What Does Smite Do in Minecraft? Undead Mobs Explained

Battling mobs is a big part of Minecraft if you decide to reach the end. The Smite Minecraft enchantment can give you a significant advantage when fighting undead enemies. It involves gathering all sorts of resources, many of which come from mobs that are difficult to kill. Players can use different grades of weapons to defeat mobs and they can use enchantments or beacon power effects to make the best weapons more effective. If Endermen are giving you trouble, this Enderman kill method can help. If you also enjoy combat in the spin-off, these top Minecraft Dungeons weapons are worth a look.

What Does Smite Do in Minecraft?

Smite is an enchantment in Minecraft that can be applied to weapons. In most versions of the game, it can be applied to a sword or to an axe. In Java Edition 1.20.5 and later, it can also be applied to the mace. Other weapons such as crossbows and bows cannot be enchanted with Smite.

The Smite Minecraft enchantment increases damage when a weapon with the enchantment strikes an undead mob. The full list of affected mobs includes zombies and their variants (drowned, husks, zombie villagers, zombified piglins), skeletons and their variants (strays, wither skeletons), phantoms, skeleton horses, zombie horses, zoglins, and the Wither boss itself.

Each level of the Smite enchantment adds 2.5 damage per hit against undead mobs in Java Edition — that works out to 1.25 hearts per level. Smite maxes out at level V. Here is the full Java Edition breakdown:

Bedrock Edition note: Smite still adds 2.5 damage per level in Bedrock, but odd-numbered levels (I, III, V) produce fractional damage values that Bedrock rounds down on a per-hit basis. As a result, the actual damage you deal per swing in Bedrock will not always match the exact Java numbers shown above. If you are playing on Bedrock, expect slightly lower effective damage at Smite I, III, and V compared to the Java figures.

You can learn more about Minecraft enchantments on the official Minecraft Wiki.

In order to enchant a weapon, you need;

• An enchantment table
• The weapon you will enchant
• 3 Lazuli Lapis (found by mining underground at level 32)
• Optional: decorative blocks like terracotta if you’re customizing your enchanting room or base

Enchantment table

The most difficult item to obtain for crafting an enchantment table is diamonds. You will have to mine for them and you must use an iron or higher pickaxe. Diamonds are found below Y level 16.

Obsidian is easy to craft: pour a bucket of water on a source lava block. The tricky part is breaking the block once you have it. You need a diamond pickaxe for the job. In total, you need 5 diamonds (3 for the axe, and 2 for the table).

To craft a book, you need three paper and one leather skin. To get paper, you need sugar cane (naturally occurring). To get leather, you have to kill either a cow, horse, donkey, mule, or llamas. Cows are more likely to drop a hide and are more commonly found.

Craft the book by placing one paper in the first cell of the second row, one paper in the second cell of the second row, and one paper in the first cell of the last row in the crafting table. Place the leather hide in the second cell of the third row. Collect the book.

To craft the enchantment table: If you are also setting up an enchanting room, this glass blocks recipe is useful for adding windows or partitions to the space.

1. Place the book in the second cell of the first row.
2. Place a diamond in the first and last cell of the second row.
3. Place an obsidian block in the second cell of the second row.
4. Place an obsidian block in each cell of the third row.
5. Collect the enchantment table.

How to Get Smite in Minecraft

The enchanting table is the most straightforward method to obtain the Smite Minecraft enchantment, but it is not the only way. This Smite enchantment guide also helps explain which items you can enchant directly at the table based on your edition and version. Here are all the main routes available to you:

