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A shield is a tool used for protecting the player against attacks.

Obtaining[]

Crafting[]

Ingredients Crafting recipe
Any Planks +
Iron Ingot

Shield +
Matching Banner


Repairing[]

Ingredients Crafting recipe Description
Damaged Shield


The durability of the two shields is added together, plus an extra 5% durability. The repaired shield has no pattern.

Shields may also be repaired on an anvil by using planks or another shield. Shields repaired on anvils retain their pattern.

Trading[]

Journeyman-level armorer villagers have 13[BE only]/25[JE only] chance of selling a shield for 5 emeralds as their sixth trade.

Usage[]

Despite using iron in its crafting recipe, it cannot be smelted into iron nuggets.[1]

Defense[]

Shields are used for blocking incoming attacks. Using[JE only] or sneaking[BE only] causes a player to slow to a sneaking pace, and after 5 game ticks (0.25 seconds)[2], attacks coming from in front of the player are blocked, dealing no damage. When the shield blocks an attack of 3♥♥ or stronger, it takes durability damage equal to the strength of the attack rounded up.

Most blocked projectiles that carry status effects (such as shulker bullets[JE only], flaming arrows, or tipped arrows) do not affect the blocker. Tridents & arrows can be deflected into other targets. Knockback from melee attacks and projectiles is prevented, while knockback from explosions, hoglin, and ravager attacks are significantly reduced.

The shield directionally blocks all attacks coming from within the FOV of the direction the wielder is facing, providing a full hemisphere of coverage to them. If the wielder faces straight up, they are likely to miss their blocks.[3]

Mobs that deal continuous contact damage such as the slime, magma cube, and blaze rapidly drain the shield's durability for as long as the shielded player remains within the mob's hitbox.[4][5]

Blockable attacks include:

  • Melee attacks, except by a warden, axe-wielding mobs or by a sprinting player wielding an axe, however even without sprinting an axe still greatly decreases the durability
    • Status effects do not carry through to the blocker‌[JE only].
  • Normal, tipped, and spectral arrows
    • Arrows other than Piercing are totally deflected and can hit other targets.
    • Status effects do not carry through to the blocker‌[JE only].
      • This can be used to damage the attacker or another mob down there.
  • Flaming arrows
    • Burning does not carry through to the blocker‌[JE only].
  • Tridents
  • Snowballs and eggs
  • Spines from pufferfish
  • Bullets from shulkers
    • The levitation effect does not carry through to the blocker‌[JE only].
  • Spit from llamas
  • Fireballs, such as from blazes and fire charges
    • Burning does not carry through to the blocker.
  • Direct hits from ghast fireballs
    • These still cause environmental damage.
  • All explosions‌[JE only]
  • Explosion damage from creepers
  • TNT that another player lit
  • Ravager headbutts
    • These still knock the blocker back by about 3 blocks.
    • Blocking these strikes can stun the ravager for a moment, and it roars afterward.
  • Ravager roars are blocked but still knock back the blocker.
  • Bee stings are blocked, but bees continuously attack until the player stops blocking and the player is stung.
  • Beam attacks from guardians or elder guardians (only reduces damage by 50%).
  • Damage reflected from Thorns enchantment / guardians.

They cannot block:

Applying patterns[]

Cyan Shield Screenshot

A custom shield.

Shields can be decorated by applying a banner.

Ingredients Crafting recipe Description
Shield +
Matching Banner


Applies the banner pattern to the shield. The banner is consumed.
The shield must have no preexisting patterns.
Does not change existing durability or enchantments on the shield. However, if a player uses the crafter from the version 1.21 update, the durability is changed to maximum, no matter how much durability is left.

Unlike with banners, shields cannot be repainted or washed in a cauldron. Shields have only half the resolution of banners, making patterns look slightly different. In the game files, the pattern textures can be found in a separate directory called entity/shield.

In Java Edition, shields with patterns can also be obtained using the same commands as banners, except banner has to be replaced with shield.

Enchantments[]

A shield can receive the following enchantments, but only through an anvil:

Name Max Level Method
Unbreaking III
Mending I
Curse of Vanishing I

Sounds[]

Java Edition:

SoundSubtitlesSourceDescriptionResource locationTranslation keyVolumePitchAttenuation
distance
Shield blocksPlayersWhen an attack is blocked using a shielditem.shield.blocksubtitles.item.shield.block1.00.8-1.216
Gear equipsPlayersWhen a shield is placed in the offhand slotitem.armor.equip_genericsubtitles.item.armor.equip1.01.016
Item breaksPlayersWhen a shield's durability is exhausteditem.shield.breaksubtitles.entity.item.break0.80.8-1.216

Bedrock Edition:

SoundSourceDescriptionResource locationVolumePitch
PlayersWhen an attack is blocked using a shielditem.shield.block0.71.0
PlayersWhen a shield is placed in the offhand slot[upcoming: BE 1.20.30][sound 1]armor.equip_generic1.01.0
PlayersWhen a shield's durability is exhaustedrandom.break1.00.9

Data values[]

ID[]

Java Edition:

NameIdentifierFormTranslation key
ShieldshieldItemitem.minecraft.shield
item.minecraft.shield.white
item.minecraft.shield.orange
item.minecraft.shield.magenta
item.minecraft.shield.light_blue
item.minecraft.shield.yellow
item.minecraft.shield.lime
item.minecraft.shield.pink
item.minecraft.shield.gray
item.minecraft.shield.light_gray
item.minecraft.shield.cyan
item.minecraft.shield.purple
item.minecraft.shield.blue
item.minecraft.shield.brown
item.minecraft.shield.green
item.minecraft.shield.red
item.minecraft.shield.black

