All Minecraft Bow Enchantments (And When To Use Them)

Updated:

04 Oct 2022

The Value of Enchanting Your Bow

While the bow in Minecraft is great, it really can use a little bit of bist. You know what, forrget "little bit of", let's give our bow really powerful buffs by using our trusted enchanting table.

Today, we will be going over every single enchantment you can possibly hope to have on your bow. We will be explaining what they do in detail for all of them but that's not the only thing we are going to be doing. We will also look at when you should use these enchantments and when you should choose and enchantment over another. Let's go!

7. Power

“Increases the damage dealt by bow-shot arrows.”
Power stats:

Power I full charge damage: 9 half hearts.
Power II full charge damage: 11 half hearts.
Power III full charge damage: 12 half hearts.
Power IV full charge damage: 14 half hearts.
Power V full charge damage: 15 half hearts.

Power is one of the most essential enchantments for the bow. If you want to use your bow for any kind of combat, it’s almost always a good idea to have Power V on that bad boy.

While a bow with no Power will only do six half hearts of damage with a full charge, full charge meaning that you charge the bow the full distance before firing the arrow, compared to 15 half hearts of damage with a Power V bow, with a full charge also, of course.

While you may need to think about some other bow enchantments to see if you want to have it or not in your bow in that particular moment and/or situation, Power is not one of these enchantments and you should always have it on your bow for better chances in fights.
Use Power if:

You like doing more damage with your bow.
You are going to engage in combat, whether PvE or PvP, using a bow.

6. Punch

“Increases the knockback dealt by bow-shot arrows.”
Punch stats:

Maximum level: 2
Enchantment weight: 2
Only works on a bow, and nothing else.

Punch is a straightforward enchantment that you might also recognize from the sword’s Knockback enchantment since Punch also does the exact same thing.

While the Punch enchantment does not give any damage boost to your bow, it will knock enemies back a lot further than with a normal bow. How much, I hear you asking:

With every level of punch, enemies get knocked back 3 more blocks in addition to the amount you knock back enemies with a normal, unenchanted bow. That means that with a Power II bow, you can knock back enemies an additional 6 blocks, which is a lot.
Use Punch if:

You are fighting near cliffs, or similar places where you can knock your enemies back and cause them to fall.
You want to keep your distance with your enemy by knocking them back.
You want to heal in a fight. Just knock them back and eat before they are able to reach you again.

5. Flame

“Ignites arrows, dealing fire damage to anyone hit as well as igniting TNT and campfires.”
Flame stats:

Maximum level: I
Enchantment weight: 2
Does 5 half hearts of damage over 5 seconds.

While it is similar to Fire Aspect, this enchantment causes your bow to shoot flaming arrows. If you are able to hit your enemies with these flaming arrows, they will cause the enemy to burn for five seconds, causing them an additional 5 half hearts of damage over those five seconds.

There are also some cool details that come with this enchantment. First of all, while you can’t burn any blocks with these arrows, you can light campfires, candles, and even activate TNT with them.

In addition, if you are firing the arrows outside while it’s raining, the fires will be put out and the arrows will return to normal arrows. The same applies if you are underwater.
Use Flame if:

You have a mob farm where you activate TNT with a Flame and Looting bow, since killing things via TNT that you lit up with a flame bow still drop XP and other loot.
You want to cause more damage to your enemies by lighting them on fire.
You want to activate campfires and candles from a distance.

4. Infinity

“Stops the bow from consuming arrows when shot. A minimum of 1 arrow is still required to work.”
Infinity stats:

Maximum level: I
Enchantment weight: I
Incompatible with Mending

Okay, here it is: one of the best enchantments in the game. Have you ever wanted to use a bow but didn’t want to farm and also carry a lot of arrows? Well, here is your answer to that problem.

If you enchant your bow with Infinity, you only need one arrow in your inventory. You can shoot that one arrow repeatedly and it will never go away from your inventory. While this is an amazing enchantment that helps you a lot with things like the Ender Dragon fight, it also has one downside.

You need to choose between Mending and Infinity. While it is very sad to choose between them, and I don’t really understand why the only enchantment not compatible with Mending is Infinity (I’m sure Mojang has a good reason), you will unfortunately have to choose.

While Infinity is great, you will be needing to repair your bow a lot, which is pretty easy compared to other equipment like netherite tools. So, that’s a plus.
Use Infinity if:

You don’t want to carry around a lot of arrows.
You don’t want to farm or craft a lot of arrows.
You don’t mind repairing your bow with an anvil every once in a while.

3. Unbreaking

“Grants a chance to negate durability consumption, making the bow last longer.”
Unbreaking stats:

%100 more durability on a tool at Unbreaking I
%200 more durability on a tool at Unbreaking II
%300 more durability on a tool at Unbreaking III

Unbreaking is a must-have on all your equipment, not only the bow. The bow, though, is one of the better choices to enchant with Unbreaking if you have to choose between tools to enchant, since the original durability is a lot less than other tools like netherite pickaxes and such.

If you decide to enchant your bow with Unbreaking, you will not have to let go of any other enchantments since Unbreaking is compatible with any other enchantment. So, there is really no reason to not enchant your bow with Unbreaking and enjoy shooting your bow a few hundred times more before you have to repair or mend it.
Use Unbreaking if:

You want your bow to last lager.
You use your bow a lot.
You chose Infinity over Mending. While it is still really useful with a Mending bow, it is a lot more useful with an Infinity bow, since you will have to manually repair the latter.

2. Mending

“Repairs the bow using experience, but also preventing the player from gaining score.”
Mending stats:

Enchantment weight: 2
Incompatible with Infinity
Maximum level: 1

Mending is one of the best enchantments in the game, and one that saw release later than the original enchantments. It is a great addition that means that you will not have to repair your bow manually anymore and can easily repair it with the XP of your fallen enemies.

How does Mending work? Well, if you get XP orbs, from mining, slaying foes, cooking, breeding animals, and so on, rather than the XP going to your level bar, it will instead go to the Mending tool you are holding in your hand or wearing and will repair that item automatically. Pretty neat, huh?

It is doubly useful if you enjoy using your bow to deal with enemies often, since the durability on the bow is a lot less than tools like the netherite pickaxe, and you’ll be automatically repairing your bow through the reasons why you had to use it in the first place. Self-sustaining.
Use Mending if:

You use your bow a lot.
You want your bow to be automatically repaired as you slay your enemies with it.

1. Curse of Vanishing

“The bow vanishes on death, not dropping as an item.”
Curse of Vanishing stats:

Maximum level: 1
Not able to disenchant.
Only appliable with an anvil

Curse of Vanishing is a weird little enchantment that you don’t really want on your equipment. While you can’t get this enchantment with a crafting table, and need to find it in the world, you really don’t want to, either.

If you happen upon a Curse of Vanishing bow, just know that it will disappear if you die with it on your inventory, and you will not be able to pick it up as it will not drop to the floor like every other item.

Would there be a reason why you would want Curse of Vanishing on your bow? I don’t think so, but surely some very clever players have found some reasons for it.
Use Curse of Vanishing if: