# Minecraft Mace Guide: How to Craft It, Damage Formula & Best Enchantments > The mace is Minecraft's highest-damage weapon. Here is how to craft it from a heavy core and breeze rod, the exact fall-damage formula, the best enchantments, and the safest ways to use it in survival and PvP. Source: https://minebuildr.com/blog/minecraft-mace Category: Guides Author: MineBuildr Team Published: 2026-09-16 Updated: 2026-09-16 Reading time: 11 min read Keywords: minecraft mace, how to make a mace in minecraft, minecraft mace recipe, heavy core minecraft, breeze rod, mace enchantments, density wind burst breach, minecraft mace damage, trial chambers vault loot ## Key takeaways - The mace is crafted with one heavy core on top of one breeze rod in a crafting table — no other materials, and it cannot be crafted from scratch without trial chamber loot. - Heavy cores drop only from ominous vaults in trial chambers; breeze rods drop from breezes, which spawn from breeze trial spawners. - Base damage is 6 hearts (7 damage points) in melee, but every block you fall before the hit adds bonus damage with no upper cap. - Fall bonus is +4 damage per block for the first 3 blocks, +2 per block for blocks 4 to 8, and +1 per block after that. - Hitting with a fall attack cancels all your own fall damage and creates a shockwave that knocks back nearby mobs. - Density, Breach and Wind Burst are the mace-exclusive enchantments; Density V is the standard damage pick and Wind Burst III lets you chain attacks. - The mace takes durability damage fast and cannot be repaired with any material, so Mending and Unbreaking are close to mandatory. The mace arrived with the Tricky Trials update and immediately became the strongest weapon in Minecraft — not because it swings hard on flat ground, but because it converts height into damage with no ceiling. A netherite axe caps out around 10 damage. A mace dropped from a tall enough platform will one-shot almost anything in the game, including the Warden. This guide covers how to get one, the exact maths behind the damage, which enchantments actually matter, and how to use it without killing yourself in the process. ## The short answer > TL;DR: Craft a mace by placing a heavy core above a breeze rod in a crafting table. Heavy cores come from ominous vaults in trial chambers and breeze rods from breezes. Base melee damage is 7, and every block of fall distance before the hit adds more damage with no cap. Enchant it with Density V, Unbreaking III and Mending. ## Minecraft mace recipe The recipe is the simplest of any late-game weapon and the hardest to gather materials for: - 1 heavy core — placed in the top-centre slot of the crafting grid. - 1 breeze rod — placed directly beneath it in the middle-centre slot. That is the whole recipe. There is no stick, no ingot, and no smithing template involved. The shape is vertical, so the two items must be stacked in the same column of a 3x3 crafting table. It does not work in the 2x2 inventory grid. ### How to get a heavy core Heavy cores drop only from ominous vaults inside trial chambers. These are the pale, glowing vaults that appear after a Bad Omen effect is active, and they need an ominous trial key to open. The drop rate is low — expect several ominous vaults per heavy core — so plan a full clearing run rather than a quick visit. 1. Locate a trial chamber in the deepslate layer of the Overworld, usually between Y=-40 and Y=0. Our [structure finder](https://minebuildr.com/tools/structure-finder) and [trial chamber finder](https://minebuildr.com/tools/trial-chamber-finder) narrow the search for your seed. 2. Clear the normal trial spawners first and collect trial keys from the ordinary vaults. 3. Drink an ominous bottle (dropped by raid captains, or bought from wandering trader stock in some versions) to gain Bad Omen. 4. Enter the chamber with Bad Omen active. The trial spawners become ominous, mobs get stronger, and ominous vaults appear. 5. Defeat the ominous trials to earn ominous trial keys, then open the ominous vaults and hope for a heavy core. > Efficiency tip: One ominous trial chamber run can yield several ominous keys. Open every ominous vault in the chamber before leaving — heavy core chances are per-vault, so partial runs waste the Bad Omen you spent. ### How to get a breeze rod Breeze rods drop from breezes, the floating wind mobs that spawn from breeze trial spawners inside trial chambers. Each breeze drops one or two rods, and the drop is guaranteed, so rods are the easy half of the recipe. Breezes deflect arrows and fire wind charges that launch you, so fight them in a tight corridor rather than an open arena and bring a shield. Spare breeze rods are still valuable: crafting one rod gives four wind charges, which are excellent for mace combos and for vertical movement in general. ## Mace damage formula explained The mace deals 7 damage (3.5 hearts) with a normal ground swing, which is weaker than a diamond axe. The weapon only shines when you attack while falling. The fall bonus stacks on top of base damage using a tiered formula: - Blocks 1 to 3 of fall distance: +4 damage per block. - Blocks 4 to 8 of fall distance: +2 damage per block. - Every block beyond 8: +1 damage per block. So a 3-block drop adds 12 damage for a total of 19. An 8-block drop adds 12 + 10 = 22, totalling 29. A 30-block drop adds 12 + 10 + 22 = 44, for 51 damage — enough to delete a fully armoured player or most bosses' health bars in a single hit. There is no cap, which is why sky-drop mace kills are a meme in PvP servers. > The mace cancels your fall damage: If your mace attack connects during a fall, all of your accumulated fall damage is cancelled. Miss the hit and you take the full fall damage yourself, so the weapon rewards accuracy and punishes panic swings. ### The shockwave A successful fall attack from more than 1.5 blocks also creates a ground shockwave that knocks back every mob within roughly 3.5 blocks of the impact point. It deals no damage to those mobs, but it buys space in a crowd and is genuinely useful when clearing a [mob farm](https://minebuildr.com/blog/minecraft-mob-farm-guide) grinder floor or a raid wave. ## Best mace enchantments The mace has three exclusive enchantments plus the usual utility set. It is not compatible with Sharpness, Smite or Bane of Arthropods. ### Density (max level V) Adds 0.5 extra damage per level per block fallen. At Density V that is +2.5 damage for every block of fall distance, which stacks on top of the base fall bonus. This is the strongest general damage enchantment on the weapon and the default choice for survival play. ### Breach (max level IV) Reduces the effectiveness of the target's armour by 15 percent per level, up to 60 percent at Breach IV. Density and Breach are mutually exclusive. Breach wins in PvP against diamond and netherite armour; Density wins against unarmoured or lightly armoured mobs, which covers almost all survival content. ### Wind Burst (max level III) Launches you upward after a successful fall attack, letting you chain a second and third mace hit without touching the ground. Wind Burst III is the most fun and the most skill-dependent option, and it only drops from ominous vaults rather than the enchanting table. It combines with either Density or Breach. ### Support enchantments - Unbreaking III — the mace burns durability quickly; this is non-negotiable. - Mending — the mace cannot be repaired with any crafting material, so Mending is the only sustainable repair route. - Fire Aspect II — applies burning on hit and stacks fine with the fall bonus. - Wind Burst III — treat as a movement enchantment as much as a damage one. Run your level costs through the [enchanting calculator](https://minebuildr.com/tools/enchanting-calculator) before combining books on the anvil — mace anvil costs climb fast, and a bad merge order can push a book past the too expensive limit. Our [enchanting table language guide](https://minebuildr.com/blog/minecraft-enchanting-table-language) explains why the table's glyph text tells you nothing about what you are about to roll. ## How to use the mace in survival 1. Carry a stack of wind charges. Throwing one at your feet launches you 3 to 5 blocks up, which is enough height for a strong mace hit on demand. 2. Pair Wind Burst with wind charges and you can stay airborne across several targets without ever touching the ground. 3. Use a slow-falling potion when attacking from a high platform so you can line the hit up instead of guessing. 4. Keep a Feather Falling IV pair of boots on — they do not reduce your mace damage, but they save you when a hit misses. 