Arrows are the ammunition for bows, crossbows, and dispensers. Below you’ll find the exact crafting patterns for standard, spectral (Java Edition), and tipped arrows, plus reliable ways to accumulate large quantities in Survival without grinding endlessly.

Craft a standard arrow (works on Java and Bedrock)

Each recipe produces four arrows. You’ll need flint, a stick, and a feather.

Step 1: Gather materials. Break gravel to obtain flint, craft sticks from wooden planks, and get feathers from chickens (a simple chicken pen is the most consistent source).

Step 2: Open the crafting table to the 3×3 grid.

Step 3: Place the items in a single vertical column: flint in the top-center slot, stick in the middle-center slot, feather in the bottom-center slot. Take the 4 arrows from the output.

Arrows stack to 64, and this recipe is repeatable early game when feathers are available.

Craft spectral arrows (Java Edition only)

Spectral arrows apply the Glowing effect to targets, letting you track them through blocks.

Step 1: Gather 1 arrow and 4 glowstone dust.

Step 2: Open the crafting table and place 1 arrow in the center with 4 glowstone dust in a plus shape around it. Take the 2 spectral arrows from the output.

Note: Spectral arrows are consumed even when using a bow with Infinity.

Craft tipped arrows

Tipped arrows apply a potion effect on hit for a shortened duration (1/8 of the corresponding potion’s duration when applicable). The Infinity enchantment does not provide free tipped arrows; each shot consumes one.

Step 1: Brew the potion you want, then convert it to a lingering potion (brew Dragon’s Breath into a splash potion of the same type).

Step 2: Open the crafting table and combine 8 normal arrows with 1 lingering potion of the same effect. Take 8 tipped arrows from the output.

Bedrock-only: Tip arrows using a cauldron

This method is efficient when you have potions prepared in volume.

Step 1: Fill a cauldron with a potion (any effect that supports tipping). A cauldron that’s 1/3 full can tip 16 arrows; 2/3 full tips up to 32; a full cauldron tips 64.

Step 2: Use arrows on the cauldron to convert them into tipped arrows until that fill level is consumed. This yields more tipped arrows per potion than the lingering-craft method.

Edition notes: Arrows of Decay are Bedrock-only via legitimate Survival methods; Arrows of Luck are Java-only. Both spectral and tipped arrows are consumed normally even with Infinity.

Fast ways to stock up on arrows (Survival)

Trade with a fletcher villager

Step 1: Place a fletching table next to an unemployed villager to roll a fletcher profession.

Step 2: Check novice trades; fletchers commonly sell 16 arrows for 1 emerald. If the offer isn’t present, break and replace the fletching table to re-roll trades (before locking them by trading).

Step 3: Fund the purchases by selling sticks to the same fletcher. Turning logs into sticks effectively converts wood into arrows with minimal combat or mining.

Mob drops (skeletons and strays)

Step 1: Locate a skeleton or stray spawner, or build a hostile mob farm with a kill chamber. Skeletons and strays drop arrows on death, with higher yields using Looting.

Step 2: Spend short AFK sessions near your farm’s collection area to accumulate multiple stacks quickly, along with bones and bows.

Piglin bartering (Nether)

Step 1: Bring gold ingots to the Nether and trade with piglins.

Step 2: Expect arrow bundles from barters (Java: spectral arrows; Bedrock: normal arrows) in quantities typically ranging from half a stack to just under a stack per proc.

Structure loot and dispensers

Step 1: Check structures such as bastion remnants, pillager outposts, trial chambers, and jungle pyramid dispensers.

Step 2: Collect the arrow stacks found in chests or dispensers as you explore. This is opportunistic but often adds up over time.

Retrieval and usage rules worth knowing

  • You can pick up arrows you shot in Survival if you used a normal bow/crossbow without Infinity or if they were fired from a dispenser. Arrows despawn after roughly one minute on the ground.
  • You cannot retrieve arrows fired by skeletons, strays, pillagers, piglins, players in Creative, bows with Infinity, or the two “extra” arrows from a Multishot crossbow.
  • Arrows on fire (via passing through lava or from a Flame bow) can ignite TNT and campfires and set entities ablaze briefly.
  • Bow Infinity saves arrows for regular shots only. Spectral and all tipped arrows are always consumed.
  • Arrows stack to 64 and serve as ammo for both bows and crossbows.

Optional: Give command (Creative or testing)

Spawn arrows directly for map-making or testing.

/give @p minecraft:arrow 64

With the base recipe, potion-based tipping, and a fletcher or farm supplying materials, you can keep multiple stacks on hand and reserve specialty arrows for tougher fights.