Armour reduces damage by up to 80%, enchantments reduce what is left by up to another 80%, and the two together cap at roughly 96% reduction. Armour points do the bulk of the work against ordinary hits; toughness is what keeps big hits from punching through, which is the entire practical difference between diamond and netherite.
The armour table
| Set | Helmet | Chestplate | Leggings | Boots | Total points | Toughness |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leather | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 0 |
| Golden | 2 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 11 | 0 |
| Chainmail | 2 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 12 | 0 |
| Iron | 2 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 15 | 0 |
| Diamond | 3 | 8 | 6 | 3 | 20 | 8 |
| Netherite | 3 | 8 | 6 | 3 | 20 | 12 |
Twenty is the cap: no vanilla combination exceeds it. A turtle helmet gives 2 points and Water Breathing for 10 seconds out of water, which is worth the swap for underwater work.
Note that the chestplate carries 40% of a set's protection on its own. If you have only enough diamonds for one piece, it is the chestplate, then leggings.
The damage formula
For an incoming hit of D damage against A armour points and T toughness:
reduction = min(20, max(A / 5, A - D / (2 + T / 4))) / 25
damage after armour = D × (1 - reduction)
Then enchantments apply on top:
damage after enchantments = (damage after armour) × (1 - min(20, EPF) / 25)
The important structure: the bigger the hit, the less your armour points do, because D / (2 + T/4) grows with damage. Toughness shrinks that penalty by increasing the divisor. The A / 5 term is a floor, guaranteeing at least 4% reduction per armour point no matter how large the hit.
Worked examples
| Incoming hit | Full iron (15, 0) | Full diamond (20, 8) | Full netherite (20, 12) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 damage (zombie, boosted) | 2.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| 10 damage | 6.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| 20 damage | 16.0 | 12.0 | 11.2 |
| 40 damage (near-blast) | 36.0 | 24.0 | 20.8 |
At small hit sizes, diamond and netherite are identical and both comfortably beat iron. At 40 damage, netherite saves about three additional damage over diamond — a small margin, but exactly the margin that decides a warden hit or a point-blank creeper.
The other lesson in that table: iron armour is not a small step below diamond. Against a 20-damage hit it lets through a third more.
Enchantment protection factors
EPF is a single number pooled from all four armour pieces, capped at 20.
| Enchantment | EPF per level | Applies to |
|---|---|---|
| Protection | 1 | All damage except starvation and void |
| Blast Protection | 2 | Explosions |
| Fire Protection | 2 | Fire, lava, blaze fireballs |
| Projectile Protection | 2 | Arrows, tridents, ghast fireballs |
| Feather Falling | 3 | Fall damage only |
Protection IV on all four pieces is 16 EPF, which is a 64% further reduction on top of armour. That is why Protection IV is the default choice: the specialised enchantments give more per level but only against one damage type, and they are mutually exclusive with Protection on the same piece.
The exception worth making is Feather Falling IV on boots, at 12 EPF against fall damage alone. Fall damage is a leading cause of death and Protection barely touches it.
Thorns reflects damage back at attackers but costs your armour extra durability every time it triggers. It is a novelty on gear you intend to keep.
Shields
A shield blocks 100% of damage from any blockable source arriving within roughly a 100-degree arc in front of you. That includes melee attacks, arrows, tridents, ghast fireballs and a large share of explosion damage.
Facts worth knowing:
- The shield becomes active a short moment after you raise it, so raise it before you need it, not on reaction.
- Blocking slows you to sneak speed.
- The shield takes durability damage only when the blocked hit exceeds 3 damage. Its 336 durability lasts a long time in ordinary play.
- An axe hit disables the shield for 5 seconds. Vindicators, piglin brutes and players with axes all do this.
- A ravager roar disables it in an area.
- It does not stop lava, fire, drowning, suffocation, fall damage, starvation, status effects, or the warden's sonic boom.
A shield is six planks and one iron ingot. It is the highest-value single item in early combat by a large margin.
Damage types that ignore armour
Armour does nothing against:
- Starvation and the void
- Suffocation inside a block
- Poison and Wither damage
- Magic damage such as Instant Damage potions and evoker fangs (fangs bypass armour but are affected by Protection)
- Warden sonic boom, which bypasses both armour and shields
For those, the counters are situational: milk removes status effects, Regeneration outpaces Wither, and nothing at all helps against the void.
Absorption and Resistance
Two effects sit outside the formula entirely.
Absorption adds temporary yellow hearts that soak damage before your real health. A golden apple gives Absorption II — 4 extra hearts — for 2 minutes, and an enchanted golden apple gives Absorption IV for 8 extra hearts.
Resistance multiplies incoming damage down by 20% per level, applied after armour and enchantments. Resistance IV, from a beacon or an enchanted golden apple, makes you immune to most damage sources.
Stacking full netherite, Protection IV, Absorption and Resistance is how players survive fights that would otherwise be unwinnable.
What to prioritise, in order
- A shield. Cheap, and it removes whole categories of damage.
- Iron chestplate and leggings. 11 of the 15 points in an iron set.
- Protection I–IV on whatever you have. A Protection IV iron set beats an unenchanted diamond set against most hits.
- Full diamond, then enchant properly.
- Feather Falling IV boots.
- Netherite, mostly for the fireproofing and the durability.
A common and expensive mistake is rushing full diamond before enchanting anything. The enchantments are worth more than the tier.
Frequently asked questions
Is netherite armour actually better than diamond?
Marginally, in combat. The armour points are identical, so against ordinary hits the two are indistinguishable. Netherite's 12 toughness against diamond's 8 shows up only on large hits, and its knockback resistance (10% per piece) helps against explosions and breezes. The real reasons to upgrade are 30% more durability and the fact that netherite items do not burn in lava.
Does armour durability affect how much it protects?
No. A helmet at 1 durability protects exactly as much as a new one. It simply breaks on the next hit that damages it, at which point you have none. Repair with Mending or an anvil before it gets close.
Can I combine Protection with Blast Protection?
Not on the same piece — the four protection enchantments are mutually exclusive on a single item. You can mix across pieces, for example Blast Protection on the chestplate and Protection on the other three, but in almost every case four pieces of Protection IV is the stronger and simpler choice.
Why did I still take damage while blocking?
Three likely reasons: the attacker was behind or far to your side (the block arc is only about 100 degrees in front), the shield had not finished raising, or the damage type is unblockable — fire, lava, poison, fall damage and the warden sonic boom all ignore it. An axe hit landing just before yours also disables the shield for the following five seconds.
