Iron Sword

For the feature in Minecraft Dungeons, see MCD:Sword.
Iron Sword
Iron Sword.png: Infobox image for Iron Sword the item in Minecraft
Enchanted Iron Sword.gif: Infobox image for Iron Sword the item in Minecraft
Invicon Iron Sword.png: Inventory sprite for Iron Sword in Minecraft as shown in-game with description: Iron Sword When in Main Hand:  6 Attack Damage  1.6 Attack Speed
Rarity tier

Common

Attack damage

JE: 6HP♥♥♥
BE: 7HP♥♥♥♥

Attack speed

1.6 (0.625 seconds)

Durability

JE: 250
BE: 251

Enchantability

14

Renewable

Yes

Stackable

No

An iron sword is a variant of sword crafted from iron ingots. It is the third-highest tier of sword, dealing more damage and having more durability than stone and copper swords. It can be smelted into a single iron nugget.

Obtaining

Mob loot

A vex never drops its iron sword, because its main hand's HandDropChances is 0. This is not affected by the Looting enchantment.

In Bedrock Edition, pillagers and vindicators that spawn from raids have a 4.1% chance (or a 5.12% chance on Hard difficulty) of dropping a damaged iron sword. This sword has a 50% chance of being enchanted.

In both editions, zombies have a random chance to spawn with an iron sword. The zombie has an 8.5% chance to drop the sword; this chance is also affected by Looting, with each level increasing the chance by 1% (11.5% with Looting III).

Generated loot

Item Structure Container Quantity Chance
Java Edition
Buried Treasure Chest 1 25%
Stronghold Altar chest 1 12%
Village Weaponsmith's chest 1 25.6%
[A] End City Chest 1 13.3%
[B][C] Bastion Remnant Generic chest 1 19%
Bedrock Edition
Stronghold Altar chest 1 11.6%
Village Weaponsmith's chest 1 25.6%
[A] End City Chest 1 13.3%
[B][C] Bastion Remnant Generic chest 1 19%
  1. a b Enchantment probabilities are the same as a level-20 to level-39 enchantment would be on an enchantment table that had no cap at level 30, and that was able to apply treasure enchantments (except Soul Speed, Swift Sneak, and Wind Burst), and where the chance of multiple enchantments is not reduced.
  2. a b All enchantments are equally probable, including treasure enchantments (except Soul Speed, Swift Sneak, and Wind Burst), and any level of the enchantment is equally probable.
  3. a b The item has between 10% and 90% of its total durability.

Crafting

An iron sword is crafted using 1 stick and 2 iron ingots.

Ingredients Crafting recipe
Iron Ingot +
Stick
Invicon Iron Ingot.png: Inventory sprite for Iron Ingot in Minecraft as shown in-game linking to Iron Ingot with description: Iron IngotInvicon Iron Ingot.png: Inventory sprite for Iron Ingot in Minecraft as shown in-game linking to Iron Ingot with description: Iron IngotInvicon Stick.png: Inventory sprite for Stick in Minecraft as shown in-game linking to Stick with description: Stick
Invicon Iron Sword.png: Inventory sprite for Iron Sword in Minecraft as shown in-game with description: Iron Sword When in Main Hand:  6 Attack Damage  1.6 Attack Speed

Trading

A weaponsmith trading an enchanted iron sword.
VillagerProbabilityVillager wantsPlayer receives
JEBE
Novice Weaponsmith67%100%7–21 × Emerald Enchanted Iron Sword[t 1]
  1. When creating an enchantment offer, the game uses a random enchantment level from 5 to 19. The enchantments are never treasure enchantments.

Usage

Breaking

Main article: Sword § Breaking

A sword can also be used to destroy certain blocks 50% quicker, sometimes much quicker than with fists. Using a sword to destroy any block that doesn't break instantly by hand decreases its durability by 2; this includes bamboo, despite that the sword is the fastest tool for breaking it.[1]

If a sword is enchanted with Silk Touch, either using Creative or commands, cobwebs the sword destroys drop the cobwebs themselves instead of the usual string. This is due to the sword being classified as the proper tool for cobwebs.