Bedrock Edition:

NameIdentifierNumeric ID FormTranslation key
Shieldshield355Itemitem.shield.name
item.shield.white.name
item.shield.orange.name
item.shield.magenta.name
item.shield.lightBlue.name
item.shield.yellow.name
item.shield.lime.name
item.shield.pink.name
item.shield.gray.name
item.shield.silver.name
item.shield.cyan.name
item.shield.purple.name
item.shield.blue.name
item.shield.brown.name
item.shield.green.name
item.shield.red.name
item.shield.black.name

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

History[]

July 10, 2011During an interview, Jeb says that "shields for the left arm" might be added.
Java Edition
1.915w33cWhite Shield Light Gray Shield Gray Shield Black Shield Brown Shield Red Shield Orange Shield Yellow Shield Lime Shield Green Shield Cyan Shield Light Blue Shield Blue Shield Purple Shield Magenta Shield Pink Shield Added shields.
Shields replace the blocking functionality of swords, although blocking more damage.
The current crafting recipe of shields includes wool, producing 16 possible colored shields. There currently isn't a blank, uncolored shield.
Any of the colored base shields can be crafted with a banner of the same base color, to produce a patterned shield.
15w34cWhen an attack is blocked by a shield, the attacker now may be knocked back.
Being attacked with an axe now may disable shield use for 5 seconds.
15w37aThe crafting recipe of shields has been changed to 6 planks and 1 iron ingot.
Shield JE1 Crafting a shield now produces a base wooden shield that can be crafted together with any banner.
The cooldown of shields has been reduced from 0.5s to 0.25s.
Blocking with shields now prevents some side effects.[verify]
Arrows now ricochet off shields.
15w44aShields can now be repaired by combining with other shields. This removes any banner that had been applied.
15w45aCrafting a banner onto a shield now consumes the banner.
15w47bAdded shield blocking sounds.
16w07aAdded more variation of shield blocking sounds.
pre1The durability of shields has been increased from 181 to 337.
1.1016w21aShields can now be equipped by dispensers.
1.1116w33aCrafting a shield with a banner no longer changes the durability, nor does it remove enchantments from it.
16w35aShields now block 100% of damage/knockback/debuffs dealt in melee combat.
1.1317w47aPrior to The Flattening, this item's numeral ID was 442.
1.13.2releaseShields now properly block attacks when the player is facing down.[7]
1.1418w43aShield JE2 BE1 The texture of shields has been changed.
Shields no longer knockback attackers when they block due to a bug with rework of the blocking mechanic with the introduction of the ravager.[8]
19w11aShields can now be bought from armorer villagers.
1.14.3Pre-Release 3Shields blocking flaming arrows no longer put the player on fire.
1.1620w06aCrimson planks and warped planks can now be used to craft shields.
1.1922w11aMangrove planks can now be used to craft shields.
1.19.322w43aShields can now properly block all explosions.
1.19.423w06aA sound is now played when a shield is placed into the offhand slot.
Upcoming Java Edition
Combat Tests1.14.3 - Combat TestCritical hits now bypass shields.
The warm-up delay has been removed from shields.
When in the off-hand, shields now activate when sneaking.
Combat Test 2Shields now protect against critical attacks again.
Shields can only be activated when the weapon is charged to 200%.
Combat Test 3A "Shield Indicator" option that displays when the shield is active, similar to the attack indicator, has been added.
An option to hide shields when active has been added.
The arc of available protection of shields has been decreased to 100 degrees instead of 180 degrees.
Combat Test 4An option to disable shields being activated by pressing crouch has been added.
The option to hide the shield has been removed.
Combat Test 6Shields now protect up to 5 damage for melee attacks (still 100% against projectiles).
Shields activate instantly regardless if the weapon is charged, similar to Combat test 1.
Shields now recover faster after an attack.
Combat Test 7cShields now add a 50% knockback resistance when active.
Shields now protect against 100% explosion damage.
Combat Test 8cThe knockback calculations for shields have been fixed.[more information needed]
Crouch-shielding while jumping has been disabled.
Shields with banners are now temporarily stronger than normal shields (10 absorption instead of 5, and better knockback resistance) to test different shield types.
Bedrock Edition
1.10.0beta 1.10.0.3Shield JE2 BE1 Added shields.
Shields cannot be customized with banners.
Shields are activated by crouching or mounting mobs.
1.11.0beta 1.11.0.4Shields can now be bought from armorer villagers.
1.16.210beta 1.16.210.51Now grants partial knockback protection from the goat ram attack.
1.16.220beta 1.16.220.50Mobs that pick up shields now place them to their off-hand.
1.18.30beta 1.18.30.26Being attacked with an axe now may disable shield use. This was not mentioned in the official changelog.[9]
1.20.0beta 1.20.0.20White Shield Light Gray Shield Gray Shield Black Shield Brown Shield Red Shield Orange Shield Yellow Shield Lime Shield Green Shield Cyan Shield Light Blue Shield Blue Shield Purple Shield Magenta Shield Pink Shield Shields can now be customized using a banner.
PlayStation 4 Edition
1.90Shield JE1 Added shields.
Shields do not have banner application features.

Issues[]

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

Gallery[]

Screenshots[]

References[]

External Links[]

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