How far you fall before the hit lands. The smash bonus is +4 damage per block for the first 3, +2 for blocks 3 to 8, then +1 each block beyond.
Wind charge launch heights are approximate. They depend on momentum and timing, so treat the presets as a starting point and read your real fall distance off the F3 screen.
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Smite and Bane of Arthropods also go on a mace. Smite hits undead, Bane hits arthropods.
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Lowest whole-block drop that kills each target in one smash with the build above. Smite and Bane apply per mob type; players are immune to both.
| Target | Health | Armor | Min fall |
|---|---|---|---|
| Netherite player | 20 | 20 | 20 blocks |
The mace deals 6 damage on the ground, the same as a diamond sword, but slowly at 0.6 attacks per second. Its real damage is the smash attack: swing while falling and your fall distance is turned into bonus damage at +4 per block for the first 3 blocks, +2 per block for blocks 3 to 8, then +1 per block beyond. A 10 block drop adds 24 for a 30 damage hit, and the bonus has no ceiling.
The mace carries a +5 attack damage modifier and a -3.4 attack speed modifier, so a player with base 1 attack damage and base 4 attack speed ends up at 6 damage and 0.6 attacks per second. On flat ground that makes it a slow, middling weapon. What sets it apart is the smash attack, triggered whenever you hit a target while falling. The smash also cancels your own fall damage, so the drop that powers the hit never hurts you.
The fall bonus is tiered, so early blocks are worth far more than later ones. The first 3 blocks each add 4 damage, blocks 3 to 8 each add 2, and every block past 8 adds 1. That gives clean breakpoints of 12 bonus damage at 3 blocks and 22 bonus damage at 8 blocks. Because there is no upper limit, a tall enough drop will one-shot almost anything, but the diminishing returns mean a short controlled fall is far more efficient than free-falling from build height.
| Fall height (blocks) | Smash bonus | Total damage (6 base) | Total with Density V |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | +4 | 10 | 12.5 |
| 3 | +12 | 18 | 25.5 |
| 5 | +16 | 22 | 34.5 |
| 8 | +22 | 28 | 48 |
| 10 | +24 | 30 | 55 |
| 15 | +29 | 35 | 72.5 |
| 20 | +34 | 40 | 90 |
| 30 | +44 | 50 | 125 |
A critical hit (falling, not sprinting, not on a ladder or in water) multiplies the whole smash by 1.5, and Smite or Bane of Arthropods add their usual flat bonus against undead and arthropod targets, so a mace works with the same melee modifiers as any other weapon on top of its fall bonus.
The mace has two exclusive enchantments, and they do opposite jobs. Density adds 0.5 smash damage per fallen block per level, so Density V adds 2.5 damage for every block you drop. Because it multiplies your fall distance, Density gets stronger the higher you go: over a 20 block fall Density V adds an extra 50 damage on top of the normal 34 fall bonus, for 90 total. It does nothing on a ground hit, so it is purely a smash-attack enchantment.
Breach instead makes the target's armor less effective, reducing armor effectiveness by 15% per level. Breach IV strips 60% of an armored target's protection, which is why it is the enchantment of choice against armored players and tanky mobs in the armor formula below. Density and Breach cannot share one mace, so pick Density for raw burst against unarmored crowds and Breach for cutting through heavy armor.
Damage to an armored target follows the game's combat rules: the armor reduction is clamp(armor x effectiveness - 4 x damage / (8 + toughness), armor x 0.2, 20), and the final damage is the hit multiplied by (1 - that value / 25). Breach lowers the effectiveness term, so the armor subtracts less and more of your smash gets through. Because the formula already scales protection down as the incoming hit grows, a big enough smash blows past armor on its own, and Breach simply lowers the fall height you need.
Numbers on this page come from the game code, not a wiki. The smash breakpoints (+4, +2, +1 per block; 12 at 3 blocks, 22 at 8) are read straight from the mace item, while Density's per-block value and Breach's effectiveness reduction are parsed live from the enchantment data for the version you select above.
On the ground the mace deals 6 damage (3 hearts), the same as a diamond sword, but it swings slowly at 0.6 attacks per second. Its real power is the smash attack: hit a mob while falling and it adds a huge fall bonus on top of the 6 base damage. A 10 block fall adds 24 for a 30 damage hit, and the bonus has no upper limit, so a tall enough drop one-shots almost anything.
When you swing a mace while falling it does a smash attack that converts your fall distance into bonus damage: +4 damage per block for the first 3 blocks, +2 per block for blocks 3 to 8, then +1 per block beyond 8. So 3 blocks gives +12, 8 blocks gives +22, and every block after that adds 1 more. The smash also cancels your own fall damage, so you take none from the drop that powered the hit.
Density adds extra smash damage for every block you fall. Each level adds 0.5 damage per fallen block, so Density V adds 2.5 per block. Over a 20 block fall that is an extra 50 damage on top of the normal fall bonus. Density only helps the smash attack, so it does nothing on a ground hit, but it scales harder the further you drop.
Breach makes the target's armor less effective. Each level reduces armor effectiveness by 15%, so Breach IV strips 60% of the armor's protection. It is the enchantment to use against armored players and tanky mobs, while Density is better for unarmored crowds. Breach and Density cannot be combined on one mace because they conflict, so pick based on whether your targets wear armor.
A 9 block fall is enough to one-shot most 20 HP mobs like zombies, skeletons and creepers, since 6 base plus a 23 fall bonus gives 29 damage. Tougher targets need more height: an iron golem at 100 HP needs about an 80 block drop with no enchants, and a netherite-armored player at 20 HP needs around 20 blocks because their armor and toughness soak most of the hit. Density and Breach lower the height you need.
For a normal standing fight the axe hits hardest per swing and the sword is faster, so the mace is the weakest of the three on flat ground. The mace wins entirely on the smash attack: with even a modest fall it out-damages anything, and with Density or Breach plus a wind charge launch it deals burst damage no other weapon can match. Carry a sword or axe for ground combat and the mace for diving finishers.
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