Creative mode

In Creative mode, swords are unable to break blocks. However, they can still break placed entities such as minecarts, paintings, item frames,‌ and armor stands.[2][3]

Attacking

Main article: Sword § Attacking

An iron sword is used to deal damage to mobs and entities by attacking them. The iron sword has 6HP♥♥♥ base damage in Java Edition and 7HP♥♥♥♥ base damage in Bedrock Edition, and can be enchanted to deal more damage. The following tables show how the Sharpness enchantment affects the damage dealt by the sword.

Extra damage of Sharpness enchantment

Sharpness extra damage
Edition I II III IV V
Java Edition 1HP♥ 1.5HP♥ × 0.75 2HP♥ 2.5HP♥ × 1.25 3HP♥♥
Bedrock Edition 1HP♥ 2HP♥ 3HP♥♥ 5HP♥♥♥ 6HP♥♥♥

Total damage of sword with Sharpness

The tables below assume that the attack is fully charged‌, the target is not wearing armor, and neither the attacker nor the target has any effects.

Java Edition
Iron sword Sharpness damage
Attack type Base damage Sharpness I Sharpness II Sharpness III Sharpness IV Sharpness V
Normal 6HP♥♥♥ 7HP♥♥♥♥ 7.5HP♥ × 3.75 8HP♥♥♥♥ 8.5HP♥ × 4.25 9HP♥♥♥♥♥
Critical 9HP♥♥♥♥♥ 10HP♥♥♥♥♥ 10.5HP♥ × 5.25 11HP♥ × 5.5 12HP♥ × 6 12.5HP♥ × 6.25
Bedrock Edition
Iron sword Sharpness damage
Attack type Base damage Sharpness I Sharpness II Sharpness III Sharpness IV Sharpness V
Normal 7HP♥♥♥♥ 8HP♥♥♥♥ 9HP♥♥♥♥♥ 10HP♥♥♥♥♥ 12HP♥ × 6 13HP♥ × 6.5
Critical 10.5HP♥ × 5.25 12HP♥ × 6 13.5HP♥ × 6.75 15HP♥ × 7.5 18HP♥ × 9 19.5HP♥ × 9.75

Repairing

Combining

Ingredients Crafting recipe Description
Damaged
Invicon Damaged Iron Sword.png: Inventory sprite for Damaged Iron Sword in Minecraft as shown in-game with description: Iron Sword When in Main Hand:  6 Attack Damage  1.6 Attack SpeedInvicon Damaged Iron Sword.png: Inventory sprite for Damaged Iron Sword in Minecraft as shown in-game with description: Iron Sword When in Main Hand:  6 Attack Damage  1.6 Attack Speed
Invicon Iron Sword.png: Inventory sprite for Iron Sword in Minecraft as shown in-game with description: Iron Sword When in Main Hand:  6 Attack Damage  1.6 Attack Speed
The durability of the two swords is added together, plus an extra 5% durability.
Ingredients Grinding recipe Description
2x Damaged Iron Sword
Invicon Damaged Iron Sword.png: Inventory sprite for Damaged Iron Sword in Minecraft as shown in-game with description: Iron Sword When in Main Hand:  6 Attack Damage  1.6 Attack SpeedInvicon Damaged Iron Sword.png: Inventory sprite for Damaged Iron Sword in Minecraft as shown in-game with description: Iron Sword When in Main Hand:  6 Attack Damage  1.6 Attack SpeedInvicon Iron Sword.png: Inventory sprite for Iron Sword in Minecraft as shown in-game with description: Iron Sword When in Main Hand:  6 Attack Damage  1.6 Attack Speed
The durability of the two swords is added together, plus an extra 5% durability.

Anvil repair

Ingredients Anvil recipe
Damaged  +
Iron Ingot
Iron SwordInvicon Damaged Iron Sword.png: Inventory sprite for Damaged Iron Sword in Minecraft as shown in-game with description: Iron Sword When in Main Hand:  6 Attack Damage  1.6 Attack SpeedInvicon Damaged Iron Sword.png: Inventory sprite for Damaged Iron Sword in Minecraft as shown in-game with description: Iron Sword When in Main Hand:  6 Attack Damage  1.6 Attack SpeedInvicon Iron Ingot.png: Inventory sprite for Iron Ingot in Minecraft as shown in-game linking to Iron Ingot with description: Iron IngotInvicon Iron Sword.png: Inventory sprite for Iron Sword in Minecraft as shown in-game with description: Iron Sword When in Main Hand:  6 Attack Damage  1.6 Attack Speed

A sword can be repaired in an anvil by adding units of the tiers' repair material, with each repair material restoring 25% the sword's maximum durability, rounded down. Two swords of the same tier can also be combined in an anvil. Both methods preserve the sword's enchantments.

