Summary
- Chainmail armor in Minecraft cannot be crafted but can be found by killing mobs wearing it.
- Mojang could make chainmail craftable using chains to make it more accessible to players.
- Combining chainmail with leather armor could create a stronger defense option in the game.
In a world filled with monstrous creepers, endermen, skeleton archers, zombies, and spiders, players in Minecraft will often need good offenses to defend themselves. However, when weapons are not readily available or break too soon, a good set of armor may keep the monsters at bay for a while until players reach a safe distance. In Minecraft, players can build up to five sets of armor, each stronger than the last, including leather, gold, iron, diamond, and netherite to defend themselves. However, there is a sixth armor available that cannot be crafted, is rarer than any other, and is in need of an update soon: chainmail.
How Minecraft's New Artwork Compares to Previous Versions
Mojang has recently released new key art for Minecraft, following the tradition of making new key or cover art after several updates for the game.
Chainmail’s History and Mechanics in Minecraft
Chaimail was first introduced in the early days of Minecraft, as far back as 2009. While it cannot be crafted in Survival Mode, chainmail armor could be crafted with fire blocks through cheats or commands, but this was later taken out with Update 1.8, otherwise known as the Bountiful Update. Chainmail armor can additionally be accessible in Creative Mode, but no item can be found to craft chainmail in Creative Mode. There is no chainmail armor available for horses either, despite there being leather, gold, iron, and diamond armor available for the mounts.
Chainmail armor is stronger than leather or gold but is weaker than iron, diamond, and netherite armor. Just as chainmail is in real life, chainmail in Minecraft is designed to be a lightweight armor which is somewhat transparent, meaning players wearing chainmail can still see their skins underneath the armor. Despite not being craftable, chainmail armor can still be repaired with iron ingots on anvils and be enchanted to boost durability. Chainmail armor can further be smelted in furnaces to form iron nuggets.
How to Find Chainmail Armor
The best way chainmail can be obtained is by killing mobs wearing the armor. Skeletons and zombies will rarely spawn with chainmail armor equipped and will rarely drop their chainmail armor when slain. However, players can sometimes drop stronger pieces of armor such as iron or diamond to chainmail-wearing skeletons or zombies in order to have them drop their chainmail for the stronger armor. Chainmail can additionally be traded for emeralds with villagers and is rarely found in chests.
How Mojang Can Expand Upon Chainmail Armor
In its current state, Chainmail in Minecraft is a bit of an oddity in that it can't be crafted and can only be found in difficult-to-learn means. With chains being added to Minecraft Java Edition with Update 1.16 in 2020, Mojang could make chainmail armor craftable with these new items. However, making one chain costs a single iron ingot and two iron nuggets, so if a player wanted to make a set of chainmail boots, it would actually cost the player more iron than a regular set of iron boots. If chainmail armor is made craftable with chains, Mojang could change the chain recipe to instead require three iron nuggets so as to save players iron and to have chain crafting be more sensible from a resource cost standpoint.
To make chainmail armor more of a viable option, Mojang could allow players to combine chainmail with leather armor to boost defense points. In real life, medieval soldiers were known to wear chainmail over leather or have chainmail sewed into leather so it could make practical sense to merge the two. Combining the two armor sets could give players a total of 19 defense points, making the chainmail-leather armor stronger than iron armor but slightly weaker than diamond. Since leather armor is the only armor that can be dyed in Minecraft, this combined chainmail-leather armor could provide players more incentive to actually use and dye leather armor in Minecraft and still have their colored armor be seen among their armored chains.
It costs 24 iron ingots to build a full set of iron armor and if chains were made to craft chainmail armor in their current state, it would cost 28 iron ingots and eight iron nuggets in total to make a full set of chainmail armor.
Minecraft
- Released
- November 18, 2011
WHERE TO PLAY
Minecraft is a game made up of blocks, creatures, and community. You can survive the night or build a work of art – the choice is all yours. But if the thought of exploring a vast new world all on your own feels overwhelming, then fear not!
Minecraft has no set goal and can be played however you’d like! This is why it’s sometimes called a “sandbox game” – there are lots of things for you to do, and lots of ways that you can play. If you like being creative, then you can use the blocks to build things from your imagination. If you’re feeling brave, you can explore the world and face daring challenges. Blocks can be broken, crafted, placed to reshape the landscape, or used to build fantastical creations.
Creatures can be battled or befriended, depending on how you play. The world of Minecraft allows for epic adventures, quiet meditations, and everything in between. You can even share your creations with other players, or play in community worlds!
- ESRB
- E10+ For Everyone 10+ Due To Fantasy Violence
- Developer(s)
- Mojang
- Publisher(s)
- Mojang
- Number of Players
- 1-4
- Split Screen Orientation
- Vertical or Horizontal
- Platform(s)
- 3DS, Android, iOS, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Wii U, PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PS Vita, Xbox One, Xbox 360
- Genre(s)
- Sandbox, Survival
- How Long To Beat
- 129 Hours
- File Size Xbox Series
- 1.42 GB (August 2024)
- Metascore
- 93
