally, the player's movement speed can be modified under a number of circumstances, affecting the ballistic trajectory of projectiles, and as a result, the damage inflicted by arrows.

In Java Edition Combat Tests, to avoid sniping, arrows shot from fully-charged bows become non-critical if held drawn back for longer than three seconds. Instantaneous effects on tipped arrows are scaled by 1/8, just like the duration of other effects. For example, Instant Damage I arrow will deal an additional 0.75 × 0.375 magical damage.

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

Endermen cannot be shot using an arrow, because the arrow either disappears as the enderman teleports, or it gets deflected. Even while immobile, the enderman is immune to damage from arrows. However, an arrow shot from a bow enchanted with Flame can ignite the enderman.

Crafting ingredient[]

Name	Ingredients	Crafting recipe	Description
Dispenser	Cobblestone + Bow + Redstone Dust		The bow can be of any durability. Enchantments on the bow do not affect the resulting dispenser.

Enchantments[]

Bows can receive several different enchantments and have a base enchantability of 1. Bow enchantments have no effect on arrow speed or the distance it travels. In Bedrock Edition, if a bow is enchanted with any level 1 enchantment, it always gets Power I.^[verify]

Name	Summary	Max Level
Power	Increases the damage dealt by bow-shot arrows.	V
Punch	Increases the knockback dealt by bow-shot arrows.	II
Flame	Ignites arrows, dealing fire damage to anyone hit as well as igniting TNT and campfires.	I
Infinity[n 1]	Stops the bow from consuming arrows when shot. A minimum of 1 arrow is still required to work.	I
Unbreaking	Grants a chance to negate durability consumption, making the bow last longer.	III
Mending[n 1]	Repairs the bow using experience, but also preventing the player from gaining score.	I
Curse of Vanishing	The bow vanishes on death, not dropping as an item. Overridden by keepInventory.	I

Notes

Fuel[]

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[]

As in real life, a flying arrow in Minecraft is affected by gravity. Its vertical speed is modified by one block downward every second, resulting in a parabolic flight path. An arrow slows down if shot through water, reducing its damage to near zero unless brought back into the air or otherwise given momentum.‌^{[Java Edition only]}

Arrows that hit solid blocks become stuck and can be retrieved, unless the arrow was shot by a bow enchanted with Infinity, a player in Creative mode, or a mob.

An arrow shot through lava ignites, giving it the effect of the Flame enchantment, igniting any entity it hits. If not extinguished, the fire inflicts up to 4 damage. Although a wither skeleton does not spawn naturally with bows, if it holds a bow then it also shoots flaming arrows.

On impact, an arrow can trigger a wooden pressure plate, target block, wooden button, or tripwire. Arrows cannot trigger stone pressure plates or stone buttons.

The player can choose the type of arrow to shoot 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.

Arrows shot by bows in Bedrock Edition has a slightly higher range than arrows shot by bows in Java Edition.

Sounds[]

Java Edition:

Sound	Subtitles	Source	Description	Resource location	Translation key	Volume	Pitch	Attenuation distance
	Arrow hits	Friendly Creatures	When an arrow impacts something	entity.arrow.hit	subtitles.entity.arrow.hit	1.0	12⁄11-4⁄3	16
	Arrow fired	Players	When a bow shoots an arrow	entity.arrow.shoot	subtitles.entity.arrow.shoot	1.0	4⁄3-1.125 [sound 1]	16
	Player hit	Players	When an arrow shot by a player hits another player	entity.arrow.hit_player	subtitles.entity.arrow.hit_player	0.18	0.45	16
	Item breaks	Players	When a bow's durability is exhausted	entity.item.break	subtitles.entity.item.break	0.8	0.8-1.2	16

Bedrock Edition:

Sound	Source	Description	Resource location	Volume	Pitch
	Players	When an arrow impacts something	random.bowhit	1.0	1.09-1.3
	Players	When a bow shoots an arrow	random.bow	1.0	0.83-1.25
	Players	When a bow's durability is exhausted	random.break	1.0	0.9