Enchantments

An iron sword can receive the following enchantments:

Name Description Max level Method Weight
Sharpness[note 1] Increases the damage dealt. V Enchanting Table
Anvil
10
Smite[note 1] Increases the damage dealt to undead. V Enchanting Table
Anvil
5
Bane of Arthropods[note 1] Increases the damage dealt to arthropods. V Enchanting Table
Anvil
5
Looting Increases the amount of drops when killing an entity with the sword. III Enchanting Table
Anvil
2
Knockback Increases the knockback dealt. II Enchanting Table
Anvil
5
Fire Aspect Ignites any targets hit by the sword. In Bedrock Edition, it also lights unlit candles, campfires, and blocks of TNT when used. II Enchanting Table
Anvil
2
Sweeping Edge Increases the sweeping damage dealt. III Enchanting Table
Anvil
2
Unbreaking Grants a chance to negate durability consumption. III Enchanting Table
Anvil
5
Mending Repairs the sword when obtaining experience. I Anvil 2
Curse of Vanishing The sword vanishes on death, not dropping as an item. I Anvil 1
  1. a b c Sharpness, Smite, and Bane of Arthropods are mutually exclusive.

Smelting ingredient

An iron sword can be smelted into an iron nugget using a furnace or blast furnace.

Name Ingredients Smelting recipe
Iron Nugget  +
Any fuel
Invicon Iron Sword.png: Inventory sprite for Iron Sword in Minecraft as shown in-game with description: Iron Sword When in Main Hand:  6 Attack Damage  1.6 Attack Speed
Invicon Coal.png: Inventory sprite for Coal in Minecraft as shown in-game linking to Coal with description: CoalInvicon Charcoal.png: Inventory sprite for Charcoal in Minecraft as shown in-game linking to Charcoal with description: CharcoalInvicon Oak Log.png: Inventory sprite for Oak Log in Minecraft as shown in-game linking to Oak Log with description: LogInvicon Oak Planks.png: Inventory sprite for Oak Planks in Minecraft as shown in-game linking to Oak Planks with description: Overworld PlanksInvicon Lava Bucket.png: Inventory sprite for Lava Bucket in Minecraft as shown in-game linking to Lava Bucket with description: Lava BucketInvicon Block of Coal.png: Inventory sprite for Block of Coal in Minecraft as shown in-game linking to Block of Coal with description: Block of Coal

Invicon Iron Nugget.png: Inventory sprite for Iron Nugget in Minecraft as shown in-game linking to Iron Nugget with description: Iron Nugget0.1

Sounds

Main article: Sword § Sounds

Iron swords make a sound when used to attack an entity. The sound depends on how the attack is landed. Their sounds are shared with other types of swords.

Data values

ID

Java Edition:

NameIdentifierFormTranslation key
ItemSprite iron-sword.png: Sprite image for iron-sword in Minecraft Iron Swordiron_swordItemitem.minecraft.iron_sword

Bedrock Edition:

NameIdentifierNumeric ID FormTranslation key
ItemSprite iron-sword.png: Sprite image for iron-sword in Minecraft Iron Swordiron_sword308Itemitem.iron_sword.name

Achievements

IconAchievementIn-game descriptionActual requirements (if different)Gamerscore earnedTrophy type (PS)
PS4Other
OverkillDeal nine hearts of damage in a single hit.Damage can be dealt to any mob, even those that do not have nine hearts of health overall.30Bronze
Time to Strike!Use planks and sticks to make a sword.Pick up any type of sword from a crafting table output.10Bronze

