Arrows are ammunition for bows, crossbows and dispensers. They can be modified to imbue status effects on players and mobs.
Obtaining
Drops
Skeletons and strays may drop between 0 to 2 arrows upon death. The maximum drop is increased by 1 per level of Looting, for a maximum of 0–5 arrows with Looting III.
Strays have a 50% chance of dropping 1 arrow of Slowness when killed by a player. Each level of Looting increases the chance of this drop by 50% of the previous chance. This results in a maximum of 93.75% with Looting III.
In Bedrock Edition, pillagers also drop 0–2 arrows upon death. The maximum drop is increased by 1 per level of Looting, for a maximum of 0-5 arrows with Looting III.
Arrows shot by a creative mode player[Java and Legacy Console editions only][1], skeleton, stray, or pillager cannot be picked up, even in creative mode.[2]
Trading
Novice-level fletcher villagers have a 50%[Bedrock Edition only] or 2⁄3[Java Edition only] chance to sell 16 arrows for one emerald as part of their trades.
In Bedrock Edition, master-level fletcher villagers have a 15⁄16 chance to sell 5 tipped arrows for 2 emeralds and 5 arrows. In Java Edition, they have a 2⁄3 chance to sell 5 tipped arrows for 2 emeralds and 5 arrows. If the trade is offered, the potion effect is chosen randomly from the list below.
- Arrow of Decay[Bedrock Edition only]
- Arrow of Fire Resistance
- Arrow of Harming
- Arrow of Healing
- Arrow of Invisibility
- Arrow of Leaping
- Arrow of Slow Falling[Java Edition only]
- Arrow of Night Vision
- Arrow of Poison
- Arrow of Regeneration
- Arrow of Slowness
- Arrow of Strength
- Arrow of Swiftness
- Arrow of the Turtle Master
- Arrow of Water Breathing
- Arrow of Weakness
To summarize, this is all potion effects except Slow Falling in Bedrock Edition, or all potion effects except Luck in Java Edition. This is the only way to legitimately obtain arrows of decay in survival mode, besides using a potion of decay in a cauldron, which is very rarely generated in a swamp hut.
Rewards
In Java Edition any regular or tipped arrow can be obtained as a reward item from fletcher villagers when the player has the Hero of the Village status effect.
Crafting
| Name | Ingredients | Crafting recipe | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arrow | Flint + Stick + Feather |
||
| 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 unless obtained via creative or commands. Arrows of luck are Java Edition exclusive. If the potion used is a custom potion obtained via commands, the arrows will not have the custom name, lore, or the CustomPotionColor that the potion had.
|
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, Strays, illusioners, Pillagers, players in Creative, players using the Infinity enchantment, or duplicate arrows created by Crossbows with the Multishot enchantment cannot be collected. Arrows cannot be retrieved when they are stuck in a player or mob, and players or mobs will not drop them when killed. Collectable arrows have a despawn timer of 60 seconds.
Cauldrons
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 to 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
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![]()
![]()
to 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.
An arrow shot into a tree.
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 mobs immune to damage like the wither under the "wither armor" effect and a perching ender dragon.
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 In Java and Legacy Console editions, although not any other mobs.
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 1⁄8 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[JE & LCE only]
- Arrow of Decay[BE & LCE only]
- Arrow of the Turtle Master
- Arrow of Slow Falling
Uncraftable tipped arrow
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
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
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
PotionorCustomPotionEffectstag. - 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
CustomPotionColortag. 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 Duel | Kill 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. | 30G | Bronze | ||
| Archer | Kill a creeper with arrows. | — | 10G | Bronze | ||
Advancements
| Icon | Advancement | In-game description | Parent | Actual requirements (if different) | Resource location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | Not Today, Thank You | Deflect a projectile with a Shield | Suit Up | Block any projectile with a shield. | story/deflect_arrow
|
![]() | Take Aim | Shoot something with an Arrow | Monster Hunter | Using a bow or a crossbow, shoot an entity with an arrow, tipped arrow, or spectral arrow. | adventure/shoot_arrow
|
![]() | Sniper Duel | Kill a Skeleton from at least 50 meters away | Take Aim | Be at least 50 blocks away horizontally when a skeleton is killed by an arrow after the player has attacked it once. | adventure/sniper_duel
|
History
The specific instructions are: Upload and add the "white pixelated texture" of the arrow of decay.
