How to Make a Bow and Arrow in Minecraft

Last Updated: August 10, 2021

Crafting a bow and arrow in Minecraft allows you to begin fighting with a ranged weapon. Bows are fun to fight with and relatively easy to craft. Later on, bows can be enchanted. Read on to figure out exactly how to craft a bow and arrow from raw materials.

Recipe

Method 1

Method 1 of 2:

Making a Bow

1
Make sure you have a crafting table built. Crafting tables can be made by placing a block of wood in the 2x2 crafting area, making 4 wooden planks. These 4 wooden planks are placed in the crafting area again, giving you a crafting table.
- Crafting tables can be placed on the ground. They show a 3x3 grid in which many of the game's item can be made.
- Crafting tables can also be found in villages.
2
Make sure you have your materials. In order to craft a bow, you will need:
- 3 Sticks
  - In order to make sticks, you need two wooden planks.
  - In order to make wooden planks, you need wood.
- 3 Strings
  - You can get string by killing spiders. It is common for spiders to drop 0 to 2 strings at a time, so you may have to kill more than one spider in order to get string.
  - You may also find string by searching a mine for a web and breaking it.
Advertisement
3
Arrange your sticks in the crafting table grid. Arrange your sticks in the following triangle pattern in order to begin crafting a bow:
- In the upper 1/3 of your crafting table grid, place one stick in the middle
- In the middle 1/3 of your crafting table grid, place one stick on the right
- In the bottom 1/3 of your crafting table grid, place one stick in the middle
4
Arrange your strings in the crafting table grid. Arrange your strings in the following straight line pattern in order to finish crafting a bow:
- Make a straight line descending down the left of the grid, using three strings
5
Craft your bow. Click on the craft button in order to turn the raw materials into a bow.

Method 2

Method 2 of 2:

Making Arrows

1
Make sure you have your materials. In order to craft an arrow, you will need:
- 1 Stick
  - Sticks are made by turning wood blocks into wooden planks, and wooden planks into sticks.
- 1 Flint
  - Flint can be found by mining gravel. When mining gravel, there is a 10% chance that a piece of flint will drop instead of a gravel block.
- 1 Feather
  - Feathers can be found by killing chickens.
2
Arrange your items in a straight descending line in your crafting table. Place the items in the following way to craft an arrow:
- In the upper 1/3 of your crafting table grid, place one flint in the middle
- In the middle 1/3 of your crafting table grid, place one stick in the middle
- In the bottom 1/3 of your crafting table grid, place one feather in the middle
3
Craft your arrow. Click on the craft button in order to turn the raw materials into four arrows.

Community Q&A

Question

Do arrows do more damage than swords?

Community Answer

Yes, arrows can do more damage than swords in Minecraft when used with full power.
Question

How do I use a bow and arrow?

Lily

Community Answer

Select the bow and arrow and hold right click to pull back the bow. Release to fire. You must have arrows to use a bow and arrow.
Question

How do I make a bow and arrow?

Community Answer

Use a Crafting table. You put the stick in the middle, then the flint on top, then the feather down to get 4 arrows.

Warnings

Be careful when trying to kill spiders. You don't want to get killed.

⧼thumbs_response⧽
Helpful 52 Not Helpful 12
Attacking when they jump is effective.

⧼thumbs_response⧽
Helpful 53 Not Helpful 13