When fighting off mobs or even other players, there are many different Minecraft weapons to pick from! It should not come as a surprise that certain weapons are much stronger than others.
The weapon which is the strongest will depend on your situation, playstyle, and the edition of Minecraft you are playing on. For example, there are some small differences if you are on Java or Bedrock Edition.
Other factors such as weapon enchantments or even using Minecraft modpacks can also affect which weapons are stronger or weaker.
The Strongest Weapon in Minecraft
In general, the netherite sword is the strongest weapon in Minecraft for most melee situations (in both Bedrock and Java Edition). If you don’t have a sword, a netherite axe or diamond sword can be a good substitute.
When fighting a boss like the ender dragon, it may be useful to also use a ranged weapon like a bow, crossbow, or trident.
Depending on your playstyle, some players may prefer certain fighting techniques like using bows with the infinity enchant exclusively. How you play the game is up to you and all of these weapons can be good choices.
Don’t forget to enchant your weapon! Check out our article on the best minecraft enchantments for everything for tips on which enchants to pick.
Weapon Overview
Even though all tools can deal damage to enemies, only swords, axes, tridents, bows, and crossbows can be considered as real weapon choices in Minecraft. Sure, you could hit mobs repeatedly with a shovel or a pickaxe, but the damage is so weak that you’re way better off using one of the before mentioned weapons!
It is a good idea to build a storage room for all your different weapons. This way, you can more easily swap out your weapons for different situations.
Here is an overview of each Minecraft weapon and their differences:
1. Swords
One of the most easily obtainable weapons and one of the strongest for melee combat. The damage per second is higher than axes and is similar to that of a trident. As an added advantage, in Java Edition swords have a “sweeping attack” which can attack multiple targets at the same time.
Just like tools, swords can be made of varying quality with wood being the weakest material and netherite being the strongest.
2. Axes
In Java Edition, axes hit enemies for more damage than swords, but you need to wait longer between each swing. The slower speed results in a lower damage per second when compared to swords. In contrast, axes deal even less damage than swords in Bedrock Edition.
Axes also take more durability damage per hit when compared to swords. Overall, an axe is an effective Minecraft weapon when you don’t have a sword with you.
3. Tridents
Tridents deal similar damage to a sword, but have the added advantage that they can be thrown and deal similar damage. They are more difficult to obtain than other weapons and need to be found as a drop from Drowned mobs. The “Loyalty” enchantment is extremely useful for tridents, as it returns the trident to you after throwing it.
4. Bow Weapons
By far the main advantage of using a bow is the fact that it deals ranged damage. Regular bows are not very strong, but once you start adding enchantments they are very powerful!
5. Crossbow Weapons
Similar to bows, the main advantage is the ranged damage. Crossbows deal more damage and are more accurate than bows, but the tradeoff is that they are slower to use.
Minecraft Weapons Ranked by Damage
Here is a table of the best weapons in Minecraft and how their stats compare to each other in Java Edition. Keep in mind these values are for non-enchanted weapons.
| Weapon | Damage | Recover Time | Damage Per Second (DPS) |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 Netherite Sword | 8 | 0.625s | 12.8 |
| #2 Diamond Sword | 7 | 0.625s | 11.2 |
| #3 Netherite Axe | 10 | 1.0s | 10.0 |
| #4 Trident (Melee) | 9 | 0.91s | 9.9 |
| #5 Diamond Axe | 9 | 1.0s | 9.0 |
| #6 Crossbow (Average) | 9 | 1.25s | 7.2 |
| #7 Bow (Fully Charged) | 6 | 1.0s | 6.0 |
Although we have a table ranking weapons by damage per second, you also have to consider more than just raw damage output. For example, would a ranged weapon like a bow be more practical in your situation?