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The specific instructions are: 3D render of shot arrow entities

Arrows are ammunition for bows, crossbows[upcoming: Lua error in Module:Version_link at line 112: attempt to concatenate local 'text' (a nil value).] and dispensers. They can be modified to imbue status effects on players and mobs.

Obtaining

Mob loot

Skeletons may drop between 0 to 2 arrows upon death, and the maximum amount dropped can be increased by 1 per level of looting used. Strays may drop 1 arrow of Slowness when killed by a player, not increased by looting. In Bedrock Edition, pillagers also drop 0–2 arrows upon death‌[upcoming: BE Edition 1.9]. Arrows shot by a creative mode player‌[Java and Legacy Console editions only][1], or by a skeleton, stray or pillager cannot be picked up, even in creative mode.[2]

Trading

Fletcher villagers will sell 8–12 arrows for 1 emerald as part of their tier 1 trades.

Crafting

Name Ingredients Crafting recipe Description
Arrow Flint +
Stick +
Feather

4
Spectral Arrow Glowstone Dust +
Arrow
[Java Edition only]
Tipped Arrow Arrow +
Matching Lingering Potion
Arrows of Decay are Bedrock Edition, Legacy Console Edition and New Nintendo 3DS Edition exclusive.

Natural generation

Item Structure Container Quantity Chance
Java Edition
Arrow Bastion remnant Bridge chest 5–17 47.9%
Generic chest 5–17 44.1%
Hoglin stable chest 5–17 22.8%
Jungle temple Dispenser 2–7 100%
Pillager Outpost Chest 2–7 39.1%
Village Fletcher's chest 1–3 23.3%
Bedrock Edition
Arrow Bastion remnant Bridge chest 10–28 11.2%
Generic chest 5–17 44.1%
Hoglin stable chest 5–17 22.8%
Generic chest 10–22 11.2%
Bridge chest 5–17 47.9%
Treasure chest 12–25 33.7%
Jungle temple Dispenser 2–7 100%
Pillager Outpost Chest 2–7 39.1%
Village Fletcher's chest 1–3 23.3%

Retrieving

Arrows stuck in a block that were originally shot by dispensers or by players in Survival without the Infinity enchantment may be collected. Arrows originally shot by skeletons, illusioners, pillager, by players in Creative, or by players using the Infinity enchantment cannot be collected. Arrows cannot be retrieved when they are stuck in a player, and the player will not drop them when killed.

Cauldrons

Main article: Cauldron § Potions
Information icon
This feature is exclusive to Bedrock Edition and Legacy Console Edition. 

Tipped arrows can also be obtained by using arrows on cauldrons that contain potions. The number of tipped arrows created depends on the potion inside the cauldron. When the cauldron is one third full, only 16 arrows can be tipped. When the cauldron is two thirds full, up 32 arrows can be tipped and when the cauldron is full, an entire stack of arrows can be tipped. This is more efficient than using lingering potions as up to 21.33 arrows can be tipped per potion.

Usage

See also: Bow

When fired, arrows will fly in a ballistic trajectory affected by gravity and drag in air, water, and lava and will travel approximately 3 blocks when fired parallel to a flat plane with no charge, 15 blocks average with medium charge, and 24 blocks average with maximum charge. Arrows in water get much more drag than in air: they will move less than 8 blocks before completely losing horizontal speed and starting to fall straight down, however the knockback of the arrow is not affected. They also leave a trail of bubbles in their wake. Arrows (with bow at full strength) can travel 120 blocks when fired from the optimal angle. The maximum height an arrow fired by a bow can reach is around 66 blocks.

There is a random variable to the trajectory of an arrow, given by this.rand.nextGaussian() * 0.0075 * (double)inaccuracy for the x, y and z coordinate. The inaccuracy is relatively small, but over larger distances it is very noticeable.

An arrow's damage is determined by its speed. When fired from a fully-charged bow, arrows do 9♥♥♥♥♥ of damage, with a smaller chance to damage for 10♥♥♥♥♥. They inflict 6♥♥♥ damage from a medium-charged bow, and only 1♥ from a bow with no charge. Arrows fired from dispensers always do 3♥♥ of damage. Arrows fired from crossbows do 6♥♥♥-11♥ × 5.5 of damage.

Immediately after hitting the target, there is a 0.5 second cooldown period during which the target will be immune to further damage. Arrows hitting the mob in this state will lose all speed and drop to the ground.

Arrows can be deflected by snowballs.

ArrowShotInTree

An arrow shot into a tree.

WeGotShot

Two players with arrows sticking out of them.

Arrows will also stick into objects they come in contact with and will remain there for exactly a minute before disappearing; the distance from the object and the angle determine how far into the target the arrow will go. Such arrows may be retrievable.

The custom effects (NBT tag CustomPotionEffects) of tipped arrows will evaporate after the arrow has been stuck for 30 seconds, but the primary effect (NBT tag Potion) is not subject to evaporation.

If an arrow is stuck in a block and the block in which the arrow is stuck in is broken or disappears (e.g., leaves upon decay), then the arrow will fall straight down and damage entities below them.

Arrows can bounce off entities like minecarts and mobs immune to damage. The wither under the "wither armor" effect and a perching ender dragon are immune to arrows.

Arrows shot through lava (but not fire) will catch on fire and show an appropriate animation until they pass through water. Like arrows shot from a bow with the Flame enchantment, they can set other entities they hit on fire for 5 seconds and ignite TNT.

An arrow shot at a boat or any kind of minecart will cause the vehicle to break, dropping any components (including container contents).

Arrows can get stuck in players‌[Java and Legacy Console editions only], although not any other mobs.

Crafting

Ingredients Crafting recipe
Crafting Table +
Feather

Redstone circuits

An arrow can activate a wooden button, wooden pressure plate, or a tripwire. If the arrow sticks in the switch they will remain activated until the arrow despawns after one minute. Other switches are not affected by arrows.

When arrows are fired into the sides of blocks, they change their orientation to point more downwards than their original flight path might indicate. This can cause them to intersect and thus trigger switches above them that they didn't actually hit, or block rails above them.

Explosions

Arrows are affected by explosions while they are in flight. Since explosions increase the speed of an arrow, they can also increase the damage dealt by them.

Variants

Tipped arrows

Tipped arrows are arrows that imbue a potion effect when hitting a mob or player. The duration of the effect is 18 that of the corresponding potion, if applicable, and is not affected by the power of the arrow. The status effect is the same as the regular power effect for the potion. If a bow is enchanted with Infinity, tipped arrows will still be consumed.

The types of arrows are:

  • Arrow of Regeneration
  • Arrow of Swiftness
  • Arrow of Fire Resistance
  • Arrow of Healing
  • Arrow of Night Vision
  • Arrow of Strength
  • Arrow of Leaping
  • Arrow of Invisibility
  • Arrow of Poison
  • Arrow of Weakness
  • Arrow of Slowness
  • Arrow of Harming
  • Arrow of Water Breathing
  • Arrow of Luck[Java and Legacy Console editions only]
  • Arrow of Decay[Bedrock and Legacy Console editions only]
  • Arrow of the Turtle Master
  • Arrow of Slow Falling

Uncraftable tipped arrow ‌[Java Edition only]

The uncraftable tipped arrow is a tipped arrow with no effect that is unobtainable in survival. It is also available in potion, splash and lingering potion forms.

It can be obtained using the following command: /give @s minecraft:tipped_arrow{Potion:"minecraft:empty"}. It is also obtained any time a potion has invalid or missing potion effect tags, and thus serves as a placeholder.

Icon Name
Uncraftable Tipped Arrow

= Spectral arrows

Information icon
This feature is exclusive to Java Edition. 

The Spectral Arrow imbues the Glowing status effect for 10 seconds. The Glowing effect creates an outline of the target, which is visible through blocks, and colored based on the target's team (white by default). If a bow is enchanted with Infinity, spectral arrows will still be consumed.

Data values

See also: Chunk format

ID

Arrow/ID

Item Data

In Bedrock Edition, arrows use the following item data values:

Arrow Regular Extended Enhanced
(Level II)
Arrow 0 N/A N/A
Arrow of Splashing 1 N/A N/A
Tipped Arrow (Mundane) 2 3 N/A
Tipped Arrow (Thick) 4 N/A N/A
Tipped Arrow (Awkward) 5 N/A N/A
Arrow of Night Vision 6 7 N/A
Arrow of Invisibility 8 9 N/A
Arrow of Leaping 10 11 12
Arrow of Fire Resistance 13 14 N/A
Arrow of Swiftness 15 16 17
Arrow of Slowness 18 19 43
Arrow of Water Breathing 20 21 N/A
Arrow of Healing 22 N/A 23
Arrow of Harming 24 N/A 25
Arrow of Poison 26 27 28
Arrow of Regeneration 29 30 31
Arrow of Strength 32 33 34
Arrow of Weakness 35 36 N/A
Arrow of Decay 37 N/A N/A
Arrow of the Turtle Master 38 39 40
Arrow of Slow Falling 41 42 N/A

Normal and tipped arrows

Arrows have entity data which define various properties of the entity.

  • Entity data
    • Tags common to all arrows
    • Tags common to all entities
    • Tags common to all projectiles
    • Note: An arrow entity is a tipped arrow if it has either the Potion or CustomPotionEffects tag.
    • Tags common to all potion effects
    •  Color: Used by the arrow entity, for displaying the custom potion color of a fired arrow item that had a CustomPotionColor tag. The numeric color code are calculated from the Red, Green and Blue components using this formula: Red<<16 + Green<<8 + Blue. For positive values larger than 0x00FFFFFF, the top byte is ignored. All negative values remove the particles.

Spectral arrows

Spectral arrows also have entity data which define various properties of the entity.

  • Entity data
    • Tags common to all arrows
    • Tags common to all entities
    • Tags common to all projectiles
    •  Duration: The time in ticks that the Glowing effect persists.

Achievements

Icon Achievement In-game description Actual requirements (if different) Gamerscore earned Trophy type (PS4)
PS4 Other
Sniper DuelKill 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.30GBronze
ArcherKill a creeper with arrows.10GBronze

Advancements

Icon Advancement In-game description Parent Actual requirements (if different) Resource location
Advancement-plain-rawNot Today, Thank You
Deflect a projectile with a Shield Suit UpBlock any projectile with a shield.story/deflect_arrow
Advancement-plain-rawTake Aim
Shoot something with an Arrow Monster HunterUsing a bow or a crossbow, shoot an entity with an arrow, tipped arrow, or spectral arrow.adventure/shoot_arrow
Advancement-fancy-rawSniper Duel
Kill a Skeleton from at least 50 meters away Take AimBe at least 50 blocks away horizontally when a skeleton is killed by an arrow after the player has attacked it once.adventure/sniper_duel

Video

Note: This video is outdated, as 17 types of arrows have since been added to Minecraft: the spectral arrow and 16 tipped arrows.

