Thorns vs... Yourself in Minecraft

Hey everyone! How many times have you asked yourself, «What if...?» Honestly, for me, Minecraft isn’t just about building farms and fighting mobs, but also a constant stream of crazy experiments. Recently, I couldn’t stop thinking about one silly but super intriguing idea: «What if I wear armor enchanted with „Thorns“, shoot an arrow straight up, and then catch it? Will my thorns activate — maybe I’ll take extra damage, or, who knows, it might reflect back?»

First thought: this clearly isn’t in the Minecraft manuals — so why not test it myself?

Testing on Myself

Alright, the experiment has to be fair! I put on a full netherite set, each piece maxed out with «Thorns III», and make sure my bow is ready. I head to a clearing where no one can see me — just in case something epic happens. I take a deep breath, shoot straight into the sky… and instead of a heroic battle with skeletons, I just wait for the arrow to whistle back down onto my head.

A thousand thoughts race through my mind: «Will the damage stack?», «Will there be a double rebound?» I admit, my heart was beating faster than usual — after all, voluntarily taking damage in the game is always thrilling.

The sound of impact, the screen barely flickered — but nothing special happened. And here comes the climax of the experiment…

Minecraft Trolls Experimenters

Guys, honestly, I was a bit disappointed! The answer was simple — «Thorns» just doesn’t work if you damage yourself. No matter how much you balance physics and fantasy, you won’t get any «self-reaction». The mechanic is clearly designed for defense against external attacks: it only activates when hit by mobs or other players.

In my opinion, this is a missed opportunity for Mojang to add more fun to the game. Imagine if thorns penalized self-destruction — it would be twice as funny to watch PvP or farm experiments! But as it stands, your armor silently absorbs the arrow, with no second wave of damage or fireworks.

Main Pros and Cons of the «Thorns» Enchantment

Before trying even more absurd experiments, let’s talk a bit about the pros and cons of this controversial enchantment:

Pros:

• Damage reflection. Every time a mob or player hits you, there’s a chance they’ll take damage in return. In PvP, this can be surprisingly satisfying!
• Crowd control. If you’re surrounded by a dozen zombies — some of them will not only get what they deserve but also «hit back», passively.
• Intimidation factor. Players often lose their fighting spirit when facing enchanted armor.

Cons:

• Accelerated armor wear. Every «proc» of thorns means additional durability loss. Armor breaks even faster than in a regular fight.
• Not suitable for farms. If you use thorns on your armor while farming mobs, some will die prematurely, potentially ruining results.
• Ineffective against your own mistakes. As we’ve already discovered, it offers no protection against your own arrow falling from the sky.

Call to Experiment

Friends, despite all the cons, «Thorns» is a fun enchantment for PvP and unexpected situations. But for everyday use, I’d recommend having a separate «combat» set with this enchantment and using something more practical for daily tasks.

And, of course, share your crazy ideas! What other experiments keep you up at night? Maybe someone’s already tried taming a creeper with a carrot? Write your stories, come up with new tests — who knows, we might discover something truly unexpected!