Armor Protection Calculator

How to use it

1. Pick the armor material and the incoming damage.
2. Set the enchantment and level on each piece, and the damage type.
3. Read the damage after armor, after Protection and after Resistance.

Good to know

• Toughness matters most against big hits; netherite and diamond have it.
• Protection points cap at 20 (80%), so stacking special types past that does nothing.
• Feather Falling only helps against falls, but stacks with Protection there.

Related: Best armor enchantments, Protection vs Blast Protection, and the enchantment calculator for the cheapest anvil order.

How armor works

Armor points and toughness reduce each hit first: each armor point blocks 4%, up to 80%, but big hits get through more easily unless you have toughness. Netherite gives 20 armor and 12 toughness for a full set.

Then protection enchantments apply: each point removes 4%, capped at 20 points (80%). Protection gives 1 point per level against everything; the specialised types give 2 per level against their damage type; Feather Falling 3 per level against falls.

A 10-damage hit on full netherite leaves 2.8 damage after armor, and 1.01 with Protection IV on every piece.

How to read the result

• The first row is the damage left after armor points and toughness.
• The second row applies your protection points. If you pass 20, it shows the capped value and the raw total.
• The Resistance row appears only when you pick a Resistance level.
• The bottom line gives the final damage, the hearts and the share of the hit you blocked.
• Change the damage type to see how special protection pieces count. A Blast Protection piece gives nothing against melee.

The armor formula in plain words

The game first works out your effective armor. It takes your armor points and subtracts the damage divided by (2 + toughness ÷ 4). The result never drops below a fifth of your armor points, and never goes above 20. Each effective point then blocks 4% of the hit.

Take a 20-damage hit on full netherite: 20 armor and 12 toughness. The divisor is 2 + 12 ÷ 4 = 5, so effective armor is 20 − 20 ÷ 5 = 16. That blocks 64%, and 7.2 damage gets through.

Diamond has the same 20 armor but only 8 toughness. The same hit leaves it 15 effective points, so 8 damage gets through. Against a 40-damage hit the gap grows: 20.8 for netherite and 24 for diamond.

The table shows damage taken after armor alone, before any enchantment.

Stacking protection and the cap

Protection points add up across all four pieces, and then the cap of 20 applies. So the smart move is to reach 20 against the damage you fear most, without wasting points. Some common setups:

• Protection IV on all four pieces: 16 points, so 64% less damage from almost everything.
• Protection IV on three pieces and Blast Protection IV on one: still 12 points against most hits, but 12 + 8 = 20 against explosions.
• Blast Protection IV on all four: 32 points against explosions, cut to 20. The extra 12 do nothing, and you drop to 0 against melee.
• Feather Falling IV adds 12 against falls. With two Protection IV pieces you already reach 20 points there.
• Fire Protection IV on one piece plus Protection IV on the rest gives 20 points against fire and lava.

For most players, full Protection IV is the safe pick. See Protection vs Blast Protection and Protection vs Fire Protection for when to swap a piece.

Damage that skips armor points

Some damage ignores armor points but still counts protection enchantments. Fall damage and the burning from being on fire both work this way. The calculator handles falls for you: it drops the armor points and counts only Protection and Feather Falling. For burning, set the material to No armor and keep your enchantments.

Fall damage is 1 per block after the first 3. A 23-block fall deals 20 damage. With 20 protection points against falls, you take 4, which is 2 hearts.

Resistance blocks another 20% per level on top, so Resistance II takes off a further 40%. A mace with Breach works the other way: it makes your armor points less effective, but it doesn't touch your enchantments.