1 - Your armor
In Java a piece can hold only one of Protection, Fire, Blast or Projectile Protection.
In Java a piece can hold only one of Protection, Fire, Blast or Projectile Protection.
In Java a piece can hold only one of Protection, Fire, Blast or Projectile Protection.
In Java a piece can hold only one of Protection, Fire, Blast or Projectile Protection.
2 - The hit
Mob and player attacks, thorns, contact, falling anvils, lightning
10 points = 5 hearts. A charged-creeper or preset 49 is near the worst non-lethal melee hit.
Result
How it is calculated
Damage after armor = damage x (1 - min(20, max(armor/5, armor - 4 x damage / (toughness + 8))) / 25). Then matching protection enchantments add up their EPF (Protection +1 per level, Fire / Blast / Projectile +2, Feather Falling +3), the total is capped at 20, and final = afterArmor x (1 - EPF / 25). Each step tops out at 80%. Numbers from the Minecraft Wiki for current Java Edition.
Each armor point cuts about 4% off a small hit, up to 80% at 20 points (a full diamond or netherite set). The exact Java formula is damage x (1 - min(20, max(armor/5, armor - 4 x damage / (toughness + 8))) / 25), so heavy hits punch through your armor unless you also have toughness to soften the penalty.
Minecraft works out armor in two steps. First it runs the armor points formula above: the more armor you wear the more it subtracts, but a bigger hit eats into that protection through the 4 x damage / (toughness + 8) term. With no toughness, a 20-damage hit against 20 armor points is reduced far less than a 1-damage hit against the same armor. The result is also clamped: it never drops below armor/5 (the floor that guarantees at least roughly 4% per point on huge hits) and never rises above 80%.
The armor bar shown in game is the total armor points out of 20. Reaching the full 20-point bar takes a complete diamond or netherite set; iron tops out at 15, chainmail and gold around 11 to 12, and leather at 7. More points is always better against light hits, but against the heavy stuff toughness matters just as much.
| Material | Helmet | Chestplate | Leggings | Boots | Full set | Toughness | Knockback resist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leather | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| Golden | 2 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 11 | 0 | 0 |
| Chainmail | 2 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 12 | 0 | 0 |
| Iron | 2 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 15 | 0 | 0 |
| Turtle Shell | 2 | - | - | - | 2 (helmet) | 0 | 0 |
| Diamond | 3 | 8 | 6 | 3 | 20 | 8 | 0 |
| Netherite | 3 | 8 | 6 | 3 | 20 | 12 | 40% |
Diamond and netherite share the same 20 armor points and the same per-slot values, so the upgrade is really about toughness and knockback: netherite carries 12 toughness versus diamond's 8, plus 40% knockback resistance across a full set, which is why it holds up better against explosions and hard-hitting mobs.
After the armor step, Minecraft applies your enchantment protection factor (EPF). Every matching protection enchantment adds its level times a type modifier: Protection gives +1 per level, while Fire, Blast and Projectile Protection give +2 per level and Feather Falling gives +3. The EPF from all four pieces is summed, capped at 20, then the damage that survived your armor is multiplied by (1 - EPF / 25). That caps the enchant step at the same 80% maximum.
In Java a single piece can carry only one of Protection, Fire, Blast or Projectile Protection, so you cannot stack them on one chestplate. Protection is the all-rounder and even reduces fall and magic damage that ignore armor points, but a specialised enchant gives double the EPF against its own damage type, so Blast Protection IV beats Protection IV against a creeper.
| Enchantment | EPF per level | EPF at level IV | Reduces |
|---|---|---|---|
| Protection | +1 | 4 | All damage (even fall and magic; not void, /kill, hunger, sonic boom) |
| Fire Protection | +2 | 8 | Fire, lava, burning, fireballs, magma |
| Blast Protection | +2 | 8 | Explosions (creeper, TNT, end crystal, firework star) |
| Projectile Protection | +2 | 8 | Arrows, tridents, shulker bullets, snowballs and eggs |
| Feather Falling | +3 | 12 | Fall damage and ender-pearl landing (boots only) |
The cap matters when you plan a set. Protection IV on all four pieces is only 16 EPF, comfortably under the 20 cap, so it never wastes protection. The moment you mix in +2 enchants you can overshoot 20, and anything past it does nothing, so against explosions a balanced mix of Protection and one Blast Protection piece usually beats four of the same enchant.
Armor points only apply to certain damage. They reduce melee attacks, projectiles, explosions, fire and lava contact, lightning, falling anvils and thrown snowballs. They do nothing against fall damage, ongoing burning, drowning, suffocation, starvation, magic and the void. The calculator models this directly: pick a bypass source and the armor step is skipped entirely.
The important nuance is that some armor-bypassing sources can still be reduced by enchantments. Feather Falling and Protection both cut fall damage even though armor points do not, and Protection reduces magic damage. Nothing, however, helps against the void, the /kill command or the warden's sonic boom: those skip both armor and enchantments.
To use the tool, set a material and protection enchant per slot, then pick the incoming damage type and amount. Damage is in points where 2 points equals 1 heart, so a typical zombie hit is about 3 to 4 points and a charged-creeper blast can exceed 40 at point-blank range. The headline number is the damage you actually take after armor and enchantments, with the total percent reduced beside it.
Each armor point reduces incoming damage by about 4% against small hits, up to a maximum of 80% at 20 armor points (a full diamond or netherite set). Against larger hits the protection shrinks unless you also have armor toughness, which softens that penalty. The exact formula is damage x (1 - min(20, max(armor/5, armor - 4 x damage / (toughness + 8))) / 25).
Armor toughness is a second stat that stops big hits from cutting through your armor. Only diamond (2 toughness per piece, 8 for a full set) and netherite (3 per piece, 12 for a full set) have it. With high toughness a heavy hit still gets close to the full per-point reduction, while iron or gold armor with zero toughness loses a lot of its protection against high-damage attacks.
Protection reduces nearly every damage source, including ones that ignore armor points like fall damage and magic, but not hunger, the void, /kill or the warden's sonic boom. Protection IV adds 4 enchantment protection factor (EPF) per piece, so a full set of four gives 16 EPF, which is a further 64% cut on top of the armor reduction. Fire, Blast and Projectile Protection only apply to their own damage type but give twice the EPF per level.
The enchantment protection factor caps at 20, which is the 80% maximum enchant reduction (20/25). Protection IV on all four pieces is only 16 EPF, so it does not hit the cap by itself. You reach 20 by mixing in higher-modifier enchants, for example Protection IV on three pieces plus Blast Protection IV on one against an explosion. Any EPF above 20 is wasted.
Armor points do not reduce fall damage at all, since fall is one of the sources that bypass armor. Feather Falling does reduce it strongly, at 3 EPF per level (12 for Feather Falling IV), and general Protection also reduces fall damage through its EPF. So a single pair of Feather Falling IV boots cuts fall damage far more than a full set of plain armor would.
Armor points are bypassed by fall damage, ongoing fire damage, drowning, suffocation, starvation, magic and instant damage, the warden's sonic boom, and the void or /kill. Armor does reduce melee attacks, arrows and other projectiles, explosions, fireballs and lava contact, lightning, falling anvils and thrown snowballs. Some bypass sources can still be softened by the right protection enchantment.
Planning the enchants for that armor? Or browse more Minecraft tools:
