Weapons and armour: swords, bows and plate

Which swords can I make, and which is best?

A sword is two blocks or ingots of a material on a stick in the craft grid, one above the other with the stick under them. Left-click hits, and one swing also sweeps everything in a 60 degree arc in front of you for less damage. A zombie has 80 health, a troll 180.

Steel and titanium last longest; gold and aluminium swing fast but wear out quickly. Titanium is the best blade of the Earth since the October update: the diamond is an ore and a gem, not a sword. Above it, late in the game, the raisonite sword hits for 52, lasts 1400 blows and holds three alloys.

How do the bow and crossbow work?

• Bow: three sticks in a curve and three strings (spiders drop string). Hold the left button to draw for one second, release to shoot. A full draw does 27 damage.
• Crossbow: planks, an iron ingot, two strings and a stick. Slower to draw (1.25 s) but its bolt does 55 and pierces a first target.
• Arrows: a flint, a stick and a feather make four. Both weapons spend one arrow a shot, and a stuck arrow can be picked up again. Flint comes from gravel and from flint nodules in the rock.
• The bow lasts 350 shots, the crossbow 420. A bow is the safe answer to creatures that explode up close, like the bomb toad.
• The rest of the arsenal (guns, hammers, staves, grenades, gadgets) is a test collection with infinite ammunition. In creative mode, /arsenal puts every weapon in your bag.

How does armour work?

Armour has four pieces, helmet, chestplate, leggings and boots, worn in four slots of your inventory. Right-click a piece in hand to put it on, or Shift-click it in the inventory. You can mix materials: each slot counts on its own.

• Recipe: the same shape for every material, in the 3 × 3 grid. Helmet 5, chestplate 8, leggings 7, boots 4: 24 ingots or hides for a full set.
• Protection is a percentage of damage removed. Each piece counts for its share of your body (helmet 15%, chestplate 40%, leggings 30%, boots 15%), the pieces combine with diminishing returns, and the total never goes above 80%.
• Heavy blows (over 25 health) partly pierce soft armour. Steel and titanium hold up better.
• Wear: every blow stops wears each piece you wear, and a worn-out piece breaks and leaves its slot. An iron chestplate lasts about 230 zombie blows.

What does armour cost me?

• Speed: walking and sprinting lose 0.25% per kilogram (iron: 5%). Swimming loses 1.2% per kilogram. The jump never changes.
• Hunger: sprinting, jumping and swimming cost more food, multiplied by 1 + weight / 40 (iron: ×1.5), and walking itself costs a little.
• Knock-back from blows is reduced by 1.5% per kilogram, 60% at most.
• Lightest strong set of the Earth: titanium (70 % for 11 kg); the raisonite set, late in the game, is lighter still (76 % for 9.8 kg). Heaviest: gold (25 kg), which protects less than iron.
• Armour stops blows from creatures and players, and lava. It never stops a fall, drowning, suffocation or hunger (health, hunger and air).

Updated 2026-10-22