How to Make a Mace in Minecraft

Guide Java Bedrock

Quick answer: Craft a mace with 1 heavy core and 1 breeze rod. Heavy cores only drop from ominous vaults (7.5% chance), and breeze rods come from breezes. After falling 1.5 blocks or more, a hit becomes a smash attack that deals extra damage by distance fallen and resets the fall distance accumulated before the hit. Further falling can still hurt you.

What you need

1 heavy core (ominous vaults, 7.5%)
1 breeze rod (breezes in trial chambers)
Gear and keys for trial chambers

Step by step

Get a breeze rod: breezes are found in trial chambers (see the trial chambers guide).
Get a heavy core: it only drops from ominous vaults, with a 7.5% chance. Ominous vaults need ominous trial keys from ominous trial spawners.
Craft 1 mace with 1 heavy core directly above 1 breeze rod in the same column. Leave all other slots empty. This vertical two-slot recipe fits in the inventory crafting grid or a crafting table.
Smash attack: fall 1.5 blocks or more and hit an entity while not on the ground. Extra damage is 4 per block for the first 3 blocks fallen, 2 per block for the next 5, and 1 per block after that. Smash attacks are usually critical hits.
A successful smash attack resets the fall distance accumulated before the hit. If you keep falling afterward, fall damage starts accumulating again. A smash can knock nearby entities back, but it does not work with Slow Falling. Wind Burst can launch you after a successful smash.
A fully charged normal attack deals 6 damage. Standard melee and smash attacks use 1 durability; the mace has 500 durability in Java and 501 in Bedrock. In Java, hitting a boat or minecart destroys it without using durability.
Enchantments: Density adds 0.5 damage per level for each block fallen. Breach and Wind Burst also work on the mace; Wind Burst can launch you after a smash.

Java vs Bedrock

Java has an attack speed of 0.6. A smash cannot activate while you are in elytra flight; stop gliding before the hit. In Bedrock, there is no attack cooldown and a smash can activate during elytra flight.

Versions: Describes the current Java and Bedrock releases. See the edition note above for differences.

Frequently asked questions

How rare is the heavy core?

7.5% from ominous vaults. Each player can unlock a given vault only once.

How does the smash attack work?

Hit while falling at least 1.5 blocks, before touching the ground and without Slow Falling. Extra damage grows with the distance fallen. A successful smash resets the fall distance accumulated before the hit, but further falling can still cause damage.

How much does Density help?

Density adds 0.5 damage per level for each block fallen. At Density V, that is 2.5 extra damage per block, calculated as 5 times 0.5. It boosts smash attacks rather than normal ground attacks.

How many times can I use a mace?

It has 500 durability in Java and 501 in Bedrock. Standard melee and smash attacks use 1 durability. Java hits that destroy boats or minecarts do not use durability.