Video

History

Java Edition Indev
0.3120091231-2147 Added swords. At this point, iron swords are the only tier of sword in the game.
Swords cannot be crafted yet, but can be added to the player's inventory during world creation.
20100110The sword is no longer added to the player's inventory during world creation.
20100128-2200With the addition of tool tiers, the existing swords are now known as iron swords.
Added iron swords to the item chest in the Indev house.
An iron sword held by the player is now rendered to appear more 3D.
20100129-1447Iron swords can now be crafted.
20100131-2156Iron swords now have durability which is 129 points.
Iron swords now cost 1 durability per hit, and 2 points per block broken.
Now iron swords deal 12HP♥ × 6 damage.
Java Edition Beta
1.2Gave the iron swords more durability.
Iron swords previous only had 128 durability.
1.5Increased the damage of the iron sword by 1HP♥, from 8HP♥♥♥♥ to 9HP♥♥♥♥♥, to match the increase in the player's barehanded damage.
1.8Pre-releaseAdded the ability to block with an iron sword, giving the player more options in combat.
Iron swords deflect 50% of incoming melee damage, non-magical projectiles like arrows and explosion damage, and a bit of knockback.
The iron sword is held in front of the player and its durability is not reduced by blocking.
The player moves at a slower rate than sneaking when blocking with an iron sword.
Decreased the damage of the iron sword back to the damage it has before pre-Beta 1.5 (8HP♥♥♥♥).
Java Edition
1.0.0Beta 1.9 Prerelease 3Iron sword damage has been reduced in order to keep enchanting balanced. Reduced the iron sword's damage from 8HP♥♥♥♥ to 6HP♥♥♥.
Iron swords are now found in the new stronghold altar chests.
Beta 1.9 Prerelease 4Iron swords can now be enchanted in the enchantment table.
1.112w01aIron swords are now found in village blacksmith chests.
1.2.112w06aThere is a rare chance of obtaining an iron sword by killing a zombie, with a 20% chance of the sword being enchanted.
12w21aBlacksmith villagers now sell iron swords for 7–10 emeralds.
1.4.212w32aA zombie sometimes spawns with an iron sword, allowing it to deal extra damage.
1.6.113w21aInstead of replacing the barehanded damage of (1HP♥), iron swords now add their damage onto the barehanded damage, which results in them doing 1HP♥ more damage than before.
13w25bIn Creative mode, iron swords are no longer able to break blocks, and no sound plays when they're hit with one.[4]
13w21aInstead of replacing the barehanded damage (1HP♥), iron swords now add their damage onto the barehanded damage, which results in them doing 1HP♥ more damage than before.
1.814w02aWeaponsmith villagers now sell enchanted iron swords for 9–10 emeralds. Unenchanted swords are no longer sold.
14w25aBlocking immediately after attacking no longer continues the swing animation.[5]
14w30aIron sword holding position have been tweaked, and the blocking animation has changed. Blocking while mining was made impossible.
1.915w31aEnchanted iron swords can now be found in End city chests.
15w33cIron swords no longer block attacks. Instead, shields are used.
15w34bIron swords now use the attack speed attribute. The attack speed of a sword is 1.25 or 0.8 seconds.
15w34cNerfed iron swords, they now do 1HP♥ less damage and have an attack speed of 1.45, or 0.69 seconds.
Iron swords can now do a sweep attack when moving at walking speed or slower, which knock back mobs near the one hit. The attack speed meter must be filled for it to work.
15w36aEach Sharpness level now adds 1HP♥ damage to the base damage at level I and an additional 0.5HP♥ × 0.25 for each additional level, instead of the flat 1.25HP♥ × 0.625 per level it added before.
15w37aIron swords now have an attack speed of 1.6, or 0.6 seconds.
15w49aSweep attack now does 1HP♥ damage to affected mobs and players.
1.11.116w50aIron swords now smelt down into one iron nugget.
Added Sweeping Edge enchantment, which can be put on iron swords.
1.1318w10aIron swords can now generate in buried treasure chests.
September 10, 2018 Jasper Boerstra tweets an image of updated sword textures.
1.1418w43a Changed the texture of iron swords.
Iron swords now break bamboo instantly.
19w11aWeaponsmith villagers now sell enchanted iron swords for 7-21 emeralds.
1.16.220w30aDamaged enchanted iron swords can now be found in bastion remnant chests.
Java Edition Combat Tests
1.14.3The attack speed for iron swords has been increased to 3.
