Sword
| Type |
Combat |
|---|---|
| Durability |
Wooden: 59 |
| Renewable |
Yes |
| Stackable |
No |
| Sounds |
|
| Data values |
See Data values |
| Name |
See Data values |
Swords are melee weapons that are mainly used to deal damage to mobs and/or players.
Obtaining[edit]
Crafting[edit]
| Ingredients | Crafting recipe | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Any Planks or Cobblestone or Iron Ingot or Gold Ingot or Diamond + Stick |
||
| Damaged Sword of the same material | The durability of the two swords is added together, plus an extra 5% durability. |
Mobs[edit]
Some monsters can spawn with a sword, and have a 8.5% (9.5% with Looting I, 10.5% with Looting II and 11.5% with Looting III) chance of dropping them upon death by player: Zombies and Husk can drop iron swords, zombie pigmen can drop golden swords, and wither skeletons can drop stone swords. It will usually be badly damaged, and may be enchanted. Stone swords dropped by wither skeletons will always be unenchanted.
A vex wields an iron sword which normally has a 0% chance of dropping, because their main hand's HandDropChances is 0. However, this chance increases by 1 percentage point per level of Looting. It is never damaged[Java Edition only] nor enchanted.
Trading[edit]
Weapon Smith villagers sell enchanted iron swords for 9–10 emeralds as one of their second tier trades, and enchanted diamond swords for 12–15 emeralds as one of their third tier trades. The enchantments will be the same as might be obtained from an enchantment table at levels 5–19.
Natural generation[edit]
Iron swords can be found in 12.1% of stronghold altar chests, 25.6% of village blacksmith chests, and 75.0% of buried treasure chests, all in groups of 1. In 1.14[upcoming] they can be found in 25.6% of village weaponsmith chests in groups of 1.
In Bedrock Edition, they can be found in 11.8% of stronghold altar chests in groups of 1.
Golden swords can be found in 19.0% of nether fortress chests in groups of 1.
Enchanted iron swords[note 1] can be found in 13.3% of End city chests in groups of 1.
Enchanted diamond swords[note 1] can be found in 13.3% of End city chests in groups of 1.
- Notes
- ↑ a b Enchantment probabilities are the same as a level-20 to level-39 enchantment would be on an enchantment table that had no cap at level 30, and that was able to apply treasure enchantments, and where the chance of multiple enchantments is not reduced.
Usage[edit]
Attacking[edit]
Pressing attack while holding a sword will increase your damage to both mobs and players. Upon damaging a mob or player, the sword's durability will decrease by 1.
Attacking a boat or a minecart with a sword will instantly destroy it and will not decrease the sword's durability.
Sweep attack[edit]
 Java Edition only |
If the attack recharge meter is 84.8% or above, and the player is standing or moving no faster than walking speed, the sword will perform a "sweep" attack which can hit nearby enemies. Enemies near the hit enemy will be knocked back and damaged by 1 (
) from the slashing attack. The Sweeping Edge enchantment will increase the damage dealt by 50% of the normal hit damage for level I, 67% for level II, and 75% for level III. The amount of knockback is 80% that of the knockback due to Knockback I (in other words, 2.8 blocks), and does not benefit from that enchantment. All enemies within 1 block horizontally and 0.25 blocks vertically of any part of the attacked mob and within up to 4 blocks of the player will be knocked back.
Damage[edit]
Java Edition[edit]
Swords have an attack speed of 1.6 and take 0.625 seconds to recover.
| Material | Wooden | Gold | Stone | Iron | Diamond |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Attack damage | 4 ( )
|
4 ()
|
5 ()
|
6 ()
|
7 ()
|
| Damage/Second (DPS) | 6.4 | 6.4 | 8 | 9.6 | 11.2 |
| Durability | 60 | 33 | 132 | 251 | 1562 |
| Lifetime damage inflicted[note 1] | 240 ( × 120)
|
132 ( × 66)
|
660 ( × 330)
|
1506 ( × 753)
|
10934 ( × 5467)
|
- ↑ The formula to find the total lifetime damage is Durability × Damage per hit = Lifetime damage minimum. It ignores enchantments and critical hits, and assumes the sword is at maximum charge
Legacy Console and Bedrock editions[edit]
In the Legacy Console and Bedrock editions, swords have no attack cooldown or sweep attack and do the following damage:
| Material | Wooden | Gold | Stone | Iron | Diamond |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Attack Damage | 5 ()
|
5 ()
|
6 ()
|
7 ()
|
8 ()
|
| Lifetime damage inflicted[note 1] | 300 ( × 150)
|
165 ( × 82.5)
|
792 ( × 396)
|
1757 ( × 878.5)
|
12496 ( × 6248)
|
- ↑ The formula to find the total lifetime damage is Durability × Damage per hit = Lifetime damage minimum. It excludes enchantments and critical hits
Sword breaking times[edit]
A sword can also be used to destroy certain blocks more quickly than with fists. Using a sword to destroy any block that doesn't break instantly decreases its durability by 2.
The following table shows the time it takes to break blocks on which swords have any effect. Colors indicate what will be dropped:
- White: an original block.
- Blue: block's normal drop (e.g. seeds, sapling, apple).
- Red: nothing.
| Block | Fists | Sword | Proper/fastest tool | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cobweb | 20 s | 0.4 s | 0.4 s | |
| Jack o'Lantern | 1.5 s | 1 s | 0.125 – 0.75 s | |
| Melon | 1.5 s | 1 s | 0.125 – 0.75 s | |
| Pumpkin | 1.5s | 1 s | 0.125 – 0.75 s | |
| Cocoa | 0.3s | 0.2s | 0.025 – 0.15 s | |
| Leaves | 0.3 s | 0.2 s | 0.02s | |
| Vines | 0.3 s | 0.2 s | 0.025 – 0.15 s | |
| 0.02 s | ||||
Blocking (sword parrying)[edit]
 |
Only in the Legacy Console Edition, swords can be used to block some forms of damage. If the player is using a sword when attacked, the sword will deflect 50% of the incoming arrow and explosion damage. The player will also move at a slower rate than sneaking if blocking with a sword.
Enchantments[edit]
Swords can receive the following enchantments:
- Fire Aspect
- Looting
- Unbreaking
- Sharpness[note 1]
- Smite[note 1]
- Bane of Arthropods[note 1]
- Knockback
- Mending[note 2]
- Curse of Vanishing[note 2][Java and Legacy Console editions only]
- Sweeping Edge[Java Edition only]
Fuel[edit]
Wooden swords can be used as a fuel in furnaces, smelting 1 item per sword.
Smelting ingredient[edit]
| Name | Ingredients | Smelting recipe |
|---|---|---|
| Iron Nugget or Gold Nugget |
Iron Sword or Golden Sword + Any fuel |
Data values[edit]
ID[edit]
| Item | ID Name | Numerical ID[Bedrock Edition only] |
|---|---|---|
| Wooden Sword | wooden_sword
|
268 |
| Stone Sword | stone_sword
|
272 |
| Iron Sword | iron_sword
|
267 |
| Diamond Sword | diamond_sword
|
276 |
| Golden Sword | golden_sword
|
283 |
Video[edit]
Note: This video is outdated. Since version 1.9, swords can no longer block attacks. Instead, shields are used.
Achievements[edit]
| Icon | Achievement | In-game description | Actual requirements (if different) | Availability | Xbox points earned | Trophy type (PS) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Xbox | PS | Bedrock | Nintendo | ||||||
| Time to Strike! | Use planks and sticks to make a sword | Pick up any type of sword from a crafting table output. | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 10G | Bronze | |
| Overkill | Deal nine hearts of damage in a single hit | Damage can be dealt to any mob, even those that do not have nine hearts of health overall. | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 30G | Bronze | |
History[edit]
| Java Edition Indev | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.31 (January 29, 2010) | Added craftable swords made from wood, stone, iron and diamond. | ||||
| 0.31 (January 30, 2010) | Swords can now be made out of gold. | ||||
| 0.31 (February 1, 2010, 1) | Swords now take damage when being used. Better swords last longer. | ||||
| Java Edition Alpha | |||||
| v1.2.0 | ? | Zombie pigmen added, holding golden swords. | |||
| Java Edition Beta | |||||
| 1.2 | Swords, like all tools, have more durability. | ||||
| 1.5 | All melee attacks, including fists, did 1 () more damage, making the stone sword arguably nearly as effective as the iron one as it kills most mobs in the same number of hits. If the player combines swordplay with archery, the iron sword's extra damage will save some arrows and closely matches performance with the diamond sword. | ||||
| 1.7.3 | All melee attacks no longer do an extra 1 () of damage. | ||||
| 1.8 | ? | Added the ability to block with a sword, giving the player more options in combat. | |||
| Swords no longer inflict more damage than bows. | |||||
| Java Edition | |||||
| 1.0.0 | Beta 1.9 Prerelease 3 | Swords have been nerfed to make way for enchanting. A diamond sword now deals 7 () damage instead of 10 ().
