Crossbow

For other uses, see Crossbow (disambiguation).

Not to be confused with Bow.

Crossbow

Rarity tier	Common
Projectile damage	Arrow: JE: 7HP to 11HP × 5.5 BE: 9HP Firework rocket: 1: 5HP to 6HP 2: 6HP to 8HP 3: 7HP to 10HP 4: 8HP to 12HP × 6 5: 9HP to 14HP × 7 6: 10HP to 16HP × 8 7: 11HP × 5.5 to 18HP × 9
Charge time	1.25s[note 1][1] 1s (Quick Charge I) 0.75s (Quick Charge II) 0.5s (Quick Charge III)
Inaccuracy	1
Durability	JE: 465 BE: 466
Enchantability	1
Renewable	Yes
Stackable	No

A crossbow is a ranged weapon that can load and fire arrows, arrow variants, and firework rockets. Holding use loads it and it remains loaded until it is fired, after which it can be loaded again.

Obtaining

Crafting

Ingredients	Crafting recipe
Stick + Iron Ingot + String + Tripwire Hook

Generated loot

Item	Structure	Container	Quantity	Chance
Java Edition
Crossbow	Bastion Remnant	Generic chest	1	9.8% { "item": "Crossbow", "stacksize": 1, "chance": 0.09750000000000003, "structure": "Bastion Remnant", "container": "Generic chest" }
	Pillager Outpost	Chest	1	50% { "item": "Crossbow", "stacksize": 1, "chance": 0.5, "structure": "Pillager Outpost", "container": "Chest" }
Damaged Enchanted Crossbow[A][B]	Bastion Remnant	Bridge chest	1	11.2% { "item": "Damaged Enchanted Crossbow", "stacksize": 1, "chance": 0.11242603550295849, "structure": "Bastion Remnant", "container": "Bridge chest" }
Damaged Enchanted Crossbow[A][C]	Bastion Remnant	Generic chest	1	6.7% { "item": "Damaged Enchanted Crossbow", "stacksize": 1, "chance": 0.0674157303370787, "structure": "Bastion Remnant", "container": "Generic chest" }
Enchanted Crossbow[D]	Trial Chambers	Vault and reward chest	1	7% { "item": "Enchanted Crossbow", "stacksize": 1, "chance": 0.06956521739130439, "structure": "Trial Chambers", "container": "Vault and reward chest" }
		Ominous vault	1	11% { "item": "Enchanted Crossbow", "stacksize": 1, "chance": 0.1103448275862069, "structure": "Trial Chambers", "container": "Ominous vault" }
Bedrock Edition
Crossbow	Bastion Remnant	Generic chest	1	9.8% { "item": "Crossbow", "stacksize": 1, "chance": 0.09750000000000003, "structure": "Bastion Remnant", "container": "Generic chest" }
	Pillager Outpost	Chest	1	50% { "item": "Crossbow", "stacksize": 1, "chance": 0.5, "structure": "Pillager Outpost", "container": "Chest" }
Damaged Enchanted Crossbow[A][B]	Bastion Remnant	Bridge chest	1	11.2% { "item": "Damaged Enchanted Crossbow", "stacksize": 1, "chance": 0.11242603550295849, "structure": "Bastion Remnant", "container": "Bridge chest" }
Damaged Enchanted Crossbow[A][C]	Bastion Remnant	Generic chest	1	6.7% { "item": "Damaged Enchanted Crossbow", "stacksize": 1, "chance": 0.0674157303370787, "structure": "Bastion Remnant", "container": "Generic chest" }
Enchanted Crossbow[D]	Trial Chambers	Vault and reward chest	1	1.7% { "item": "Enchanted Crossbow", "stacksize": 1, "chance": 0.017391304347826098, "structure": "Trial Chambers", "container": "Vault and reward chest" }
		Ominous vault	1	11% { "item": "Enchanted Crossbow", "stacksize": 1, "chance": 0.1103448275862069, "structure": "Trial Chambers", "container": "Ominous vault" }

Mob loot

Pillagers

When killed, a pillager has a small chance (8.5%) of dropping a loaded or unloaded crossbow with random durability; the drop rate increases by 1% per level of Looting: 9.5% with Looting I, 10.5% with Looting II and 11.5% with Looting III. The dropped crossbow can rarely (10% chance) be enchanted at level 5–19 regardless of being enchanted when it spawned.

