Shield

A shield is a defensive tool that can be used to block damage from melee attacks, ranged attacks and explosions. Shields are temporarily disabled when hit by an axe or attacked by a warden while blocking, and certain damage sources ignore a shield's protection. Shields can have ornamental banner designs applied to them.

Shields are used for blocking incoming attacks. Using‌[JE only] or sneaking‌[BE only] causes a player to slow to a sneaking pace, and after 5 game ticks (0.25 seconds)[1], non-piercing attacks coming from in front of the player are blocked, dealing no damage. Shields deal knockback when blocking melee attacks‌[BE only], unless the entity is immune to knockback. When the shield blocks an attack of 3HP or stronger, it takes durability damage equal to the strength of the attack rounded up. When a player enters a boat, their shields exhibit the blocking animation. In Bedrock Edition, a shield cannot be activated for ? ticks[check the code] after attacking. In Java Edition, attacking while shielding does not perform an attack, while in Bedrock Edition attacks can be performed but lower the shield when doing so.

Most blocked projectiles that carry status effects (such as tipped arrows and shulker bullets), as well as flaming arrows, do not affect the blocker. Channeling tridents still summon lightning upon blocking, but the trident itself does not damage the player.‌[BE only] Tridents and arrows can be deflected into other targets. Knockback from melee attacks and projectiles is prevented, while knockback from explosions, hoglin, zoglin, and ravager attacks are significantly reduced. ‌[JE only]