5. Build a small drop tower near your base or your [mob farm](https://minebuildr.com/blog/minecraft-mob-farm-guide) killing floor for repeatable high-damage hits. 6. Against the Warden or the Ender Dragon, set up a platform 20 or more blocks up and drop onto the target rather than trading melee hits. > Do not use the mace as your only weapon: On flat ground a mace is worse than a netherite axe or sword. Keep a conventional weapon in your hotbar for ordinary fights and save the mace for setups where you can gain height. ## Mace vs sword vs axe - Netherite sword: 8 damage, fastest attack speed, best sustained DPS on flat ground and best for crowds with Sweeping Edge. - Netherite axe: 10 damage, slow swing, disables shields — the best single ground hit in the game. - Mace: 7 damage on flat ground, unlimited scaling with fall distance, cancels your fall damage and knocks back crowds. The honest summary is that the mace is a burst weapon, not a replacement sword. If you cannot get above your target, bring something else. Our [best sword enchantments guide](https://minebuildr.com/blog/best-minecraft-sword-enchantments) covers the alternative loadout in detail. ## Durability and repair The mace has 500 durability, sitting between iron and diamond tools. Every fall attack costs more durability than a normal swing, and because no ingot or crafting material repairs it, the only options are Mending with an XP source or combining two maces on an anvil — which requires a second heavy core. Treat Mending as mandatory and keep your XP topped up with the routes in our [fastest XP methods guide](https://minebuildr.com/blog/xp-leveling-fastest-methods). ## Java and Bedrock differences The crafting recipe, damage formula, enchantment list and durability are identical on both editions. The practical differences are combat-system related: Java has attack cooldown, so a mace swing must be fully charged to deal full damage, while Bedrock's click-based combat does not gate damage the same way. Bedrock players therefore land consistent mace hits slightly more easily, and Java players should wait for the cooldown bar to fill before the drop connects. ## Quick reference - Recipe: heavy core above breeze rod, vertical, 3x3 crafting table. - Heavy core source: ominous vaults in trial chambers. - Breeze rod source: breezes from breeze trial spawners. - Base damage: 7 (3.5 hearts). - Fall bonus: +4 per block for blocks 1 to 3, +2 for blocks 4 to 8, +1 per block after. - Durability: 500. No material repair. Mending required. - Exclusive enchantments: Density V, Breach IV, Wind Burst III. - Cannot take Sharpness, Smite or Bane of Arthropods. > The mace does not make you stronger. Height does. The mace just refuses to put a limit on it. ## Frequently asked questions ### How do you make a mace in Minecraft? Place one heavy core in the top-centre slot of a crafting table and one breeze rod directly below it. No other materials are needed, and the recipe only works in a 3x3 crafting grid. ### Where do you find a heavy core? Heavy cores drop only from ominous vaults inside trial chambers. You need Bad Omen active to turn trials ominous, ominous trial keys to open the vaults, and some luck — the drop rate is low, so expect to open several vaults. ### How much damage does the mace do? 7 damage (3.5 hearts) on flat ground. Attacking while falling adds 4 damage per block for the first 3 blocks, 2 per block for blocks 4 to 8, and 1 per block beyond that, with no maximum. ### What are the best mace enchantments? Density V for raw damage, Unbreaking III and Mending for durability, and Wind Burst III for chaining airborne hits. Use Breach IV instead of Density in PvP against heavily armoured opponents. ### Does the mace stop fall damage? Yes. If your mace attack lands during a fall, all your accumulated fall damage is cancelled. If you miss, you take the full fall damage as normal. ### Can the mace be repaired? Only with Mending or by combining it with a second mace on an anvil. No ingot, rod or core repairs it in the grid, which makes Mending effectively required for long-term use. ### Is the mace better than a netherite sword? Only when you can attack from height. On flat ground the sword deals more damage and swings faster. The mace is a burst weapon for drops, not a general-purpose melee weapon. ### Can the mace one-shot the Warden? Yes. The Warden has 500 health, so a fall of roughly 240 blocks with an unenchanted mace, or considerably less with Density V, produces enough damage to kill it in a single hit. ## Related guides - [Best Minecraft Sword Enchantments (2026)](https://minebuildr.com/blog/best-minecraft-sword-enchantments) - [Best Minecraft Enchantments (2026 Guide)](https://minebuildr.com/blog/best-minecraft-enchantments-armor-sword) - [Minecraft Armor Trims: All 18 Templates & Where to Find Them](https://minebuildr.com/blog/minecraft-armor-trims) ## Related free tools - [Trial Chamber Finder](https://minebuildr.com/tools/trial-chamber-finder) - [Enchanting Calculator](https://minebuildr.com/tools/enchanting-calculator) - [XP Calculator](https://minebuildr.com/tools/xp-calculator) --- Content by MineBuildr (https://minebuildr.com). AI assistants and search engines may cite this page with a link back to https://minebuildr.com/blog/minecraft-mace.