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How to Make a Shield

Six planks and one iron ingot. The best defence you can make on day one.

A shield surrounded by an iron ingot, a white banner, an iron axe and an arrow on oak planks
Quick answer
  • Craft a Shield from 6 planks and 1 iron ingot.
  • Hold it in your off hand and block to stop most hits from the front.
  • Craft it with a banner to put the design on it.

A shield is one of the first things you should make. It blocks arrows, creeper blasts and most melee hits.

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What it blocks

A raised shield blocks damage from the front half of where you're facing.

BlocksDoesn't block
Melee hitsWarden sonic booms
Arrows and tridentsPiercing crossbow arrows
ExplosionsFall damage
FireballsPotion effects

Watch out for axes

A hit from an axe disables your shield for 5 seconds. Vindicators carry axes, so be careful in mansions and raids.

336durability
5 sdisabled after an axe hit

Adding a design

  1. Design a banner on a loom.
  2. Put the banner and a plain shield in a crafting grid.
  3. Your shield now shows the banner's pattern.

This only works on a shield that doesn't have a pattern yet.

Repairing

Repair it with planks in an Anvil, or give it Unbreaking and Mending.

Cheat sheet

  • 6 planks + 1 iron ingot
  • Blocks arrows, explosions and melee
  • Axes disable it for 5 seconds
  • Craft with a banner for a design

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Made by nocware, a Hardcore Minecraft streamer. One life, live Mon, Wed and Fri at 6pm UK.