The base damage is now 2HP♥, meaning that iron swords now do 7HP♥♥♥♥ points of damage.
The attack reach of swords has been increased to 3.5 blocks.
2The attack speed of iron swords has been decreased to 2.5.
3The attack speed of iron swords has been reverted back to 3.0.
4Iron swords can now perform critical, knockback (sprint) hits on 100% charge.
The attack reach of iron swords was decreased by 0.5 block. They now have a 3 blocks reach.
5Weapons have been nerfed. The iron sword now does 5HP♥♥♥ damage.
6Iron swords' attack reach have been buffed by 0.5 block.
Iron swords now always do sweep attack, even in the air.
7cAll weapons' attack reach have been nerfed by 0.5 block. Iron swords now have an attack reach of 3 blocks again.
Iron swords no longer sweep without Sweeping Edge and 200% charge.
Pocket Edition Alpha
v0.2.0 Added iron swords. They actually function as a weapon despite being unobtainable by normal means.
v0.3.2Iron swords can now be crafted with iron ingots and sticks.
v0.4.0Iron swords have replaced stone swords in the creative inventory.
v0.9.0build 1Iron swords can now be found in stronghold altar chests and inside blacksmith chests.
v0.12.1build 1Instead of replacing the barehanded damage of (1HP♥), iron swords now add their damage onto the barehanded damage, which results in them doing 1HP♥ more damage than before.
In Creative mode, iron swords are no longer able to break blocks, and no sound plays when they're hit with one.
Zombies now rarely spawn holding an iron sword that has a chance to be dropped.
build 11Blocks can no longer be broken while holding an iron sword in Creative mode.
v0.15.0build 1Iron swords are now sometimes dropped by husks that spawn holding an iron sword.
Pocket Edition
1.0.0alpha 0.17.0.1Enchanted iron swords can now be found in End city chests.
1.0.4alpha 1.0.4.0Iron swords and are now sold by weaponsmith villagers.
1.1.0alpha 1.1.0.0Iron swords can now be smelted into 1 iron nugget each.
Added vexes, which rarely drop an iron sword when killed using Looting enchantment.
Bedrock Edition
1.10.0beta 1.10.0.3 The textures of iron swords have been changed.
Iron swords can now be found in weaponsmiths chests in plains villages.
1.11.0beta 1.11.0.1Iron swords can now be found in weaponsmiths chests in savanna, snowy taiga, taiga and desert villages.
beta 1.11.0.4Pillagers and vindicators that spawn in raids can now drop iron swords upon death.
Trading has been changed. Iron swords sold by weaponsmith villagers now cost 2 emeralds.
1.17.30beta 1.17.20.20Iron swords now break bamboo instantly.
Legacy Console Edition
Xbox 360Xbox OnePS3PS4PS VitaWii USwitch
TU1CU11.001.001.00Patch 11.0.1 Added iron swords.
TU5Iron swords can now block attacks, giving the player more options in combat.
TU141.04Blacksmith villagers now sell iron swords for 7–10 emeralds.
TU19CU71.121.121.12Instead of replacing the barehanded damage (1HP♥), iron swords now add their damage onto the barehanded damage, which results in them doing 1HP♥ more damage than before.
In Creative mode, iron swords are no longer able to break blocks, and no sound plays when they're hit with one.
TU31CU191.221.221.22Patch 3Weaponsmith villagers now sell enchanted iron swords for 9–10 emeralds. Unenchanted swords are no longer sold.
Blocking immediately after attacking no longer continues the swing animation.
TU36CU251.281.281.28Patch 7The attack damage of iron swords is now shown above the hotbar when switching to it if the sword has less than 3 enchantments.
TU46CU361.381.381.38Patch 15Enchanted iron swords can now be found in End city chests.
TU53CU431.491.501.49Patch 231.0.3Iron swords are now smeltable.
1.90 Changed the texture of the iron sword.
1.91Pillagers and vindicators that spawn in raids can now drop iron swords upon death.
Trading has been changed. Enchanted iron swords sold by weaponsmith villagers now cost 2 emeralds.
The ability to block with an iron sword has been removed.
New Nintendo 3DS Edition
0.1.0 Added iron swords.
Iron swords cannot block attacks.

Data history

Java Edition
1.1317w47aPrior to The Flattening, these iron swords's numeral IDs was 267.

Issues

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

Trivia

Gallery

Renders

In other media

See also

References

  1. MC-195168 — Swords consume double durability than they normally would when destroying bamboo saplings, bamboo, or cobwebs
  2. MC-27140
  3. MC-18463
  4. MC-18368
  5. MC-201394

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