Minecraft anticheat guide
Mace and Wind Charge Combat: Anticheat Considerations
How mace smash attacks and wind charge knockback can look like fly, speed, or reach cheats to an anticheat, and how to test both items before enforcing bans.
Short answer: test both items before you enforce
Mace smash attacks and wind charge knockback create fast vertical movement, sudden velocity changes, and hits from unusual heights. An anticheat tuned on older combat can flag these as fly, speed, or reach. Before enforcing bans, run both items on a staging server, read the alert timestamps, and check the Minecraft wiki and release notes for your version to confirm how each mechanic works.
What the mace and wind charge change
The mace and the wind charge were added in Minecraft 1.21. The mace has a smash attack that deals more damage when the wielder falls before the hit. The exact damage formula, fall requirements, and any version changes are listed on the Minecraft wiki and in the release notes for each version. Do not rely on numbers from older guides.
The wind charge is a projectile that pushes the user and nearby entities when it hits or bursts. Both items create movement that does not come from walking, sprinting, or a normal jump. A check that expects movement only from those inputs can read the result as a cheat.
Neither item is a reason to disable a whole check. The goal is to learn which part of the check reacts, and whether the reaction matches legal play.
Which alerts to expect and what to ask
Each item can trigger a different family of checks. The table lists the common patterns and the question staff should answer for each one. Answer the question with the recorded timestamp, not with a memory of the fight.
| Event | What a check may see | Question for staff |
|---|---|---|
| Mace smash after a fall | Large downward velocity, then a hit from several blocks above the target | Did the alert happen on the impact tick, and was the fall legal? |
| Wind charge self-launch | Upward or sideways velocity with no jump input | Was a wind charge used at that exact timestamp? |
| Target pushed by a wind charge | Target moves away quickly, so distance grows for a short time | Is the reach distance measured after the knockback or before it? |
| Hit right after landing | Vertical position changes around ground contact | Does the alert line up with the landing or with the hit? |
How to test both items on staging
Use a clone of production with the same Minecraft version and server software build. Give a test account both items and a dummy target. Keep the anticheat in alert-only mode during the test, so no player is punished while you collect data.
Run the procedure below with each condition repeated at least ten times. Write down every alert with its timestamp and the action that caused it.
/give <test-player> mace
/give <test-player> wind_charge 64What to change if the alerts are false
Change a setting only after you know which check fired and why. Prefer a narrow change, such as a tolerance or exemption for one check, over turning off a whole category. If your anticheat has no setting for the case, send the developer the recorded timestamps and the server versions.
Record every change with the Minecraft version, anticheat version, the staging result, and the name of the person who approved it. A later player appeal will need that record.
Re-run the same staging script after each change. If the alerts for legal mace or wind charge play disappear but the alerts for the illegal test cases remain, the change is narrow enough to keep. If the illegal cases also disappear, the change is too broad and should be reverted.
What we have not verified
This article does not state how any specific anticheat models mace or wind charge movement. It also does not give a false-positive rate for these items. Those answers depend on your anticheat version and your settings. Check your anticheat documentation, and run the staging test on your own server before you change enforcement.
FAQ
Do mace hits count as normal melee for reach checks?
A mace hit is a melee attack, but the attacker can be well above the target during the fall. Check whether your reach check measures distance from the position at hit time or from an earlier recorded position. Test a fall from a known height and compare the distance the check reports.
Can wind charges be used to fly?
A wind charge gives one burst of movement per use. Review repeated bursts in a short window, because that pattern is what a fly cheat would need. A single burst on its own is not enough evidence.
Should we ban a player for one mace alert?
No. Use the staging results and several alerts across different players and fights before any enforcement. One alert with a legal fall in the logs is a false positive candidate, not a ban.
Where do I confirm the exact mace damage values?
Use the Minecraft wiki page for the mace and the release notes for your exact version. The values have changed between releases, so older guides can be wrong for your server.