How do you get Shears in Minecraft?

Shears is crafted from Iron Ingot at a Crafting Table, in a single step.

What is Shears used for?

Shears is a tool, and it harvests blocks faster than a bare hand does. Used to harvest wool from sheep, collect leaves, vines, tall grass, and cobwebs without destroying them.

Where do you find Shears in chests?

Shears is chest loot in one place and one only: village shepherd chests (about 12%). No other generated chest lists it, so that single structure is the whole search, and every other chest in the game will disappoint you.

Can Shears be enchanted?

Yes, and there are 4 to choose from on Shears: Unbreaking, Mending, and Efficiency, all on Shears, plus Curse of Vanishing.

When was Shears added to Minecraft?

Shears was added in the 1.0 full release.

How much durability does Shears have?

Shears have 238 points of durability, so they last about 238 uses. Two enchantments touch that bar on Shears: Unbreaking stretches what they have, Mending puts it back as you collect experience. Since Shears are made from Iron Ingot, those 238 points cover one craft.

How many Shears can you stack?

One Shears per slot, since Shears does not stack, and every one then costs 2 Iron Ingot. A shulker box tops out at 27 of them, one per slot.

ToolsEnchantableCraftable

Shears

Used to harvest wool from sheep, collect leaves, vines, tall grass, and cobwebs without destroying them.

Stack Size

Durability

238

Shears at a glance

Shears, tools out of crafting, sit under Tools. They claim a slot each, so nine hotbar slots hold nine and a double chest of 54 slots takes 54. They last 238 uses before they break, and an anvil brings them back; they take enchantments too.

Its 238-point durability sets how many actions Shears survives before breaking, and Unbreaking multiplies those 238 while Mending repairs Shears from the experience you pick up. When enchanted, Shears can carry 4 different enchantments, among them Unbreaking, Mending, Efficiency, and Curse of Vanishing. Generated chests only ever hold Shears in one place: village shepherd chests (about 12%). They sits between Pufferfish Bucket and Spyglass in Tools, number 26 of 35 there.

Crafting recipe

Crafting
Iron Ingot
Iron Ingot
Shears
Recipe data from Astroworld Crafting, where Shears has the grid for Shears

How to obtain

Crafting

Enchantments

Unbreaking Mending Efficiency Curse of Vanishing

Click an enchantment to view details on the Enchantments database.

Notes

Shearing a sheep yields 1-3 wool without killing it. Can harvest cobwebs as string.

Frequently asked questions about Shears

How do you get Shears in Minecraft?
Shears is crafted from Iron Ingot at a Crafting Table, in a single step.
What is Shears used for?
Shears is a tool, and it harvests blocks faster than a bare hand does. Used to harvest wool from sheep, collect leaves, vines, tall grass, and cobwebs without destroying them.
Where do you find Shears in chests?
Shears is chest loot in one place and one only: village shepherd chests (about 12%). No other generated chest lists it, so that single structure is the whole search, and every other chest in the game will disappoint you.
Can Shears be enchanted?
Yes, and there are 4 to choose from on Shears: Unbreaking, Mending, and Efficiency, all on Shears, plus Curse of Vanishing.
When was Shears added to Minecraft?
Shears was added in the 1.0 full release.
How much durability does Shears have?
Shears have 238 points of durability, so they last about 238 uses. Two enchantments touch that bar on Shears: Unbreaking stretches what they have, Mending puts it back as you collect experience. Since Shears are made from Iron Ingot, those 238 points cover one craft.
How many Shears can you stack?
One Shears per slot, since Shears does not stack, and every one then costs 2 Iron Ingot. A shulker box tops out at 27 of them, one per slot.

Building with it

Two iron ingots offset in the grid make shears with 238 uses, and they collect things nothing else will: wool without killing the sheep, leaves, vines, cobwebs and cocoa. Shearing sheep also regrows the wool, so one flock supplies colour forever.

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