Piglins

Piglins have a chance of wielding a crossbow upon spawning, and they also have a small chance (8.5%) of dropping a loaded or unloaded crossbow of random durability when killed; this rate increases by 1% per level of Looting: 9.5% with Looting I, 10.5% with Looting II and 11.5% with Looting III. It can rarely (10% chance) be enchanted at level 5–19 regardless of being enchanted when spawned.

Trading

Villager		Probability		Villager wants	Player receives	Trades in stock	Villager experience	Price multiplier
		JE	BE
Fletcher	Journeyman	100%	100%	3 × Emerald	Crossbow	12	10	0.05

Usage

Attacking

Crossbows are similar to bows, but can be charged in advance for use at any time. They take longer to charge than a bow, are slightly more powerful, and shoot farther with slightly higher accuracy.

Crossbows can be loaded with arrows of any type. Like the bow, arrows shot by crossbows can be blocked by shields. A crossbow enchanted with Piercing fires arrows that ignore blocking shields, allowing them to pass through and still hit their target. Arrows shot from a crossbow enchanted with Piercing can be picked up and used again, creating an effect similar to the bow-exclusive Infinity enchantment. When an arrow hits another player, the player who fired the arrow hears a high-pitched "ding" sound to indicate the successful shot.‌^{[Java Edition only]}

Alternatively, they can be loaded with a firework rocket, which flies in a straight line at 32 m/s and, in Java Edition, explodes on contact with blocks and entities.^[2] If the firework rocket has no firework stars, it deals no damage. In order to use a firework rocket with a crossbow, at least one firework rocket must be present in the player's offhand. Using a firework rocket uses 3 durability per shot, and fireworks with higher flight duration travel farther when fired. When a crossbow has the Multishot enchantment, the increased durability usage stacks, resulting in 9 durability being consumed with each shot. Piercing does not work with firework rockets, and firework rocket explosions have a radius of roughly 4 blocks.

A crossbow can first be loaded by using it, which starts charging it. While charging the crossbow, the player moves at sneaking speed. When the crossbow finishes charging, the arrow or firework rocket is then loaded into it and the player’s speed returns to normal. At this point, the crossbow must be used a second time to fire its projectile. Shooting a loaded crossbow does not delay any of the player's current actions like sprinting or swimming. Both arrows and firework rockets launched by crossbows are not augmented by the Strength effect.

In Java Edition, continuing to hold use after firing a crossbow causes it to begin recharging again after 4 ticks. In Bedrock Edition, continuing to hold use after firing a crossbow does not cause it to begin recharging, as the input must be released and then inputed again. There is also a small delay after fully charging a crossbow where it cannot be fired despite being fully charged, and a similar delay after firing a crossbow where it cannot be recharged again.^[3] These bugs cause crossbows to effectively charge and fire slower than in Java Edition.

A loaded crossbow keeps its projectile when placed in another inventory slot or into an item frame without the projectile being unloaded or fired. A loaded crossbow also remains charged after repairing or enchanting it using a grindstone, anvil, or enchanting table. In Java Edition, the crossbow’s tooltip also lists the loaded projectile and its effect, if any. Like with bows, the player can choose the type of arrow to fire based on its location in their inventory:

• Arrows in the off-hand, or the selected hotbar slot if the crossbow is in the off-hand, are prioritized first.
• If there are no arrows in the off-hand or selected hotbar slot, the arrow closest to slot 0 is selected.

Some mobs cannot be shot using an arrow, because the arrow either disappears or is deflected. However, by use of the explosion from an indirect firework rocket, these arrow-immune mobs can be damaged:

• Endermen;
• Breeze;
• Wither under half health, when it gains wither armor;
• Closed shulkers;
• Ender dragon, while sitting on top of the exit portal.

Statistics

Arrow
Java Edition
Projectile damage	Enchantment	Charge time	Damage/second (DPS)
7HP to 11HP × 5.5	Unenchanted	1.25 s	5.25 to 8.25
	Quick Charge I	1 s	7 to 11
	Quick Charge II	0.75 s	8.75 to 13.75
	Quick Charge III	0.5 s	10.5 to 16.5
Bedrock Edition
Projectile damage	Enchantment	Charge time	Damage/second (DPS)
9HP	Unenchanted	1.25 s	6.75
	Quick Charge I	1 s	9
	Quick Charge II	0.75 s	11.25
	Quick Charge III	0.5 s	13.5

