How to Make A Shield in Minecraft – Easiest Guide With Pics

A shield can be quite indispensable in any game. In Minecraft, it’s no different. A shield helps you block both melee and ranged attacks. However, they have a fixed durability, so you’ll have to keep an eye on its status. At any rate, here’s how to craft a shield in any version of Minecraft, explained with step-by-step pictures.

Requirements

In order to craft a shield, you’ll need the following items:

1. A crafting table
2. 6 wooden planks (they must be of the same kind)
3. An iron ingot

Where to Obtain the Components?

1. Crafting Table

While newcomers have a 2×2 grid for crafting, that simply isn’t enough — especially when you’re looking to craft more complex stuff. Therefore, to get a 3×3 crafting grid, you need a crafting table. A crafting table can be crafted by following the steps below:

1. First off, you’ll need a decent amount of wood. Since you’ll need wood to craft your shield too, make sure to get it all in one go. At any rate, wood is the easiest resource to obtain in Minecraft. Simply, chop or punch away at the trees to get some. 3 logs should be enough.
   

   

2. Once you’ve got the wood, open up your crafting menu. Place 1 log of wood in any crafting slot to obtain 4 wooden planks.
   

   

3. Now, remove all the wood logs from the crafting slots and fill all the slots with the wooden planks you just crafted. The result will be a crafting table. 
   

   

4. Place the crafting table somewhere in your base.
   

   

5. Finally, exit the crafting screen and access it once more to see the changes.
   

   

2. Wooden Planks

Just like we did for the crafting table, we’ll need to craft wooden planks for our shield now.

1. Open up the crafting menu. 
   

   

2. Next, put 2 wood blocks in the crafting slot. This will give you 8 wooden planks. Place them in your inventory.
   

   

3. Iron Ingot

This is a difficult material to obtain, but not overly problematic. It can’t be Minecraft without mining and to get some iron, there’s no easier way than mining. While you can find an iron ingot in chests, mining is the best way to get some iron ore and craft an iron ingot. Follow the steps below to craft an iron ingot:

1. Iron is pretty common and can be found in caves, ravines and cliffsides. Use a pickaxe to mine it.
   

   

2. Next, you’ll need to smelt the iron from the ore. A furnace will be required for this. Furnaces can be found in villages, ships and other such places. Anyhow, place the iron ore in the top slot in the Furnace menu.
   

   

3. Then, you’ll need some fuel to operate the furnace. While coal can be used and is easy to obtain as it spawns near iron, the leftover wooden planks from earlier can also be used. Place the fuel in the bottom slot.
   

   

4. Place the crafted iron ore in your inventory.

Finally, you have all the ingredients required to make a shield.

Crafting a Shield

When you’re done procuring the ingredients, here are the steps to actually craft a shield:

1. Open up the crafting menu. Arrange the ingredients exactly as shown in the picture below.
   

   

2. Your shield will be crafted. Place it in your inventory.

Customizing your Shield (Java Edition Only)

Your shield can be customized to include a banner, which gives it a unique look. This works only in the Java version of the game available on PC and Mac. In order to do this you’ll need to craft a banner.

Crafting a banner

1. Open up the crafting menu.
2. Place 6 wool and 1 stick as shown below. Keep in mind that all the wool should be of the same color.
   

   

3. Store the crafted banner in your inventory.
4. Next, open up your loom. Place the banner, a dye and select a pattern from the options shown.
   

   

5. Using the preview, you can see how the banner will come out. Store it to your inventory if it satisfies your requirements.
   

   

Making a custom shield

Once your banner has been crafted, follow these steps to make a custom shield:

1. Once again, open up your crafting menu.
2. Arrange the shield and banner in the crafting slots as shown.
   

   

3. Store your new custom shield in your inventory.

Read More: How To Play Minecraft VR in 2023

Conclusion

Shields are very handy in PvP combat; or in a situation where you find yourself low on health. Therefore, it’s best to have one on hand in case things go south. If you’re on the Java edition, customize your shield to match your armor and gear for a more sleek and cool look.