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A bow is a ranged weapon that fires arrows.

Obtaining

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.

Illusioner

This upcoming mob sometimes drops a bow.

Trading

Fletcher villagers will trade a bow for 2 to 3 emeralds as part of their tier 2 trades.

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.

Crafting

Ingredients Crafting recipe Description
Stick +
String

Damaged Bow


The durability of the two bows is added together, plus an extra 5% durability.

Usage

Weapon

Bows can be drawn back by using 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 sneak speed, unless they are riding a horse, or are in a minecart or boat at the time, which causes no speed decrease.

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 1♥ 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 9♥♥♥♥♥ damage, with a 1/5 of chance of dealing 10♥♥♥♥♥, therefore the most powerful weapon in the game. 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 I can ignite the enderman, however.

Crafting ingredient

Name Ingredients Crafting recipe Description
Dispenser Cobblestone +
Bow +
Redstone Dust

The bow can be of any durability.
Enchantments on the bow do not affect the resulting dispenser.

Enchanting

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 25♥ × 12.5.

Punch will increase the knock back (+4 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 5♥♥♥. 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 100 divided by the level of unbreaking plus 1 chance of taking any damage. 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.

Curse of Vanishing causes the bow to disappear instead of dropping on the ground when the player dies. It can only be applied using enchanted books and an anvil.

Mending and Infinity are mutually exclusive.

Fuel

A bow can be used as fuel in furnaces, smelting 1.5‌[Computer Edition only]/1‌[Pocket Edition only] items per bow.

Arrows

See also: Arrow

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.

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 5♥♥♥.

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.

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
Dispense with ThisConstruct a Dispenser.20GBronze
ArcherKill a creeper with arrows.10GBronze

Video

Bow/video

History

classic
0.24_SURVIVAL_TESTThe player did not need a bow to shoot arrows. Instead, Tab ↹ was used to fire arrows. However, arrows still had to be collected to shoot. Launching arrows this way was much slower than the bow that now fires them.
indev
January 22, 2010Development began on the bow and arrow.
January 30, 2010Added bows. The right mouse button could be held down to fire in rapid succession. Each arrow dealt 4♥♥ for each hit. They would fly in a ballistic trajectory affected by gravity and drag in air or water. They would travel approximately 15 blocks when fired parallel to a flat plane. Arrows also had a maximum range of around 52 blocks when fired at a 38 degree angle on a flat plane.
Bows often failed to interact with objects, but would instead shoot. This was very inconvenient when trying to open doors, chests etc. This was due to the fact that shooting arrows was an instantaneous action.
beta
1.2Bows are now used to craft dispensers.
1.8Bow behavior is overhauled; they now need to be charged to fire.
release
1.0.0A fully charged arrow now consistently deals 9♥♥♥♥♥ damage, with a rare chance of dealing 10♥♥♥♥♥.
Bows have a durability.
Bows do not need arrows for ammo in Creative mode.
The bow could be enchanted via console commands, but no enchantment would affect it.
1.1Bows can now be legitimately enchanted. Four enchantments were added: Flame, Punch, Power and Infinity.
1.2.112w06aSkeletons have a 2.5% chance of dropping a bow. One fifth of the time, this bow will be enchanted with Power I (20%).
1.4.612w50aBows can now be enchanted with Unbreaking using an anvil and an appropriately enchanted book.
1.4.6-preWhen a player hits another player from far away with a bow it makes a high pitched "dinging" sound.
1.7.2Bows can be obtained as a "treasure" item from fishing.
1.8Bow placement when drawing back was slightly changed.
1.915w31aThe bow in the hotbar now shows an arrow when being drawn.
Bows can now shoot an additional 14 types of arrows, selected based on which arrow type is in the off-hand or closest to slot 0.
Bows cannot be used in the off-hand.
15w37aThe bow can now be used in the off-hand.
Bows will prioritize the selected hotbar slot for arrows if the bow is in the off hand.
1.1116w33aBows can now be used to fuel furnaces.
1.11.116w50aInfinity and Mending are now mutually exclusive.
upcoming
1.1217w16aBows are now equiped on illusioners.
Pocket Edition Alpha
0.3.3Added bows.
0.8.0build 2New bow rendering.
0.11.0build 1Bows can be obtained as a "treasure" item from fishing.
0.12.1build 1Fully charged bows now cause particles.
Pocket Edition
1.0.4build 1Bows can be obtained by trading with a fletcher villager.
Legacy Console Edition
TU1CU1 1.0 Patch 1Added bows.
TU5Bow behavior is overhauled; they now need to be charged to fire.

Issues

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

Trivia

  • Riding a minecart and charging a bow use the same arm animations.
  • If you enchant a bow with a level 1 enchantment, it will always get Power I.

Gallery


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