Minecraft: Here’s How to Block With a Shield (Java, Bedrock & Pocket Edition)
A shield in Minecraft will likely save you from a lifetime of misery when you’re starting a new world and don’t have all the best armor, tools, and enchantments. Even after you’ve acquired them all, using a Shield can make a difference between life and death. So how do you use the Shield, or how do you block with a shield in Minecraft?
Shield Mechanics
You must learn about its mechanics to get the most out of anything in Minecraft. Such is the case with shields because it just might happen that you think you’re safe from an attack with one health remaining, and then the attack ends up killing you and destroying your progress.
Attacks you can block with a shield include melee attacks by any mob unless it’s The Warden, mobs that wield axes, and/or sprinting players also wielding an axe. You can also block attacks coming from any arrow. Many PvP players use axes as their preferred weapon of choice because they can counter shields.
Shields can also block bullets from Shulkers, Tridents, spines from Pufferfish, Llama spit, Fireballs, almost all types of explosions but only in Java Edition, Ravager attacks, beam attacks from Guardians, and even Bee stings.
Shields can’t, however, block arrows enchanted with Piercing status effects but only in Bedrock Edition, TNT that the player lit themselves but only in Bedrock Edition, and not even TNT that the Redstone mechanism has lit.
Although you can enchant a shield, it’s rarely ever done. When it’s a manner of PvP, and you want to make anything that’ll give you an edge over your opponents, it might be good to invest in enchantments but be aware that you can only enchant a Shield with Unbreaking, Mending, and Curse of Vanishing.
The attack must come in front of you. If your attacker stands on the sides or in the back, you will not block the attack and will take full damage. If you’re blocking an attack that would deal more than three damage to you otherwise, the Shield will take durability damage equal to the attack rounded up, so you can run out of a shield rather quickly.
Differences between Editions
There aren’t many differences between blocking attacks in Minecraft Java Edition or Bedrock Edition, but there are some. In Bedrock Edition Minecraft, apart from crouching, you can activate a shield to block attacks by sneaking, flying downward, or moving down while in water. In Java Edition, the only way to block with a Shield is to press use while holding it in your hand.
How do you perform these actions in Minecraft Java, Bedrock, and Pocket Edition? You’d perform the use action in Java Edition by pressing the right-click button. In Java Edition but on a Mac, the same action can be performed by pressing Command + left click. In Bedrock Edition on consoles, you’ll press the right stick button to crouch/sneak, which will toggle the Shield automatically if you have it in your hand.
In Minecraft Pocket Edition, the center button between the controls should be tapped twice. As is the case on consoles, this toggles the crouch/sneak action, which will make you block once you have the Shield in your hand.
Crafting a Shield
If you don’t know how to craft a Shield, it’s really easy to do so. You’ll need six wooden planks of any kind and one iron ingot. You’ll place the planks as if you’re making a trident, and at the top center grid, you’ll place the iron ingot. You can then use banners to decorate your Shield. Of course, this only applies to Java Edition, and you can even get skins for your Shield by using mods.
Minecraft Pocket Edition is also not excluded from this. You can get away with modding your gameplay experience for free if you’re an Android user. iOS and other Bedrock Edition users will have to pay for their shield texture packs.
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