The best armor enchantments in Minecraft, helmet to boots

Every armor piece gets the same core of Protection IV, Unbreaking III and Mending, then one to three extras that only fit that slot. Here is the full list for Java Edition 26.3, piece by piece, and where each book comes from.

Protection, Blast Protection, Fire Protection and Projectile Protection share an exclusive set: each piece can carry only one of them. The difference is what they cover:

Enchantment (level IV)	Protection points	Works against
Protection	4	Almost all damage: mobs, falls, fire, explosions, arrows
Blast Protection	8	Explosions only (also 60% less explosion knockback)
Fire Protection	8	Fire and lava only (also 60% shorter burning)
Projectile Protection	8	Arrows and other projectiles only

Points from all four pieces add up, each point removes 4% of the damage, and the total stops at 20 points. Four pieces of Protection IV give 16 points against everything. Four pieces of Blast Protection IV max out against creepers but give nothing against a zombie's punch. For everyday play, Protection IV on all four pieces wins. Keep a second set with a specialized enchantment only for a specific job, such as Fire Protection for long lava work in the Nether.

• Protection IV
• Respiration III: you hold your breath about 4 times longer underwater.
• Aqua Affinity: you mine at normal speed underwater instead of 5 times slower.
• Unbreaking III and Mending
• Optional: Thorns III (see the chestplate). The enchanting table offers Thorns only on chestplates, so a helmet needs a book.

A Turtle Shell takes exactly the same enchantments as a helmet.

• Protection IV
• Unbreaking III and Mending
• Optional: Thorns III. Each hit you take has a 45% chance to deal 1 to 5 damage back to the attacker, but every trigger costs the armor 2 extra durability. With Mending it is affordable; without it, skip Thorns.

• Protection IV
• Swift Sneak III: you sneak at 75% of walking speed instead of 30%. Perfect around the Warden and for building on edges. It is found only in chests in ancient cities: no table, no villager, no fishing.
• Unbreaking III and Mending

• Protection IV
• Feather Falling IV: adds 12 points against fall damage only. With Protection IV on all four pieces you reach the 20-point cap, so falls hurt 80% less.
• Depth Strider III or Frost Walker II: you can only have one. Depth Strider III lets you move through water as fast as on land. Frost Walker II turns water around you (radius 4) into Frosted Ice as you walk and makes you immune to Magma Block damage. Take Depth Strider for oceans, Frost Walker for crossing water on the surface.
• Soul Speed III: you run much faster on Soul Sand and Soul Soil, at the cost of a little extra wear on the boots while you do. It is found only in bastion remnant chests and by bartering gold with piglins.
• Unbreaking III and Mending

Enchant each piece once at an Enchanting Table at level 30: Protection IV shows up often, and table enchantments add no anvil penalty. Then fill the gaps with Enchanted Books:

• Librarian villagers sell any table enchantment, plus Mending and Frost Walker at double the emerald price.
• Fishing and chests in dungeons, mineshafts and strongholds give random books, Mending included.
• Swift Sneak comes only from ancient city chests, Soul Speed only from bastion remnants and piglins.

Mending, Frost Walker, Swift Sneak and Soul Speed are treasure enchantments: the enchanting table never offers them.

Put the armor piece in the left slot of an Anvil and a book in the right slot. Each anvil use raises the piece's prior work penalty, and in survival any step above 39 levels is refused with "Too Expensive!". The boots carry 6 enchantments, so merge the books in pairs first, then add the pairs to the boots, costliest books first. This guide covers Java Edition; anvil costs differ on Bedrock.

Pick your books in the planner below to see the cheapest order for the chestplate; the same method works for every piece.