What does impaling do in Minecraft?

Minecraft has multiple different enchantments, with a new one seemingly being added with each large update. But what exactly does the impaling enchantment do?

This feature was added to Minecraft during version 1.13, with the addition of tridents, meaning it is only meant for tridents. Depending on whether a player is playing on Bedrock Edition or Java Edition, the impaling enchantment may have different abilities and affects different mobs.

However, in the Minecraft Java Edition version 1.17 update, some new features might be added to this enchantment, which is something players should keep an eye out for.

Impaling in Minecraft

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What is the impaling enchantment?

The impaling enchantment has different effects (Image via Minecraft)

The impaling enchantment in Minecraft causes tridents to deal more damage to aquatic creatures. The way that the impaling functions differs between the Java Edition and the Bedrock Edition.

In the Java Edition, only aquatic mobs receive extra damage, which does not include regular mobs that happen to be in the water. Drowned also do not receive the extra damage, as they are considered an undead mob instead of an aquatic mob.

In the Bedrock Edition, the extra damage can be dealt to all mobs and players that are in contact with water. This includes mobs and players that are in the rain.

New changes coming to the Java Edition

Impaling can deal extra damage to axolotls (Image via Minecraft)

In the Java Edition Combat Test 4, damage can be dealt to all mobs and players in any type of water while using a trident with impaling. This is similar to how impaling already functions in the Minecraft Bedrock Edition.

This gives players a hint about some updates that might be coming to the Minecraft Java Edition during the large version 1.17 update.

Impaling also deals extra damage to axolotls in the Java Edition Combat Test 4.