How to make an Iron Sword in Minecraft

This Minecraft tutorial explains how to craft an iron sword with screenshots and step-by-step instructions.

In Minecraft, an iron sword is one of the many weapons that you can make. The iron sword has +6 attack damage.

iron sword

Let's explore how to make an iron sword.

Supported Platforms

An iron sword is available in the following versions of Minecraft:

PlatformSupported (Version*)
Java Edition (PC/Mac) Java Edition (PC/Mac)Yes
Pocket Edition (PE) Pocket Edition (PE)Yes
Xbox 360 Xbox 360Yes
Xbox One Xbox OneYes
PS3 PS3Yes
PS4 PS4Yes
Wii U Wii UYes
Nintendo Switch Nintendo SwitchYes
Windows 10 Edition Windows 10 EditionYes
Education Edition Education EditionYes

* The version that it was added or removed, if applicable.
NOTE: Pocket Edition (PE), Xbox One, PS4, Nintendo Switch, and Windows 10 Edition are now called Bedrock Edition. We will continue to show them individually for version history.

Where to find an Iron Sword in Creative Mode

Required Materials to make an Iron Sword

In Minecraft, these are the materials you can use to craft an iron sword:

How to craft an Iron Sword in Survival Mode

1. Open the Crafting Menu

First, open your crafting table so that you have the 3x3 crafting grid that looks like this:

3x3 crafting area

2. Add Items to make an Iron Sword

In the crafting menu, you should see a crafting area that is made up of a 3x3 crafting grid. To make an iron sword, place 2 iron ingots and 1 stick in the 3x3 crafting grid.

When making an iron sword, it is important that the iron ingots and the stick are placed in the exact pattern as the image below. There should be 1 iron ingot placed in the middle box in the first row. In the second row, 1 iron ingot should be in the middle box. In the third row, 1 stick should be in the middle box. This is the Minecraft crafting recipe for an iron sword.

Crafting recipe for iron sword

Now that you have filled the crafting area with the correct pattern, the iron sword will appear in the box to the right.

iron sword

3. Move the Iron Sword to Inventory

Once you have crafted an iron sword, you need to move the new item to your inventory.

Completed iron sword

Congratulations, you have made an iron sword in Minecraft!

Item ID and Name

Give Command for Iron Sword

Attack Damage and Durability

Attack damage is the amount of damage the item will deal when attacking a mob.

Durability represents how long the item will last. For tools, weapons and transportation, durability is the number of useful actions before the item is destroyed. For armor items, durability is the number of hits (that can be blocked by armor) before the item is destroyed. So the higher the durability number, the longer the item will last.

The following table shows the attack damage and durability for each weapon in Minecraft:

Name Attack Damage Durability
Netherite Sword 8 2031
Diamond Sword 7 1561
Bow <varies> 384
Crossbow <varies> 326
Iron Sword 6 250
Trident 9 250
Stone Sword 5 131
Wooden Sword 4 59
Golden Sword 4 32

Enchantments for Iron Sword

In Minecraft, you can enchant an iron sword with the following enchantments:

Enchantment Description
Bane of Arthropods Increases attack damage against arthropods
Curse of Vanishing Cursed item will disappear after player dies
Fire Aspect Sets target on fire
Knockback Increases knockback dealt (enemies repel backwards)
Looting Increases amount of loot dropped when mob is killed
Mending Uses xp to mend your tools, weapons and armor
Sharpness Increases attack damage dealt to mobs
Smite Increases attack damage against undead mobs
Sweeping Edge Increases damage of sweep attack
Unbreaking Increases durability of item, in effect, by decreasing the chance of the tool, weapon, or armor taking durability damage when used

See a complete list of Minecraft Enchantments that is interactive and searchable.

Things to Make with Iron Swords

You can use iron swords to make items in Minecraft such as:

Things to Do with Iron Swords

Here are some activities that you can do with iron swords in Minecraft: