Swords are the most important self-defense tool in Minecraft, right next to shields. They are the strongest weapon in terms of defeating mobs and animals, especially when enchanted. They can be obtained as drops from zombies, skeletons, pillagers, vindicators, and piglins. However, they can much more easily be crafted by the player using sticks and a handful of different materials.
This guide will walk you through the crafting of swords, from making sticks to using the smithing table to make netherite upgrades. It will also teach you how to repair a sword on an anvil, a concept that can be applied to any in-game tool.
Table of Contents
Making Sticks in Minecraft
The one ingredient required to make every sword is a stick. To make them, you start by taking one log of any type of wood and turning it into wood planks. One log makes four wood planks.
Afterward, take two of the wood planks and put them into the crafting interface in your inventory, with one wooden plank in the bottom right box and the other in the top right box. This will produce four sticks.
How to Make a Wooden Sword
A wooden sword is crafted using one stick and two wooden planks. While oak planks are most commonly used, they can be made of any tree— acacia, birch, dark oak, jungle, mangrove, spruce, and even bamboo.
To craft the sword, you must use a crafting table. In the table’s 3×3 grid, place one stick in the middle box of the bottom row, followed by one wooden plank in the middle box of the middle row and one wooden plank in the middle box of the top row.
In Java Edition, wooden swords do 2 hearts of damage and last for 59 hits. In Bedrock Edition, they do 2.5 hearts of damage and last for 60 hits.
How to Make a Stone Sword
A stone sword can be crafted using one stick and two cobblestone blocks.
To craft it, start by opening up the crafting table’s 3×3 grid. Place the stick in the middle box of the bottom row, followed by one cobblestone in the middle box of the middle row and one cobblestone in the middle box of the top row.
In Java Edition, stone swords do 2.5 hearts of damage and last for 131 hits. In Bedrock Edition, they do 2.5 hearts of damage and last for 132 hits.
How to Make an Iron Sword
Iron swords are crafted with one stick and two iron ingots
In the crafting table’s 3×3 grid, place one stick in the middle box of the bottom row, one iron ingot in the middle box of the middle row, and one iron ingot in the middle box of the top row.
In Java, an iron sword does 3 hearts of damage and lasts for 250 hits. In Bedrock, it does 3.5 hearts of damage and lasts for 251 hits.
How to Make a Golden Sword
Gold swords are crafted using one stick and two gold ingots.
Using the crafting table’s 3×3 crafting grid, start by placing one stick in the middle of the bottom row. Then place one gold ingot in the middle box of the middle row. Lastly, place the other gold ingot in the middle box of the top row.
In Java, a gold sword does 2 hearts of damage and lasts for 32 hits. In Bedrock, it does 2.5 hearts of damage and lasts for 33 hits. The damage is identical to the wooden sword but with about half of the durability.
How to Make a Diamond Sword
To craft a diamond sword, you need one stick and two diamonds.
On the crafting table’s grid, place the stick in the middle of the bottom row, the first diamond in the middle of the middle row, and the second diamond in the middle of the top row.
In Java, a diamond sword does 3.5 hearts of damage and lasts for 1,561 hits. In Bedrock, it does 4 hearts of damage and lasts for 1,562 hits.
How to Make a Netherite Sword
The netherite sword is the only one that is made in the smithing table. It requires a diamond sword, a netherite ingot, and a netherite upgrade smithing template.
To craft it, just place the diamond sword, upgrade template, and netherite ingot into the smithing table.
Getting the Netherite Upgrade Smithing Template
The netherite upgrade smithing template is found in the Nether in Bastion Remnants. It will spawn as chest loot 10% of the time in Bastion Remnants without a treasure room. In Bastion Remnants with a treasure room, it will spawn in that room 100% of the time.
Getting Netherite Ingots
To obtain netherite ingots, you must start by digging up ancient debris in the Nether. You will need four ancient debris to craft one netherite ingot.
Ancient Debris is rare but can be found around Y-level 14 in the Nether.
Once you have the ancient debris, you can smelt it to create netherite scraps.
From here, just combine four netherite scraps with four gold ingots to produce one netherite ingot!
Using an Anvil to Repair a Sword
To repair a sword on an anvil, all you have to do is place two swords of one type on the anvil to produce one fully repaired sword.
Just remember to put the sword you want to repair in the first box, especially if it’s named and enchanted! This will be cheaper and will keep the sword’s name.