Firework Rocket
Firework stars	Projectile damage	Enchantment	Charge time	Damage/second (DPS)
1	5HP to 6HP	No enchantment	1.25 s	3.75 to 4.5
		Quick Charge I	1 s	5 to 6
		Quick Charge II	0.75 s	6.25 to 7.5
		Quick Charge III	0.5 s	7.5 to 9
2	6HP to 8HP	No enchantment	1.25 s	4.5 to 6
		Quick Charge I	1 s	6 to 8
		Quick Charge II	0.75 s	7.5 to 10
		Quick Charge III	0.5 s	9 to 12
3	7HP to 10HP	No enchantment	1.25 s	5.25 to 7.5
		Quick Charge I	1 s	7 to 10
		Quick Charge II	0.75 s	8.75 to 12.5
		Quick Charge III	0.5 s	10.5 to 15
4	8HP to 12HP × 6	No enchantment	1.25 s	6 to 9
		Quick Charge I	1 s	8 to 12
		Quick Charge II	0.75 s	10 to 15
		Quick Charge III	0.5 s	12 to 18
5	9HP to 14HP × 7	No enchantment	1.25 s	6.75 to 10.5
		Quick Charge I	1 s	9 to 14
		Quick Charge II	0.75 s	11.25 to 17.5
		Quick Charge III	0.5 s	13.5 to 21
6	10HP to 16HP × 8	No enchantment	1.25 s	7.5 to 12
		Quick Charge I	1 s	10 to 16
		Quick Charge II	0.75 s	12.5 to 20
		Quick Charge III	0.5 s	15 to 24
7	11HP × 5.5 to 18HP × 9	No enchantment	1.25 s	8.25 to 13.5
		Quick Charge I	1 s	11 to 18
		Quick Charge II	0.75 s	13.75 to 22.5
		Quick Charge III	0.5 s	16.5 to 27

Projectile motion

The projectile motion of an arrow fired from a crossbow is dependent on the angle the user is facing, as well as the user's movement speed.

Arrow properties
Drag-H	0.99	Gravity	-0.05 m/tick2
Drag-Y	0.99
Ticking order	1
Bow level	0 0		1 Critical charge
Launch angle calculator[calcnote 1]
Given a target coordinate and an initial speed, calculate the arrow launch angle to hit the target. Target is hit after ticks and would deal avg. 6.00 × 3 damage.
X	0 to 10	Yaw	deg
Y	0 to 10	Pitch	degUnreachable 1 Direct hit
Z	0 to 10	Speed	3.15 m/tick

The distance a launched firework rocket can travel is dependent on the rocket's flight duration. The amount of gunpowder used when crafting the firework rocket changes its flight duration.

Firework rocket range
Minimum	Average	Maximum	Gunpowder
32m (20 ticks)	40.8m (25.5 ticks)	49.6m (31 ticks)	1
48m (30 ticks)	56.8m (35.5 ticks)	65.6m (41 ticks)	2
64m (40 ticks)	72.8m (45.5 ticks)	81.6m (51 ticks)	3

Repairing

Combining

Ingredients	Crafting recipe	Notes
Damaged Crossbow or Damaged Arrow Loaded Crossbow or Damaged Firework Loaded Crossbow		The durability of the two crossbows is added together, plus an extra 5% durability. Any loaded ammunition is lost.

Ingredients	Grinding recipe	Notes
Damaged Crossbow or Damaged Arrow Loaded Crossbow or Damaged Firework Loaded Crossbow		The durability of the two crossbows is added together, plus an extra 5% durability. Any loaded ammunition is kept.

Unit repair

Ingredients	Anvil recipe
Damaged Crossbow or  Damaged Arrow Loaded Crossbow or  Damaged Firework Loaded Crossbow	CrossbowArrow Loaded CrossbowFirework Loaded Crossbow

A crossbow can be combined with another crossbow in an anvil, preserving the enchantments of both and the projectile of the target item.

Enchantments

A crossbow can receive the following enchantments:

Name	Description	Max Level	Method	Weight
Quick Charge	Decreases the reloading time.	III	Enchanting Table Anvil	5
Multishot[note 2]	Makes the crossbow fire a spread of 3 projectiles at once instead of a single projectile.	I	Enchanting Table Anvil	2
Piercing[note 2]	Causes crossbow-shot arrows to pierce through targets.	IV	Enchanting Table Anvil	10
Unbreaking	Grants a chance to negate durability consumption.	III	Enchanting Table Anvil	5
Mending	Repairs the crossbow when obtaining experience.	I	Anvil	2
Curse of Vanishing	The crossbow vanishes on death, not dropping as an item.	I	Anvil	1

A crossbow cannot be enchanted with Power, Punch, Flame, or Infinity in Survival mode. However, they can be applied via anvil in Creative mode in Java Edition or by using commands. When applied, each enchantment functions the same for the crossbow as it would for a bow.

