Overview
Shears collect a whole category of blocks that nothing else will drop intact. Leaves, cobwebs, vines, tall grass, ferns, dead bushes, glow lichen, hanging roots and seagrass all break into nothing — or into sticks and seeds — with any other tool, and drop themselves when cut with shears. They also shear a sheep for 1 to 3 wool without killing it, which turns one sheep into a renewable wool supply instead of a single kill's worth. Beyond that they carve a pumpkin into a carved pumpkin without losing the block, harvest 3 honeycomb from a full beehive or bee nest, cut a tripwire without triggering the circuit, remove Wolf Armor from a wolf without destroying it, and turn a mooshroom into an ordinary cow. Durability is 238 uses, and different jobs cost different amounts, so a pair lasts a long build. Two iron ingots is the entire cost, which makes shears one of the cheapest tools in the game relative to what it unlocks — a wool farm, a leaf-block build palette and a bee farm all start with a single pair.
Getting leaves, vines, cobwebs and grass as blocks, shearing sheep for renewable wool, harvesting honeycomb without angering bees, and carving pumpkins for lanterns and snow golems.
Shears is a tool: it wears out with use and can be enchanted and repaired. Durability is 238. Enchanting it is possible and generally recommended.
It does not stack — each one takes its own slot. You make it with Iron Ingot. No recipe takes it as an ingredient.
How to get it
Craft 1 from 2 Iron Ingots. Shears hold 238 uses, and a dispenser loaded with them will shear a sheep standing in front of it, which is how automatic wool farms work.
Tips
- Put a Campfire under a beehive before shearing it, or all the bees inside will come out angry.
- Cobwebs cut with shears drop as cobwebs rather than string, which is the only renewable-free way to keep them for builds.
- Efficiency works on shears and makes leaf clearing dramatically faster when you are cutting down a jungle tree.
- A dispenser with shears shears a sheep automatically — the standard first automatic farm after wheat.
Properties
Shears lasts 238 uses before it breaks. Two worn copies can also be merged, on an anvil or a grindstone. Unbreaking III roughly quadruples the lifespan, and Mending replaces the repair cost with experience. Its enchantability of 15 decides how good the enchanting table's offers are: the higher the number, the more often a level-30 table offers the top-tier enchantment rather than a weak one. Shears does not stack — each one occupies an inventory slot of its own.
- Stack size
- 1
- Durability
- 238
- Enchantability
- 15
- Category
- Tools
Crafting recipe
Crafting Table
Shears
Enchantments it can take
3 enchantments can be applied to Shears: Efficiency, Mending, and Unbreaking.
Mending is a treasure enchantment and never appears at an enchanting table — they come from loot chests, fishing or villager trades only.
Guides and tools that cover this
Frequently asked questions
How do you make Shears in Minecraft?
Shears is crafted from Iron Ingot.
What is the stack size of Shears?
Shears does not stack at all. Every one you carry takes an inventory slot of its own, which is the practical limit on how many you take on a trip.
How much durability does Shears have?
Shears has 238 durability.
Can Shears be enchanted?
Yes — 3 enchantments apply to it, at an enchanting table with fifteen bookshelves, or from an enchanted book on an anvil. Mending is usually the one worth hunting for, because it removes the repair cost entirely.
