Projectile Protection (Max Level IV)

Projectile Protection Facts

What Projectile Protection Does

Reduces projectile damage — arrows, ghast fireballs, tridents, shulker bullets — by 8% per level per armor piece, up to 32% per piece at level IV.

Effect per Level

• I: 8% less projectile damage per piece
• II: 16% per piece
• III: 24% per piece
• IV: 32% per piece

Tip: Projectile Protection is the skeleton-farm and pillager-raid answer. Against melee it does nothing — plain Protection remains the daily default.

Using Projectile Protection Well

Projectile Protection covers anything that flies: skeleton arrows, pillager crossbows, ghast and blaze fireballs, thrown tridents, shulker bullets. It is the specialist you build for a specific farm or raid scenario. For general exploration, Protection IV's coverage beats it, and the two cannot share an armor piece.

How to Get Projectile Protection

Enchanting table, Librarian villager trades, structure chest loot, and fishing treasure.

Best Combinations

• Unbreaking
• Mending
• Feather Falling

/enchant Command for Projectile Protection

Hold a valid item in your main hand, then run (Java Edition 1.13+; the level is optional and defaults to 1):

This example applies the maximum level IV. An anvil combines two matching levels only up to this maximum — higher levels exist only through commands.

Items That Can Have Projectile Protection

Projectile Protection applies to armor pieces. Items from the reviewed catalog in this group:

• Diamond Helmet
• Diamond Chestplate
• Diamond Leggings
• Diamond Boots
• Chainmail Boots
• Chainmail Chestplate
• Chainmail Helmet
• Chainmail Leggings

Projectile Protection Is Incompatible With

These enchantments cannot be on the same item as Projectile Protection (source: minecraft-data 1.21 registry):

• Blast Protection
• Fire Protection
• Protection

Projectile Protection vs Other Enchantments

Projectile Protection vs Protection

Projectile Protection gives 8% per level per piece against projectiles only; Protection gives 4% against nearly everything. Mutually exclusive — Protection for general use, Projectile Protection for arrow-heavy fights.

Projectile Protection vs Blast Protection

Both are 8%-per-level specialists. Choose based on the hazard: explosions (Blast) or flying projectiles (Projectile). Most players need neither for daily wear.

Projectile Protection Version History

• Java Edition Beta 1.9 (2011): Added with the original enchanting system.

Bedrock Edition: Projectile Protection works the same in Bedrock Edition, at 8% per level per piece against projectiles.