Fuel

Crossbows can be used as fuel in furnaces, smelting 1.5 items per crossbow.

Despite using iron ingots in their crafting recipe, crossbows cannot be smelted into iron nuggets.^[4]

Sounds

Java Edition:

Bedrock Edition:

Data values

ID

Java Edition:

Name	Identifier	Form	Translation key
Crossbow	crossbow	Item	item.minecraft.crossbow

Bedrock Edition:

Name	Identifier	Numeric ID	Form	Translation key
Crossbow	crossbow	575	Item	item.crossbow.name

Item data

Java Edition:

Bedrock Edition:

Achievements

Icon		Achievement	In-game description	Actual requirements (if different)	Gamerscore earned	Trophy type (PS)
PS4	Other
		Archer	Kill a Creeper with Bow and Arrows.	—	10	Bronze
		Bullseye	Hit the bullseye of a Target block	—	15	Bronze
		Sniper Duel	Kill a Skeleton with a Bow and Arrows from more than 50 meters.	Use a launched arrow to kill a skeleton, wither skeleton, stray, bogged, or parched from 50 or more blocks away, horizontally.	30	Bronze

Advancements

Icon	Advancement	In-game description	Actual requirements (if different)
	Ol' Betsy	Shoot a Crossbow	—
	Take Aim	Shoot something with an Arrow	Using a bow or a crossbow, shoot a mob with an arrow, tipped arrow, or spectral arrow.
	Two Birds, One Arrow	Kill two Phantoms with a piercing Arrow	Use a crossbow enchanted with Piercing to kill two phantoms with a single arrow shot.
	Who's the Pillager Now?	Give a Pillager a taste of their own medicine	Kill a pillager with a crossbow shot.
	Arbalistic	Kill five unique mobs with one crossbow shot	Armor Stand and Mannequin also count for this advancement. This is a hidden advancement, meaning that it can be viewed by the player only after completing it, regardless of if its child advancement(s), if any, have been completed.
	Sniper Duel	Kill a Skeleton from at least 50 meters away	Receive kill credit for a skeleton that is at least 50 blocks away horizontally and is killed by a projectile.
	Bullseye	Hit the bullseye of a Target block from at least 30 meters away	Be at least 30 blocks away horizontally when the center of a target is shot with a projectile by the player.

History

Announcement

Java Edition

Java Edition
1.14			18w43a				Added crossbows.
							Added pillagers, which can also spawn with and drop crossbows.
							Crossbows can be enchanted with either the Quick Charge (Highest Level III), Piercing (Highest Level IV) or Multishot (Highest Level I).
			18w47a				Crossbows can now be found inside loot chests at the top of pillager outposts.
			19w11a				Fletcher villagers now sell crossbows and enchanted crossbows.
1.16			20w07a				Added piglins, which can spawn with and drop crossbows.
			20w16a				Crossbows now generate randomly enchanted in bastion remnants chests.
1.18			21w37a				Crossbow durability is increased to 465 to match Bedrock Edition.
1.19.4			23w07a				The crossbow recipes are no longer unlocked by sticks.
1.20.2 Experiment Villager Trade Rebalance			23w31a				Enchantments exclusive to crossbows are no longer obtainable from villager trading.
1.20.3 Experiment Update 1.21			23w45a				Enchanted crossbows can now generate in reward chests inside trial chambers.
1.20.5 Experiment Update 1.21			24w05a				Enchanted crossbows can now be ejected as loot from vaults.
1.20.5			24w09a				Infinity, Flame, Punch, and Power enchantments now work on crossbows.
1.20.5 Experiment Update 1.21			24w13a				Enchanted crossbows can now be ejected as loot from ominous vaults.
1.21.5			25w04a				Crossbows now show all charged projectiles in their tooltip instead of just the first.
			25w06a				Tooltips for crossbows now show a compact form of multiple repeated projectiles that are identical.
Java Edition Combat Tests
3							Arrows no longer trigger the attack invulnerability timer, allowing multiple crossbow arrows to connect even if the entity is invulnerable.
							This also allows all three arrows from a Multishot crossbow to connect against a single entity.
4							Crossbow inaccuracy has been lessened from 1 to 0.25, increasing the accuracy of fired arrows.
6							Vertical momentum no longer influences the flight path of arrows fired from crossbows.

