Silk Touch enchantment in Minecraft
Silk Touch makes the blocks you mine drop themselves instead of their usual drop. Glass and ice no longer vanish, ores drop as ore blocks, and a grass block stays a grass block. Blocks mined with Silk Touch give no experience. It goes on pickaxes, axes, shovels and hoes, and cannot be combined with Fortune.
Silk Touch at a glance
- Max level
- I
- Works on
- Axe, Hoe, Pickaxe and Shovel
- Enchanting table
- Yes
- Incompatible with
- Fortune
- Rarity
- Very rare (weight 1)
- Anvil cost
- ×8 on an item, ×4 on a book
What does Silk Touch do?
Blocks drop themselves instead of their usual drop: ores, glass, ice, grass blocks… Can't be combined with Fortune.
How to get Silk Touch
Best wayEnchanting tableAppears on the table for axe, hoe, pickaxe and shovel. The level depends on the XP you spend and your bookshelves.
RandomLibrarian villagersLibrarians can sell a Silk Touch book. Reset an unemployed villager’s lectern until the trade appears.
RandomChests and fishingEnchanted books in structure chests, and fishing treasure, can carry Silk Touch.
CombineAnvilCombine a Silk Touch book with the item on an anvil.
Items that take Silk Touch
Primary items show up on the enchanting table; the others only get it through an anvil.
Combining Silk Touch
Can’t combine withFortuneMutually exclusive: an item can only carry one of them.
Commands
/enchant @s minecraft:silk_touch/give @s minecraft:enchanted_book[stored_enchantments={"minecraft:silk_touch":1}]The most useful blocks to mine with Silk Touch
- Glass and glass panes, which drop nothing otherwise.
- Ice and packed ice: normal ice turns into water when broken without it.
- Bookshelves, which otherwise drop three books.
- Grass blocks, mycelium and podzol, to move them elsewhere.
- Ender Chests, which otherwise drop obsidian.
- Beehives and bee nests, which keep their bees inside.
- Amethyst clusters and buds, for decoration.
- Turtle eggs, to move them to a safe place.
Silk Touch and ores
Mining an ore with Silk Touch gives you the ore block itself. You lose the experience, and you cannot use Fortune on it right away, but you can carry ores home and break them later with a Fortune pickaxe to get the bonus drops.
Keep a second pickaxe
Since Silk Touch and Fortune exclude each other, most players carry two pickaxes: one with Fortune for ores and one with Silk Touch for everything above. Both pair well with Efficiency, Unbreaking and Mending.
✓ Checked in Java Edition 26.3 · updated 31 October 2026
Silk Touch — FAQ
Does Silk Touch give experience?
No. Blocks mined with Silk Touch never drop experience, ores included.
Can you mine an Ender Chest without Silk Touch?
You can break it, but it drops eight obsidian instead of the chest. Use Silk Touch to keep it.
Can you get Silk Touch from an enchanting table?
Yes. Silk Touch can appear on the enchanting table for axe, hoe, pickaxe and shovel.
What is the max level of Silk Touch?
Silk Touch has a single level.
What is Silk Touch incompatible with?
Silk Touch can’t go on the same item as Fortune.