The Bug:
Foxes holding a Mace and attacking chickens deal 8 damage, whether they dive from a high height or attack normally.
To Reproduce:
Drop a Mace on a Fox. The Fox will pick it up.
Spawn a Chicken, Rabbit, or another mob that Foxes will naturally attack. Give it a large amount of health using attributes.
Using /data, observe the amount of damage the prey animal takes from the Fox holding the mace. Even when the Fox does a pounce attack, taking it nearly 4 blocks into the air before falling back onto the enemy, it still only deals the base 8 damage given by the Mace without taking into account damage added by fall distance.
Confirmed. The mace consistently inflicts 8 health points of damage when wielded by the fox, irrespective of the height of the fall. I utilized the following commands to augment and monitor the fox's health. Please note that it's necessary to heal the fox, such as with healing potions, after elevating its maximum health.
Relates to MC-144184.