Since Minecraft has introduced a new update where you can make your own crossbow, we have been frequently getting the same question: How to make a crossbow in Minecraft? We have finally decided to address this popular question in today’s article.

In this article, we will teach you how to make a crossbow in Minecraft in a few simple steps that you can easily master. Are you ready to learn this new skill? Let’s go!

Platforms that support the Crossbow

Let’s start with the setup that you will need if you want to use this new feature. The following platforms support crossbow making in Minecraft:

The following platforms do NOT support crossbows in Minecraft:

• Xbox 360
• PS3
• Wii U

How to find the crossbow making feature on different platforms?

1. Java Edition (MAC/PC)

You can find this feature in the “combat” option in the creative inventory menu. It can be found only in the versions 1.14-1.17.

2. Pocket Edition (PE), Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and Windows 10

This feature can be found in the “equipment” option in the creative inventory menu. It can only be accessed in the versions 1.10.0 to 1.17.10.

3. PS4

For the versions 1.90 to 1.91, you can find this feature in the “Tools, Weapons and Armor” option in the creative inventory menu.
As for the versions 1.14.0 to 1.17.10, this feature will be available in the “Equipment” option in the creative inventory menu.

4. Education Edition

You can find this feature in “Equipment” available in the creative inventory menu in the versions 1.12.0 to 1.14.31.

Materials you will need

Minecraft allows you to make things from scratch. In order to make a crossbow in Minecraft, you will need the following materials:

• Two strings
• Three sticks
• One iron ingot
• One Tripwire hook

How to Find the Required Materials?

As you know, in Minecraft you cannot just pick materials from a dropdown tab, you need to find them one way or another. Now we will teach you how you can find the 4 materials needed for making a crossbow in Minecraft.

1. Strings

To get two strings, you have two different methods available in Minecraft. In the first method, you can obtain the strings by killing a spider which is basically a mob that spawns only at night.

In the second method, you will need to craft a sword and then break a cobweb using the sword. You can find cobwebs in dungeons or abandoned mineshafts. You have to break two cobwebs to get two pieces of string.

2. Sticks

In order to get sticks, you will first have to find some wooden planks. Once again, you will not find wooden planks lying around so you have to obtain them by punching a tree which will give you oak wood.

You can then use this oak wood and convert it into wooden planks. A single piece will give you four planks. You can make these planks on the crafting table. Place these planks on top of each other on the crafting table and this way you can make your own sticks.

3. Iron ingot

To obtain an iron ingot, you first need to make a wooden pickaxe. You can easily make it on the crafting table using three wooden planks and two sticks. After that you need to make a stone pickaxe which can be crafted using the wooden pickaxe.

Using the wooden pickaxe, mine 3 pieces of stone from a cave. All the gray blocks in a cave are stones so you can mine any three. Use these three cobblestones and two sticks to make a stone pickaxe on the crafting table.

Using this stone pickaxe, you will mine a single block of iron ore from the cave. Now that you have your iron ore block, all that is left to do is to smelt it in order to make an iron ingot.
Smelt this bloc of iron ore in a furnace. Iron smelts at a ratio of 1:1. Therefore, you will be able to make one iron ingot using one block of iron ore.

4. Tripwire hook

A tripwire hook can easily be made on the crafting table using one iron ingot, one stick and one wooden plank.

We write expert reviews on crossbows. Find them on Bows Hunting.

Making a Crossbow on the Crafting Table

Now that you have gathered all the materials, you can finally learn how to make a crossbow in Minecraft. The following steps will help you build your own crossbow.

1. Open the crafting table

First of all, you need to open the crafting table from the crafting menu. Once you open it, you should have a 3×3 grid in front of you in which you will be able to place materials to craft tools.

2. Placing materials on the crafting table

The next step is to put all the materials in the grid one by one. Now, you cannot just randomly place the materials in the grid. There is a unique recipe or placing order for crafting each tool.
For making a crossbow, you have to follow the following pattern or recipe in the order mentioned:

1st row: Stick, iron ingot, stick
2nd row: String, tripwire hook, string
3rd row: stick in second box

Once you place all the materials in the right order, you will see a crossbow appear in the box on the right side of your screen.

3. Placing the crossbow in the inventory

Now that you have crafted your own crossbow, you need to place it in the inventory. To do that, select the crossbow from the right-hand box and drag it towards the inventory and drop it there. This will add the crossbow to your inventory.

How many crossbows can you stack in the inventory?

On all versions of all the platforms that support crossbow crafting in Minecraft, you are allowed to stack maximum one crossbow in the inventory. This means if you have already crafted one crossbow, you can make another one and store it in the inventory until the first crossbow completes its lifetime.

Command for crossbow

You can use a single command for the crossbow on Minecraft. There are two different commands that access the crossbow on different platforms.

• For Java Edition (MAC/PC), the command that you can use is:
  /give @p crossbow 1
• For all other platforms you can use the following command:
  /give @p crossbow 1 0

Attack Damage of Crossbow

Attack damage is the damage that the crossbow will have to deal with when it is used to attack a mob.

Durability of crossbow

Durability shows how long the crossbow will last in the inventory. There are a specific number of useful actions that a crossbow can perform before it is destroyed from the inventory. A crossbow has a fixed durability of 326 in Minecraft which means that after 326 uses, the crossbow will be destroyed from your inventory and you will have to craft a new one.

Other ways to obtain a crossbow in Minecraft

You also have the option of simply obtaining a crossbow in Minecraft if you are too lazy to make one. You can do any of the following to obtain a crossbow:

Kill a pillager or piglin

If a pillager or piglin is holding a crossbow and you kill them, they will drop the crossbow when they die and you can easily pick that up. Not all pillagers and piglins are holding crossbows so if you need a crossbow make sure you kill one who is holding a crossbow.

Natural generation

There are two areas where you can get crossbows. The first one is pillager outposts. You can find pillager outposts in areas like savannahs, plains, taigas and deserts. The other one is bastion remnant. They spawn in the nether and they have large castle like structures.

Trading

You can trade a crossbow with a master-level fletcher villager for about 3 to 22 emeralds. This option is available in both bedrock and java editions. You can get an unenchanted crossbow for about 3 emeralds while an enchanted crossbow can be obtained in exchange for about 7 to 22 emeralds in java edition and just 8 emeralds in bedrock edition.

Enchantments for a crossbow in Minecraft

You can apply the following enchantments to a crossbow in Minecraft:

• Mending: This allows you to use xp in order to mend the crossbow.
• Curse of vanishing: This allows you to vanish the cursed item as soon as the player dies.
• Piercing: This allows the arrow from the crossbow to pierce through multiple entities.
• Multishot: This allows you to shoot 3 arrows while using a single arrow from the inventory.
• Unbreaking: This helps increase the durability of the crossbow.
• Quick charge: This cuts down on the reloading time of a crossbow.

How to use a crossbow in Minecraft?

You can use your crossbow as a weapon or with fireworks. When using the crossbow as a weapon, you need to make sure that you have arrows in the inventory. You can load the arrow into the crossbow by holding the right-click button.

Releasing the button will shoot the arrow. To shoot another arrow, reload the crossbow.

If you want to use the crossbow with fireworks, you have to make sure that you have fireworks inside your offhand. Now, when you load the crossbow, it will be loaded with fireworks.

Repairing a crossbow

There are 2 ways in which you can repair your crossbow. The first way requires you to add the mending enchantment and use it to repair the crossbow. In the second method, you have to take two crossbows and put them in the grindstone to add up their durabilities.

Putting two crossbows on the crafting table together also gets the same job done.