Bow

A bow is a ranged weapon that fires arrows.

Skeletons
Skeletons have an 8.5% chance of dropping a 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.

Illusioners
Illusioners have an 8.5% chance of dropping a 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
Fletcher villagers will trade a non-enchanted bow for 2 to 3 emeralds as part of their tier 2 trades.

Fletcher villagers sell non-enchanted bows for 2 emeralds as part of their second tier trade, and sell enchanted bows for 8 emeralds as part of their fourth tier trade.

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

Weapon
Bows can be drawn back by it. In order to use the bow, you must have at least one arrow in your 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 at the time, which causes no speed decrease. The arrow shown inside the bow will always look like a regular arrow, regardless of what kind of arrow is actually being fired from the bow.

Charging the bow to its maximum causes it to visually shake as an indicator, and releases an arrow with a white sparkling effect, signifying a critical hit. At minimum charge (3 ticks), the arrow will deal and barely travel a block. At full charge (1 second), the arrow travels up to 64 blocks upwards, flies with a speed of roughly 53 m/s, and consistently deals damage, with a smaller chance of dealing, making it the most powerful weapon in the game (before 1.14). If the arrow hits another player, it will make a high pitched "ding" sound.

Damage caused by the arrow is unaffected by the Strength status effect.

Endermen cannot be shot using an arrow, as the arrow will either disappear as the enderman teleports, or it will become deflected. An arrow shot from a bow enchanted with Flame can ignite the enderman, however.

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


 * Power increases the damage by 25% times the level of power plus 1, up to a maximum of level V. A power V bow will deal a maximum of.


 * Punch will increase the knockback (+3 blocks per level) applied by the bow, up to a maximum level of II.


 * Flame will ignite the arrow, causing it to likewise ignite any entities it hits. If not extinguished, the fire damage will do up to . Flame will also allow the player to ignite TNT from a distance. There is only 1 level of flame.


 * Infinity allows you to fire the bow without consuming any arrows. 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. There is only 1 level of infinity. Tipped arrows will be consumed even with Infinity.


 * Unbreaking causes a  chance a shot fired reduces the durability of the bow. Unbreaking has a maximum level of III.


 * Mending allows a certain proportion of XP orbs collected to contribute towards repairing the bow, rather than raising the player's experience. It can only be applied using enchanted books and an anvil.
 * Mending and Infinity are mutually exclusive.


 * Curse of Vanishing causes the bow to disappear instead of dropping on the ground when the player dies. However, the Keep Inventory gamerule will override this. It can only be applied using enchanted books and an anvil.

Fuel
A bow can be used as fuel in furnaces, smelting 1.5 items per bow in the Java and Legacy Console editions or 1 item per bow in the Bedrock Edition.

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 will slow down if shot through water.

Arrows that hit solid blocks will 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 will ignite, similar to the flame enchantment. The arrow will likewise ignite any entities it hits. If not extinguished, the fire damage will do up to. If you give a wither skeleton a bow, they will also shoot flaming arrows.

Arrows from bows can trigger wooden pressure plates and wooden buttons. However, they cannot trigger stone pressure plates or stone buttons.

The player can choose which 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.

Trivia

 * If a bow is enchanted with a level 1 enchantment, it will always get Power 1.
 * Bows are the first ranged weapon in Minecraft.
 * When using bows, the screen zooms a little bit, giving you more focus to the target.
 * Bows with its enchantments are effective against single targets, while the Crossbow with its enchantments, are good at multiple targets.
 * There is no way to cancel a charged Bow, except on some platforms.