Arrow/video

History

classic
0.24_SURVIVAL_TEST Arrows have been added as an object and are fired by pressing Tab ↹.
0.25 SURVIVAL TESTArrows will now deal more damage.
The player will now only have a limited number of arrows, the remaining amount is shown above the hotbar labeled as "Arrows".
Skeletons will now fire purple arrows, instead of hitting the player directly. These arrows cannot be collected by the player.
When a skeleton is killed, it will now drop a couple of normal arrows for the player to gather.
indev
0.31 (January 22, 2010)Arrows have now been added as items alongside with bows.
The "Arrows" display above the hotbar has now been removed.
0.31 (January 24, 2010)Arrows will now have a sound effect.
0.31 (January 30, 2010)Arrows are now craftable.
infdev
March 16, 2010Arrows will now have a high chance of spawning either a sheep or a pig upon hitting a block.
April 15, 2010Arrows will now no longer spawn mobs.
alpha
v1.0.14The tip of an arrow in crafting is now made from flint rather than an iron ingot.
beta
1.6Arrows could be used to stick in any block before this update, even some non-solid ones. For example, they could stick in torches, sugar cane and nether portals.
1.8Pre-releaseArrows can now no longer be rapid-fired from bows; they must be charged first.
Arrows (with a bow at full strength) can now travel 120 blocks when fired from the optimal angle, and stick to mobs.
Sound UpdateArrow firing sounds have now been changed.
Java Edition
1.0.0Beta 1.9 PrereleaseArrows will now no longer stick to mobs.
RC1Arrow landing sounds have now been changed.
1.1?Arrows, which are on fire, will now set the entities they hit on fire. Before, arrows could be on fire (like other entities), but they did not set what they hit on fire, and there was no enchantment to fire flaming arrows.
1.3.112w21aFarmer villagers will now sell 9–12 arrows for 1 emerald.
12w23aArrows can now activate tripwire switches and wooden pressure plates.
1.4.212w34aArrows can now activate wooden buttons.
12w34bArrows on fire can now ignite TNT.
1.4.4?Arrows will now stick to players again, but not mobs.
1.814w02aFarmer villagers will now no longer sell arrows.
Fletcher villagers now sell 8–12 arrows for 1 emerald.
14w25aAn underwater arrow will now lose all velocity after a few blocks and slowly fall.
A flaming arrow underwater will now be extinguished.
14w26aFire arrows can now be used to detonate minecarts with TNT.
1.915w31a Added 15 new arrow types, 14 of which are tipped with a different potion effect. However, some of them don't function yet.
Added spectral arrows. They will show mob and player outlines in their team color when hit.
15w33cAdded shields; though they fully block damage from arrows, arrows will still visually stick into the player.
15w37aArrows will now ricochet off of shields.
15w44bAdded the initial method for obtaining tipped arrows, which lasted until snapshot 16w06a – firing arrows into a lingering potion cloud.
15w47bArrows will now ricochet off of creative mode players, whereas before they would pass straight through.
15w49aTipped and spectral arrows are now no longer affected by the Infinity enchantment.
16w06aTipped arrows have been given a crafting recipe, and are now no longer obtained by shooting them into a lingering potion cloud.
1.1016w20aArrows of slowness may now drop from strays when they are killed by a player.
1.1116w32aThe entity IDs are changed from Arrow and SpectralArrow to arrow and spectral_arrow.
16w32aTipped arrows of instant healing and instant damage will now function. Previously, the fact that tipped arrows have 1/8th the duration was reducing 1 game tick to zero game ticks.
16w42aArrows will now have a crit tag that determines whether it will deal critical damage.
1.11.116w50aThe arrow entity will now have a Color integer tag, for displaying the custom potion color of a fired arrow item that has a CustomPotionColor tag.
1.1317w47aPrior to The Flattening, these items' numeral IDs were 262, 439 and 440.
18w07a Added the Arrow of the Turtle Master.
18w14a Added the Arrow of Slow Falling.
Upcoming Java Edition
1.1418w43aArrows are now used as ammo for crossbows.
Arrows can now break chorus flowers.
18w47aArrows can now be generated inside of pillager outpost chests.
18w50aFile:Spectral Arrow TextureUpdate.png Changed the texture of spectral arrows.
Pocket Edition Alpha
0.3.3 Added arrows.
0.12.1build 1Arrows, which are on fire, will now set the entities they hit on fire. Before, arrows could be on fire (like other entities), but they would not set what they hit on fire, and there was no enchantment to fire flaming arrows.
Arrows on fire can now ignite TNT.
An underwater arrow will now lose all velocity after a few blocks and slowly fall.
0.13.0build 1Arrows will now update sand and gravel.
0.15.0build 1 Added tipped arrows, which are made by using cauldrons filled with potions.
Arrows can now be found inside dispensers in jungle temples.
0.16.0build 4Added arrows of decay.
Arrows of decay currently have a white pixelated texture.
Pocket Edition
1.0alpha 0.17.0Tipped arrows are now craftable, but they can still be obtained by using cauldrons filled with potions.
1.0.4alpha 1.0.4.0Arrows are now sold by fletcher villagers.
1.1alpha 1.1.0.0The entity ID is changed from arrow.skeleton to arrow.
build 7 Updated the arrows of decay's texture.
Bedrock Edition
1.5beta 1.5.0.4 Added the Arrow of the Turtle Master.
1.6beta 1.6.0.5 Added the Arrow of Slow Falling.
1.8beta 1.8.0.10Arrows are now used as ammo for crossbows.
Upcoming Bedrock Edition
1.9beta 1.9.0.0Added pillagers, which drop arrows upon death.
beta 1.9.0.2Arrow now used to craft fletching table.
Legacy Console Edition
TU1CU1 1.00 Patch 1 Added arrows.
TU31CU19 1.22 Patch 3An underwater arrow will now lose all velocity after a few blocks and slowly fall.
A flaming arrow underwater will now be extinguished.
TU46CU36 1.38 Patch 15 Added tipped arrows.
TU69 1.76 Patch 38 Added the Arrow of the Turtle Master, Slow Falling and Decay.
New Nintendo 3DS Edition
0.1.0 Added Arrows.

Gallery

Issues

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

Trivia

  • By default, arrows spawn slightly offset to the right. If the player stands close to a wall and fires several arrows without moving their crosshair, the arrows will cluster around a point slightly to the right of the crosshair. If the player switches their main hand to be the left hand in options, the arrows will instead be offset to the left.
  • Arrows fired at Nether Portals will often skip through the portal block completely and fail to collide, thus continuing through to the opposite side of the block.
  • A tipped arrow with no potion effect (obtained via commands) will be called "Arrow of Splashing".
  • Arrows stuck in blocks will vibrate upon a world reload.[3]

References

  1. MCPE-30209 – "Arrows shot in creative mode can be picked up" still "Unresolved"
  2. MC-128845 – Resolved as “Works as Intended”
  3. MC-93992 – "Arrow shakes when world loads" resolved as "Won't Fix"
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