Enchanting

An enchanting table surrounded by bookshelves.

Enchanting is a mechanic that augments armor, tools, weapons, and books with a variety of enchantments that improve or affect an item's existing abilities or imbue them with additional abilities and uses. A 'purple glint' animation appears on items to show that they are enchanted. There are 42 unique enchantments in the game.

Enchanting equipment

Name	Icon	Usage
Enchanting Table		Used to enchant items.
Bookshelf		Each bookshelf increases the level of the enchantments given by the enchanting table by two, up to a max of 30 (or 15 bookshelves).
Lapis Lazuli		Required to power the enchanting table (up to three per item).
Anvil		Used to combine enchanted items (tools, armor, weapons, etc.), add enchantments from books, or repair an enchanted item while preserving enchantments.
Grindstone		Used to remove all non-curse enchantments on an item, returning a small amount of experience, and optionally repair an item for no experience.
Enchanted Book		Can be combined with another item through an anvil to add certain enchantments to the item. This costs experience points based on the enchantment and its level.

Enchanting methods

The glint animation applied to an enchanted iron pickaxe.

There are four ways to enchant an item in Survival mode:

• On an enchanting table, spend experience points and lapis lazuli. Only unenchanted items may be enchanted this way.
• Using an anvil, combine an enchanted book with an item.
• Using an anvil, combine two of the same item with different existing enchantments into a single item that has the enchantments of both.
• A librarian villager may enchant books in exchange for emeralds, granting the player experience just like every trade.

A player may also obtain items already enchanted:

• A villager may trade some enchanted items for emeralds.
• Fishing gives a chance of obtaining enchanted items.
• A zombie, drowned, husk, piglin, skeleton, bogged, stray, wither skeleton, and zombified piglin, if it has an enchanted item and is killed by a player, has an 8.5% chance to drop each individual item.
• Treasure chests in locations such as end cities, ancient cities, shipwrecks, mineshafts, monster rooms, desert pyramids, jungle pyramids, woodland mansions, ocean ruins, strongholds, ruined portals, pillager outposts, and bastion remnants may contain enchanted items.
• To barter with piglins, give them gold, and they have a small chance to drop an enchanted book or iron boots with the Soul Speed enchantment (random level 1-3).
• Pillagers and vindicators in raids, on Bedrock Edition, may drop enchanted items.

Server operators and players in singleplayer worlds with cheats enabled can also enchant items using commands such as /enchant. When enchanted with the /give command, the maximum enchantment level is 255 on Java Edition. In Creative mode, items can be enchanted via an anvil and enchanted books, with no experience points required. Enchanted books are available in the Creative mode inventory, with individual book displays for the highest level of each enchantment and other levels available via the "Search" tab.

The enchanted golden apple, despite its name and glint, is not the enchanted form of any item, and is completely different from the golden apple. A few other powerful items, such as the Nether Star and the End Crystal, also have the enchantment glint.

Enchanting table

Enchanting table interface.

An item can be enchanted by using an enchanting table and placing the item in the input slots and 1–3 lapis lazuli in its dedicated slot. Upon placing the item, three (pseudo)randomized options appear on the right of the GUI. The glyphs here do not affect the enchantment, but hovering over a presented enchantment shows one enchantment to be applied (on mobile devices, the player can tap an enchantment before putting in the lapis lazuli or hold the enchantment before release). The only choices available have a level requirement equal to or below the player's current level and a lapis lazuli requirement equal to or below the number of lapis lazuli placed in the table. Each option imbues the item with a randomized set of enchantments that are dependent on the number of experience levels required (e.g. a level 10 enchantment can give a pickaxe the "Efficiency II" enchantment); the actual level cost and the number of lapis lazuli required have no effect.

Although the player must have at least the level requirement to get an enchantment, the number of levels that the player is charged is the same as the lapis lazuli requirement. For example, if the third enchantment listed is a level 30 enchantment, the player must have at least 30 levels, but pay only 3 levels and 3 lapis lazuli.