Data values[]

ID[]

Java Edition:

Name	Identifier	Form	Translation key
Bow	bow	Item	item.minecraft.bow

Bedrock Edition:

Name	Identifier	Numeric ID	Form	Translation key
Bow	bow	300	Item	item.bow.name

Achievements[]

Icon		Achievement	In-game description	Actual requirements (if different)	Gamerscore earned	Trophy type (PS4)
PS4	Other
		Sniper Duel	Kill a Skeleton with an arrow from more than 50 meters.	Use a launched arrow to kill a skeleton, spider jockey, 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[]

Icon	Advancement	In-game description	Parent	Actual requirements (if different)	Resource location
	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	Be at least 50 blocks away horizontally when a skeleton is killed by an arrow after the player has attacked it once.	adventure/sniper_duel
	Bullseye	Hit the bullseye of a Target block from at least 30 meters away	Take Aim	Be at least 30 blocks away horizontally when the center of a target is shot with a projectile by the player.	adventure/bullseye

Video[]

History[]

Java Edition Classic
June 14, 2009					Notch discussed how bows and arrows would work in Survival mode: "Bows and arrows can be made out of wood. To use it, select the bow from your inventory and make sure you’ve got some arrows. Click in front of you, and an arrow goes flying using real physics. To actually HIT something, aim above it."
0.24 SURVIVAL TEST					The player did not need a bow to shoot arrows. Instead, Tab ↹ was used to fire arrows. However, arrows still had to be collected to shoot. Launching arrows this way was much slower than the bow that now fires them.
Java Edition Indev
0.31		20100110			Added bow texture to items.png.
		20100122			Added bows as item with changed texture. The right mouse button can be held down to fire in rapid succession. Each arrow deals 4 for each hit. They fly in a ballistic trajectory affected by gravity and drag in air or water. They travel approximately 15 blocks when fired parallel to a flat plane. Arrows also have a maximum range of around 52 blocks when fired at a 38 degree angle on a flat plane.
					Bows often fail to interact with objects, but instead shoot. This is due to the fact that shooting arrows is an instantaneous action.
					At this point, bows have no durability, and can essentially be used infinitely.
Java Edition Alpha
v1.2.6					Interacting with objects (door, chest, etc.) while holding a bow no longer shoots the arrow.
Java Edition Beta
1.2					Bows are now used to craft dispensers.
1.8		July 8, 2011			Notch teased hold-to-charge bows.
		July 13, 2011			Notch indicated that along with bow charging, he would add an achievement based around shooting a skeleton at 50 meters, eventually to be known as Sniper duel.
		Pre-release			Bow behavior has been overhauled; they now need to be charged to fire.
Java Edition
1.0.0		RC1			A fully charged arrow from a bow now consistently deals 9 damage, with a rare chance of dealing 10.
					Bows now have a durability of 385 uses.
					Bows no longer need arrows for ammo in Creative mode.
					The bow can now be enchanted via console commands, but no enchantment affects it.
1.1		release			Bows can now be legitimately enchanted. Four enchantments have been added: Flame, Punch, Power and Infinity.
1.2.1		12w06a			Skeletons now have a 2.5% chance of dropping a bow. One fifth of the time, this bow is enchanted with Power I (20%).
1.4.6		12w50a			Bows can now be enchanted with Unbreaking using an anvil and an appropriate enchanted book.
		pre			When a player hits another player from far away with a bow it makes a high pitched "dinging" sound.
1.7.2		13w36a			Bows can now be obtained as a "treasure" item from fishing.
					Bows can now be enchanted with Unbreaking directly in an enchantment table without the use of an anvil.
1.8		14w02a			Fletcher villagers now sell 1 bow for 2–3 emeralds.
		14w30a			Bow placement when drawing back has been slightly changed.
