BOW
1 trade involving this item across 1 trader.
View on Items Database →- Last checked
- 11 August 2026
- Java Edition
- 26.2, 1 of 1 row found
- Bedrock Edition
- 1.26.30.5, 1 of 1 matching
- Edition differences
- none, both editions match
Bow in villager trading
Bow is something you buy from villagers rather than sell to them; it does not appear as a raw-material trade, so trading is one of the few survival-friendly ways to stock up on it.
A crafting grid makes one from 3 × stick and 3 × string.
Villagers that sell Bow(you give emeralds, get Bow)
| Profession | Level | Price | Amount | Villager XP |  Java 26.2 |  Bedrock 1.26.30.5 | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fletcher | Apprentice |  | | 5same in Bedrock | verified | verified |
The 1 trade on this item was read out of the trade files Minecraft Java 26.2 ships in its own data, checked on against the item, both amounts and the use limit. Bedrock 1.26.30.5 is read as well, and where it disagrees the row says how. Which files, and what is not checked.
Your odds of finding Bow
Every villager listed below shows this trade: their tier draws its whole pool, so there is nothing to roll for. What is left to plan is throughput.
| Villager | Tier | Villagers with this offer | Rolls to see it | Most from one villager | After a cure |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fletcher | Apprentice | 100% (2 in 2)same in Bedrock | none, it is always there | 24 bow a day2 restocks a day | 1 emeraldwas 2, 1 off |
The chance is the draw size over the pool size in the game's own trade set file for that tier. The Bedrock line under it is the same sum on Bedrock's own table, which splits a tier into groups and draws out of each one separately, so the two editions often disagree. The day figure is the trade's use limit times the 2 restocks a villager is allowed per in-game day (Villager.allowedToRestock), so it is a ceiling and not an average: it assumes you are there for every restock. The cure column is 125 reputation times the trade's own multiplier, floored, and never takes a cost below one. Counted from the game's own draw sizes. How that check works.
Buying a bow against making it
The game's recipe makes one, made from 3 sticks and 3 string. Villagers here buy every one of those, so the parts have a price of their own: stick at 32 an emerald and string at 14 an emerald. That puts one at 0.31 emeralds of goods.
A Fletcher sells a bow at Apprentice for 2 emeralds. That is 6.5 times what the parts are worth, so gathering the materials and making it yourself is the cheaper side of the same trade.
Recipe out of data/minecraft/recipe in the same client jar the trades are read from. Part prices are the best rate any villager on this site pays, before any cure discount, and each of those is a trade with a page of its own. How that check works. The grid itself is on the bow recipe page.
Who trades Bow, and at what price
To buy Bow, visit a Fletcher at the Apprentice tier (2 emeralds).
Is trading Bow worth it?
Bow sells for as little as 2 emeralds, from the Fletcher at the Apprentice tier, and 1 of the other 4 costs less. The price is fixed rather than rolled, so a second Fletcher will quote you exactly the same.
 | ArrowNovice | 1 | |
| BowApprentice | 2 | |
 | CrossbowJourneyman | 3 | |
| Enchanted BowExpert | 7-21 | |
| Enchanted CrossbowMaster | 8-22 |
What 2 emeralds cost in goods
The Fletcher at its apprentice tier asks 2 emeralds for a bow. 8 of the 72 villagers that pay emeralds, emptied out:
| A full slot of | To | Emeralds | Buys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 lava buckets | journeyman Armorer | 12 | 6 bows |
| 48 melons | journeyman Farmer | 12 | 6 bows |
| 72 tropical fish | expert Fisherman | 12 | 6 bows |
| 160 raw beef | journeyman Butcher | 16 | 8 bows |
| 208 raw salmon | journeyman Fisherman | 16 | 8 bows |
| 288 black wool | novice Shepherd | 16 | 8 bows |
| 320 stone | apprentice Mason | 16 | 8 bows |
| 384 paper | novice Librarian | 16 | 8 bows |
2 lava buckets against 48 paper for the same 2 emeralds, 24 times the carrying, and the shortest wait is the Butcher at 1.3 real minutes of shelf, gathering not counted.
How Bow trading works
Every bow offer here locks after 12 uses, and a villager restocks up to twice per Minecraft day, so one is good for 24 of these trades a day and no more.
The earliest bow shows up is the Fletcher's Apprentice tier, level 2 of five, which a villager reaches at 10 trade experience. A freshly employed one is 1 tier short of offering bow at all.
How long Bow takes in real time
12 bows empty one slot at the Fletcher, 2400 ticks (Villager.allowedToRestock) at 20 a second (TickRateManager) refill it 2 real minutes later, and the 24000-tick villager day (Timelines) holds 2 of those fills in 20 real minutes.
So one fletcher moves 24 bows against 48 emeralds a Minecraft day, a bow every 50 real seconds, 2.4 emeralds a real minute. 27 bows take 3 fills across 2 Minecraft days, 2 minutes of it watching the fletcher walk back to its fletching table.
Tips for trading Bow
- Clearing the shelf: one Fletcher sells 12 bows before it has to restock, 24 emeralds for the full slot.
- Where the emeralds come from: the same Fletcher pays an emerald per 26 flint.
- Also on the Fletcher's list: string, crossbow, feather, enchanted bow, tripwire hook, enchanted crossbow.
Stick
Flint
String
Feather