The level requirement influences the quantity, type, and level of enchantments instilled in the item, with a higher experience level generally resulting in more and/or higher-level enchantments. Nevertheless, there is a significant random factor, and even a level 30 enchantment (the maximum) doesn't guarantee more than one enchantment, or even that enchantments are "maximum strength" — a level 30 enchantment can still yield Fortune II or Efficiency III alone, for example. On the other hand, it is possiblе for multiple different enchantments to be given from one use of the enchanting table. For example, a level 30 enchantment applied to a pickaxe may yield both Efficiency IV and Unbreaking III. However, certain selected enchants never give any additional enchantment, regardless of which tool is enchanted, such as Efficiency IV and Knockback II. ‌

To increase the enchantment level, bookshelves can be placed next to the enchanting table while keeping one block of air between them. To gain access to the previously mentioned level 30 enchantments, a minimum of 15 bookshelves need to be placed around the enchanting table. See the Enchantment Mechanics page for more detailed information on this.

Enchanting a book produces an enchanted book, which does nothing on its own, but effectively "saves" the enchantment for later application to another item with an anvil.

Unlike with an anvil, using the enchanting table while on Creative still costs experience. However, if the player doesn't have enough experience, then experience reduces to zero and the enchantment still works, even when using the enchanting table while already at level zero.

Affecting offered enchantments

Enchanting any item at any enchantment level changes the player's enchantment seed, which changes the possible enchantments for every item at every enchantment level. Thus, if none of the available enchantments for a tool are desired, 1 lapis lazuli and 1 level could be spent to enchant a book or a different tool to refresh the list.

The possible enchantments depend on the player's enchantment seed, the item type, and material, and the enchantment level (1–30). The following actions do not affect the possible enchantments:

• removing the item and putting it back in
• clicking on the item slot with a different item
• using a different item of the same type and material
• replacing or moving the table (but keeping the same number of bookshelves)
• using a different table with the same number of bookshelves, or
• replacing or rearranging the bookshelves without changing their total number.

Changing the enchantment levels offered by adding, removing, or blocking bookshelves alters the enchantments shown, but does not change possible enchantments; using another enchanting table with the previous bookshelf number still shows the previous enchantments. The enchantments for a particular enchantment level (with the same seed and item) do also differ depending on which row they appear in, but they are not "better" or "worse" based on the row despite the different resource costs.

Anvil combinations

An anvil can be used to combine the enchantments of two items, sacrificing one of them and repairing the other. The items must be compatible; they must either be the same type and material (such as two iron swords) or an item and an enchanted book with an applicable enchantment (such as a bow and an Infinity enchanted book).

Combining two enchanted items, books or one of each with the same enchantment at the same level produces an item or book with the next higher level of that enchantment up to the maximum allowed in Survival mode; for example, a book with Thorns I and Unbreaking II combined with a book with Unbreaking II produces a book with Thorns I and Unbreaking III.

To combine items, the player places the target item in the anvil's first slot and the sacrifice item in the second slot. If the combination is allowed, the resulting enchanted item appears in the anvil's output slot and an experience level cost, labeled "Enchantment Cost", appears below (green if the player has enough experience levels, red if they don't). To complete the enchanting, the player removes the enchanted item from the anvil's output slot, and their experience level is reduced accordingly.

The experience cost depends on the enchantments, with highly enchanted items costing more. If the target item is also being repaired, that costs more as well. The target item can also be renamed, at additional cost. There is also an accumulating surcharge for prior work done on anvils. In Survival mode, work that costs more than 39 levels of experience is refused although it may still be possible to perform the same work in steps. For example, a damaged enchanted bow may be repaired on an anvil with an ordinary bow, and then another enchanted bow may be used to combine enchantments with the repaired bow.

Enchanted books

Enchanted books can be made by enchanting a book in an enchanting table at the cost of experience points. They can also be found in the chests of several structures, purchased with emeralds from a librarian villager, or caught while fishing.

Enchanted books can be applied to tools, weapons, and armor, or combined with other enchanted books in an anvil. In this way, some enchantments that cannot normally be obtained on an item through use of the enchanting table can still be applied to those items, such as applying Thorns to boots.

