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As per the DMG p. 48:

A traveler on the Ethereal Plane is invisible and utterly silent to someone on the overlapped plane, and solid objects on the overlapped plane don’t hamper the movement of a creature in the Border Ethereal. The exceptions are certain magical effects (including anything made of magical force) and living beings.

The spell description for Mordenkainen's Sword states:

You create a sword-shaped plane of force that hovers within range.

and Arcane Hand States:

You create a Large hand of shimmering, translucent force in an unoccupied space that you can see within range.

Does this mean that Arcane Hand and Mordenkainen's Sword can interact with/attack creatures and objects in the Border Ethereal?

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Yes

Both of those spells will be present on the ethereal plane, and both will be able to come into contact with creatures on the ethereal plane, so they definitely can interact with them. As for attacking, this will be harder, because Mordenkainen's Sword states:

When the sword appears, you make a melee spell attack against a target of your choice within 5 feet of the sword. On a hit, the target takes 3d10 force damage. Until the spell ends, you can use a bonus action on each of your turns to move the sword up to 20 feet to a spot you can see and repeat this attack against the same target or a different one.

So first turn you can use sword to attack, provided creature is 5ft from the sword and you know it. Then you can attack a creature, but if you cannot see it you just have to guess its location, that is 1 in 8 chance (1 in 26 if we consider 3 dimensions, 1 in 44 for the Hand by virtue of its size), and then disadvantage on attack is extremely likely to miss. So without spells like True Seeing or items that provide similar effect it will be impossible. You could theoretically see through eyes of another creature on the ethereal plane, like a familiar. This does not apply to Bigby's Hand though, because all of its effects state

The hand [...] one creature or object within 5 feet of it. [...]

so you just need to know something is within 5ft of the hand.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ You can attack creatures even if you don’t know where they are, you just have to guess. \$\endgroup\$
    – Dale M
    Commented Jan 18, 2022 at 2:57
  • \$\begingroup\$ @DaleM, yes, you can always guess a direction/square to attack. Even if you are correct, you would do so with disadvantage, though you can try. But first 1 in 8 chance (1 in 26 if we consider 3 dimensions, even more for Hand by virtue of it's size), and then disadvantage on attack is extremely likely to miss. Although I will correct my answer. \$\endgroup\$
    – Cezaryx
    Commented Jan 18, 2022 at 9:39
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Only Arcane Hand may have some effects on creatures in the Bordered Ethereal: it's a DM call.

The reported quote says (emphasis mine)

A traveler on the Ethereal Plane is invisible and utterly silent to someone on the overlapped plane, and solid objects on the overlapped plane don’t hamper the movement of a creature in the Border Ethereal. The exceptions are certain magical effects (including anything made of magical force) and living beings.

Hence, these rules are specifically related to movement: Mordenkainen's Sword has nothing to to do with movement, whilst the Arcane Hand can affect the movement of a creature:

Forceful Hand. The hand attempts to push a creature [...]

Grasping Hand. The hand attempts to grapple a Huge or smaller creature [...]

Interposing Hand. The hand interposes itself between you and a creature you choose [...] The target can't move through the hand's space if its Strength score is less than or equal to the hand's Strength score. [...]

But the description of the spell does not specify that these options can be used also on creatures in the Border Ethereal. For comparison, consider the Wall of Force spell (emphasis mine):

Nothing can physically pass through the wall. It is immune to all damage and can't be dispelled by dispel magic. A disintegrate spell destroys the wall instantly, however. The wall also extends into the Ethereal Plane, blocking ethereal travel through the wall.

Since there are some features of the Arcane Hand that are related to movement and the rules in the DMG seems to be related only to movement, a DM may rule that such a spell affects creatures in the Border Ethereal.

A more loose reading of the rules in the DMG about the Border Ethereal leads to consider both spells as affecting creatures in the Ethereal Plane, since both the sword and the hand are clearly made of magical force.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ I would like you to consider, that if Arcane hand doesn't work on creatures in the border ethereal, then Tiny Hut shouldn't affect them either, since tiny hut also doesn't specifiy that it blocks ethereal travel. That however would mean that the answer provided in this question: rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/150462/… is also wrong \$\endgroup\$
    – Soulstreak
    Commented Jan 17, 2022 at 12:42
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    \$\begingroup\$ @Soulstreak I would apply the same reasoning of above: it's a DM call, since the Tiny Hut's description does not mention interaction with Bordered Ethereal as Wall of Force does. \$\endgroup\$
    – Eddymage
    Commented Jan 17, 2022 at 12:48
  • \$\begingroup\$ that makes my wonder though: why is the answer to that question so generally accepted? it has more than 30 upvotes and no answers or comments even acknowledge that tiny hut doesn't include the ethereal travel disclaimer from wall of force \$\endgroup\$
    – Soulstreak
    Commented Jan 17, 2022 at 12:51
  • \$\begingroup\$ @Soulstreak One point in favor of that answer is that the rules in the DMG are about movement and that question asks about going in&out from a Tiny Hut in the Bordered Ethereal, while yours is interacting/attacking with force-ish object in the Bordered Etheral in a more general way. \$\endgroup\$
    – Eddymage
    Commented Jan 17, 2022 at 12:55
  • \$\begingroup\$ I feel like the disclaimer from wall of force just defeats that point entirely. If it was intended that Tiny Hut blocks ethereal travel it would specify that in it's text. If we ignore that restriction we might as well assume that the daylight spell creates actual sunlight even though it lacks the description that it creates sunlight \$\endgroup\$
    – Soulstreak
    Commented Jan 17, 2022 at 12:59

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