Minecraft is getting its first new tiered weapon in years, and you don’t have to wait to try it. The spear is playable today in the Java Edition snapshot channel (build 25w41a, published October 9, 2025), arriving alongside new mounts and a handful of system tweaks. Bedrock players will see it in upcoming preview/beta builds. The wider content drop it belongs to, Mounts of Mayhem, is planned for Holiday 2025 without a specific date.

Minecraft spear availability and release window

Channel Status Notes
Java Edition snapshot (25w41a) Available now Playable spear with jab, charge, and the Lunge enchantment; released Oct 9, 2025.
Bedrock preview/beta Coming soon Feature parity is planned during the testing period.
Full game update (Mounts of Mayhem) Planned Holiday 2025 No exact date yet; features may change during testing.

On Java, opt into the latest snapshot through the snapshot channel to try the spear today. Features in testing snapshots can shift before the final drop, but the core spear behavior—extended reach, two attack modes, and the Lunge enchantment—is already in place.

Spear mechanics and what’s new

Aspect Details
Tiers and crafting Craftable in wood, stone, copper, iron, gold, diamond, and netherite. Each material changes timing characteristics (how quickly you can attack between jabs and how long you can hold a charge).
Reach model Minimum reach is enforced—standing too close yields no damage. Maximum reach is longer than other tools and weapons, giving the spear more standoff spacing.
Attack types Two modes: jab (tap) and charge (hold). Both respect the spear’s reach rules.
Jab (tap primary) Quick, lower damage strikes with knockback and a cooldown. Can pierce and hit multiple targets in a line. Wooden spears recover fastest; netherite recovers slowest.
Charge (hold secondary) Damage scales with material, your view angle alignment, and the relative speed between you and the target. Can dismount and knock back when thresholds are met. Flows through three stages: Engaged (full effects), Tired (reduced effects), and Disengaged (damage only).
Lunge enchantment Exclusive to the spear and applies to jab. Propels you horizontally in the direction you’re facing. Maximum distance needs a perfectly level view. Costs significant durability per use.
Mob usage Zombies, Husks, Zombified Piglins, and Piglins can spawn with spears; Piglins treat golden spears as a liked item. Mobs have half the player’s spear range but require lower speed to trigger charge effects.

In practice, the spear rewards spacing and movement. Jab chains keep enemies at bay and can tag multiple targets on a straight line. Charge turns speed into damage: sprinting, riding, or otherwise moving quickly increases impact, and careful aim during the Engaged window can unseat riders. Misjudge the timing and you’ll slip into Tired or Disengaged, reducing the effect.

Technical underpinnings for charge and jab

Behind the scenes, the spear’s two attacks map to new item behaviors:

  • Charge uses a kinetic-style check each tick along your view direction, applying damage, knockback, and dismounts based on configurable minimum/maximum reach, a delay before it becomes active, and conditions that expire after set durations. Damage is calculated from relative speed, with enchantments and attribute modifiers added afterward.
  • Jab uses a piercing-style ray that can hit multiple entities, with optional knockback and dismount flags and a dedicated stab swing animation.

These systems also drive the spear’s minimum Reach requirement—one of the reasons standing directly on top of an enemy won’t register damage.

Combat implications you’ll feel immediately

  • Spacing matters more: the spear’s minimum and extended reach shift the sweet spot further from the target than swords or axes.
  • Movement is part of the damage formula: sprinting or riding into a charge increases output and can knock riders off their mounts.
  • Mob parity changes encounters: common undead and Piglins can spawn with spears, and mobs can execute charge behavior at lower speed thresholds than players.
  • Resource choice affects tempo: lighter tiers let you jab more frequently and sustain the Engaged charge state more comfortably; heavier tiers hit harder but recover slower.

What else is bundled with the spear in the snapshot

Feature Highlights
Nautilus (mount) Neutral aquatic mob spawning in all ocean biomes. Can be bred and tamed with pufferfish. Mounted players receive Breath of the Nautilus, pausing oxygen consumption while riding. Suffocates on land.
Zombie Nautilus Spawns with a Drowned trident rider. Hostile only when ridden by a hostile. Behaves like the nautilus but cannot be bred. Tamable in the current testing snapshot.
Zombie Horse Tamable in the testing snapshot; some spawn with spear-wielding zombie riders.
Nautilus armor Armor for Nautilus and Zombie Nautilus in copper, gold, iron, diamond, and netherite tiers.
System tweaks Revamped video settings with new presets and a stopwatch command for real-time tracking, plus rendering and UI sprite updates.

These mounts pair naturally with the spear’s charge mechanics: moving faster, aligning your view properly, and committing during the Engaged window lead to stronger hits and more frequent dismounts.

Practical notes before you jump in

  • Plan your distance: step back to hit the spear’s minimum reach, especially when an enemy closes in. Jab can salvage spacing with built-in knockback.
  • Charge discipline: lower the spear when you have a clear line and enough speed; overholding risks falling into Tired or Disengaged with reduced effects.
  • Durability budgeting: Lunge burns through durability quickly—carry materials or a backup spear if you rely on it for mobility.
  • Watch for spear-wielding mobs: they can dismount you during their charge; strafe to break alignment or interrupt with ranged damage.

If you want hands-on time now, use the Java Edition snapshot channel to spin up a new world and test the spear with both footwork and mounted movement. Bedrock previews will follow. For everyone else, the full Mounts of Mayhem drop is slated for the holiday window, and the snapshot cadence suggests we’ll see iteration on charge thresholds, animation timing, and mob behavior leading up to launch.