Although enchanted books can have multiple enchantments of any type, only enchantments appropriate to a given item type are applied to that item when combined in an anvil. For example, an enchanted book may have both the Respiration and Power enchantments, but the Respiration enchantment is lost if the book is applied to anything but a helmet. Likewise, the Power enchantment is lost if the book is applied to anything but a bow.

In Creative mode, enchanted books can be used to apply any enchantment to any item, such as a stick having Knockback II on Java Edition. However, mutually-exclusive enchantments, such as Infinity and Mending, cannot be applied this way or even via /enchant (though both enchantments function as normal when obtained on a bow through the /give command).

The experience costs for using books are considerably less than for combining items with similar enchantments since the books themselves cost levels to create. However, it's still an extra cost, and enchanting items directly has a chance to get multiple enchantments. The advantage of books is that they can be stockpiled for use on an item of choice and allow for controlled combinations. For example, a Silk Touch book can be used on an axe, pickaxe, or shovel, and the player can decide which item receives which enchantment.

Best Enchanting order

Use Order Calculator to minimize experience loss when merging two items.

Disenchanting

The only way to disenchant items is via the grindstone or by repairing the items via the crafting grid. Using the grindstone removes all enchantments (except for Curse of Binding and Curse of Vanishing) but gives some experience back based on the level of the enchantment(s) and their value.

Summary of enchantments

Each enchantment in the table below includes attributes that are possible for the player to acquire legitimately in Survival mode. Other combinations are possible in Creative mode or with cheats, mods, or third-party software.

• Max Level: Maximum levels for enchantments vary, but the game can comprehend up to 32-bit integer values (−2³¹ to 2³¹−1). Exceeding this value results in an overflow, and eventually resets itself to 0.
• Primary Items: The items that can receive the enchantment legitimately in Survival mode by using an enchanting table. Items of any material can be enchanted (some more easily than others – see Enchantment mechanics).
• Secondary Items: Items that, in Survival mode, cannot receive the enchantment from an enchanting table but can from an enchanted book with an anvil.
• Weight: Relative probability of the enchantment being offered.

