Bow

A bow is a ranged weapon that fires arrows.

Skeletons and Strays
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
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 trade, and expert-level fletcher villagers sell enchanted bows for 8 or 17–22 emeralds as part of their trade.

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 enchantment table, including treasure enchantments.

Weapon
Bows can be drawn back by 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. 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.

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.

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

Information above describes if the target has no armor

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. An arrow shot from a bow enchanted with Flame can ignite the enderman, however.

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

Fuel
A bow can be used as fuel in furnaces, smelting 1.5 items per bow $$ or 1 item per bow $$.

Arrows
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.

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. If a wither skeleton holds a bow, it also shoots flaming arrows (though they cannot naturally spawn with bows).

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.

History
Historical sounds:

Trivia

 * 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.