| classic | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.24_SURVIVAL_TEST | |||||
| 0.25 SURVIVAL TEST | Arrows 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". | |||||
| When a skeleton is killed, it will now drop a couple of normal arrows for the player to gather. | |||||
| 0.29 | Arrows can no longer be shot by the player in Creative Mode. | ||||
| indev | |||||
| 0.31 | 20100122 | Arrows have now been added as items alongside with bows. | |||
| The "Arrows" display above the hotbar has now been removed. | |||||
| 20100124 | Arrows now have a sound effect. | ||||
| 20100130 | Arrows are now craftable. | ||||
| 20100219 | Arrows are now dropped by skeletons. | ||||
| infdev | |||||
| 20100316 | Arrows will now have a high chance of spawning either a sheep or a pig upon hitting a block. | ||||
| 20100415 | Arrows will now no longer spawn mobs. | ||||
| alpha | |||||
| v1.0.14 | The tip of an arrow in crafting is now made from flint rather than an iron ingot. | ||||
| beta | |||||
| 1.6 | ? | Arrows 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. | |||
| 1.8 | Pre-release | Arrows 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 Update | Arrow firing sounds have now been changed. | ||||
| Java Edition | |||||
| November 21, 2011 | Exploding arrows mentioned. | ||||
| 1.0.0 | Beta 1.9 Prerelease | Arrows will now no longer stick to mobs. | |||
| RC1 | Arrow 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. | |||
| 1.3.1 | 12w21a | Farmer villagers will now sell 9–12 arrows for 1 emerald. | |||
| 12w23a | Arrows can now activate tripwire switches and wooden pressure plates. | ||||
| 1.4.2 | 12w34a | Arrows can now activate wooden buttons. | |||
| 12w34b | Arrows on fire can now ignite TNT. | ||||
| 1.4.4 | ? | Arrows will now stick to players again, but not mobs. | |||
| 1.8 | 14w02a | Farmer villagers will now no longer sell arrows. | |||
| Fletcher villagers now sell 8–12 arrows for 1 emerald. | |||||
| 14w25a | An underwater arrow will now lose all velocity after a few blocks and slowly fall. | ||||
| A flaming arrow underwater will now be extinguished. | |||||
| 14w26a | Fire arrows can now be used to detonate minecarts with TNT. | ||||
| 1.9 | 15w31a | Added 15 new arrow types, 14 of which are tipped with a different potion effect. However, some of them don't function yet. | |||
| File:Spectral Arrow (item) Revision 1.png | |||||
| 15w33c | Added shields; though they fully block damage from arrows, arrows will still visually stick into the player. | ||||
| 15w37a | Arrows will now ricochet off of shields. | ||||
| 15w44b | Added the initial method for obtaining tipped arrows, which lasted until snapshot 16w06a – firing arrows into a lingering potion cloud. | ||||
| 15w47b | Arrows will now ricochet off of creative mode players, whereas before they would pass straight through. | ||||
| 15w49a | Tipped and spectral arrows are now no longer affected by the Infinity enchantment. | ||||
| 16w06a | Tipped arrows have been given a crafting recipe, and are now no longer obtained by shooting them into a lingering potion cloud. | ||||
| 1.10 | 16w20a | Arrows of slowness may now drop from strays when they are killed by a player. | |||
| 1.11 | 16w32a | The entity IDs are changed from Arrow and SpectralArrow to arrow and spectral_arrow. | |||
| 16w32a | Tipped 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. | ||||
| 16w42a | Arrows will now have a crit tag that determines whether it will deal critical damage. | ||||
| 1.11.1 | 16w50a | The 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. | |||
| 1.13 | 17w47a | Prior 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. | ||||
| 1.14 | 18w43a | Arrows are now used as ammo for crossbows. | |||
| Arrows can now break chorus flowers. | |||||
| 18w47a | Arrows can now be generated inside of pillager outpost chests. | ||||
| 18w50a | File:Spectral Arrow (item).png Changed the texture of spectral arrows. | ||||
| 19w12b | Master-level fletcher villagers can now any tipped arrows for a few emeralds and regular arrows. | ||||
| 19w13a | Any regular or tipped arrow can be obtained as a reward item from fletcher villagers when the player has the Hero of the Village status effect. | ||||
| 1.14.1 | Pre-Release 2 | Flaming arrows can now light campfires. | |||
| Pocket Edition Alpha | |||||
| 0.3.3 | Added arrows. | ||||
| 0.12.1 | build 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 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. | |||||
| 0.13.0 | build 1 | Arrows will now update sand and gravel. | |||
| 0.15.0 | build 1 | Added tipped arrows, which are made by using cauldrons filled with potions. | |||
| Arrows can now be found inside dispensers in jungle temples. | |||||
| 0.16.0 | build 4 | Added arrows of decay. | |||
| Arrows of decay currently have a white pixelated texture. | |||||
| Pocket Edition | |||||
| 1.0.0 | alpha 0.17.0.1 | Tipped arrows are now craftable, but they can still be obtained by using cauldrons filled with potions. | |||
| 1.0.4 | alpha 1.0.4.0 | Arrows are now sold by fletcher villagers. | |||
| 1.1.0 | alpha 1.1.0.0 | The entity ID is changed from arrow.skeleton to arrow. | |||
| alpha 1.1.0.9 | Updated the arrows of decay's texture. | ||||
| Bedrock Edition | |||||
| 1.5.0 | beta 1.5.0.4 | Added the Arrow of the Turtle Master. | |||
| 1.6.0 | beta 1.6.0.5 | Added the Arrow of Slow Falling. | |||
| 1.8.0 | beta 1.8.0.10 | Arrows can now be used as ammo for the new crossbows. | |||
| 1.9.0 | beta 1.9.0.0 | Added pillagers, which drop arrows upon death. | |||
| beta 1.9.0.2 | Arrows and tipped arrows can now be used to craft fletching tables. | ||||
| 1.10.0 | beta 1.10.0.3 | Arrows can now be found in pillager outpost chests. | |||
| Arrows can now break chorus flowers. | |||||
| 1.11.0 | beta 1.11.0.1 | Arrows can now be found in village fletcher chests. | |||
| Flaming arrows can now light campfires. | |||||
| beta 1.11.0.4 | Fletcher villagers now sell 5 arrows for one emerald. | ||||
| Various regular tipped arrows can now be obtained via trading with fletcher villagers. | |||||
| beta 1.11.0.7 | Arrow no longer can be used to craft fletching table. | ||||
| 1.12.0 | beta 1.12.0.3 | Novice-level fletcher villagers now sell 16 regular arrows instead of 5 arrows. | |||
| Legacy Console Edition | |||||
| TU1 | CU1 | 1.00 | Patch 1 | 1.0.1 | Added arrows. |
| TU31 | CU19 | 1.22 | Patch 3 | An underwater arrow will now lose all velocity after a few blocks and slowly fall. | |
| A flaming arrow underwater will now be extinguished. | |||||
| TU46 | CU36 | 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]
- Although an enderman will still teleport when hit by any tipped arrow, they will still be given the said effects while avoiding arrow damage.