| |||
| Iron swords are now found in the new stronghold altar chests. | |||||
| Beta 1.9 Prerelease 4 | Swords can now be enchanted in the enchantment table. | ||||
| 1.1 | 12w01a | Iron swords are now found in village blacksmith chests. | |||
| 1.2.1 | 12w06a | One has a rare chance to obtain iron swords by killing zombies and golden swords from zombie pigmen from the addition of rare drops. These swords have a 20% chance of being enchanted. | |||
| 1.3.1 | 12w18a | Wooden swords can now be used as fuel in a furnace. | |||
| 12w21a | Blacksmith villagers now sell diamond swords for 12–13 emeralds, and iron swords for 7–10 emeralds. | ||||
| With the trading implementation, you could sell renewable items such as wheat to buy a diamond sword. This made all swords renewable. | |||||
| 1.4.2 | 12w32a | Zombies may sometimes wield iron swords, dealing extra damage. | |||
| 12w34a | If you have dyed leather armor equipped and selected a sword of any kind, it will appear the color of the dye applied to the armor, when switching to second or third person view. | ||||
| 12w36a | Wither skeletons added, holding stone swords. | ||||
| 1.4.6 | 12w49a | You can apply Unbreaking to a sword with an enchanted book. | |||
| 1.6.1 | 13w18a | Golden swords are now found in the new chests in nether fortresses. | |||
| 13w25b | In Creative mode, swords no longer break blocks, and no sound will play when they're hit with one. | ||||
| 1.6.2 | ? | Instead of replacing the barehanded damage (1 ()), swords now add their damage onto the barehanded damage, which results in all swords doing 1 () more damage than before. | |||
| 1.8 | 14w02a | Weapon smith villagers now sell enchanted diamond swords for 12–15 emeralds, and iron swords for 9–10 emeralds. Unenchanted swords are no longer sold. | |||
| 1.9 | 15w31a | Enchanted iron and diamond swords can now be found in end city ship chests. | |||
| 15w33c | Swords no longer block attacks. Instead, shields are used. | ||||
| 15w34b | Swords now use the attack speed attribute. The attack speed of a sword is 1.25 or 0.8 seconds. | ||||
| 15w34c | Swords now do one less damage and have an attack speed of 1.45, or 0.69 seconds. | ||||
| Swords can now do a sweep attack when moving at walking speed or slower, which will knock back mobs near the one hit. The attack speed meter must be filled for it to work. | |||||
| 15w36a | Each Sharpness level now adds 1 () damage to the base damage at level I and an additional 0.5 () for each additional level, down from a flat 1.25 () per level. | ||||
| 15w37a | Swords now have an attack speed of 1.6, or 0.63 seconds. | ||||
| 15w43a | Decreased average yield of golden swords in nether fortress chests. | ||||
| 15w49a | Sweep attack now does 1 () damage to affected mobs. | ||||
| 1.11.1 | 16w50a | Golden and iron swords now smelt down into one of their respective nuggets. | |||
| Added sweeping edge enchantment. | |||||
| 1.13 | 17w47a | Prior to The Flattening, these items' numeral IDs were 268, 272, 267, 276 and 283. | |||
| 18w10a | Swords now can generated in buried treasure chests. | ||||
| Upcoming Java Edition | |||||
| 1.14 | 18w43a | 32px32px32px32px32px Changed the textures of all swords. | |||
| 18w50a |      Changed the textures of all swords again. | ||||
| Pocket Edition Alpha | |||||
| 0.2.0 | Added stone swords. | ||||
| 0.3.0 | Added wooden swords. | ||||
| 0.3.2 | Added diamond, iron and gold swords. | ||||
| 0.9.0 | build 1 | Iron Sword can be found in stronghold altar chest and inside blacksmith chest. | |||
| 0.11.0 | build 11 | Wooden, stone, golden, and diamond swords are now available in the creative inventory. | |||
| build 12 | Removed wooden, stone, golden, and diamond swords from creative. | ||||
| build 13 | All swords are available in creative mode again. | ||||
| 0.12.1 | build 1 | In Creative mode, swords no longer break blocks, and no sound will play when they're hit with one. | |||
| Golden sword can be found in nether fortress chest. | |||||
| Zombie rarely spawn holding IronSword that have a chance to dropped. | |||||
| Golden sword now rarely dropped by Zombie Pigman. | |||||
| Stone Sword now rarely dropped by Wither Skeleton. | |||||
| 0.15.0 | build 1 | Iron Sword sometimes dropped by Husk that spawn holding Iron Sword. | |||
| Pocket Edition | |||||
| 1.0 | alpha 0.17.0 | Enchanted Iron Sword and Enchanted Diamond Sword can be found in End City chest. | |||
| 1.0.4 | alpha 1.0.4.0 | Iron Sword and Enchanted Diamond Sword now sold by Weaponsmith Villager. | |||
| 1.1 | alpha 1.1.0.0 | Iron and golden swords are now smeltable. | |||
| Added Vex that rarely drop Iron Sword if killed using Looting Enchantment. | |||||
| Legacy Console Edition | |||||
| TU1 | CU1 | 1.0 | Patch 1 | Added swords (all five types). | |
| TU5 | Added the ability to block, giving the player more options in combat. | ||||
| TU53 | CU43 | 1.49 | Patch 23 | Patch s3 | Iron and golden swords are now smeltable. |
Issues[edit]
Issues relating to "Sword" are maintained on the bug tracker. Report issues there.
Trivia[edit]
- The sword's texture came from Notch's abandoned RPG, Legend of the Chambered. The iron sword's texture was created first, as it was from the game, and the other swords followed.
- If a sword is enchanted with Silk Touch, either using Creative or commands, it can collect cobwebs rather than getting the string drop. This is due to the sword being classified as the proper tool for cobwebs.
