We explain all the details about enchanting in Minecraft, so you can get started right away and significantly improve your armor.
Minecraft has grown significantly over the years, and some mechanics are more complex and extensive than one might initially think. One of these areas is enchanting. There are quite a number of them in the game, and a lot of rumors and half-truths circulate on this topic. That’s why we’ve created a guide for you that explains everything about enchanting.
The article is currently for Minecraft Patch 19.0.3.
What are enchantments in Minecraft?
What do enchantments bring? Enchantments are the only way to add additional, usually useful effects to weapons and armor in Minecraft. For example, the armor value of chest plates can be improved, or weapons can deal additional damage. Tools can also be enchanted to have better yields when mining diamonds. Many items can be enchanted in Minecraft, which saves resources in the long run or drastically increases the effectiveness of an item.
How do you get enchantments? You can generally obtain enchantments in Minecraft in 3 different ways, the first of which is the most common:
- Enchanting an item at an enchantment table
- Combining an enchantment book with an item on an anvil
- Combining two already enchanted items on an anvil
This guide focuses mainly on using the enchantment table, but the other methods will also be briefly explained.
Creating an enchantment table
How to craft the enchantment table: To get started with enchanting, you need to have gathered a few resources, as an enchantment table is not cheap. You will need:
- 4 obsidian
- 2 diamonds
- 1 book
You can either mine the materials yourself, where our diamond farming guide will surely help. Alternatively, you might also find all the materials in NPC villages with a bit of luck. Obsidian and diamonds can sometimes be found in chests, and you can obtain books by “mining” the bookshelves in the city library.
Arrange the materials as shown in the image, and you can set up an enchantment table. The enchantment table has no durability, meaning it will last for your entire Minecraft life.
Improving the enchantment table: To ensure your enchantment table can offer the strongest and best enchantments, you will need 15 bookshelves. Arrange these around the enchantment table, each with a block of space in between – essentially the perimeter of a 5×5 pattern, as shown in this image. If everything went well, you should see small runes floating over the bookshelves to the enchantment table from time to time.
Each bookshelf increases the effectiveness of the enchantment table, thus boosting the number and effectiveness of the enchantments offered. While upgrading isn’t a must, it should definitely be done to fully utilize enchantments.
Requirements for enchanting
Enchanting is generally quite easy. You will need 3 things:
- An item you want to enchant
- A sufficiently high player level (preferably 30+)
- 1-3 lapis lazuli (a large supply is recommended)
Which items can be enchanted? You can craft items of all kinds. Whether it’s an iron armor, a golden pickaxe, or a diamond sword – almost all equipable items can be enchanted, enhancing or extending their functions.
How to collect experience: Your player level is determined by experience points, which you earn by performing many actions in the game. This includes:
- Collecting rare ores
- Breeding animals
- Smelting ores or cooking meat
- Fighting and defeating enemies
How to find lapis lazuli: You typically obtain lapis lazuli by digging deep shafts. It is a relatively rare material that mainly occurs between levels 1 and 32. Therefore, you will likely find lapis lazuli along your search for diamonds.
This is how enchanting works at the enchantment table
You simply need to open your enchantment table and drag the desired item into the designated slot. Then place 3 lapis lazuli into the second field.
Afterward, you can hover your mouse over the 3 fields on the right side. This will reveal one of the enchantments you are guaranteed to receive if you select it. There may also be additional random enchantments. However, this is not guaranteed and has a high random factor, which also depends on the material. Items made of gold can be enchanted particularly well but have low durability. Therefore, diamond or netherite is generally recommended.
The 3 fields also indicate how expensive the enchantment you select is:
- Field 1 always costs 1 character level and 1 lapis lazuli.
- Field 2 always costs 2 character levels and 2 lapis lazuli.
- Field 3 always costs 3 character levels and 3 lapis lazuli.
As you may have already guessed, the enchantments from Field 3 are usually the strongest, but also the most expensive. When enchanting high-quality equipment (such as made of diamonds or the new material netherite), you should always aim for the enchantments from Field 3.
The number on the right side indicates the character level you need to perform the enchantment. In the above example, you would need at least level 30 for the enchantment at the bottom, and 3 levels would be deducted for enchanting.
If none of the 3 offered enchantments appeal to you, it is worth “rerolling” the enchantments. To do this, simply select an enchantment and apply it to an item – it works best on a book. If you want to save resources, select an enchantment of rank 1 to “reroll”. You will then be offered new enchantments.
When should you enchant? Generally, you should always convert your earned levels into enchantments when you reach level 30 or higher. Even if you do not currently need a new enchantment, it may be worthwhile to bind enchantments to books and store them somewhere. Because keep in mind: If you should die, you will start again at a low level. It would be a shame to waste those experience points. So, invest them regularly in enchantments.
All Minecraft enchantments at a glance
Currently, there are 38 different enchantments in Minecraft, which also come in different strengths. We have sorted the enchantments alphabetically by their German names and explain their benefits and the items they are suitable for.
Breathing
What does Breathing do? Breathing increases the duration your character can stay underwater before running out of air. Additionally, it extends the time between ticks of suffocation damage.
Which items are affected by Breathing? Breathing is exclusively for helmets.
| Level I | Level II | Level III | |
| Breath Duration | +15 seconds | +30 seconds | +45 seconds |
| Increased time for suffocation damage ticks | +1 second | +2 seconds | +3 seconds |
Bane
What does Bane do? Bane increases the damage a weapon deals against all undead.
Which items are affected by Bane? Bane is exclusively for swords. However, it can also be transferred to axes via an enchantment book.
| Level I | Level II | Level III | Level IV | Level V |
| +3 damage | +5 damage | +7 damage | +10 damage | +13 damage |
One damage point equals half a heart in Minecraft.
Silk Touch
What does Silk Touch do? Silk Touch allows you to mine blocks in their original state. For example, you can mine grass blocks or diamond ore without dropping the diamonds.
Which items are affected by Silk Touch? Silk Touch is suitable for all tools such as pickaxes, shovels, and axes.
Piercing
What does Piercing do? Piercing allows crossbows to hit multiple enemies with a single arrow if they are lined up.
Which items are affected by Piercing? Piercing is applicable only to crossbows.
| Level I | Level II | Level III | Level IV |
| Pierces 1 enemy. | Pierces 2 enemies. | Pierces 3 enemies. | Pierces 4 enemies. |
Thorns
What do Thorns do? The Thorns enchantment causes attackers to suffer 1-4 damage when they deal damage to the enchanted player.
Which items are affected by Thorns? Thorns can be enchanted on all types of armor.
| Level I | Level II | Level III | |
| Chance of damage | 15% | 30% | 45% |
If multiple items are enchanted with “Thorns,” their effectiveness adds up, increasing the chance. If you have a total of 7 ranks of “Thorns,” the chance is 100%.
Efficiency
What does Efficiency do? Efficiency increases the mining speed with which tools can extract their intended resource.
Which items are affected by Efficiency? Efficiency is available for all tools such as pickaxe, shovel, or axe. Through an enchantment book, Efficiency can also be applied to shears.
| Level I | Level II | Level III | Level IV | Level V | |
| Mining speed | +30% | +69% | +120% | +286% | +371% |
Level V can only be reached by combining two items with Level IV at an anvil.
Frost Walker
What does Frost Walker do? Frost Walker allows the player to walk on water by turning nearby water blocks into ice. This only applies to water blocks that have at least one block of air above them. Flowing water is not affected.
Which items are affected by Frost Walker? Frost Walker can only be applied to boots.
| Level I | Level II | |
| Number of frozen blocks | Radius of 3 blocks around the character. | Radius of 4 blocks around the character. |
Channeling
What does Channeling do? Channeling works only during a thunderstorm. The thrown trident causes a lightning strike to hit the target on impact.
Which items are affected by Channeling? Channeling is exclusively for the trident.
Blast Protection
What does Blast Protection do? Blast Protection has two effects. Firstly, it reduces the damage taken from explosions. Secondly, it decreases the knockback from explosions.
Which items are affected by Blast Protection? Blast Protection can be applied to all types of armor.
| Level I | Level II | Level III | Level IV | |
| Damage reduction from explosion | 8% | 16% | 24% | 32% |
Multiple Blast Protection enchantments stack and add up. However, there is a cap of 80% – damage cannot be reduced any further.
Feather Fall
What does Feather Fall do? Feather Fall reduces or negates the fall damage taken.
Which items are affected by Feather Fall? Feather Fall can only be enchanted on boots.
| Level I | Level II | Level III | Level IV | |
| Damage reduction | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
1 damage equals half a heart in Minecraft.
Fire Protection
What does Fire Protection do? Fire Protection reduces the damage players take from fire and also shortens the time the character is on fire when ignited.
Which items are affected by Fire Protection? Fire Protection is available for all types of armor.
| Level I | Level II | Level III | Level IV | |
| Damage reduction from fire | 8% | 16% | 24% | 32% |
Multiple Fire Protection enchantments stack, but the cap is at 80%. Damage cannot be reduced further by enchantments.
Additionally, Fire Protection reduces the duration players remain on fire.
Flame
What does Flame do? Flame turns regular arrows into fire arrows. These set the target (monsters, players, and TNT blocks) on fire, dealing up to 5 damage points if they are not extinguished first.
Which items are affected by Flame? Flame is only available for bows.
Curse of Binding
What does Curse of Binding do? Curse of Binding is a negative enchantment. This curse ensures that an equipped item cannot be removed until either the player dies or the item is consumed.
Which items are affected by Curse of Binding? Curse of Binding can be applied to all armor items, as well as Elytra and Carved Pumpkins.
You cannot obtain this enchantment via the enchantment table, but must find a cursed item directly or find the enchantment through a book.
Curse of Vanishing
What does Curse of Vanishing do? Curse of Vanishing is a negative property. An item that has this enchantment vanishes immediately when the player carrying it dies. The item cannot be picked up again after death.
Which items are affected by Curse of Vanishing? All enchantment targets can be affected. So armor, tools, and weapons.
You cannot obtain this enchantment via the enchantment table, but must find a cursed item directly or find the enchantment through a book.
Luck
What does Luck do? Luck increases the number of resources received when mining ores and certain plants.
Which items are affected by Luck? Luck can be applied to all tools.
| Type of resource | Level I | Level II | Level III |
| Precious ores (coal, diamond, emerald, lapis lazuli, nether quartz) | 33% chance of double amount | 25% chance of double amount 25% chance of triple amount | 20% chance of double amount 20% chance of triple amount 20% chance of quadruple amount |
| Other materials (redstone, glowstone, carrots, soul lanterns, melons, nether wart, potatoes, wheat from wheat) | Maximum number +1 | Maximum number +2 | Maximum number +3 |
Luck additionally slightly increases the chance of finding apples in leaves or yielding saplings from leaves. It also drastically increases the amount of wheat seeds obtained from grass.
Luck of the Sea
What does Luck of the Sea do? Luck of the Sea increases the chance of fishing for treasures while simultaneously reducing the chance of items from the “junk” category.
Which items are affected by Luck of the Sea? Only fishing rods can be enchanted with this enchantment.
| Level I | Level II | Level III | |
| Chance of treasure | +1% | +2% | +3% |
| Chance for junk | -2.5% | -5% | -7.5% |
Durability
What does Durability do? Durability gives items a chance to not lose durability when used, allowing them to last longer.
Which items are affected by Durability? Durability can be applied to all armor, weapons, and tools.
| Level I | Level II | Level III | |
| Chance to not lose durability (armor) | 20% | 27% | 30% |
| Chance to not lose durability (weapons, tools) | 50% | 67% | 75% |
A pickaxe with “Durability III” will thus last approximately 4 times as long as an unenchanted pickaxe.
Spear
What does Spear do? Spear increases the damage creatures receive from the water when they are damaged by the spear. This is especially useful against enemies in underwater temples.
Which items are affected by Spear? Only the trident can be enchanted with Spear.
| Level I | Level II | Level III | Level IV | Level V |
| +2.5 damage | +5 damage | +7.5 damage | +10 damage | +12.5 damage |
One damage point equals half a heart in Minecraft.
Bait
What does Bait do? Bait is one of the best enchantments for fishing enthusiasts, as it reduces the time needed to fish and increases the chance of catching fish. However, it also reduces the chance of catching junk or treasure.
Which items are affected by Bait? Bait can only be enchanted on a fishing rod.
| Level I | Level II | Level III | |
| Time until biting | -5 seconds | -10 seconds | -15 seconds |
| Chance for fish instead of junk/treasure | +1% | +2% | +3% |
Multi-Shot
What does Multi-Shot do? Multi-Shot allows a crossbow to shoot three arrows simultaneously while consuming only one.