• Enchanting table (Java Edition): In current Java Edition, you can place a sword directly in the enchanting table along with 3 Lapis Lazuli and select Smite if it appears. Axes and maces, however, are secondary items for this enchantment in Java — they cannot receive Smite directly from the enchanting table and instead require a Smite enchanted book applied at an anvil. The level of Smite you receive depends on your experience level and the number of bookshelves surrounding the table (up to 15 bookshelves for the highest-level enchantments).
• Enchanting table (Bedrock Edition): In Bedrock Edition, both swords and axes can receive Smite directly at the enchanting table. As with Java, the mace requires a Smite enchanted book applied at an anvil.
• Enchanted books via anvil: Find or craft a Smite enchanted book and combine it with your weapon at an anvil. This lets you target a specific enchantment rather than relying on the random enchanting table rolls, and it is the required method for applying Smite to axes in Java Edition or maces in any edition.
• Librarian villager trades: Librarians can sell enchanted books, and their inventory resets when you break and replace their lectern. By cycling a librarian this way, you can lock in a Smite V book trade, making this one of the most reliable methods for getting the maximum level.
• Fishing: Fishing with a Luck of the Sea enchantment on your rod increases your chances of reeling in enchanted books, including Smite.
• Loot chests: Smite enchanted books can appear in loot chests found in structures such as dungeons, mineshafts, desert temples, and bastions.

Practical tip: If you want Smite V as efficiently as possible, the librarian method is your best bet. Alternatively, you can combine two Smite IV books on an anvil to produce a Smite V book, then apply it to your weapon.

How to Apply the Smite Enchantment in Minecraft

Now that you have the enchantment table, the weapon, and the Lazuli Lapis, you can apply the Smite Minecraft enchantment to your weapon. Understanding Smite in Minecraft helps you decide whether to choose it over other enchantments like Sharpness or Bane of Arthropods. Smite is the best choice when you are specifically preparing to fight undead mobs or take on the Wither boss.

1. Place the Enchantment table.
2. Click the table.
3. Place the weapon in the block on the left.
4. Place 3 Lazuli Lapis in the block on the right.
5. Hover over the three enchantments that appear in the three rows.
6. Select the Smite enchantment.
7. Collect the weapon. It is now enchanted with Smite.

Keep in mind that Smite is mutually exclusive with several other damage enchantments — you cannot apply more than one of them to the same weapon. On swords and axes, Smite cannot be combined with Sharpness or Bane of Arthropods. On maces, Smite is additionally incompatible with Density and Breach, which are mace-specific damage enchantments introduced alongside the mace. These are not the only conflicts that exist across all enchantments, but they are the ones most relevant when building a damage-focused loadout.

Smite vs. Sharpness — which should you choose? The numbers make the trade-off very clear in Java Edition: Smite V adds +12.5 damage per hit against undead mobs, while Sharpness V adds only +3 damage against any mob. Against the Wither or a wither skeleton, Smite V is dramatically stronger. However, Smite adds exactly zero extra damage to any non-undead target — that includes the Ender Dragon, creepers, Endermen, piglins, hoglins, players, and all passive mobs. Sharpness, by contrast, works on every single one of them. If you use one weapon for general survival and mixed combat, Sharpness is the safer investment. Smite, however, is the stronger specialist enchantment and pulls ahead decisively in any situation where you are facing predominantly undead mobs.

The practical recommendation is to carry both: one general-purpose weapon with Sharpness for open-world exploration, and a dedicated Smite weapon for the following scenarios:

• The Wither fight: The Wither is an undead boss, so Smite V will deal significantly more damage per swing than Sharpness V.
• Wither skeleton farming: A dedicated Smite sword or axe will make Nether fortress runs much faster.
• Zombie and skeleton spawner farms: Smite dramatically speeds up clearing these spawners and collecting drops.
• Phantom-heavy nights: If you haven’t slept in a while and phantoms are constantly spawning, a Smite weapon makes short work of them.

If you are building a dedicated undead-hunting loadout, Smite V is the enchantment to chase. For a single all-round weapon, Sharpness V is the more flexible pick.

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Fatima has been writing for AddictiveTips for six years. She began as a junior writer and has been working as the Editor in Chief since 2014. Fatima gets an adrenaline rush from figuring out how technology works, and how to manipulate it. A well-designed app, something that solves a common everyday problem and looks

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