Name	Summary	Treasure	Tradable	Incompatible With	Max Level	Primary Items	Secondary Items	Weight
Aqua Affinity	Increases underwater mining speed.	No	Yes		I			2
Bane of Arthropods	Increases damage and applies Slowness IV to arthropod mobs (spiders, cave spiders, silverfish, endermites and bees).	No	Yes	Smite, Sharpness, Breach, Density	V	‌	‌	5
Blast Protection	Reduces explosion damage and knockback.	No	Yes	Fire Protection, Protection, Projectile Protection	IV			2
Breach	Reduces the effectiveness of the armor on the target. The armor's effectiveness is reduced by 15% per level.	No	Yes	Density, Bane of Arthropods, Smite, Sharpness	IV			2
Channeling	During thunderstorms, a thrown trident summons a lightning bolt on the target upon hit.	No	Yes	Riptide	I			1
Curse of Binding	Items cannot be removed from armor slots.	Yes	Yes		I			1
Curse of Vanishing	Item disappears on death.	Yes	Yes		I		‌	1
Density	Increases the damage dealt per block fallen, increasing by 0.5 per level.	No	Yes	Breach, Bane of Arthropods, Smite, Sharpness	V			5
Depth Strider	Increases underwater movement speed.	No	Yes	Frost Walker	III			2
Efficiency	Increases mining speed.	No	Yes		V			10
Feather Falling	Reduces fall damage.	No	Yes		IV			5
Fire Aspect	Sets target on fire.	No	Yes		II			2
Fire Protection	Reduces fire damage and burn time.	No	Yes	Blast Protection, Protection, Projectile Protection	IV			5
Flame	Arrows deal fire damage to any target that they strike.	No	Yes		I			2
Fortune	Increases the amount of block drops.	No	Yes	Silk Touch	III			2
Frost Walker	Freezes the water under the player's feet, allowing them to walk over water.	Yes	Yes	Depth Strider	II			2
Impaling	Increases damage against aquatic mobs. In Bedrock Edition, increases damage against mobs in water or rain.	No	Yes		V			2
Infinity	Prevents consumption of arrows.	No	Yes	Mending	I			1
Knockback	Increases melee knockback.	No	Yes		II			5
Looting	Increases mob loot.	No	Yes		III			2
Loyalty	Trident returns after being thrown.	No	Yes	Riptide	III			5
Luck of the Sea	Increases rate of treasure bites (enchanting books, etc.).	No	Yes		III			2
Lure	Decreases time for bites.	No	Yes		III			2
Mending	Repairs the item using experience.	Yes	Yes	Infinity	I			2
Multishot	Adds 2 to the amount of arrows fired. e.g. Multishot I = 1+2 Arrows, Multishot II = 1+2+2 Arrows	No	Yes	Piercing	I			2
Piercing	Arrows pierce entities, allowing for arrows to pierce through stacks of mobs.	No	Yes	Multishot	IV			10
Power	Increases arrow damage.	No	Yes		V			10
Projectile Protection	Reduces damage from projectiles.	No	Yes	Protection, Blast Protection, Fire Protection	IV			5
Protection	Reduces most forms of damage.	No	Yes	Blast Protection, Fire Protection, Projectile Protection	IV			10
Punch	Increases arrow knockback.	No	Yes		II			2
Quick Charge	Decreases crossbow charging time.	No	Yes		III			5
Respiration	Extends underwater breathing time.	No	Yes		III			2
Riptide	Trident launches player with itself when thrown while in water or rain.	No	Yes	Channeling, Loyalty	III			2
Sharpness	Increases melee damage.	No	Yes	Bane of Arthropods, Smite, Breach, Density	V	‌	‌	10
Silk Touch	Mined blocks drop themselves.	No	Yes	Fortune	I		‌	1
Smite	Increases damage to the undead.	No	Yes	Bane of Arthropods, Sharpness, Breach, Density	V	‌	‌	5
Soul Speed	Increases movement speed on soul sand and soul soil.	Yes	No		III			1
Sweeping Edge ‌	Increases sweeping attack damage.	No	Yes		III			2
Swift Sneak	Increases sneaking speed.	Yes	No		III			1
Thorns	If a mob wearing armor with that enchantment takes damage, the attacker will also take damage.	No	Yes		III	‌‌‌‌	‌‌‌‌	1
Unbreaking	Reduces durability damage.	No	Yes		III			5
Wind Burst	Emits a burst of wind (like that of a wind charge) upon executing a mace smash attack on an entity, launching the attacker upward. It can be used to chain smash attacks together, and the strength of the launch increases per level.	Yes	No		III			2
Cleaving ​	Increases damage and shield stun time.	Unknown	Unknown	Sharpness, Bane of Arthropods, Smite	III

Summary of enchantments by item

Enchantments that have multiple levels are shown with their maximum level numbers. Mutually exclusive enchantments can be combined using commands (e.g., /give @s bow[enchantments={levels:{infinity:1,mending:1}}]). Also, a player can exceed the maximum levels of enchantments (e.g., /give @s netherite_sword[enchantments={levels:{fire_aspect:10}}]). However, if that number goes above 10 the translation string is exposed and it looks like this:

Item	Any combination of	Only one from each column
Helmet	Mending, Unbreaking III, Thorns III, Respiration III, Aqua Affinity, Curse of Binding, Curse of Vanishing	Protection IV, Projectile Protection IV, Fire Protection IV, Blast Protection IV
Turtle Shell
Chestplate	Mending, Unbreaking III, Thorns III, Curse of Binding, Curse of Vanishing
Leggings	Mending, Unbreaking III, Thorns III, Swift Sneak III, Curse of Binding, Curse of Vanishing
Boots	Mending, Unbreaking III, Thorns III, Feather Falling IV, Soul Speed III, Curse of Binding, Curse of Vanishing		Depth Strider III Frost Walker II
Sword	Mending, Unbreaking III, Fire Aspect II, Looting III, Knockback II, Curse of Vanishing, Sweeping Edge III‌	Sharpness V, Smite V, Bane of Arthropods V
Mace	Mending, Unbreaking III, Fire Aspect II, Wind Burst III, Curse of Vanishing	Smite V, Bane of Arthropods V, Density V, Breach IV
Axe	Mending, Unbreaking III, Efficiency V, Curse of Vanishing	Fortune III, Silk Touch	Sharpness V Smite V Bane of Arthropods V Cleaving III​
Pickaxe
Shovel
Hoe
Bow	Unbreaking III, Power V, Punch II, Flame, Curse of Vanishing	Infinity, Mending
Fishing Rod	Mending, Unbreaking III, Lure III, Luck of the Sea III, Curse of Vanishing
Trident	Mending, Unbreaking III, Impaling V, Curse of Vanishing	Channeling	Loyalty III
		Riptide III
Crossbow	Mending, Unbreaking III, Quick Charge III, Curse of Vanishing	Piercing IV, Multishot
Shears	Mending, Unbreaking III, Efficiency V, Curse of Vanishing, Silk Touch‌
Elytra	Mending, Unbreaking III, Curse of Binding, Curse of Vanishing
Shield	Mending, Unbreaking III, Curse of Vanishing
Flint and Steel
Carrot on a Stick
Warped Fungus on a Stick
Brush
Compass	Curse of Vanishing
Recovery Compass‌

The tables below summarize the enchantments that can be obtained on specific items in Bedrock Edition and in Java Edition Survival mode (Any enchantment can be applied to any item in Java Edition Creative mode). Enchantments that can be applied to both hand slot items and armor slot items are listed in both tables.

• An enchanting table indicates the item can receive the enchantment from an enchanting table.
• An anvil indicates the item cannot receive the enchantment from an enchanting table (an enchanting table never offers the enchantment for the item), but can receive the enchantment by another method (for example, using an anvil to combine the item with an enchanted book or another enchanted item; note the enchanting table could still apply the enchantment to the item as a random additional enchantment).

Enchantments for hand slot items

Enchantment (Max)		‌	‌									‌
Bane of Arthropods (V)
Breach (IV)
Channeling (I)
Cleaving (III) ​
Curse of Vanishing (I)
Density (V)
Efficiency (V)
Fire Aspect (II)
Flame (I)
Fortune (III)
Impaling (V)
Infinity (I)
Knockback (II)
Looting (III)
Loyalty (III)
Luck of the Sea (III)
Lure (III)
Mending (I)
Multishot (I)
Piercing (IV)
Power (V)
Punch (II)
Quick Charge (III)
Riptide (III)
Sharpness (V)
Silk Touch (I)					‌
Smite (V)
Sweeping Edge (III)
Unbreaking (III)
Wind Burst (III)

Enchantments for armor slot items

Enchantment (Max)
Aqua Affinity (I)
Blast Protection (IV)
Curse of Binding (I)
Curse of Vanishing (I)
Depth Strider (III)
Feather Falling (IV)
Fire Protection (IV)
Frost Walker (II)
Mending (I)
Projectile Protection (IV)
Protection (IV)
Respiration (III)
Soul Speed (III)
Swift Sneak (III)
Thorns (III)
Unbreaking (III)

Maximum effective values for enchantments

The table below shows the effective limits for enchantments (also found here).