1.9		15w31a			When shooting, the arrows are no longer offset to the right of the Crosshair.
					The bow in the hotbar now shows an arrow when being drawn.
					Bows can now shoot an additional 14 types of arrows, selected based on the arrow type held in the off-hand or closest to slot 0.
					Bows cannot be used in the off-hand.
		15w37a			The bow can now be used in the off-hand.
					Bows now prioritize the selected hotbar slot for arrows if the bow is in the off hand.
					When using the bow in the off-hand, the bow does do the animation, but does not aim at the target.
		?			Momentum now affects the physics of arrows fired from bows.
1.10		16w20a			Bows are now used by strays and can now sometimes be obtained as a rare drop.
1.11		16w33a			Bows can now be used to fuel furnaces.
1.11.1		16w50a			Infinity and Mending are now mutually exclusive for bows.
1.12		17w16a			Bows are now used by illusioners and can now sometimes be obtained as a rare drop, although unenchanted.
1.13		17w47a			Prior to The Flattening, this item's numeral ID was 261.
1.13.1		18w30a			MC-88356: Fixed a bug: When using the bow in the off-hand, the bow does do the animation, but does not aim at the target.
1.14		19w11a			Fletcher villagers now sell enchanted bows.
Pocket Edition Alpha
v0.3.3					Added bows.
v0.4.0					Bows now have a durability of 385 uses.
					Bows also now slow down the player while aiming.
v0.5.0					Bows are now obtainable after activating the nether reactor.
v0.8.0		build 1			The texture of bows has been changed.
		build 7			Bows can now be used as fuel in a furnace.
v0.11.0		build 1			Bows can now be obtained as a "treasure" item from fishing.
v0.12.1		build 1			Fully charged bows now cause particles.
					Bows can now be enchanted.
					Bows obtained by fishing can now be caught enchanted.
					Bows are no longer available from the nether reactor.
v0.15.0		build 1			Added strays, which are equipped with a bow that can rarely be dropped by them.
					Bows can now shoot an additional 14 types of arrows, selected based on the arrow type closest to slot 0.
Pocket Edition
1.0.4		alpha 1.0.4.0			Bows can now be obtained by trading with a fletcher villager.
1.1.0		alpha 1.1.0.0			Added the Mending enchantment, which can now be applied to bows and is mutually exclusive to the Infinity enchantment.
					Arrows can now be placed in the offhand slot and bows now prioritize the arrows in that slot.
Bedrock Edition
?					Momentum now affects the physics of arrows fired from bows.
1.8.0		beta 1.8.0.10			Bows in the hotbar now show an arrow when being drawn.
1.10.0		beta 1.10.0.3			The texture of bows has been changed to match Java Edition's texture.
1.11.0		beta 1.11.0.4			Fletcher villagers now sell unenchanted bows for 2 emeralds, and enchanted bows for 8 emeralds.
1.16.210		beta 1.16.210.58			Bows in first-person view is now held differently.[2]
1.17.0		beta 1.17.0.52			Bows are now held like it was before 1.16.210.58 beta.[3]
Legacy Console Edition
TU1	CU1	1.0	Patch 1	1.0.1	Added bows.
TU5					Bow behavior is overhauled; they now need to be charged to fire.
TU31	CU19	1.22	Patch 3		Bows can now be obtained by trading with a fletcher villager.
TU46	CU36	1.38	Patch 15		Bows can now shoot an additional 14 types of arrows, selected based on arrow type held in the off-hand or closest to slot 0.

Historical sounds:

Sound	From	to	Pitch
	0.31	Sound Update	1.0

Issues[]

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

Trivia[]

• Bows were left unchanged in the Texture Update.^[4]
• Dinnerbone got the idea for the high-pitched "ding" sound from playing on a former PvP server called Project Ares.^[5][6]

Gallery[]

• 

  An enchanted bow.

• 

  Using the bow.

• 

  Drawback animation.

• 

  Bow in the Super Duper Graphics Pack.

• 

  Using a bow to hunt rabbits.

References[]

External Links[]

• Taking Inventory: Bow – Minecraft.net on April 13, 2023