Which items are affected by Multi-Shot? Multi-Shot can only be enchanted on a crossbow.
Arachnoid Nemesis
What does Arachnoid Nemesis do? This enchantment increases the damage dealt by a weapon against all types of spiders, silverfish, bees, and endermites.
Which items are affected by Arachnoid Nemesis? The enchantment is exclusive to swords. With the help of an enchantment book, it can also be transferred to axes.
| Level I | Level II | Level III | Level IV | Level V |
| +2.5 damage | +5 damage | +7.5 damage | +10 damage | +12.5 damage |
One damage point equals half a heart in Minecraft.
Looting
What does Looting do? Looting causes killed enemies (or wild animals) to drop more loot.
Which items are affected by Looting? Looting is exclusive to swords.
| Level I | Level II | Level III | |
| Maximum items per kill | +1 | +2 | +3 |
| Chance for rare item | +3.5% | +4.5% | +5.5% |
Repair
What does Repair do? Repair causes collected experience points to be immediately used to increase the durability of an item, thereby “repairing” it. Each collected experience point restores 2 durability. If the item is not damaged, the character’s experience increases normally instead.
Which items are affected by Repair? Repair is suitable for all weapons, armors, and tools.
However, Repair cannot be obtained through enchanting via the enchantment table. Instead, this enchantment must be obtained from enemies, treasure chests, or trade with villagers.
Knockback
What does Knockback do? Knockback increases the distance enemies are pushed back when hit, allowing you to keep them at bay more easily.
Which items are affected by Knockback? Knockback can only be applied to swords.
Sharpness
What does Sharpness do? Sharpness increases the damage of a weapon against all creatures in the game.
Which items are affected by Sharpness? Sharpness is primarily for swords, but it can also be applied to axes with an enchantment book.
| Level I | Level II | Level III | Level IV | Level V |
| +1 damage | +1.5 damage | +2 damage | +2.5 damage | +3 damage |
One damage point equals half a heart in Minecraft.
Level V can only be reached by combining two items with Level IV at an anvil.
Strike
What does Strike do? Strike increases the knockback suffered by creatures and players when they are hit by an arrow from a bow.
Which items are affected by Strike? Strike is only available for bows.
Projectile Protection
What does Projectile Protection do? Projectile Protection reduces the damage players take from arrows and other projectiles.
Which items are affected by Projectile Protection? Projectile Protection is available for all types of armor.
| Level I | Level II | Level III | Level IV | |
| Damage reduction from projectiles | 8% | 16% | 24% | 32% |
Multiple Projectile Protection enchantments stack up to a maximum of 80% damage reduction.
Protection
What does Protection do? Protection reduces the damage a player receives from all sources.
Which items are affected by Protection? Protection is available for all types of armor.
| Level I | Level II | Level III | Level IV | |
| Damage reduction | 4% | 8% | 12% | 16% |
Multiple enchantments on different items add up. If you have Protection IV on all armor pieces, you will have a total damage reduction of 64%.
Momentum
What does Momentum do? Momentum increases the damage secondary targets suffer when hit by a sword with a momentum attack.
Which items are affected by Momentum? Momentum is exclusive to swords.
| Level I | Level II | Level III | |
| Damage of the attack | 1 + 50% of sword damage | 1 + 66% of sword damage | 1 + 75% of sword damage |
Soul Walker
What does Soul Walker do? Soul Walker increases the player’s speed when they are on Soul Soil or Soul Sand. The usual slowdown caused by Soul Sand and Soul Soil is thus eliminated.
Which items are affected by Soul Walker? Soul Walker is available solely for boots.
It cannot be found through enchanting at the enchantment table but must be obtained from trading with piglins in the Nether.
Pull
What does Pull do? Pull causes players to be drawn toward the thrown trident while underwater or during rain or snowfall.
Which items are affected by Pull? Pull is only available for the trident.
| Level I | Level II | Level III | |
| Distance of pull | 13 blocks | 21 blocks | 30 blocks |
Strength
What does Strength do? Strength increases the damage players deal with a bow when they use it against creatures or other players. The damage increases depending on the bow’s charge when shot.
