# Sweeping Edge Enchantment: Exact Sweep Damage Formula

_Published October 16, 2026_

The real sweep-attack damage formula per level, and why it's sword-exclusive and Java-only.

Sweeping Edge boosts the damage of a sword's sweep attack — the small-area hit landed on nearby mobs alongside your main swing — turning group combat into genuine crowd control instead of single-target chipping. **Java Edition only.**

## What Sweeping Edge actually does

The sweep attack's damage is `1 + base damage × (level ÷ (level + 1)) + enchantment damage`, where "enchantment damage" is whatever Sharpness, Smite, or Bane of Arthropods bonus is also active. In plain terms, that ratio works out to 50% of the sword's base damage at Level I, 67% at Level II, and 75% at Level III — climbing toward (but never quite reaching) 100% of a full hit.

## How to use it

Sweeping Edge has no conflicts with anything, so it's never a real tradeoff decision — only whether it's worth the anvil levels for a sword you actually expect to fight groups of mobs with. It's sword-exclusive: axes have their own separate moveset and don't have access to this enchantment at all, regardless of edition.

## Well-known builds that use it

Sweeping Edge is one of the five enchantments on the ["God Sword"](/guides/god-sword) build — it has no exclusions with Sharpness, Smite, Bane of Arthropods, Looting, Unbreaking, or Mending, so it's included on that build no matter which damage type you pick.

[Build the Sweeping Edge Sword →](https://anvilcalc.com/#eyJpIjoiZGlhbW9uZF9zd29yZCIsImUiOltdLCJwIjowLCJuIjoiIiwidCI6W1sic2hhcnBuZXNzIiw1XSxbInN3ZWVwaW5nX2VkZ2UiLDNdLFsidW5icmVha2luZyIsM10sWyJtZW5kaW5nIiwxXV19)

## Frequently asked questions

**What does Sweeping Edge do in Minecraft?**

It increases the damage of a sword's sweep attack — the small-area hit that lands on nearby mobs alongside your main swing — up to 75% of the sword's base damage at Level III, versus a much smaller sweep hit with no enchantment at all.

**Does Sweeping Edge work on an axe?**

No — it's sword-exclusive. Axes have an entirely separate attack moveset and don't have access to this enchantment, in either edition.

**Is Sweeping Edge available in Bedrock Edition?**

No — Sweeping Edge is confirmed Java Edition only.

**Does Sweeping Edge conflict with Sharpness or Smite?**

No — it has no exclusions with any enchantment, including every damage-type pick, so it's always a free addition.

**What's the maximum level of Sweeping Edge?**

III, obtainable from the enchanting table, an anvil, or a villager trade (Java Edition only).