Crossbow

A crossbow is a powerful alternative to the bow that uses arrows or fireworks as ammunition.

Pillagers
Pillagers have a small chance (8.5%) of dropping a crossbow when killed, and this rate increases per level of Looting. Crossbows can also be found in loot chests in pillager outposts.

Weapon
Crossbows are similar to bows, but take longer to load and are slightly more powerful, shooting further. They can be drawn back by it, forcing you to move at a sneaking speed, and unlike bows, the arrow will only be shot after it is fully loaded. At full charge, the player's speed returns to normal and the crossbow can be placed in another inventory slot or into an item frame without the arrow or firework rocket being unloaded or fired. In order to use the crossbow, at least one arrow must be present in your inventory. 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 crossbow is in the off-hand, are prioritized first. If there are no arrows in the off-hand or selected hotbar slot, the arrow closest to slot 0 is selected.

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

Endermen cannot be shot using an arrow, as the arrow will disappear as the enderman teleports.

Fireworks
Firework rockets can be fired by shooting the crossbow while holding the rockets in the off-hand. Firework rockets with higher flight durations will launch further and also have a longer time before they explode. Launching firework rockets with multiple firework stars in them can obscure the targeted player's vision, due to the number of particles produced. Firework rockets also work with the Multi-Shot enchantment, enabling the player to shoot 3 firework rockets at a time.

If a shot firework rockets hits a mob, it will explode instantly.

Repair
Crossbows can be repaired in an anvil or crafting table by combining two of them, but this will sacrifice any ammo loaded in the crossbow.

Enchantments
Crossbows can receive 3 unique enchantments, and have a base enchantability of 1. Their enchantments have no effect on arrow speed or distance.

Crossbows can be enchanted with Quick Charge, and one of Multishot and Piercing:
 * Quick Charge (I–III) – Decreases the reloading time by level * 0.25 seconds. At level III it is slightly faster than bows.
 * Multishot (I) – A single shot fires a spread of 3 projectiles at once. This works for both arrows and firework rockets.
 * Piercing (I–IV) – Shoots an arrow through level + 1 entities (except for armor stands and end crystals).

Crossbows can also be enchanted with Mending and Unbreaking. Normal methods of applying enchantments allow only one of Multishot or Piercing to be applied to a crossbow as they are mutually exclusive. It is possible to use a command to apply both to a single crossbow.

Fuel
A crossbow can be used as fuel in furnaces, smelting 1 item per crossbow.

Trivia

 * Only one arrow can be recovered after firing a shot from a crossbow enchanted with Multishot as that is the cost of the shot.
 * An un-enchanted crossbow loads slower than a bow, but with the Quick Charge enchantment applied it is actually faster.
 * A crossbow enchanted with Quick Charge V (using commands) will be charged instantly.
 * Using a command to place the Quick Charge enchantment on a crossbow at level VI or higher, renders it useless and unable to be loaded.
 * This is only possible in Java Edition, as in Bedrock Edition, the enchant command limits it to the max level.
 * Using a command to place the Piercing enchantment on a crossbow at level V or higher removes the effect so a fired arrow sticks out of its target as usual. It will not pass through.
 * Enchanting a crossbow with Quick Charge VI or higher (with commands) will make the crossbow impossible to charge, leaving it stuck at the first animation frame whenever someone attempts to charge it. This is likely due to the fact that Quick Charge VI and higher would result in a time frame smaller than 0 seconds, so it would take forever to charge. This is also why the animation stays at the first frame, as the amount of time a player has charged it only gets further away from the amount of time it takes to charge the crossbow.
 * It's actually possible to charge a crossbow with Quick Charge VI, but due to the above happening, you would have to overflow the value determining how long you've charged the bow for. However, doing this would take 69.4 years to complete, making it completely pointless.
 * This is also why the crossbow gets stuck on the first frame of its animation, as the time markers that tell the game to advance the animation are never reached.
 * The achievement "Ol' Betsy" is a reference to the Walt Disney animated film "Robin Hood" (the vulture guard Trigger names his crossbow "Ol' Betsy").

Gallery
Armbrust Arbalète Balestra Crossbow 석궁 Kusza Арбалет Crossbow 弩