What Does Density Do in Minecraft? Mace Damage Explained

What does Density do in Minecraft? Density is a mace-only enchantment that adds extra damage to smash attacks for every block you fall before the hit lands.

Each level adds 0.5 damage per block fallen, so Density V adds 2.5 per block, according to the Minecraft Wiki. It does nothing for normal ground hits.

This guide applies to Java Edition 26.3 and Bedrock Edition 26.50, checked in October 2026.

What the Density enchantment does in Minecraft

Density raises a mace’s smash attack damage by 0.5 per level for every block fallen. A smash attack happens when you hit something with the mace after falling 1.5 blocks or more.

The mace already gains bonus damage as you fall: +4 for each of the first 3 blocks, +2 for each of the next 5 and +1 for every block after that. Density stacks on top.

The mace arrived with the Tricky Trials update (1.21) on June 13, 2024. It is a game take on the real mace, a blunt club with a heavy head, according to Wikipedia. Density first appeared in snapshot 24w13a, and 24w18a cut it from 1 damage per level to 0.5.

Density damage per level in Minecraft

Density I adds 0.5 damage per block fallen, and each level adds another 0.5, up to 2.5 at Density V. Damage is in health points, and 2 points equal 1 heart.

How Density stacks with mace fall damage

Density adds to the mace’s 6 base damage and its built-in fall scaling. This table combines all three, before armor and with no critical hit.

A 20-block fall with Density V works out this way: 6 base, plus 34 from fall scaling, plus 50 from Density, for 90 points or 45 hearts.

Past 8 blocks, the mace’s own scaling slows to +1 per block while Density V keeps adding 2.5. Smash attacks are usually critical hits, which raise base and smash damage by 50%, and armor and Protection then cut the final number.

Density vs Breach: which mace enchantment is better?

Density is better for drops from height. Breach can win in close fights against armored players, and you can’t put both on one mace.

Breach cuts a target’s armor effectiveness by 15% per level, up to Breach IV, and needs no fall to work.

Figures come from the Minecraft Wiki’s mace damage comparisons and assume a critical hit. Density struggles under low ceilings such as caves and Trial Chamber corridors.

Wind Burst solves the height problem. After a smash, it launches you 8 blocks up per level (up to Wind Burst III), so you can chain hits.

How to get the Density enchantment

1. Get a mace. Craft it from a heavy core and a breeze rod; heavy cores drop only from ominous vaults, at a 7.5% chance.
2. Place the mace in an enchanting table. Density can appear among the options, but it’s random.
3. Look for Density books from fishing, ominous vaults and structure chests.
4. Check librarian villagers. Librarians sold Density books before the Villager Trade Rebalance, so confirm the trade in your own world.
5. Combine books in an anvil. Two books of the same level merge into the next, up to Density V.

In Creative or with cheats on, hold the mace and run /enchant @s density 5.

Enchantments you can combine with Density

Density is incompatible with Breach, Smite and Bane of Arthropods on a mace. Wind Burst, Fire Aspect, Unbreaking and Mending all work alongside it.

A Density V mace with Wind Burst III, Unbreaking III and Mending makes a strong Survival setup. That’s our suggestion, not an official build. The mace has 500 durability in Java, and each attack costs 1.

Density on Java vs Bedrock

Density works the same way in both editions: 0.5 damage per block fallen, per level. The differences sit in the mace itself.

• On Java, you must remove an equipped elytra before the smash counts.
• On Bedrock, the smash works during elytra flight, and the mace has no attack cooldown.
• In both editions, gliding down on an elytra counts toward blocks fallen.

Density enchantment vs density in world generation

The Density enchantment is a mace combat feature. “Density function” is a separate world generation term that appears in Mojang’s 26.3 data pack notes for terrain noise.

Some pages claim density controls ore spread, tree counts or block buoyancy. Neither the 26.3 notes nor the Minecraft Wiki support those claims.

When to recheck Density numbers

Mojang’s 26.3 notes list no change to the mace or Density. Version 26.4 is in snapshots, and Mojang has changed Density before, so recheck the per-level values when it ships.

The mace is one of the newer weapons in a game that has sold more than 300 million copies, as reported by The Verge.

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