Enchanted Sword Shrine

Desktop/Console/Mobile-Only Content: This information applies only to the Desktop, Console, and Mobile versions of Terraria.

Sword in Stone
Background Objects

Junk on left (will only generate within shrines on ( versions), still generates randomly on all platforms), Enchanted on right

Enchanted Sword Shrines are terrain features that generate as small caves below the surface. They can generate with a narrow shaft leading into the top of the cave. The cave's background is made of Flower Walls and features a small hill with pools of water on either side. Atop the hill rests a sword in stone as a background object. They generate in the surface or underground layers in dirt or stone terrain.

On the Desktop version, Console version, and Mobile version, multiple shrines may generate in a world, with larger worlds having a slight increased chance to generate more, although not guaranteed to generate any. They generate in the outer two-thirds of the map, and have a 33% chance of generating a 1-tile-wide shaft leading up to the surface. Upon destroying the background object, there is a 2% chance to drop the Terragrim, and otherwise, will drop the Enchanted Sword.

On the no version, multiple shrines may generate in a world, with larger worlds having more available. They generate in the outer two-thirds of the map, and always generate with a 1-tile-wide shaft leading up to the surface. The background object has a 67% chance of displaying a junk sword and a 33% chance of displaying an enchanted sword. Upon destroying the enchanted sword in stone, there is a 10% chance to drop the Arkhalis, and otherwise, will drop the Enchanted Sword. Nothing is dropped from the junk sword background object.

Generation chance

(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) The world will attempt to generate 1 to 2 shrines in small worlds, 1 to 3 shrines in medium worlds, and 2 to 4 shrines in large worlds, with each shrine having a 50% chance of being placed. The following tables represent the odds of having a certain amount of shrines generate in a world, depending on its size.

( versions) There will always be 1 shrine in small worlds, 3 shrines in medium worlds, and 4 shrines in large worlds.

Small worlds
# of shrines	% chance (Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)
0	33.3%
1	50%
2	16.7%

Medium worlds
# of shrines	% chance (Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)
0	21.4%
1	42.9%
2	28.6%
3	7.1%

Large worlds
# of shrines	% chance (Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)
0	10.7%
1	32.1%
2	35.7%
3	17.9%
4	3.6%

Notes

Although practically guaranteed in normal gameplay, the shaft can only generate with a height of up to 1000 tiles.
(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) Despite being replaced by the Terragrim, the Arkhalis can still be obtained as a part of the Arkhalis' set.
Enchanted Sword Shrines may generate in uncommon ways at times:
- The shaft can go all the way to the surface, making it very easy to notice. It can even go to the top of a Living Tree.
- The shrine itself can occasionally spawn on the surface, without a shaft.
- In rare cases, the top of the shaft spawns more than 10 blocks under the ground.
- The shrine itself can generate partially or completely Corrupted/Crimson. However, at least part of the shaft will always be dirt and uncorrupted grass.
- If generated under an overhang on the surface, the shaft will cut through midair.
- ( versions) A Minecart track can go through a shrine, causing the sword to disappear.
(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) The shrine will only rarely spawn below the surface layer and will only ever reach a maximum of 100 tiles in the underground layer.
While Enchanted Sword Shrines only generate on the Desktop version, Console version, and Mobile version, Enchanted Swords can still appear scattered throughout the world in all versions.

Tips

The shaft can be revealed by light particles that fall downwards through blocks.
- There are many weapons which spawn projectiles of this kind, for instance, the Dark Lance, Starfury, Jester's Arrow, Meteor Staff, Solar Eruption, Zenith, Flying Dragon, Flamelash, or numerous explosives.
- Some enemy projectiles can also reveal the shaft, e.g. those fired from the Goblin Sorcerer.
- Additionally, some mount provides a short burst of light particles when summoned, and if timed correctly, activating/deactivating a mount just before landing can send the light particles downwards 5–7 tiles.
- Some light pets that move when the player presses a direction (such as the Wisp pet, shown in the gallery below) can be used to find the shafts by holding ▼ Down.
- The Clentaminator can also be used to provide light, though players should be careful not to spread biomes in locations they did not want.
The background object will generate an item upon its destruction. Therefore, the player can force close the game to reload a previous save and continue doing this until the desired item is obtained.
Seeds with sword shrines found before the current version of Terraria will not be guaranteed to contain a shrine in the same location despite the rest of the world being the same. If looking online for a seed that contains a sword shrine make sure that the seed was not discovered in a past update.

Gallery

Map view of a shrine.
Finding the vertical shaft using a light pet.
An Enchanted Sword Shrine on the surface, without a shaft.
An Enchanted Sword Shrine next to the bottom of a Living Tree.
A view of the Enchanted Sword Shrine.

History

Desktop version

Desktop 1.4.1: Made twice more likely to generate in a world.

Desktop 1.4.0.1:
- Arkhalis drop replaced with the Terragrim.
- The background object will always be the enchanted sword in stone and drop a sword.
- A fixed number of shrines is no longer guaranteed per world.
- Cave shaft opening is no longer guaranteed and reduced to 33% chance to generate.
- Shrines can no longer generate on top of containers and can no longer have other structures generate on top of them.