How to Make a Shield in Minecraft
Last updated: 31 October 2026A Minecraft shield is crafted from 6 planks of any wood and 1 iron ingot at a crafting table. Hold it in your off-hand to block attacks, and combine it with a banner to give it a custom design.
What is the shield recipe in Minecraft?
Six planks and one iron ingot, arranged in a crafting table. The planks do not have to match.
- Open a crafting table; the 2×2 inventory grid is too small.
- Top row: plank, iron ingot, plank.
- Middle row: three planks.
- Bottom row: one plank in the middle slot.
- Take the shield. Each craft makes one.
You can also buy a shield from a journeyman armorer villager for 5 emeralds if that villager offers the trade, or find a damaged one in trial chamber vaults and reward chests.
How do you use a shield in Minecraft?
Put it in your off-hand so you can keep a weapon ready, then block with it. The controls differ by edition.
- Java Edition: hold the use item button, which is right-click by default. You slow to sneaking speed and cannot attack while blocking.
- Bedrock Edition: sneak with the shield equipped. You can still attack, but attacking lowers the shield.
Blocking starts after a 0.25 second delay and only covers attacks from the front. Blocking a projectile for the first time earns the Not Today, Thank You advancement.
What can a shield block?
Most melee hits and projectiles from the front, but not magic, lightning or fall damage.
| Blocked | Not blocked |
|---|---|
| Melee attacks | Piercing crossbow arrows |
| Normal, tipped, spectral and flaming arrows | Lightning, including Channeling tridents |
| Thrown tridents, snowballs and eggs | Splash and lingering potion effects |
| Fireballs and wither skulls | Evoker fangs and ender dragon breath |
| Creeper blasts | Warden sonic boom |
| Ravager attacks and bee stings | Fall damage |
An axe hit, or a warden's melee attack, disables your shield for 5 seconds. Guardian lasers are only partly blocked, because their magic damage still gets through.
How long does a shield last, and how do you repair it?
A shield has 336 durability, and blocking a hit of 3 damage or more wears it down by that hit's strength.
- Anvil: add planks or another shield. The shield keeps its pattern and enchantments, so this is the method to use for a decorated shield.
- Crafting grid: combine two damaged shields, or a damaged shield and a new one. The durability adds up with a 5% bonus, but the result has no pattern.
- Grindstone: the durability works the same way, and the result keeps the pattern of the shield in the top slot.
What enchantments can a shield have?
Three: Unbreaking (up to III), Mending, and Curse of Vanishing. Apply them with enchanted books at an anvil.
How do you put a design on a shield?
Combine an undecorated shield with a finished banner in a crafting grid. The shield takes the banner's design, and the banner is used up.
The design cannot be changed or washed off afterwards, so check it first: the Shield Maker previews any pattern on a shield, and the Minecraft shield designs gallery has ready-made ideas. To build the banner itself, see how to make a banner in Minecraft. On Bedrock, this works from version 1.20.0.