Bane of Arthropods Enchantment: Damage, Slowness, and How to Use It

Max level

V

Applies to

Sword, Spear, Axe, Mace

Incompatible with

Sharpness, Smite, Breach, Density

Obtained via

Enchanting table, anvil, villager trade

Bane of Arthropods adds bonus damage against spiders, cave spiders, silverfish, endermites, and bees — and, unlike its two damage-type siblings, also applies a Slowness effect on hit.

What Bane of Arthropods actually does

Each level adds 2.5 HP × 1.25 extra damage against arthropod mobs, the same underlying formula Smite uses against undead. On top of the damage, every hit also inflicts Slowness IV for a random duration starting between 1 and 1.5 seconds at Level I, with the maximum possible duration increasing by 0.5 seconds per level — up to 3.5 seconds at Level V.

How to use it

That Slowness effect is the real differentiator: Sharpness and Smite are pure damage, but Bane of Arthropods is damage plus crowd control. That makes it genuinely useful on its own merits for fighting through a cave spider swarm in a mob grinder or clearing a silverfish-infested stronghold room, not just "the weaker specialist" of the three. Outside arthropod-heavy content it's the narrowest of the three damage-type picks (five mob types vs. Smite's whole undead category), and it still can't be combined with Sharpness or Smite — all three, plus Breach and Density, share one exclusion group.

Well-known builds that use it

Bane of Arthropods is the second specialist alternative to Sharpness on the "God Sword" build's one damage-type slot — Looting, Sweeping Edge, Unbreaking, and Mending carry over unchanged regardless of which of the three you pick. See Sharpness vs. Smite vs. Bane of Arthropods for the full comparison.

Build the Arthropod Sword →

Frequently asked questions

What does Bane of Arthropods do besides damage?

It applies a Slowness IV effect to the arthropod mob it hits, with a duration that scales from roughly 1 second at Level I up to a maximum of 3.5 seconds at Level V — useful crowd control independent of the bonus damage.

What counts as an arthropod in Minecraft?

Spiders, cave spiders, silverfish, endermites, and bees — nothing else gets the bonus damage or Slowness effect from this enchantment.

Is Bane of Arthropods worth using over Sharpness?

Only for a weapon you specifically keep for spider farms, cave spider swarms, or silverfish-infested strongholds. Against everything else it does nothing extra, same tradeoff as Smite's undead specialization.

Can Bane of Arthropods and Smite go on the same weapon?

No — they're both in the same damage-type exclusion group alongside Sharpness, Breach, and Density. Only one can be active per weapon.

What's the maximum level of Bane of Arthropods?

V, obtainable from the enchanting table, an anvil, or a villager trade.