Shielding

Player armor Player armorSince indev, helmets, chestplates, leggings, and boots can be crafted by players out of leather, gold, iron, or diamond (in order of increasing durability). This armor prevents part of the damage dealt to the player, including falling, drowning and fire based damage.

All incoming damage is reduced to a certain percentage based upon the effective armor points of the player (effective armor points are described in detail in item durability). Each point of armor reduces the damage you take by 8%, up to the maximum reduction of 80%. Chainmail Armor. Only acquirable through inventory editing or /give.Every time the player takes damage the armor loses durability, and its protective capabilities quickly diminish as it loses durability. See item durabillity for more explanation of how armor's durability affects its protective abilities. Materials such as diamond makes a strong armor that withstands quite a bit of punishment, while leather armor barely survives 20 hits. While durability is different, they all have the same effectiveness. For example if you wear a leather helmet it will give you the same amount of protection as a diamond helmet.

Chainmail armor can also be hacked into the game, or crafted with edited-in fire blocks. It has the same durability as gold armor.

Players can also wear a Pumpkin as their helmet, but this will block view of the player and provide no armor.

Crafting
It takes 24 units of material to make a full set of armor. Although it is not necessary that all of your armor is the same material, each individual piece must consist of only one material.

Note that it is most efficient to craft boots before a helmet because, while they both provide 1.5 armor points, boots require less material, and also seem to be more durable than helmets.

Chain mail armor has the same durability as gold armor and is no different than any other armor sets, except for the fact that it is only obtainable through inventory hacking (or certain mods such as Mo' creatures). There is a popular rumor that states chain mail armor absorbs all damage done, but of course this has been tested and proved to be false, (so instead of losing .5 armor and .5 hearts you lose 1.0 armor) but this is purely that - a rumor, and nothing more. If chainmail is ever added into the game as a legitimately craftable item, it will presumably be given a more practical durability and/or crafting method.