Bedrock Edition

Bedrock Edition
1.8.0 Experiment Experimental Gameplay			beta 1.8.0.10				Added crossbows.
							Crossbows are currently part of Experimental Gameplay.
1.9.0 Experiment Experimental Gameplay			beta 1.9.0.0				Added pillagers, which use and drop crossbows.
			beta 1.9.0.3				Crossbows now appear bigger in a pillager's hand.
1.10.0			beta 1.10.0.3				Crossbows are now fully implemented and separate from Experimental Gameplay.
							Crossbows can now be found in pillager outpost chests.
1.11.0			beta 1.11.0.4				Unenchanted and enchanted crossbows can now be bought from fletcher villagers.
1.12.0			beta 1.12.0.3				Journeyman-level fletcher villagers now have 100% chance to sell unenchanted crossbow, rather than 50% chance.
1.16.0			beta 1.16.0.51				Added piglins, which can spawn with and drop crossbows.
			beta 1.16.0.57				Crossbows now generate randomly enchanted in bastion remnants chests.
1.20.60 Experiment Update 1.21			Preview 1.20.60.20				Enchanted crossbows can now generate in reward chests inside trial chambers.
1.20.70 Experiment Update 1.21			Preview 1.20.70.21				Enchanted crossbows can now be ejected as loot from vaults.
1.21.0 Experiment Update 1.21			Preview 1.21.0.20				Enchanted crossbows can now be ejected as loot from ominous vaults.
26.40			Preview 26.40.27				Arrows fired by mobs with a crossbow now deal the same damage regardless of the shooting mobs.
							Arrows fired by players or other mobs with a crossbow are no longer affected by difficulty.

PlayStation 4 Edition

PlayStation 4 Edition
1.90							Added crossbows.
1.91							Crossbows can now be found inside loot chests at the top of pillager outposts.

Issues

Issues relating to "Crossbow" are maintained on the bug tracker. Issues should be reported and viewed there.

Trivia

• Alongside pillagers, crossbows were inspired by Minecraft Dungeons, even though they were added in the base game first.^[5]
• Crossbows enchanted with Quick Charge VI and above get stuck on the first frame on the recharging animation because the resulting charge time is negative, and the game never reaches the time markers that tell it to advance the animation or the reloading procedure itself. It is technically possible to charge such crossbows, but this would require overflowing the value that determines how long the crossbow has been charged. This takes such an amount of time that this is practically impossible: for example, charging a crossbow with Quick Charge VI would take 69.4 years to complete.
• Although Piercing allows arrows to bypass shields, they cannot get through the wither's projectile armor or a shulker's shell.
• In real life, crossbows do not shoot the same arrows as bows, rather they shoot shorter, thicker, and oftentimes fletchless arrows (usually called "bolts") made to withstand the crossbow's increased power, which can shatter conventional arrows.

Gallery

Icons

• 
  An enchanted crossbow

Renders

• 
  Steve charging a crossbow in Java Edition
• 
  Alex charging a crossbow in Java Edition
• 
  A pillager charging a crossbow
• 
  A piglin charging a crossbow
• 
  Steve aiming a crossbow
• 
  Alex aiming a crossbow
• 
  A pillager aiming a crossbow in Bedrock Edition
• 
  A piglin aiming a crossbow in Bedrock Edition

Screenshots

• 
  How the crossbow is equipped
• 
  A zombified piglin with a crossbow (does not shoot, only melee attacks)
  
• 
  Pillager who broke its crossbow
• 
  Noor firing a crossbow

Development images

• 
  A crossbow shown at MINECON Earth 2018
• 
  A pillager armed with a crossbow, shown at MINECON Earth 2018
• 
  First image of a crossbow with the piercing enchantment

In other media

• 
  A crossbow as it appeared in A Minecraft Movie Live Event
• 
  A firework crossbow in Village & Pillage: Official Trailer
• 
  A crossbow as it appears in Minecraft Dungeons
• 
  A crossbow as seen in A Minecraft Movie
• 
  Nerf crossbow

References

External links

• "Taking Inventory: Crossbow" by Duncan Geere – Minecraft.net, October 20, 2022.