Whether you're climbing the ranks on Minecraft 1.20 servers or facing off against the Ender dragon, it's time to gear up. In a real battle, distance is your ally. Get too close, and you'll suffer devastating blows. Stay too far, and you'll be forced to rely on tricks like the TNT. However, if you have a bow by your side, you can eliminate enemies from afar, way beyond their reach. And that's just the beginning of the bow's incredible capabilities. So, join us to learn how to make a bow in Minecraft and even uncover all you need to know about it.

How to Make a Bow in Minecraft (2023)

From enchantments to crafting recipes and practical uses, we've got you covered. Explore each section to become a bow expert in Minecraft.

How to Find a Bow in Minecraft

Crafting a bow manually is undoubtedly the most straightforward approach to obtaining this powerful weapon. However, if you are looking for an adventure and a quest for exploration, these alternate methods might be a better pick.

Trading

The easiest and one of the most reliable ways to obtain a bow in Minecraft is by trading with Fletcher villagers. They sell one bow for 2 emeralds as a trade at the apprentice level. But you can even trade multiple times with a particular villager to push them to an expert level and get enchanted bows.

As for finding the fletchers, you can use our dedicated guide to find a village in Minecraft without wasting a single second. Though, if your village doesn't have a Fletcher, you will have to create a Fletching Table to use as a job site block.

Fishing

Fishing is another great option when it comes to obtaining bows without manually making one. But, you have to be extremely patient with it as bows have an extremely low chance (close to 1%) of ending up at the end of your hook.

Moreover, the fished bow is often damaged so you have to figure out a way to repair it. So, it's the safest bet if you know how to make a bow in Minecraft and also how to repair it to health.

Mobs That Carry Bows

Players aren't the only ones who can carry a bow in Minecraft. You can also find them on the following mobs:

• Skeletons
• Strays
• Illusioners

All three of these mobs always spawn with a bow in their hands and they don't hesitate to shoot you with it. But, when you kill them, each of these mobs only has an 8.5% chance of dropping a normal or enchanted bow on dying.

Plus, the Illusioners are unreleased mobs that can only be spawned in the Java edition of Minecraft. So, unless you are on cracked Minecraft servers, this narrows down your option to only two mobs and both of them won't give up their weapons easily.

Items Required to Craft a Minecraft Bow

If exploration doesn't go your way, then manually creating a bow in Minecraft is your only option. To do so, you must collect the following items:

• 3 Sticks
• 3 Sticks
• 1 Crafting Table

Sticks are one of the easiest items to obtain in Minecraft. You can break a dead bush inside a desert to obtain them without any work. Otherwise, placing two planks vertically next to each other in the crafting grid also turns them into sticks.

How to Get String in Minecraft

Whether it is the real world or Minecraft, no bow can be complete without its pullable string. Here's how to get one:

1. First, search for a spider or a cave spider in your world. The former is easier to find and it spawns throughout the overworld during the night.

2. Then, use a diamond sword or any weapon of your choice to kill the spider mob. They drop 0-2 strings when killed by a player or a tamed wolf. But keep in mind that the spiders won't go down without putting up a fight and that's where a shield might come in handy.

3. Not to forget, if you struggle with finding a spider in Minecraft, you can also get strings by fishing, looting chests, and bartering with Piglins.

Crafting Recipe of Bow in Minecraft

Once you have all the items in your inventory, follow these easy steps to craft a bow in Minecraft:

1. First, open your crafting table by right-clicking or pressing the secondary action key while looking at it.

2. Then, fill up the right-most column of the crafting grid by placing three strings in it.

3. Next, place a stick in the middle cell of the topmost and the bottommost row of the crafting grid. And finally, place one in the center of the leftmost column to complete the recipe. With that, your bow is ready.

How to Make Arrows

Now that you know how to make a bow in Minecraft, it's time to get its ammunition. The bows in Minecraft allow you to shoot regular, spectral, and tipped arrows, each with its own unique advantages. But that's a discussion for some other day.

For now, you can craft them by combining a stick, a feather, and a piece of flint. This simple recipe yields four arrows, allowing you to stock up on ammunition efficiently. Alternatively, if you encounter hostile skeletons or strays in the game, you can collect the arrows they shoot at you and freely use them as well.

How to Use a Bow in Minecraft

With arrows on your back and bows in your hand, nothing is stopping you from taking over the world of Minecraft. At least, as long as you know how to use it properly. So, here are a few reliable tips to make the most out of your Minecraft bow:

• To use a bow, you have to draw its string to load an arrow. When you let go of the string it shoots the arrow towards the spot where the bow is being aimed.
• While they are aiming with a bow, the player moves at a sneaking speed. Though, this doesn't apply while you are riding a boat, Elytra, or any mob.
• The duration for which you draw the bow's string determines the power by which the arrow fires. If you wait for a complete cycle, the arrow can deal damage of 6 points.
• Lastly, due to their teleportation skills, you cannot shoot Endermen with an arrow. Even if you trap the Enderman it still remains immune from arrows.

How to Repair a Bow in Minecraft

Irrespective of how you obtain your bow in Minecraft, it's impossible to make it last forever. Just like all the other tools in the game, bows lose durability as you use them and shoot arrows. One bow can be used to shoot 385 arrows before it breaks. While it might sound like a lot, it is nowhere enough on Minecraft Bedwars servers and boss fights.

Fortunately, if you have two damaged bows in your toolkit, you can combine the two using an anvil or a grindstone to combine their durability. Using a grindstone grants an additional 5% durability making it the better choice. However, if you don't have a second damaged bow then there is no way to repair your weapon. Then your only option is to learn how to make a bow in Minecraft.

Best Bow Enchantments in Minecraft

A bow, by itself, is more than enough to keep most hostile mobs at bay by letting you attack them at a distance. However, unlike swords or axes, they don't have material variants to make the bows more powerful. Instead, you have to rely upon the following enchantments to upgrade your bow in Minecraft:

• Power: Boosts dealt damage
• Punch: Increases knockback dealt by an arrow
• Flame: Kindles arrows, causing fire damage and igniting TNT and campfires
• Infinity: Prevents arrow consumption when shooting, but requires at least 1 arrow to work
• Unbreaking: Increases durability
• Mending: Repairs the bow with experience orbs
• Curse of Vanishing: Bow disappears upon the death of a player, not dropping as an item

To prevent bows from becoming overpowered, mending and infinity are mutually exclusive enchantments. You cannot apply them on the same bow at the same time. But, all the other ones can be applied using an Enchanting Table or enchanted books.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which villager sells bows?

Only the villagers that have the job of a Fletcher can sell you bows in exchange for emeralds.

What is the easiest way to get bows in Minecraft?

The easiest way to obtain a bow in Minecraft is by trading with Fletchers or crafting a bow manually.

What is the easiest way to get bows in Minecraft?

Since there is only one type of bow in the game, wooden bows are the strongest and weakest bows in Minecraft.

What does Infinity do on a bow?

The Infinity enchantment in Minecraft allows you to limitlessly use your bows without consuming any arrows. However, this enchantment requires you to have at least one arrow in your inventory.

Make, Repair, Enchantment, and Use Minecraft Bows

Now that you have a powerful bow in your arsenal, it's time to get right onto aim practice. One of the best targets for you can be decorated pots that are available in a variety of designs and styles. But, if you want something more challenging, the hanging signs on a high spot might be a good alternative. However, if you are already a sharpshooter then jumping right into combat can be a good exercise. Plus, if you have a camel to ride upon, the bows can make you truly untouchable in most scenarios. Having said that, do you have any about how to make a bow in Minecraft? Drop your queries on our Discord server and someone from the community will reach out right away!