Minecraft enchantments 43 enchantments · Java Edition 26.3

Five ways to get enchantments

• The enchanting table. Pay experience levels and lapis lazuli to get one of three random offers. Surround the table with bookshelves (15 is the useful maximum, with a one-block gap) to unlock offers that cost up to 30 levels.
• The anvil. Combine an item with an enchanted book, or two identical items, to choose exactly which enchantments you get.
• Librarian villagers. They sell enchanted books for emeralds, including treasure enchantments such as Mending. The offer can be rerolled until you trade with them for the first time.
• Loot and fishing. Chests, fishing treasure and some mobs give enchanted books and gear at random.
• Trial Chamber vaults. The vaults of Trial Chambers include enchanted books and gear in their rewards.

The enchanting table is the cheapest way to start, but the anvil is the only way to get exactly the combination you want.

Treasure enchantments

Some enchantments never appear on the enchanting table. These treasure enchantments come only from trading, loot or specific places:

• Mending and Frost Walker: librarians, chests and fishing.
• Soul Speed: bartering with piglins and bastion chests.
• Swift Sneak: Ancient City chests only.
• Wind Burst: ominous vaults in Trial Chambers, for the Mace.
• The two curses, Curse of Binding and Curse of Vanishing: loot and trading.

Combining enchantments with an anvil

Put the item in the first slot and the book or second item in the second slot. Two identical enchantments at the same level merge into the next level, up to the maximum: two Sharpness IV books give Sharpness V. When the levels differ, the higher one is kept.

Every time an item goes through the anvil, the next operation on it costs more. In Survival, any operation that would cost 40 levels or more is refused with “Too Expensive!”. Two habits keep costs down:

• Merge books together first, then apply the finished book to the item in one go.
• Put the most expensive enchantments on early, while the item has not been worked on yet.

Enchantments that cannot be combined

Some enchantments are mutually exclusive: an item can carry only one enchantment from each group.

The anvil refuses an incompatible book, so check this table before buying one.

Curses

Curses are harmful enchantments that come with loot or trades. Curse of Binding keeps a piece of armor on you until you die or it breaks. Curse of Vanishing destroys the item when you die instead of dropping it. Neither can be removed in Survival: a grindstone removes every enchantment except curses.

Removing enchantments

A grindstone strips all non-curse enchantments from an item or book and gives back a little experience. It is useful to recycle bad table rolls, or to clean an item before you enchant it again.

Where to start

If you are enchanting your first diamond gear, this order gives the most value for your levels:

1. Unbreaking and Mending on everything that matters.
2. Efficiency V and Fortune III on a pickaxe, plus a second pickaxe with Silk Touch.
3. Protection IV on every armor piece and Feather Falling IV on boots.
4. Sharpness V and Looting III on a sword.

For a ready-made set per item, see the best enchantments for the sword, the pickaxe, the bow or the helmet.

✓ Checked in Java Edition 26.3 · updated 31 October 2026