Enchantment	Stackable	Effective min	Effective max	Notes
Aqua Affinity	Largest on first in armor	1	1
Bane of Arthropods	Adds	Single: -2147483648 Stacked: -52241757371157708	Single: 2147483647 Stacked: 52241757371157708	Adds 2.5 * level damage Affects arthropods with slowness IV for 1 + random(0, level / 2) seconds
Blast Protection	Adds	1	10	Reduces damage by a factor of min(20, level * 2) / 25 Reduces explosion knockback by a factor of level * 0.15 Higher levels are treated as 10
Breach	Reduces	0	Single: 2147483647 Stacked: 36028799149670399	Reduces armor effectiveness by 15%
Channeling	First	1	1
Curse of Binding	First	1	1
Curse of Vanishing	First	1	1
Density	Adds	0	Single: 2147483647 Stacked: 36028799149670399	Adds 0.5 * max(0, level - 1) + 1 damage by fall height
Depth Strider	Largest on first in armor	1	3	Higher levels are treated as 3
Efficiency	First	1	255	Increases mine speed by level² + 1 Higher levels are treated as 255
Feather Falling	Adds	1	7	Reduces damage by a factor of min(20, level * 3) / 25
Fire Aspect	First	1	255	Sets mobs on fire for level * 4 seconds Higher levels are treated as 255
Fire Protection	Adds for damage reduction Largest of first in armor for duration reduction	1	10	Reduces damage by a factor of min(20, level * 2) / 25 Reduces fire duration by a factor of level * 0.15
Flame	First	1	1
Fortune	First	1	255	Anything that uses the apply_bonus loot table function works like this Higher levels are treated as 255
Frost Walker	First	1	14	Higher levels are treated as 14
Impaling	Adds	Single: -2147483648 Stacked: -52241757371157708	Single: 2147483647 Stacked: 52241757371157708	Adds 2.5 * level damage
Infinity	First	1	1
Knockback	First	1	255	Adds level knockback strength Higher levels are treated as 255
Looting	First	1	255	Higher levels are treated as 255
Loyalty	First	1	127	Increases return speed by 0.05 * level Higher levels are treated as 0
Luck of the Sea	First	1	255	Adds level luck Higher levels are treated as 255
Lure	First	1	5	Reduces lure time by 5 * level seconds Higher levels prevent fish from appearing
Mending	First	1	1
Multishot	First	1	255	Every levels add 2 to the amount of arrows fired to bows and crossbows. e.g. Multishot I = 1 Arrow + 2 Arrows = 3.
Piercing	First	1	127	Higher levels are treated as 0
Power	First	1	255	Increases damage by 0.5 * level + 0.5 Higher levels are treated as 255
Projectile Protection	Adds	1	10	Reduces damage by a factor of min(20, level * 2) / 25
Protection	Adds	1	20	Reduces damage by a factor of min(20, level) / 25
Punch	First	1	255	Adds level * 0.6 knockback strength Higher levels are treated as 255
Quick Charge	First	1	5	Reduces draw time by 0.25 * level seconds Higher levels prevent charging of crossbow
Respiration	Largest of first in armor	1	255	Causes a level / (level + 1) chance not to decrease air level Higher levels are treated as 255
Riptide	First	1	255	Throws the player (6 * level) + 3 blocks while in rain, or (4 * level) + 3 blocks while underwater
Sharpness	Adds	0	Single: 2147483647 Stacked: 36028799149670399	Adds 0.5 * max(0, level - 1) + 1 damage
Silk Touch	First	1	1
Smite	Adds	Single: -2147483648 Stacked: -52241757371157708	Single: 2147483647 Stacked: 52241757371157708	Adds 2.5 * level damage
Soul Speed	First	1	255	Increases speed by 0.03 + (level * 0.0105) Higher levels are treated as 255
Sweeping Edge	First	1	255	Increases sweeping damage by a factor of level / (level + 1) times the hit's damage Higher levels are treated as 255
Swift Sneak	Adds	1	5	Increases walking speed while sneaking by level * 15% Higher levels are treated as 5
Thorns	Individual Procs	1	2147483647	Chance of hitting is 0.15 * level Deals level - 10 damage if level is 11 or greater, otherwise deals random(0, 3) + 1
Unbreaking	First	1	255	Items have a 1 in level + 1 chance to take damage. Armor has a 0.6 chance to take damage even if it would otherwise skip it. Higher levels are treated as 255
Wind Burst	Adds	1	255	Adds 1.15 + 0.35 * level by launching

Item data

Java Edition:

• [NBT Compound / JSON Object] components: the item's components tag.

• • [NBT Compound / JSON Object] minecraft:enchantments: Contains key-value pairs of levels of enchantments on this item that affect the way the item works.
    • [Int] <enchantment ID>: A single key-value pair, where the key is the resource location of an enchantment, and the value is the level.

• • [NBT Compound / JSON Object] minecraft:stored_enchantments: Contains key-value pairs of levels of enchantments stored on this enchanted book.
    • [Int] <enchantment ID>: A single key-value pair, where the key is the resource location of an enchantment, and the value is the level.

