In Minecraft, piercing is an enchantment that can be applied to a crossbow. It allows arrows fired from the crossbow to pass through multiple entities, including mobs and shields. The number of entities that an arrow can pass through increases with each level of the enchantment, up to a maximum of five entities with level four. Piercing can be added to a crossbow using an enchanting table, anvil, or enchanted book. When using a crossbow with the piercing enchantment, players can recover arrows that pass through entities and hit the ground, allowing for an infinite supply of arrows. However, arrows that pass through entities and fall into lava or the void cannot be recovered. Piercing cannot be combined with certain other enchantments, such as Multishot and Quick Charge.