Which items are affected by Strength? Strength is only available for the bow.
| Level I | Level II | Level III | Level IV | Level V | |
| Uncharged | +2 damage | +2 damage | +2 damage | +3 damage | +3 damage |
| Half charge | +9 damage | +11 damage | +12 damage | +14 damage | +15 damage |
| Full charge | +14 damage | +16 damage | +18 damage | +20 damage | +23 damage |
| Full charge + Crit | +15 damage | +18 damage | +20 damage | +23 damage | +25 damage |
One damage point equals half a heart in Minecraft.
Level V can only be reached by combining two items with Level IV at an anvil.
Loyalty
What does Loyalty do? This enchantment ensures that the trident returns to the player after being thrown, allowing it to be thrown again. The higher the level of the enchantment, the faster the trident returns.
Which items are affected by Loyalty? Loyalty is only available for the trident.
Infinity
What does Infinity do? A bow enchanted with Infinity can shoot an infinite number of arrows without consuming any. However, there must be at least one arrow in the inventory.
Which items are affected by Infinity? Infinity is only available for the bow.
Fire Aspect
What does Fire Aspect do? Fire Aspect adds an additional effect to the weapon. Hit enemies are set on fire and take fire damage for several ticks. If wild animals die from this fire, they drop their meat already cooked.
Which items are affected by Fire Aspect? Fire Aspect can only be applied to swords.
| Level I | Level II | |
| Ticks of fire damage | 3 to 4 | 6 to 8 |
Water Affinity
What does Water Affinity do? Water Affinity allows players to mine faster underwater. They can mine at the same speed as on land when standing on solid ground.
Which items are affected by Water Affinity? Water Affinity is only available for helmets.
Water Walker
What does Water Walker do? Water Walker increases the player’s movement speed while they are underwater.
Which items are affected by Water Walker? Water Walker is exclusively available on boots.
| Level I | Level II | Level III | |
| Reduction of slowness | -33% | -66% | -100% |
Quick Charge
What does Quick Charge do? With this enchantment, players can reload their crossbow faster, thus firing the next arrow more quickly.
Which items are affected by Quick Charge? Quick Charge is exclusively available for the crossbow.
| Level I | Level II | Level III | |
| Reload time reduction | 0.25 seconds | 0.5 seconds | 0.75 seconds |
Crafting and using enchantment books
If you have a high character level but can’t find an item you want to enchant, you should still invest your experience. The best way to do this is to bind enchantments to books.
Simply place a book in the enchantment table instead of another item along with the desired amount of lapis lazuli. Then select the enchantment – done. Now the enchantment is bound to the book and can be transferred to other objects from there.
For this, you will need an anvil. Set it up and then combine the desired item with the enchanted book to apply the enchantment to the item. The book will be consumed in the process.
Enchanted books are thus a good way to “store” enchantments for a long time and use them later when you really want to.
Combining enchantments
If you are not satisfied with your enchantments, you can further improve the corresponding weapons and items. This is done using an anvil, which allows for two types of upgrades. Note that both methods consume player levels, just like the enchantment table. The more powerful the repair or merging of items, the higher the costs.
Uniting enchantments: Enchantments can be merged into a new level.
Example: If you place two iron swords enchanted with “Sharpness II” in the anvil and smelt them into a new sword, that sword will have “Sharpness III” – the next higher level.
Some enchantments can only be obtained in this way (like Sharpness V or Strength V).
Combining enchantments: A further method is to combine enchantments.
Example: If you have a diamond pickaxe with “Efficiency III” and another diamond pickaxe with “Durability III,” you can combine them into a new pickaxe that has both Efficiency III and Durability III.
This way, you can create very powerful items that are not obtainable via the normal enchantment table.
Finally, you can use the anvil to transfer enchantments from an enchantment book to an item.
Removing enchantments
It is also possible to remove enchantments from items if you no longer want them. For this, you need a grindstone.
You can either craft the grindstone yourself or find it in many NPC villages in the forge.
What does removing enchantments do? Removing enchantments resets the item to its original state, meaning the enchantments are removed. However, the player is credited with some experience points, which can then be invested into new enchantments.
This also works with enchantment books.
Basically, the higher the rank of the enchantment, the more experience points you will receive back. However, there is always a loss. You will receive less back than you originally spent on an enchantment.
Only the two curses cannot be removed in this way.
With this, you should know everything important about enchantments in Minecraft!
If you want to “enchant” your game in another way, you should try these 5 texture packs for Minecraft!
