Minecraft spear guide: jab, charge, Lunge and which spear to craft

The spear is the only Minecraft weapon whose damage depends on speed. It arrived in Java 1.21.11, the same update that added the Lunge enchantment, and it works nothing like a sword. A short tap gives a quick jab that reaches further than any other melee hit. Holding use readies a charge, and the charge hits harder the faster you close the gap, which is why spears shine on horseback.

This guide covers both attacks, the numbers for every tier, the Lunge enchantment, where to find spears without crafting, and when a spear is the better pick than a sword or an axe.

Quick answers

• How do you craft a spear? A material in the top-right corner, a stick in the middle and a stick bottom-left: a diagonal line, like a pole with a head.
• What is the spear's reach? The jab hits from 2 to 4.5 blocks away. It does not reach things right in front of your face.
• How does the charge work? Hold use. While held, the spear deals damage to whatever you run into, scaled by your closing speed. You need to be closing in at 4.6 blocks per second or more for it to do damage.
• Best spear? Netherite: 5 jab damage, the highest charge multiplier (1.2x) and the fastest charge-up (0.4 s).

Crafting a spear

Every tier uses the same diagonal shape: the head material in the top-right slot, a stick in the centre, and a stick in the bottom-left. Like most tools, it works mirrored too.

Tier	Head material
Wooden	Any planks
Stone	Cobblestone (or the other stone crafting materials)
Copper	Copper ingot
Golden	Gold ingot
Iron	Iron ingot
Diamond	Diamond
Netherite	Upgrade a diamond spear at a smithing table with a netherite upgrade template and a netherite ingot

You can test yourself on the recipe in Craftle, our daily crafting puzzle: the spear's diagonal shape catches out a lot of players who try to build it straight up like a sword.

Image: SyntaxMine, made from Minecraft's own textures.

The jab: reach and crowd control

Spears also cannot break blocks, so keep a pickaxe in your hotbar.

Tier	Jab damage	Attack speed	Durability	Enchantability
Wooden	1	1.54	59	15
Golden	1	1.05	32	22
Stone	2	1.33	131	5
Copper	2	1.18	190	13
Iron	3	1.05	250	14
Diamond	4	0.95	1561	10
Netherite	5	0.87	2031	15

One oddity: the copper jab is strictly worse than stone (same damage, slower). Copper earns its place with more durability and a faster charge.

The charge: damage from speed

Hold use and the spear goes into its charge stance. Anything you run into takes damage equal to the tier's multiplier times your closing speed in blocks per second. Closing speed is relative: a mob running at you counts too, so a charge can even land while you stand still.

A held charge goes through three stages as you keep holding: engaged (damage, knockback and dismount), tired (damage and knockback) and disengaged (damage only). Better tiers charge up faster and stay in the strong stages for less time, so the charge is about timing your approach, not holding the button forever.

Tier	Charge multiplier	Delay before it is ready	Full charge lasts
Wooden	0.7x	0.75 s	15 s
Golden	0.7x	0.7 s	13.75 s
Stone	0.82x	0.7 s	13.75 s
Copper	0.82x	0.65 s	12.5 s
Iron	0.95x	0.6 s	11.25 s
Diamond	1.075x	0.5 s	10 s
Netherite	1.2x	0.4 s	8.75 s

Two details catch people out: Strength and Weakness do not change charge damage, and in Java you can charge with a spear held in the offhand, leaving your main hand for a sword or a shield.

Why spears belong on horseback

Since the charge scales with speed, the fastest thing you can ride is the best spear platform. A sprinting player (about 5.6 blocks/s) clears the damage and knockback thresholds with little to spare, while a fast horse adds more than twice that speed to every hit and can reach the speeds that knock riders off their mounts. Pick a fast one with the horse guide and the spear becomes a lance.

Lunge: the spear's own enchantment

Lunge (max level III) is a spear-only enchantment that throws you forward on every jab:

Level	Forward boost	Hunger per use
I	about 9.2 blocks/s	1
II	about 18.3 blocks/s	2
III	about 27.5 blocks/s	3

• It costs 1 durability per use and burns saturation first, then hunger. You need at least 7 hunger points for it to trigger.
• It does not work while riding, gliding with an elytra, or in water.
• It is strongest in midair and travels furthest when you look straight ahead.
• It is compatible with Mending, and you can get it from an enchanting table, librarian villagers, fishing and structure loot.

Lunge turns the jab into a gap-closer: dash in, hit, back off before the next swing. Pair it with Sharpness for damage and Mending so the durability cost never matters.

Getting a spear without crafting

Chests also hold them: stone spears in ocean ruins, copper and iron spears in abandoned camps and village weaponsmith chests, iron in buried treasure, diamond (sometimes enchanted) in bastion treasure chests, and enchanted diamond spears in end city chests. If you are clearing abandoned camps anyway, check them for a free copper or iron spear.

Spear-wielding mobs fight differently

Zombie types and piglins with spears charge you, then back off and come again. Other mobs holding a spear, like skeletons, only jab at melee range. Backing away from a charging zombie gives it more room to build up speed, so close the distance or block with a shield instead.

Spear, sword or axe?

• Sword: still the best for steady melee against one target, with critical hits and sweeping.
• Axe: the biggest single hit and it disables shields.
• Spear: reach, hitting several mobs in a line, and the only weapon that rewards speed. On a horse, or with Lunge, it out-ranges everything else in melee.

A practical loadout: an iron or diamond spear in the offhand for charges and a sword in the main hand, so you can switch between a lance and close combat without touching the hotbar.