• • [Int] minecraft:repair_cost: The number of experience levels to add to the base level cost when repairing, combining, or renaming this item with an anvil. Must be a non-negative integer, defaults to 0.

Bedrock Edition:

Sounds

Java Edition

[hide]Sounds
Sound	Subtitles	Source	Description	Resource location	Translation key	Volume	Pitch	Attenuation distance
	​Enchanting Table used	Blocks	When an item is enchanted	block.enchantment_table.use​​	subtitles.block.enchantment_table.use​​​	1.0	0.9-1.0	16

Bedrock Edition:

[hide]Sounds
Sound	Source	Description	Resource location	Volume	Pitch
	Blocks	When an item is enchanted	block.enchanting_table.use	1.0	1.0

History

October 1, 2011							The first images of the enchantment screen are revealed, with enchantments written in the Standard Galactic Alphabet. The first enchantment translates into "Well Played Internets You Are Good", the second translates into "These Names Will Be Random And Confusing", and the third translates to "Each Spell Costs Experience Levels". The Standard Galactic Alphabet or SGA was originally created by Tom Hall for use in the Commander Keen series of computer games.
October 3, 2011							The first images of a player wearing enchanted armor are revealed.
[hide]Java Edition
1.0.0			Beta 1.9 Prerelease 3				The basics of enchanting have been added.
							Enchantment tables do not require bookshelves to get maximum enchantments.
							Enchantments are to be labeled in the enchantment table as random words written in the Standard Galactic Alphabet.
			Beta 1.9 Prerelease 4				A bug where all enchantments would show up as Feather Falling I has been fixed.
							Enchanting has been now properly enabled in multiplayer. Previously, if a player attempted to enchant an item, it appeared enchanted for the client, but updated with the un-enchanted status once the player logged out and then back in again.
1.2.1			12w05a				Enchanting no longer requires experience in Creative mode.
			12w06a				Bows and golden swords now have a small chance of being already enchanted when dropped by their respective mobs.
1.3.1			12w22a				The maximum enchantment power has been lowered from 50 to 30; as a result, the amount of bookshelves required to reach the maximum enchantment power has lowered from 30 to 15.
							The 3rd enchantment slot in an enchanting table is always set at the highest possible level (depending on the amount of bookshelves), instead of being random like the other slots (requiring clicking the item in and out many times to get a maximum level enchantment).
			12w23a				Glint (animated glow effect) on enchanted tools and armor is now visible on multiplayer.
1.4.2			12w41a				Enchantments can be combined using anvils, allowing some high level enchantments to be applied where they were not previously possible.
1.4.4			pre				Enchantments can be applied using /enchant. However, Protection is unavailable due to a bug.
1.4.6			12w49a				/enchant now works with ID 0, meaning it can be used to apply Protection.
							The player can now enchant books to then be used to enchant a tool.
1.7.2			13w36a				The fishing rod can be enchanted without the use of books.
1.8			14w02a				Enchanting has received a major overhaul where there is now a secondary cost, which is lapis lazuli.
							When enchanting an item, one enchantment now appears in the tooltip when selecting an enchantment (e.g Looting III?...).
							Level 5 enchants (Sharpness, Power, Smite and Bane of Arthropods) can be applied without the use of an anvil.
							Villager trading has been revamped: clerics no longer enchant items, while blacksmiths trade enchanted items.
							Experience cost was reduced from a cost equal to the enchant level to a flat 1, 2, or 3
1.9			15w42a				Enchantments with a max level of 1 no longer display the level, e.g. "Infinity" rather than "Infinity I".
			15w47b				Shears can no longer be enchanted with Silk Touch.
			15w47c				Shears now harvest cobweb without requiring Silk Touch.
1.11.1							Anvils no longer allow enchanted books to apply to items, if no change in enchantments would take effect. This can occur if all enchantments on the book are incompatible with existing enchantments on the item – or if the enchanted book has no enchantments.
1.13			17w47a				Hoes can be enchanted.
1.15			19w39a				Due to a rewrite of the rendering engine, the enchanting animation was changed.
			19w42a				Enchanted items now glow in the dark.
1.16			20w10a				Hoes can be enchanted with Efficiency, Fortune and Silk Touch.
1.17.1			Pre-release 1				The maximum enchantment level that can be read has been changed to 255.
1.20.5			24w03a				Axes can now receive Sharpness, Smite and Bane of Arthropods through an enchanting table, rather than only through an anvil.
							Helmets, leggings, and boots can now receive Thorns through an enchanting table, rather than only through an anvil.
			24w09a				The projectile weapon enchantments Infinity, Flame, Multishot, Piercing, Power, and Punch now work on both crossbows and bows, if placed onto the alternative weapon using data manipulation or a change to the enchantable/* tags.
			24w12a				Axes can no longer receive Sharpness, Smite and Bane of Arthropods through an enchanting table.
							Helmets, leggings and boots can no longer receive Thorns through an enchanting table.
[hide]Pocket Edition Alpha
v0.12.1			build 1				Added the enchanting system.
[hide]Bedrock Edition
1.4.0			beta 1.2.13.11				When Experimental Gameplay is enabled, tridents can be enchanted.
1.16.0			beta 1.16.0.57				Hoes can be enchanted with Efficiency, Fortune and Silk Touch.
1.21.30			Preview 1.21.30.22				Enchantments with a max level of 1 no longer display the level, e.g. "Infinity" rather than "Infinity I".
[hide]Legacy Console Edition
Xbox 360	Xbox One	PS3	PS4	PS Vita	Wii U	Switch
TU7	CU1	1.00	1.00	1.00	Patch 1	1.0.1	Added the enchanting system.
TU31	CU19	1.22	1.22	1.22	Patch 3		The fishing rod can be enchanted without the use of books.
							Enchanting now consumes lapis lazuli.
							Enchanting has been re-balanced.
							Enchanted books can now receive multiple enchantments at once.
							Villager trading has been revamped: clerics no longer enchant items, while blacksmiths trade enchanted items.
TU36	CU25	1.28	1.28	1.28	Patch 7		Up to 3 enchantments of the held item are now shown when changing the selected hotbar slot.
[hide]New Nintendo 3DS Edition
0.1.0							Added enchantments.

