Sword Customization is a system added in Minecraft 1.18. It implements modularization of swords into four components: Blade Material, Blade Type, Hilt Material, and Hilt Type, all of which can be mixed and matched to the user's desired combinations to create custom weapons.
Customization[]
Customization can be performed at the Metalworking Bench, a block crafted by combining a crafting table with 4 cobblestone.
Blade Material[]
Blade Material is the standard differentiation between Minecraft 1.17 and earlier versions' 6 sword variants. It affects the damage output and durability the most of any change. The following options are available:
- Wood - 4 damage
- Stone - 5 damage
- Iron - 6 damage
- Gold - 4 damage
- Diamond - 7 damage
- Netherite - 8 damage (Cannot be crafted, only available as a default setting when modifying Netherite gear.)
- Rusted - 5 damage (Cannot be crafted, only available as a default setting when modifying rusted gear.)
Additional tiers are available in some other versions of Minecraft:
- Emerald - 4 damage (Cannot be crafted, only available as a default setting when modifying Emerald gear.)
- Sandstone - 5 damage
- Red Sandstone - 5 damage
- White Sandstone - 5 damage
- Black Sandstone - 5 damage
- Bronze - 6 damage
- Soul Crystal - 6 damage
- Boron - 6 damage
- Steel - 6 damage
- Spessartite - 7 damage
- Enderite - 8 damage(?)
- Dragon Bone - 10 damage
Blade Type[]
Blade Types are diverse in variety for different uses a sword may have. There are four of them total, and they are as follows:
- Straight Blade - The well-rounded default setting.
- Machete Blade - Gives the sword a machete blade which swings in an arc every time the left mouse button is clicked, even if the mouse is over a block. With this blade option, the player cannot accidentally break tall grass instead of hitting mobs hiding in it, as the sword will always sweep. The sword also breaks every grass/plant block in the range of the sweep attack, allowing its use in clearing areas of grass. However, the blade makes the sword deal 10% less damage, attack 10% slower, and be 10% less durable.
- Dueling Blade - Gives the sword a rapier-style edgeless thrusting blade. This blade gives the wearer a 10% damage bonus against any enemy wielding a sword of their own, and a whopping 40% damage bonus if the player using it attacks without having a shield equipped (even if the shield is not in a hand slot, having it in your hotbar counts as having it equipped). It removes 10% of the sword's durability, however, makes the sword take much longer to recover if an attack is successfully blocked, and, on top of that, makes the sword's damage more dampened by armor compared to other blade options.
- Razor Blade - Equips the sword with a split blade. Removes 50% of the sword's durability and gives it a 5% chance to deal 2 damage (
) to its own wielder if hitting an enemy that successfully blocks, but grants a 25% chance to deal bleeding damage, effectively doubling damage, but only over a period of several seconds. Bleeding is cured if the player drinks a health potion. Bleeding damage does not affect skeletons of any kind, ghosts or related mobs of any kind, or non-biological mobs such as iron golems.
Hilt Type[]
The following Hilt Types are available:
- Crossguard - The default option.
- Bejeweled Hilt - A hilt equipped with a jewel (by default, Lapis Lazuli, this can be changed to an emerald, diamond, or obsidian, with purely aesthetic changes), this allows the player to have two separate sets of enchantments on a single sword and swap them out at will. Curses cannot be swapped out. It causes damage inflicted on the player to be 5% more severe due to the shortened guard, and the sword to be 5% slower due to the weight of the gemstone.
- Knuckle Guard - An elaborate hilt with a crossguard an sweeping knuckle guard. It increases damage by 5% but reduces attack speed by 5%.
- Guardless - Removes the weight of the guard allowing 10% quicker strikes at a penalty of making the player take 10% more damage.
Hilt Material[]
Hilt Materials add additional durability to an item.
- Wood - Does not alter durability
- Stone - Does not alter durability
- Bone - Does not alter durability
- Rusted - Subtracts 75 uses
- Gold - Adds 25 uses
- Iron - Adds 50 uses
- Emerald - Adds 75 uses
- Diamond - Adds 100 uses
- Obsidian - Adds 150 uses (Crafted with crying obsidian, rather than normal obsidian)
Additional tiers are available in some other versions of Minecraft:
- Sandstone - Does not alter durability
- Red Sandstone - Does not alter durability
- White Sandstone - Does not alter durability
- Black Sandstone - Does not alter durability
- Bronze - Adds 30 uses
- Soul Crystal - Default when crafting a sword with soul crystals, subtracts 25 uses
- Steel - Adds 75 uses
- Spessartite - Adds 100 uses
- Enderite - Adds 200 uses
- Dragon Bone - Default when crafting a Dragon Bone sword. Does not alter durability.
Enchantments and Curses[]
If the sword being customized is enchanted, there is a very small chance the enchantment will break and a hostile mob known as a Curse will be spawned. Simply repairing the sword will not cause this, but changing out the blade or hilt for another material or style can cause this monster to appear, so it is recommended to wait until after the sword is customized to enchant it.
The chance is smallest if modifying a gold sword, becoming slightly higher for stone, wood, bone, or iron, slightly higher for diamond, emerald, or netherite, and higher yet for Rusty Iron gear.
Multiple high-level enchantments can sometimes be found on rusty iron gear looted from mobs or dungeons, making it worth the risk to switch the enchantments to a superior sword. Still, a curse may sometimes escape if this is done. It likes to open doors for other hostile mobs and harass the player, but waits for opportunities to make things unfair (like the player beind near lava) before attacking directly. Its presence can also prevent the player from sleeping
Customized Mob Swords[]
Most mobs that use swords use the default straight blade/crossguard sword, though there are a few exceptions:
- Wither Skeletons will sometimes use guardless stone machetes.
- The Black Dinocerous can sometimes spawn with a razor sword, either in gold or iron, with no guard.
- The Red Dinocerous can spawn with an iron sword with the machete blade and standard crossguard.
- Piglins can spawn with crossguarded golden machetes.
- Demised Knights may wield dueling blades with knuckle guards.
Gallery[]
Advancements[]
 Sword Smith |
Customize any sword. |
Notes[]
- This feature was partially inspired by the Tetra Mod by Mickelus.
- Art for the dueling blade and knuckle guard was contributed by Sad originally for the Marvel Rapier.