Bow

Bow
Type:	Tool
Stackable:	No
Identifier:	bow

The bow is a tool that is used to shoot arrows.

Obtaining

Skeletons

Skeletons drop a bow occasionally as a rare drop.

Fishing

Both unenchanted and enchanted bows can be caught while fishing. Unenchanted bows make up part of the junk category, while enchanted bows make up part of the treasure category.

Crafting

The bow is crafted with three sticks and three pieces of string.

Repairing

Two bows can be combined in the crafting grid to combine their durability. This can also be done through use of the anvil, to preserve enchantments.

Usage

The bow is used to fire arrows.

Weapon

When the player shift left-clicks while holding the bow, if they have at least one arrow in their inventory, it will shoot the arrow instantly, the bow taking durability damage. The arrow does 1.5 hearts of damage upon impact with an entity.

Durability

The bow has 350 durability points. It loses 1 durability point when used to fire an arrow, to break a block, or to deal damage to a mob.

Enchanting

The bow can be enchanted directly through the Enchantment table.

Enchantments applicable to the bow include:

• Infinity(Max lvl I)
• Flame(Max lvl I)
• Punch(Max lvl II)
• Power(Max lvl III)
• Unbreaking(Max lvl IV)

Arrows

Main article: Arrow

Arrows shot using the bow eventually lose velocity, causing them to start falling, resulting in them having arched trajectory.

Shooting an arrow usually uses up the arrow, but if it does not hit an entity, it can be picked back up. However, if the bow is enchanted with infinity, the player does not lose arrows from their inventory, and the arrow that is shot cannot be picked back up, even if it doesn't hit an entity. Note: Arrows shot from infinity bows can currently be collected. This is due to a bug.

Arrows shot from a bow enchanted with Enchanting#Flame#flame appear on fire, and set fire to any entities they hit.

Tasks

#	Task	Objective	Needs
34	Fire a Bow.	Use a bow to shot an arrow.	This page is a candidate for deletion! Reason: No longer needed here. If you disagree with its deletion, please explain why at Category talk:Candidates for deletion or improve the page and remove the {{delete}} tag. Remember to check what links here and the page history before deleting. This page is a candidate for deletion! Reason: No longer needed here. If you disagree with its deletion, please explain why at Category talk:Candidates for deletion or improve the page and remove the {{delete}} tag. Remember to check what links here and the page history before deleting.

History

Version	Date	Changes
1.15	Sep 01, 2011	Added the bow
1.22	Jun 29, 2012	Bows are carried by skeletons
1.24	Dec 22, 2012	Skeletons have a higher chance of dropping their bows
1.27	Nov 13, 2015	Added a bow sound effect

Bugs

• 1.28: Arrows shot from infinity bows can be collected, allowing the player to obtain an unlimited number of arrows. TheTopazRobot (talk) 17:31, 26 December 2018 (CST)
• 1.28: The power enchantment on bows does not seem to have any effect on damage dealt by arrows. TheTopazRobot (talk) 17:31, 26 December 2018 (CST)

Trivia

• If you have enough arrows, or an infinity enchanted bow with at least one arrow, you can fire arrows insanely fast if you spam shift_click, since there's no drawback timer.
• The flame enchantment is overkill on overworld mobs. It can kill a skeleton with one arrow.

Gallery

• 

  A skeleton holding a bow, shooting arrows at the player

See Also

• Arrow