Issues

Issues relating to "Enchanting", "Enchantment", or "Enchanted" are maintained on the bug tracker. Issues should be reported and viewed there.

Gallery

Screenshots

• 

  A sword with 4 enchantments on it.

• 

  A diamond pickaxe with multiple high-level enchantments, right after enchanting. (pre-1.13)

• 

  Place 15 bookshelves around an enchanting table to get the highest level enchantments.

• 

  A bow that has four enchantments.

• 

  Table of enchantment probabilities for books.

• 

  The GUI of the enchantment table in Pocket Edition while the Pocket UI Profile is activated (top = no item, bottom = with item hovering on the second line).

Development images

• 

  Enchant screen. Posted by Notch.

• 

  Some enchantments. Posted by Jeb.

• 

  Pre-release 1.8 enchanting table screen. Note that gold ingots were required instead of lapis lazuli.

• 

  First image of enchanting in Pocket Edition.

• 

  Underwater, with and without the Respiration enchantment comparison. This feature was removed in 1.13.

Trivia

• Enchantments on items are always listed in the same order on their tooltips, that being: Curse of Binding, Curse of Vanishing, Riptide, Channeling, Wind Burst, Frost Walker, Sharpness, Smite, Bane of Arthropods, Impaling, Power, Density, Breach, Piercing, Sweeping Edge, Multishot, Fire Aspect, Flame, Knockback, Punch, Protection, Blast Protection, Fire Protection, Projectile Protection, Feather Falling, Fortune, Looting, Silk Touch, Luck of the Sea, Efficiency, Quick Charge, Lure, Respiration, Aqua Affinity, Soul Speed, Swift Sneak, Depth Strider, Thorns, Loyalty, Unbreaking, Infinity, and Mending.

See also

• Enchanting/Levels
• Tutorials/Best enchantments guide
• Brewing
• Crafting
• Smelting
• Enchanting mechanics

External links

• Getting Started with Enchantments in Minecraft – Minecraft Help Center
• All Enchantments in Minecraft – Minecraft Help Center