Cold Steel is a Rare enchant for Diamond Chestplate chestplates. When another player hits you while you wear it, it has a chance to give that player Mining Fatigue II for a few seconds.
How to get it#
Cold Steel comes from the Rare rune. A Rare rune costs 100,000 XP in the enchant shop and turns into an enchanted book with one of the 11 Rare enchants in Survival, picked at random, so each rune has a 1 in 11 chance of being Cold Steel. See Runes for how the level and the success chance of a rune book are rolled. Cold Steel is also one of the possible rewards in crates (Crates).
Effect#
Cold Steel is a defensive enchant. It rolls each time another player damages you, including with arrows they shoot, and only the enchanted chestplate you are wearing counts. The chance is 1% plus 0.25% per level of the enchant. On a success the attacker gets Mining Fatigue II, which slows their mining and their attack speed, for 1 second per level.
Damage from mobs and from the environment never triggers it, and there is no cooldown between procs.
Levels#
| Level | Chance per hit taken | Mining Fatigue II duration |
|---|---|---|
| I | 1.25% | 1 second |
| II | 1.5% | 2 seconds |
| III | 1.75% | 3 seconds |
| IV | 2% | 4 seconds |
| V | 2.25% | 5 seconds |
| VI | 2.5% | 6 seconds |
Notes and tips#
- Cold Steel is a chestplate enchant, so it does not use the item in your hand.
- Even at level VI the chance is only 2.5% per hit taken, so it is a small bonus on top of your armor rather than something to build around.